James Allenby, a seven-year veteran of the Mackenzie Tour, on Wednesday was awarded with a $3,000 bursary by Golf Town and the Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC), a group of the top golf writers in the country. The bursary, which has been awarded to male and female professionals in recent years, is designed to assist top Canadian pros as they chase their dream of getting to the PGA Tour or LPGA Tour.
“This will go a long way to helping me,” said Allenby, who currently sits in 12th on the Order of Merit on the Mackenzie Tour with a second-place finish to start the season. “It is expensive to be out here every week.”
The award winner, who was selected by GJAC members out of a group of three top male Canadian professionals, finished second in his first start of the season, and hopes to win the Order or Merit, which would make him exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour next year, a step away from the PGA Tour. If not, the money will help support going to qualifying school in the fall.
Allenby accepted the bursary in person during a reception at TPC of Toronto/Osprey Valley, where the Mackenzie Tour is playing this week.
We were thrilled to join the best golf journalists in Canada and support one of the country’s promising pros. Our goal at Golf Town is to help grow the game and become the home of golf in Canada. One way we want to do that is by supporting young professionals like James. He’s a great representative for the game, and it is tremendous to work with the country’s best golf writers to recognize him.
At the same event, GJAC, along with Mackenzie Financial, presented a bursary to Symetra Tour pro Maddie Szeryk. Szeryk thanked members by video, as she is playing on the Symetra Tour and could not attend in person.
The bursaries were handed out at an award dinner honouring the best in golf journalism in Canada. Among the winners was Kody McWilliams, a videographer and photographer from Toronto, who took second place for his video, “Every day is Father’s Day,” a feature on Brooke Henderson that he created for Golftown.com.