Golf Town is a proud Championship Partner of the 2023 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at The Pulpit Club

For Kingston, Ont.’s Ashton McCulloch, winning the Canadian Amateur is a step towards a boundless future in golf. McCulloch, who plays for the Canadian National team and is studying engineering at Michigan State, won the Canadian Amateur at the prestigious Pulpit Club in Caledon, Ont., handily, taking the tournament by five shots over second-place finisher Phil Arci with a final score of 7-under.

“It feels amazing, a lot of hard work has gone into this over many years of golf, I have so many people to thank, that are such big role models in my life and that have propelled me to this point,” McCulloch told Golf Canada after his win.  “It was a lot of fun and I’m happy to play well this week.”

McCulloch, who was the Big 10 Freshman of the Year and is heading into his junior year at Michigan State, has the prize of playing on the PGA Tour in his sights. Winning the Canadian Amateur is a step in the right direction, as the win includes a start at next year’s RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

McCulloch had previously tried to qualify for the tournament, missing by one shot twice.

“It’s cool to get in another way this year I’m really excited about that,” he said. He also garners a spot in the U.S. Amateur next week at the historic Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.

Played on two different golf courses at The Pulpit Club—The Paintbrush and The Pulpit, both of which are SCOREGolf’s Top 25 courses in Canada, the tournament was a challenge with wind and weather making scoring difficult. McCulloch was the only player to shoot under par all four days.

The Willingdon Cup was also awarded during the event, going to Team Ontario, which included McCulloch, Cameron Pero and Garrett Rank, a former Mid-Amateur Champion and current NHL referee. They bettered Team Quebec by a single shot.