Ashton McCulloch wins 118th Canadian Men's Amateur

Ashton McCulloch shot a final round of 70 to win the 118th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship by five shots at The Pulpit Club in Caledon, Ont.

McCulloch of Kingston, Ont. (and Michigan State, where he is a junior) was the only player in the field to shoot under par all four days of the tournament, posting rounds of 69-68-70-70 to finish at 7-under and win the national championship.

“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,” said McCulloch after walking off the 18th green of The Pulpit. “I can’t thank enough people and Golf Canada for running this event, it was a lot of fun and I’m happy to play well this week.”

Pleasant conditions to start the day quickly changed as rain rolled in shortly after 11:00 a.m. on Thursday and remained heavy at times through just past 1:30 p.m. giving players four days of different conditions to contend with during the tournament.

McCulloch and Caleb VanArragon were battling when things turned on the 11th hole as McCulloch birdied while VanArragon triple bogeyed to give McCulloch a four-shot lead and he didn’t look back, adding two more birdies and four consecutive pars to close out his final round.

“I mean I’m really proud of myself. I got off to a slow start yesterday and just willed the ball in the hole a couple times on the back," McCullogh said. "Today, I kept on saying to my best friend on the bag, the gas pedal is on the right…gotta keep on going and they’ll fall, and I just kept hitting good shots and got lucky enough they went close enough that I could make them.”

By winning the Canadian Men’s Amateur, McCulloch has earned a spot into the 2024 RBC Canadian Open at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ont.

“I’ve missed Monday qualifying by one both times, so it’s cool to get in another way this year I’m really excited about that,” added McCulloch with a big smile. He also earns an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship taking place at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. from August 14-20.

McCulloch will also be awarded a cheque of $1,200. To align with the modernized Rules of Amateur Status, players at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, competed for a purse of $8,000 CAD. Along with McCulloch, the top 10 finishers earned prize money.

Congratulations to Ashton McCulloch on winning the 118th Canadian Men's Amateur Championship! 🇨🇦 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6D7sgUq5fL

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 10, 2023

Phil Arci of Woodbridge, Ont. and Pulpit Club member earned silver medalist honors, finishing the tournament at 2-under. Jordan Gilkison of Washington Township, Ohio and VanArragon of Blaine, Minn. finished tied for bronze medalist honors at 1-under.

On Tuesday the Willingdon Cup was awarded to Team Ontario, who won the Inter-Provincial Team Championship. Ontario finished the team competition at 3-under to edge, the defending champions Team Quebec by one shot. Team Ontario consists of Ashton McCulloch of Kingston, Ont., Cameron Pero of Bloomfield, Ont. and Garrett Rank from Elmira, Ont.