Austin Krahn and Leonie Tavares each claimed the top spot of the podium in the two concurrent individual competitions; Team Quebec and Team Ontario nab silver and bronze medals in St. John’s.
ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. – Team British Columbia (B.C.) returned to their familiar place atop the Canada Summer Games podium on Friday through the low round of Austin Krahn of Christina Lakes, B.C., securing the province their fourth team gold medal in five attempts and capping off a memorable week at Bally Haly Country Club in St. John’s, Nfld.
Krahn, a member of the Team Canada – NextGen program and fresh off a three-win stretch in July, powered B.C. across the finish line on Friday with a 7-under 65 to add to his list of accomplishments in 2025. His eagle on the opening hole on Friday helped separate the 54-hole leader, with birdies on Nos. 2, 4 and 6 vaulting Krahn into a sizeable lead atop the Individual Male leaderboard and on course to claim a second gold medal at the Canada Summer Games.
“It means so much more because I’m not playing for myself, I’m playing for my team as well. I’m winning for British Columbia as a team and I’m bringing up the medal count for all of British Columbia,” said Krahn, who finished just three strokes shy of tying the course record after rolling birdies in on five of his closing seven holes. It is the lowest single-round score ever recorded by a male at the Canada Summer Games.
He pulled into the lead by the end of third round after 36-hole leader Alex Zhang of Richmond, B.C. was disqualified from competing in the Individual Male competition for signing an incorrect scorecard on Thursday. Zhang held a one-stroke edge over his Team B.C. teammate prior to the disqualification after rounds of 69 and 73.
Leonie Tavares of Saint-Jerome, Que. claimed the top spot on the podium in the Individual Female competition with rounds of 74-76-72-77-299 to become the first female from Quebec to medal in the competition since former Team Canada member Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que. accomplished the feat at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
Following her final round, Tavares expressed her elation for being part of a successful list of female golfers hailing from La Belle Province to win the tournament.
“I’m really shocked, really excited because I’ve worked so hard… seeing Celeste Dao win this tournament and myself winning today, it feels amazing and I’m really proud of myself,” praised Tavares. “It took a lot of dedication; I had to wake up early and I’m not used to that so I’m really proud of myself just being there, just being myself and playing my game,” she added.
Tavares played the back nine of her round on Friday 4-over and was able to capitalize on her even-par 72 on Thursday to pace the Female Individual competition and win by eight strokes. Evelyn Ma of Markham, Ont. and Yeeun (Jenny) Kwon of Vancouver, B.C. rounded out the podium in the Individual Female competition, with Ma claiming her honours in a playoff over Kwon following regulation.
Golf debuted at the Canada Summer Games in 2009 and has featured in every summer program since, fostering a growing list of alumni over the years that currently boasts the likes of five-time RBC Canadian Open participant Eugene Wong and current Team Canada members Myles Creighton, Étienne Papineau, Brigitte Thibault and Monet Chun.
This week, the tournament descended on Bally Haly Country Club in St. John’s, Nfld., and featured 44 players from all ten provinces and one territory competing over 72 holes of competition.
Numerous stories emerged throughout the week including a pair of girls becoming the first female participants to represent Yukon at a Canada Summer Games golf event. Alayna May Mortimer and Sloane Tarapaski of Whitehorse, Y.K., were the two members that made history for the territory this week, with Mortimer commending the accomplishment of herself and her teammate following play on Tuesday.
“It’s very empowering and really happy to feel like wow, I’m the first person to do this from where I live. It’s just an awesome experience,” said Mortimer. “There’s a lot of people that haven’t been to Canada Games from our territory, so it’s cool to send this many people out and have this many people doing different sports,” added Tarapaski. The two play golf together at Mountain View Golf Course in Whitehorse, Yukon, and spend most of their cooler months using a golf simulator in Tarapaski’s garage.
History was also made in the Individual Male division as well, with Kooper MacKay of Wolfville, N.S. firing a 1-under 71 on Friday to nab a runner-up finish and become the first male from Nova Scotia to ever medal in golf at the Canada Summer Games.
“It means a lot,” commented MacKay. “My whole goal coming here was to get a medal whether it was individual or team, so it really feels nice to actually get my goal done. I’ve seen a lot of history made from other Nova Scotians, so to be able to set my own history in that category feels really nice.”
Birdies on Nos. 12, 15 and 16 catapulted MacKay towards the second step of the podium and helped whisk away a pair of bogeys on his front nine. MacKay finished with scores of 75-76-77-71- 299.
“I’ve proved that I can compete with the best players in the nation, so it really feels nice to actually be able to shoot scores on tough conditions, tough courses and beat some of the better players in Canada,” he added.
Ethan Hunter of Casa Rio, Sask. also pieced together a memorable Friday, shooting a 2-over 74 to place third and become the first-ever player from Saskatchewan to medal at the Canada Summer Games golf event.
“It means a lot to me to be the first ever is huge,” said Hunter. “It’s a big thing for my career and moving forward, it’s just a little bit of a confidence booster.”
Bothteam and individual competitions took place this past week at the Canada Summer Games, the former grouping a pair of male and female players from the same province together to battle for medals in a mixed-gender team competition. The lowest score from a player of each gender represented the team’s total score following the conclusion of each round.
To view the full leaderboard from the 2025 Canada Summer Games at Bally Haly Country Club, please click here.
