4 Albertans make Team Canada 2024 Amateur Squads
By Mike Masaro / Kevin Smith
Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of 39 amateur athletes and 10 coaches named to the 2024 men’s and women’s Team Canada – NextGen and Team Canada squads.
4 Albertans make Team Canada for 2024. 19-year-old Ethan Wilson and Hunter Thomson return for a 3rd season on the Nextgen Boys team. Wilson is the 2023 Alberta Men’s Amateur Champion and is in his first year at the University of Illinois while Thomson, the 2020 Alberta U19 Boys champion, is in his 3rd year at University of Michigan. 21-year-old Brady McKinlay of Lacombe is a recent graduate of Utah Valley State University, the 2022 Alberta Men’s Amateur champion joins the Team Canada Men’s Team for the first time. Also making a first time appearance on the national team is 14-year-old Eileen Park who earned a spot on the NextGen Girls team. The standout from Red Deer defended her U19 Alberta Girls Championship in 2023 along with winning the Canadian Junior Girls U19 Championship.
Ethan Wilson
Hunter Thomson
Brady McKinlay
Eileen Park
The Team Canada – NextGen program supports juniors and young amateurs who are transitioning to college golf. The Team Canada program supports a group of experienced amateurs who are on the path towards professional golf along with a group of young professional golfers who are building their careers as touring pros.
Teams are selected based on results from the previous season (September-August), with the Team Canada – NextGen program considering performance at Golf Canada’s Selection Camp in September. Professional players that will be part of the 2024 Team Canada squad will be announced at a later date, upon the completion of Qualifying schools.
“We are excited to formally announce the amateur athletes who will be part of our 2024 Team Canada and Team Canada – NextGen teams, and we look forward to supporting their journeys to the LPGA and PGA TOUR,” said Kevin Blue, Chief Sport Officer. “I would like to extend our sincere thanks as well to our generous donors who support the player development program through the Golf Canada Foundation, along with our critical and fully aligned corporate partners for the continued commitment that is enabling the Team Canada player development program to help more Canadians excel at the highest levels of our sport.”
Golf Canada’s player development program provides individualized training and competition support to athletes on their journey to the LPGA and PGA TOUR. National team coaches work with athletes and their personal support teams to develop annual training plans and identify areas where impact can be made to help athletes improve in all areas of their game. Athletes are also supported by a comprehensive sport science team that includes mental performance, physical conditioning, and mental health supports. The players are brought together regularly for training camps where they receive support from national team coaches and sport science staff, and train with their peers.
The coaching staff for the men’s and women’s Team Canada squads will return in full for the 2024 season. Team Canada – Women will again be coached by Stollery Family Women’s Head Coach Salimah Mussani (Vancouver, B.C.) and Associate Coach Jennifer Greggain (Vancouver, B.C.). Team Canada – Men return Head Coach Derek Ingram (Winnipeg, Man.) and Assistant Coaches Louis Melanson (Moncton, N.B.) and Benoit Lemieux (Montréal, Que.).
The men’s amateur Team Canada squad features reigning Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion Ashton McCulloch. McCulloch also represented Canada along with teammates Piercen Hunt and Brady McKinlay at the 2023 Men’s World Amateur Team Championship. McKinlay will be joining Team Canada for the first time in 2024. Earlier this month, McKinlay was part of Canada’s fourth Tailhade Cup winning team in Buenos Aires, Argentina and also took home individual honours at the Argentina Amateur Championship. McKinlay and Hunt are expected to turn professional in 2024 and receive support alongside the group of young pros that will be named to Team Canada in the coming weeks.
The women’s amateur group features reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, Lauren Kim, along with World Amateur Team Championship teammates Monet Chun and Katie Cranston. Savannah Grewal also returns to Team Canada and has announced her intention to turn professional as she pursues LPGA Tour status at Q Series in early December. Ellie Szeryk returns to the team for her third year after being part of the junior squad in 2018 and 2019. Szeryk won her first collegiate title, representing Southern Methodist University at the Jim West Challenge this October.
Team Canada – Men
| NAME | AGE | HOMETOWN | SCHOOL | YEARS IN PROGRAM |
| Ashton McCulloch | 21 | Kingston, Ont. | Michigan State (Jr.) | 3 |
| Brady McKinlay | 21 | Lacombe, Alta. | Utah Valley State | – |
| Laurent Desmarchais | 22 | Bromont, Que. | Tennessee (Jr.) | 5 |
| Piercen Hunt | 22 | Hartland, Wis. | Illinois (Sr.) | 2 |
Team Canada – Women
| NAME | AGE | HOMETOWN | SCHOOL | YEARS IN PROGRAM |
| Angela Arora | 19 | Surrey, B.C. | Tennessee (So.) | 4 |
| Alissa Xu | 18 | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Dartmouth (Fr.) | 1 |
| Brooke Rivers | 18 | Brampton, Ont. | Wake Forest (Fr.) | 2 |
| Ellie Szeryk | 21 | London, Ont. | SMU (Sr.) | 2 |
| Katie Cranston | 19 | Oakville, Ont. | Auburn (So.) | 3 |
| Lauren Kim | 18 | Surrey, B.C. | Texas (Fr.) | 3 |
| Lauren Zaretsky | 19 | Thornhill, Ont. | Texas Tech (So.) | 1 |
| Leah John | 23 | Vancouver, B.C. | Nevada (Gr.) | 1 |
| Michelle Liu | 18 | Vancouver, B.C. | 3 | |
| Monet Chun | 22 | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Michigan (Sr.) | 6 |
| Nicole Gal | 19 | Oakville, Ont. | Ole Miss (So.) | 3 |
| Savannah Grewal | 21 | Mississauga, Ont. | Clemson (Gr.) | 2 |
The Team Canada – NextGen coaching staff is led by Head Coach Robert Ratcliffe (Qualicum Beach, B.C.) with support from Associate Coach Jeff MacDonald (Fall River, N.S.) and Assistant Coaches Jennifer Ha (Calgary, Alta.) and Darcy Dhillon (Red Deer, Alta.).
Tristian Mullally of Dundas, Ont. will continue as the Head of National Talent Identification overseeing the national talent identification system that was established in 2022. In this role, Mullaly provides support to a promising group of younger junior golfers (11 – 16 years old) and their existing coaching teams to grow the pool of future Team Canada prospects.
The NextGen team features 15 returning players and eight new members for 2024. The boys team features 2023 Canadian Junior Boys Champion, Alex Zhang, two-time Canadian Junior Boys Champion, JP Parr along with 2023 tournament winners, Isaiah Ibit (NextGen Ontario) and Matthew Javier (Team Canada – NextGen Selection Camp).
The girls team features all three members of Canada’s winning side at the 2023 World Junior Girls Championship: Vanessa Borovilos, Anna Huang and Vanessa Zhang. Reigning Canadian Junior Girls Champion, Eileen Park, will be joining the team for the first time in 2024.
Team Canada – NextGen Boys
| NAME | AGE | HOMETOWN | SCHOOL | YEARS ON TEAM |
| Alex Zhang | 15 | Richmond, B.C. | 1 | |
| Alex Long | 16 | Toronto, Ont. | Texas A&M (2024) | – |
| Ben MacLean | 19 | Niagara Falls, Ont. | Kent State (So.) | 2 |
| Cooper Humphreys | 18 | Vernon, B.C. | Oregon State (2024) | 2 |
| Eric Zhao | 16 | North York, Ont. | 2 | |
| Ethan Wilson | 19 | St. Albert, Alta. | Illinois (Fr.) | 2 |
| Hunter Thomson | 19 | Calgary, Alta. | Michigan (Jr.) | 2 |
| Isaiah Ibit | 17 | Orleans, Ont. | Kent State (2024) | – |
| JP Parr | 19 | Saint-Celestin, Que. | Tennessee (Fr.) | 4 |
| James Lee | 16 | Whistler, B.C. | – | |
| Luke Smith | 16 | Thornhill, Ont. | Tennessee (2025) | – |
| Matthew Javier | 16 | North York, Ont. | Southern Mississippi (2024) | – |
Team Canada – NextGen Girls
| NAME | AGE | HOMETOWN | SCHOOL | YEARS ON TEAM |
| Anna Huang | 14 | Vancouver, B.C. | 1 | |
| Carlee Meilleur | 15 | Lansdowne, Ont. | 1 | |
| Eileen Park | 14 | Red Deer, Alta. | – | |
| Lindsay McGrath | 16 | Oakville, Ont. | 1 | |
| Luna Lu | 16 | Burnaby, B.C. | 2 | |
| Michelle Xing | 15 | Richmond Hill, Ont. | 1 | |
| Shauna Liu | 14 | Maple, Ont. | – | |
| Swetha Sathish | 15 | Oakville, Ont. | – | |
| Vanessa Borovilos | 17 | Etobicoke, Ont. | Texas A&M (2024) | 1 |
| Vanessa Zhang | 16 | Vancouver, B.C. | 1 | |
| Yeji Kwon | 17 | Port Coquitlam, B.C. | Baylor (2024) | 2 |
For full Team Canada bios and additional information, please click here.
Team Canada is proudly supported by RBC, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Titleist, FootJoy, Hilton, Puma, Foresight, Golf Canada Foundation and Sport Canada.
