HIGH ACHIEVERS: Haley Yerxa exploring new avenues in overseas golf

By Martin Cleary

Golf has taken a whole new look for Ottawa’s Haley Yerxa.

After playing her junior golf in Ottawa and successfully combining golf with education at Florida Gulf Coast University and Southern Georgia University, the former Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club member is now overseas, experiencing two new elements of the game.

Working in London, England for Spektrix as a platform software developer for the past year, Yerxa is getting familiar playing the links-style golf courses in the United Kingdom.

And by turning 25 years old this year, she also can compete in women’s tournaments in the mid-amateur category for golfers who combine their sport with full- or part-time employment.

So far, the transition to the open, rugged links courses from the North American parkland courses with manicured fairways and water hazards has gone well for Yerza, whether she’s playing at her small club or in national or continental championships.

At the recent Canadian women’s mid-amateur championship in Lachute, PQ, Yerxa challenged for her first title, but finished in a remarkable tie for third place. Her rounds of 78-72-72 left her at three-over-par 222 and her combined score of 144 for the final two rounds was second only to champion Judith Kyrinis of Thornill, ON (77-70-73).

Yerxa shared third place with Kelsey Fuchs of King City, ON, after she had an overall scorecard of 74-77-71-222.

On the back nine of her final round, Yerza marked two birdies and seven pars, but she faced four or five putts that she couldn’t convert into birdies.

“I wasn’t disappointed. I played good golf and lost to good players,” Yerxa said in a phone interview, while visiting her parents this month.

“Overall, it’s encouraging even though I haven’t played that much golf because I’m working. I still managed third place. As it goes on, I’ll learn to manage this.”

She plans to play in the 2026 Canadian women’s mid-amateur championship in Burlington, ON, and combine it with another family visit.

Yerxa lives in Bishop’s Stortford, England, which is in the East Hertfordshire District and about 50 kilometres outside London. When she’s not working, she often can be found at the Bishop’s Stortford Golf Club, which has 18 holes, a driving range and a short-game area.

She was disappointed to learn England doesn’t have a mid-amateur championship, but tournaments for working players 25 and older can be found in Ireland and Europe.

In early June, Yerxa travelled to the Quinta do Peru Golf and Country Club in Portugal for the European women’s mid-amateur golf championship.

She made a big impression after the first round by shooting a one-over-par 73 and climbing to the top of the leaderboard. Her second round, however, was rather humbling at 83. But she rebounded with a 77 for a 17-over-par 233 total, which left her tied in 12th place.

“I was the leader after the first round, my second round was bad and my third round was OK,” Yerxa said about her first mid-amateur championship. “I had a late tee time (for the second round) and I thought more about being the leader.

“I’m working full time and not playing every day has its limitations.”

Yerxa likes the idea of the mid-amateur category for a relatively small group of golfers and views it as an option where she could have some success.

“It’s designed to give players post college somewhere to play,” Yerxa explained. “It’s nice to compete against people who are in the same stage of life as you are.

“There’s a different vibe. It’s more relaxed, but still competitive. I like the camaraderie.”

Yerxa was hoping to play in the United States women’s mid-amateur championship Oct. 4-9 at the Monterey Peninsula Golf Club (Dunes Course) in Pebble Beach, California, but there was no qualifying tournament in England. She hopes to make it happen in 2026.

In 2024, Yerxa completed her post-secondary education with a master’s degree in computer science from Georgia Southern University. She earlier earned her bachelor’s degree in software engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University.

During her six years in university, she played two years of golf at Florida Gulf Coast and two years at Georgia Southern. She didn’t play golf for Florida Gulf Coast for two years because she was a red-shirted freshman in 2018-19 and the COVID-19 pandemic erased the 2021-22 season. Yerxa attended Georgia Southern for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic/athletic years.

In her two years at Georgia Southern, she received seven conference and school academic honours, was selected to the All-Sun Belt first all-star and second all-star teams in 2024 and 2023 respectively and was named the Sun Belt newcomer of the year for the 2022-23 season.

She played 56 rounds in her 20 tournament starts, averaged 74.0 a round, recorded one 67 and posted two top-five and seven top-10 results.

At Florida Gulf Coast, Yerxa earned two academic awards, won the 44th Pat Bradley tournament in 2020-21, tied for first place at the 2019-20 Amelia Island Collegiate competition, where she notched the university’s lowest round of 66, and had a career average of 74.24.

END NOTES

· Three Eastern Ontario golfers are in the top 15 with one in contention for the title Friday at the Canadian girls’ junior golf championships in Sainte-Marie, PQ. After Friday’s third round of the 72-hole national championship, Royal Ottawa Golf Club’s Ann-Sophie Bourgault was alone in fourth place with rounds of 71-76-71 for a two-over-par 218. Carlee Meilleur of Lansdowne is tied for 11th place at 69-80-76 for a nine-over 225, while Celidh Spare of North Gower and the Rideau View Golf Club shares 14th at 71-78-78 for an 11-over 227. Spare also is tied for 10th in the girls’ juvenile division.

· After posting an opening-round five-over-par 75, Hogan Blais of Cumberland was better than par for his final three rounds to finish in a four-way tie for seventh place at the Canadian boys’ junior golf championships at Bathurst, New Brunswick. Blais concluded the national tournament with rounds of 69-69-67 for an even-par 280. He had four birdies against one bogey and 13 pars as he was one of two golfers to post Friday’s lowest round at 67. Toronto’s Dawson Lew was first at 66-65-70-68 for an 11-under 269. Carter O’Brien of Spencerville, ON, tied for 24th at 69-68-74-74 for a five-over 285.