Stasiuk, Williams repeat winners at Canadian All Abilities Championships
Story: Jack Keller / Golf Canada | Photo: Bernard Brault / Golf Canada
GLOUCESTER, ON – Natasha Stasiuk of Oakville, Ont. won her sixth consecutive title at the Canadian All Abilities Champions, presented by BDO, on Friday while Josh Williams of Tavistock, Ont. became the third person to go back-to-back in the men’s gross stroke play division at the Hylands Golf Club in Gloucester, Ont.
“It feels amazing, I thought I didn’t have it after the first day, I went in with a goal and told my self in the mirror that I was going to do it, and I did,” said Stasiuk. “I know today was not the best score, but it feels pretty amazing, it has not sunk in yet.”
Stasiuk entered the final round with a five-shot lead and carded a 10-over 82 in the final round to cap off her sixth victory in six years, following rounds of 84-77-82-243. Stasiuk finished two strokes ahead of Emma Bittorf of Strathmore, Alta. to win and continue her Canadian All Abilities Championship success.
“Coming into today’s round I did not think I could do it,” said Stasiuk. “But I held in there, there were some cries and some very upset stomachs on the course, but I still did it.”
Williams entered the final round with a three-shot lead over Josh Hunke of New Dundee, Ont. and Derek Whitson of Medicine Hat, Alta. Hunke had a tough start with a bogey on hole no.1 and a double on no. 2, he went on to birdie hole nos. 3, 4, 6 and 10 but came up just short of Williams.
“I was surprised to have a lead after day two, I played well but I saw some work to do. I was pretty comfortable with a three-shot lead, but Josh Hunke put a lot of birdies on the board, and I had to hang in there and try to run him out of real estate,” said Williams.
Williams shot a 1-over 73 in the final to win back-to-back national championships, recording rounds of 74-70-73-217, to win by two strokes over Hunke.
“I am honoured to win this title for the second year in a row,” added Williams. “I love battling with these guys and the group here gets stronger and better every year.”
Williams becomes the third player in tournament history to win the men’s gross stroke play division in back-to-back years, joining Chris Willis of Aurora, Ont. (2023, 2024) and Kurtis Barkley of Williamsburg, Ont. (2021, 2022).
“I felt like I struck the ball well today, I also putted the best I have of the three days,” said Williams. “Even though I didn’t make as much I would like to I really rolled the ball well and had a lot of comfy two putts.”
In addition to their national championship wins, both Stasiuk and Williams will receive exemptions into the 2027 U.S. Adaptive Open taking place from July 5-7 at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. They will also receive direct exemptions to defend their titles at the 2027 Canadian All Abilities Championship, presented by BDO.
“That’s huge, the USGA event next year in Oregon is the biggest event in the world, so being exempt to that saves me a lot of money,” said Williams. “Instead of having to go down to Indiana for the qualifier I can just focus on my game and see how I can do on the West Coast.”
“It feels pretty good, I made a goal that I would earn that exemption after not receiving one at the 2026 U.S. Adaptive Open, so it feels really good,” added Stasiuk.
Ian St John of Tramore, Ont. won the men’s net stableford division. St John entered the final round two stableford points back of the leader Williams. He recorded 42 points in his final round to finish with a total of 112 and win his first men’s net stableford division title.
Bittorf collected 41 stableford points in Friday’s final round to win by eight points and continue her success winning her third consecutive women’s net stableford division title. Tess Trojan of St. Catharines, Ont. was trailing Bittorf heading into the final round by four points but came up just short in her attempt to win her fourth net stableford division title.
The final standings from each division and sport classes are as follows:
Gros Stroke Play – Men – Josh Williams (Tavistock, Ont.) +1
Gross Stroke Play – Women – Natasha Stasiuk (Oakville, Ont.) +27
Net Stableford – Men – Ian St John (Tramore, Ont.) 112 points
Net Stableford – Women – Emma Bittorf (Strathmore, Alta.) 115 points
Intellectual 1 – Men – Jack Houlahan (Ottawa, Ont.) +51
Intellectual 1 – Women – Natasha Stasiuk (Oakville, Ont.) +27
Standing 1 – Spencer Easthope (Okotoks, Alta.) +26
Standing 2 – Derek Whitson (Medicine Hat, Alta.) +7
Standing 3 – Josh Williams (Tavistock, Ont.) +1
Visual 2 – Keifer Jones (Calgary, Alta.) +13
Sitting 1 – Ian St John (Tramore, Ont.) +39
The stableford scoring format of the Canadian All Abilities Championship awards set points based off a golfer’s net score for the hole. The points will be awarded as follows: Albatross (5 points), Eagle (4 points), Birdie (3 points), Par (2 points), Bogey (1 point), Double Bogey or higher (0 points). The golfers with the highest total of accumulated points over 54-holes will win their respective divisions.
