Brent Franklin (born December 16, 1965) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life

Franklin was born in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He was coached in golf by Jack McLaughlin as a youth, and first came to prominence when he won the 1981

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

City Match Play Championship as a 15-year-old amateur, to become the youngest champion ever in that event. The tournament is open to all professionals and top amateurs in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

region.

Career

Franklin won the 1983 and 1984 Canadian Junior Championships.''Golf in Canada: A History'', by James A. Barclay,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. ...

, 1992. He earned a golf scholarship to

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. He won the 1985

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Amateur Championship. Franklin then won three straight

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play in 1 ...

s, from 1985 to 1987. He was a member of the Canadian team which won the 1986

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

, the World Amateur Team Championship, in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, along with

Warren Sye Warren Sye (born 1956) is a Canadian amateur golfer who has won several important championships. Biography Sye was born in Toronto, Ontario. He began playing at a young age at the Weston Golf and Country Club in Toronto, where his father, a low-h ...

, Jack Kay Jr., and Mark Brewer. Franklin earned three All-American selections in golf at BYU: 1985 Honorable Mention, 1986 First Team, and 1987 Second Team. Franklin turned professional, and won the 1988

Canadian PGA Championship The PGA Championship of Canada is a golf tournament organized by the PGA of Canada, an organization founded in 1911 at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. It was first played in 1912 as the Canadian PGA Championship. It was a Nationwide Tour event from 2 ...

. That gave him a national championship in Canada at ever-rising levels for seven consecutive seasons. He was selected as Rookie of the Year on the 1988

Canadian Professional Golf Tour PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...

, and many thought he would become the next Canadian star on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. Franklin then moved to the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...

for several years, and posted several strong finishes, including four runner-up results, earning very good prize money. He played 112 Japanese events between 1989 and 1995, and won a total of ¥140,307,935. He did not win a tournament. He lost a playoff to Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki at the 1992

Dunlop Open The Kirin Open was a golf tournament in Japan. It was founded in 1972 as the season ending event on the Asia Golf Circuit, replacing the Yomiuri International which had been cancelled when sponsors decided to discontinue the event. It was also a ...

. Franklin was planning to move to the PGA Tour after 1995. But, when cycling in Vancouver, he was hit by a transport truck, and was seriously injured. Franklin was able to recover, and for a time played on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour, trying to regain his earlier form, but was never able to approach the level he had shown earlier. Franklin was inducted into the

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame covering the history of the game of golf in Canada, and celebrating the careers and accomplishments of the most significant contributors to the game in that country. Operated by ...

in 2010. Franklin currently works as a club professional in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Amateur wins

*1983 Canadian Junior Amateur, British Columbia Junior Boys, Vancouver and District Junior, Vancouver Match Play *1984 Canadian Junior Amateur, British Columbia Junior Boys *1985

, Alberta Amateur *1986

*1987

Professional wins (2)

Canadian Tour wins (2)

Playoff record

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1)

Team appearances

''this list may be incomplete'' Amateur *

(representing Canada):

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

(winners) Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Canada):

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

(representing Canada):

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Brent Canadian male golfers BYU Cougars men's golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers Golfing people from Ontario Golfing people from British Columbia Sportspeople from Barrie Sportspeople from Vancouver Sportspeople from Calgary 1965 births Living people