Got my regular press release last week from the Futures Tour, the LPGA's equivalent of the Nationwide Tour, and started to wonder where all the young Canadians had gone.

Yesterday, when they sent the results of their tournament in Kansas, I got a pleasant surprise: Jessica Shepley, 25, of Oakville, Ont., fired a two-under 70 to rocket up to second place, four shots back of 18-year-old Mindy Kim.

Shepley's performance came two weeks after Bryan DeCorso of Guelph, Ont., won a Nationwide tournament in Georgia.

This week's Nationwide event had a few Canadians make the cut: Dave Morland, David Hearn and Jim Rutledge, while Ian Leggatt cashed a cheque at the PGA Tour's AT&T Classic.

Here's the rub. While Shepley is 25 and one of a handful of young Canadians on the Futures Tour, she may be the only one with a reasonable chance of progressing to the LPGA now that Salimah Mussani's debilitating lupus disease has prematurely forced her from being a touring pro into the coaching ranks at Stanford University.

Our LPGA contingent pales in comparison with years past. Alena Sharp remains a work in progress at age 27, while Lorie Kane, A.J. Eathorne, and their contemporaries are no longer factors.

And while Hearn is 28, DeCorso will turn 37 next week, Morland is 39, Leggatt is 42 and Rutledge is 48.

The ongoing question is how does the Canadian golf community develop and, more importantly, support promising young touring pros? It's a challenge that the RCGA has tried to address in the past and, one hopes, new executive director Scott Simmons will elevate on his priority list.

One sign of hope relates back to Shepley. A year ago, she started working with instructor Sean Foley, who now counts Stephen Ames and Greg Owen among his clients.

Foley is a rapidly rising star in the fickle business of golf instruction. He also is the chief instructor at the Junior Golf Academy of Canada (www.jgac.ca) which makes its home at Florida's Orange County National.

The JGAC represents the first opportunity for Canadian kids to spend the school year at a Canadian-operated golf academy that emphasizes not only golf, but academics and personal growth.

A couple of his young female students won tournaments this spring. Maybe it's a sign of things to come.

We hope.