The Alberta Golfer - 2016 Edition

THE ALBERTA

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF ALBERTA GOLF | 2016

innisfail

Social Media

Spurs Growth in Golf

Hosts Men’s Amateur

LPGA RETURNS TO PRIDDIS GREENS

Whitville

Rod Whitman’s Stunning Cabot Links & Cabot Cliffs

She swings she scores Youth Development

The Life of a Course Rater

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

BROOKE HENDERSON

Shedding light on your

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CONTENTS F EAT U RES

12​ INNISFAIL HOSTS MEN’S AMATEUR The Innisfail GC shows off its spectacular new clubhouse and a sensational golf course to Alberta’s best male amateurs.

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18

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TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

WHITVILLE

Highwood GCC has recovered from the “Flood of Floods” and hosts the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur.

Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs on Cape Breton Island have helped make Alberta’s Rod Whitman one of the fastest-rising golf course designers in the world.

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SHE SWINGS SHE SCORES

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWING GOLF

Alberta Golf’s newest ‘Grow the Game’ program is reaching out to young girls in hockey rinks across the province.

The explosion of interest in social media is fuelling interest in golf and helping to grow the game.

68 | WHAT’S NEW - SHAW CHARITY CLASSIC - NEW CLUBHOUSE IN INNISFAIL

71

- MACKENZIE TOUR RETURNS TO EDMONTON - FORT MCMURRAY GC OPENS THEIR FOXTAIL NINE - SCOTT VENTURO ALBERTA OPEN

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STEPPING UP THE F&B GAME

THE LIFE OF A COURSE RATER

Every golf course is paying increased attention to the importance of their food and beverage operations.

Long hours, hard work and math skills are the hallmarks of a successful course rater.

- NEW NET AMATEUR - PUMA GOLF HI-TOPS - CP WOMEN’S OPEN

76 | T RAVEL GOLF THE NORTH Profiles of many of northern Alberta’s wonderful golf courses.

8 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

PEOPLE 4 GALLERY 14 HEFFERNAN CHANGES FOCUS Calgary’s Wes Heffernan is transitioning from a career as a touring professional to that of a teacher.

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24 RILEY’S GREEN Canmore’s Riley Johns helped shape the incredible Cabot Cliffs course, with special care for one green in particular.

26 VETERAN BESTS THE YOUNG GUNS Calgary’s Kevin Temple won his third Alberta Men’s Mid-Am title and taught ‘the kids’ a few lessons along the way.

Interviews with three iconic Alberta and Canadian Hall-of-Famers.

64 A RESILIENT LOVE James Love won the 2015 Alberta Open and recalled the support and love of his late father.

66 ALBERTANS ABROAD

28 THE CHAMPIONS Profiles of many of Alberta Golf’s 2015 tournament winners.

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56 LEGENDS IN THEIR OWN TIME

42 BECOMING HER OWN TEAM Jennifer Ha is moving from college golf to the professional ranks.

48 THE REAL BOSS OF THE MOSS

Profiles of three young Albertans as they travel the world as touring professionals.

82 THE YEAR IN PICTURES 95 THE RETURN OF THE ASHDOWN CUP A long-lost junior trophy finds a new home at Alberta Golf headquarters.

Jim Ross calls it a career at the Alberta Turfgrass Research Centre at Olds College.

IN D U ST RY 10 MESSAGE FROM THE CEO OF ALBERTA GOLF

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34 INTERNATIONAL SPORT EXCHANGE DIARY

A daily log documenting the visit of a sport exchange program with juniors from Japan.

36 THE RULES HAVE CHANGED

Highlights and examples of some of the major rule changes for 2016.

46 WOMEN AND THE WOLF

The Canadian Women’s Mid-Am and Senior Championship comes to Wolf Creek Golf Resort.

88 SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS

54 NATIONAL JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT CENTRES

The National Golf In Schools program gets juniors started in golf through their phys-ed classes.

Courses and facilities across the country are becoming training and development hubs for junior golfers.

Golf returns to the Olympic Games after a century-long absence. Canada will defend its gold medal.

79 TOUR TALK

Aboriginal youngsters from Wabasca enjoyed their first tournament last summer on the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour.

Alberta is among Canada’s leaders in helping raise money for breast cancer research. RedTail Landing GC puts the fun in fundraising.

The Alberta Sport Action Plan is a blueprint for building success in all sports, and golf in particular.

94 TEAM ALBERTA “TAPS” INTO TALENT Team Alberta coaches have developed a unique scorecard to help juniors track their development.

T H E A L B E RTA

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF ALBERTA GOLF | 2016

innisfail

Social Media

Spurs Growth in Golf

Hosts Men’s Amateur

LPGA RETURNS TO PRIDDIS GREENS

Whitville

96 FINDING OUR STRIDE

Rod Whitman’s Stunning Cabot Links & Cabot Cliffs

She swings she scores

Alberta Golf transitions into the new leadership of CEO Phil Berube.

Youth Development

The Life of a Course Rater

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

86 GOLF FORE THE CURE

92 GOING THE DISTANCE

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF ALBERTA GOLF | 2016

63 OLYMPIC REVIVAL

90 AN EARLY START

THE ALBERTA GOLFER

60 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

COVER Innisfail Golf Club is hosting the 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship. Shown is the Par-3 4th hole on the Spruce Nine.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

BROOKE HENDERSON

Photo Credit: Gabriel Roux, Golf Canada

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

9

INDUSTRY

We Are Volunteers. We Enjoy Playing Golf.

And We Love To Give Back.

I

n 2015, almost 200 volunteers donated over 10,000 hours of their time to support Alberta Golf, representing the interests of over 57,000 members.

In addition to giving back to Alberta Golf, these same volunteers contributed countless more hours at their home clubs and in their communities. Giving back is in their blood.

“Golf has a long history of giving back to society and provides an annual charitable impact of about $4 billion per year through 143,000 events and 12 million participants. As a reference to other sports, golf raises more money for charity than the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL combined.”

– From The State Of The Golf Industry In 2015, Darren Heitner, April 4, 2015.

Similar statistics exist in Canada. In 2013, there were nearly 37,000 charitable events hosted at Canadian courses, up from 25,000 in 2008. These events raised more than $533 million for charitable causes across the country – National Allied Golf Association 2014 ‘Economic Impact of Golf in Canada’.

Tom Zariski knows that Alberta Golf has a lot of work ahead to ensure this spirit of giving back continues for another hundred plus years. As Alberta Golf’s vice president, Zariski has been charged with striking up the association’s volunteer engagement committee to generate more interest from a new demographic. “Our volunteers are approaching a time in their lives when they want to see the torch passed on to a younger group,” noted Zariski. “They’ve been carrying on as course raters and rules officials for a long time. We know we aren’t going to be able to rely on these folks forever.”

A recent study by Zariski’s committee supports his claim that Alberta Golf’s volunteer base is changing. A total of 184 volunteers submitted responses to a survey that revealed that these individuals have provided a combined 1,526 years of service to Alberta Golf; an average of over 8 years each. These volunteers expect to provide another 845 years of service or about 4.6 years each. Of the 184 volunteers, there are only 77 who consider themselves regular volunteers.

10 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

In support of new initiatives designed to attract more volunteers, Alberta Golf is undergoing a thorough review of its operation and during what is an incredible time of change. The association’s board of directors is firmly committed to embracing this change and has spent the past year combing through Alberta Golf’s entire operation looking for increased efficiencies. In doing so the association has identified new sources of revenue, introduced new programs like ‘She Swings She Scores’ and is investing more into high performance programs that will hopefully one day lead an Albertan onto the Olympic podium. As this exercise continues, the new programs offer more value for our services to our membership and help attract a new group of volunteers.

Attracting enough volunteer support to ensure the continued success of Alberta Golf’s programs and initiatives is one of our strategic priorities. Growing our volunteer base from today’s starting point of 184 will take some time. It is a journey that starts by perhaps simply asking one of our 57,000 Members to join us at the annual general meeting, or participate in a tournament, or maybe even sign up for a rules of golf clinic. It could even start by just asking a single golfer if he or she would like to join your group on the first tee.

Engaging golfers is now a round the clock exercise. Our digital media initiatives are continuing to expand to the point where industry experts have commented on Alberta Golf’s steadfast commitment to this new method of communication.

Stay tuned as an e-version of this magazine, along with other membership enhancements, find their way to your inbox in the months ahead.

Enjoy the 2016 Alberta Golfer magazine! ■

Phil Berube Executive Director/CEO Alberta Golf

2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Bob McGinn, Sturgeon Valley GC Vice President Tom Zariski, Dinosaur Trail GC Treasurer Augie Annicchiarico, Highlands GC Secretary Tiffany Gordon, Cottonwood G&CC Directors at Large Steven Johnson, Alberta Golf & Golf Canada Gold Susan MacKinnon, Willow Park G&CC Peter Major, Calgary G&CC Bill McNaughton, Glencoe G&CC Lorraine Moster, Alberta Golf & Golf Canada Gold

2015 PROFESSIONAL STAFF Phil Berube, Executive Director/CEO Jack Lane, Chief Operating Officer Robert Forshner, Manager, Rules & Competitions Tyler McConachy, Manager, Youth Development Landon Jones, Manager, Communications & Digital Media Chloe Mansfield, Manager, Member & Public Relations Angela Cooke, Project Coordinator Tyler Kemp, Communications Coordinator Stephen Wigington, Tournament Coordinator COACHING STAFF Randy Robb Manager, High Performance Sport and Head Coach, Team Alberta Boys

Luke Workman, Head Coach, Team Alberta Girls John Deneer Coach, Team Alberta Boys Development Squad

Golf Canada Director Leslie Dunning, 1st Vice President, Earl Grey GC

ALBERTA GOLF #22, 11410 27 Street SE, Calgary, Alberta T2Z 3R6 PH: 403.236.4616 FX: 403.236.2915 Toll Free: 1.888.414.4849 Email: info@albertagolf.org www.albertagolf.org

DESIGN & PRODUCTION ev+ Agency Suite 203, 15023 – 123 Avenue NW Edmonton, Alberta T5V 1J7 PH: 780.424.1111 FX: 780. 424.2884 Editor-In-Chief Jack Lane Managing Editor Chloe Mansfield Digital Editor Landon Jones Creative & Sales Manager Dunc Mills THE ALBERTA GOLFER is a print and digital magazine published annually by Alberta Golf in partnership with ev+ Agency. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from Alberta Golf. Thank you to all the golf clubs which allowed Alberta Golf to conduct provincial championships on their courses in 2015. Please enjoy the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer. www.thealbertagolfer.ca

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FEATURE

BY DANNY RODE

INNISFAIL HOSTS the

MEN’S AMATEUR THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW CHANGES SINCE THE LAST TIME THE INNISFAIL GOLF CLUB HOSTED THE SUN LIFE FINANCIAL ALBERTA MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP. The Bill Robinson-designed course, which opened in 1924, added nine holes and a new club house since the Amateur’s last appearance there in 2002. A new nine was opened in 2006, giving the already beautiful layout 27 holes while a sparkling new club house opened earlier this year.

“Having 27 holes gives us a different look than the last time we hosted this event,” said Innisfail head professional Jim Boomer. “It was easy for Alberta Golf to make a decision on which 18 they would use when we only “HAVING 27 HOLES GIVES US A DIFFERENT had 18 holes, but this year there are some LOOK THAN THE LAST TIME WE HOSTED THIS interesting options.”

EVENT” – JIM BOOMER Despite having the full 27 holes available, Alberta Golf will stay with the same 18 hole rotation for each day of the 72-hole 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship, set for July 19-22.

Boomer feels the calibre of player in the field will go a long way in determining the layout. “There are so many good

12 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

young players now in Alberta that have NCAA experience that I think we want the best layout given the high calibre of competition,” he said.

Playing from the tips the Aspen – Spruce layout comes in at slightly over 6,700 yards. “At first glance, the course looks short by today’s standards, but there are other factors that come into consideration,” said Boomer.

“The landing areas are often very tight, and the hills and undulations on the course limit the roll the players will get.

“On many holes, players will be hitting irons or hybrids off the tee, so the course will play longer. But in Innisfail, it almost always comes down to the players’ short game and putting.”

Of course, there are the tight, tree-lined fairways to overcome, but the course’s calling card has always been the lightning fast, immaculately groomed and always tricky greens.

“The greens are always a big factor here,” said Boomer.

“When we hosted in 2002, Ryan Yip won at even-par for the tournament, despite shooting 64 one day and 81 the next,” recalled Boomer. “We had some of our notorious Central Alberta weather come through a couple of days.”

Another defence for the course is the dense undergrowth lining many of the fairways.

“You don’t often miss a fairway and make only a bogey,” said Boomer. “If you’re consistently missing fairways, you may not be in contention for very long.”

Boomer was pleased to see the Aspen nine as part of the championship layout.

“There are so many different things that surprise you on that nine,” he said. “In a lot of cases it appears there’s a lot of room, but in the end the Aspen nine doesn’t play as roomy as it first appears and that nine also features generally larger greens.”

community” said Boomer. Some landscaping and viewing area enhancements are yet to come, but Boomer hopes the exposure the club will receive from hosting the 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur will gain the attention of Golf Canada to consider Innisfail as a possible future site for a national championship.

“The Board of Directors would like us to be considered for something nationally when it’s Alberta’s turn,” Boomer said. The Innisfail layout would be a picture-perfect layout for any provincial or national event. ■

Boomer adds, “When it comes to the greens on Aspen, we have the ability to put the pins in a lot of different, and difficult positions.”

Key holes on the Aspen nine are the 510-yard par-5 dogleg left second hole, featuring water along the left side up to the green, the 570-yard par-5 fourth with a blind tee shot, and the 183-yard par-3 fifth hole, all carry over water.

“We made some great changes to our Spruce nine as well, with the most significant being improving the greens on seven, eight and nine,” explained Boomer. “Previously, a competitor had a significant advantage if you had local course knowledge, but the improvements makes these greens fair for everyone.”

“IF YOU’RE CONSISTENTLY MISSING FAIRWAYS, YOU MAY NOT BE IN CONTENTION FOR VERY LONG.” – JIM BOOMER The latest and most impressive change to the facility is the spectacular new $1.9 million club house, which will be open by tournament time.

“We felt for some time the old club house was the least presentable aspect of the course,” said Boomer. “We have a great course, but the one thing we felt that wasn’t up to snuff was the club house.” Construction began in the fall of 2015 and thanks to the great winter has progressed quickly.

“The decision was made to build something we will have for the next 30 years,” said Boomer. “We still have our tournament house, but now we have so many other options for food and beverage service and to host other smaller events,” said Boomer. “The main room can seat up to 120 people in a variety of configurations, including the outside deck.

“This is something we really needed to complement a golf course of this calibre, and to serve the entire

Competitors will have to navigate some spectacular elevation changes at the Innisfail Golf Club. Shown is #4 – Spruce 9.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

13

PEOPLE

BY JEFFERSON HAGEN

Heffernan Changes Focus I

t’s possible Mackenzie Heffernan has already taken a swing or two since her birth in March. Pedigree should be her middle name.

After all, she’s the first-born of one of Calgary’s most successful pro golfers – Wes Heffernan —and one of the top golf fitness movement coaches in the country – Shannon Mantrop of the Golf Canada Calgary Centre.

Wes Heffernan is already dreaming of one day teaching his daughter the finer points of the game.

“That’s going to be really exciting,” he said. “My wife’s not only a trainer, but she’s a golf professional as well, so hopefully we have some good advice to pass on to our daughter, but that’s a long ways off.”

By that time, though, Heffernan should be a veteran instructor.

Last season, he took on a few of Mantrop’s clients and is now working as a teacher out of the Golf Canada Calgary Centre.

While the transition to instructing is a common step for pro golfers to eventually make in their careers, Heffernan is a unique case – he plans to continue playing.

“Everyone seems to think I’ve quit,

14

but I’m still going to play,” explained the 39-year-old journeyman pro.

Heffernan’s career highlights include two U.S. Open appearances – in 2001 and in 2011 when he made the cut – four career wins on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada and five Alberta Open championships. He is aiming to play mostly in PGA of Alberta events this season, while sticking closer to home with his young family.

Heffernan is still targeting a handful of Mackenzie Tour events – in Edmonton, Calgary, and possibly Kelowna. “I’m not going to be three to four weeks on the road. I’ll just teach throughout the year.”

Heffernan noted he got the bug to start teaching golf while working with his own coach, Dennis Sheehy, in California. “Before I saw him I didn’t really know that much about the golf swing. But he opened my eyes,” he said. “It was crazy how much I didn’t know for the level at which I played,” Heffernan commented.

“It’s actually been detrimental to my game in a way because I started to think too mechanically rather than just play.”

Last summer, Heffernan shook off those encumbrances and rediscovered his top form.

In July, he made the cut at the Web.com’s Albertsons Boise Open. Then he went on a Mackenzie Tour

run that included a T15 finish at the ATB Financial Classic last August at Cochrane’s Links of GlenEagles.

“To be honest, I should have won at GlenEagles or at least had a chance to win,” said Heffernan, who finished just six shots off winner Daniel Miernicki’s 17-under total. “Coming down the stretch, I got a little nervous because I hadn’t been in that position in a while. I just gave a few strokes away, but it was a really positive experience because I felt that I was back in it again.

“If I had maybe played five, six, seven more tournaments going into that event, I might have been able to pull that one out.”

So while Heffernan’s transition to teaching is a bit about making money and a bit about staying close to home, it’s also about playing more. PGA of Alberta events are one or two-day tournaments, making it easier to play lots of them.

“I’m looking at it as a positive. In the past five years, I’ve played perhaps 30 tournaments total, which is not a lot.

I’m hoping that playing a lot more tournaments this year will help me get back into that flow again.”

On the teaching side of things, Heffernan admits he has lots to learn, but a golfer of his calibre also has plenty of wisdom to impart.

“Being a good golfer doesn’t necessarily make you a good teacher,” he noted. “I think I’m going to learn from these guys (at the Golf Canada Calgary Centre) because there are many very good teachers here.

“From the response I’ve received so far from my clients, they seem to like the way I approach things. I’m pretty quiet, but I think that kind of helps me convey that skill to my clients – a calmness. In golf it’s really important to stay fairly calm.”

“BEING A GOOD GOLFER DOESN’T NECESSARILY MAKE YOU A GOOD TEACHER”– WES HEFFERNAN Perhaps someday soon, it may be the enthusiasm of the youngest golfer in the Heffernan clan that has papa beaming. ■

Heffernan poses with the Alberta Open Championship trophy, which he won in 2012 for the fifth time.

Paul Beaudry Grandson

Vince Brzostowski Visionary

EVERYONE HAS A STORY.

Gerry Nelson

Blind Golf Champion

TELL US YOURS.

Todd Keirstead Golf Entertainer

#golfcanadagolf Developed in partnership with Golf Canada – Governed by the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Copyright 2016.

FEATURE

BY CURTIS STOCK

TAKE THE

HIGH ROAD

H I G H W O O D H O S T S L A D I E S A M AT E U R

WE ALL KNOW THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME FLOOD THAT DEVASTATED SOUTHERN ALBERTA IN JUNE, 2013. THE RECOVERY FROM WHAT WAS THE COSTLIEST NATURAL DISASTER IN CANADIAN HISTORY LINGERS TO THIS DAY. Damage losses and recovery costs soared to over $5Billion.

Over 100,000 people had to be evacuated. Five people died.

The Highwood Golf and Country Club in High River was one of dozens of golf facilities in southern Alberta that suffered unbelievable damage in the flooding. Now, three years later, the golf course has bounced back and from July 5-7 will host the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship.

“It was overwhelming and scary,” said Lane Neilson, the long-time superintendent at Highwood, which along with Kananaskis Country, was one of the province’s hardest hit golf courses. “It was a real nightmare,” Neilson recalls. ”The water came in so fast and from every direction. I have witnessed three significant floods during my time here, but this one was in a league of its own.”

At the time, many wondered if they could even save the golf course. Yet this summer, Highwood will play host to the best women amateur players in the province.

“It’s remarkable, unbelievable and a real honour,” said Highwood general manager Graeme Kreiner. “We were supposed to host an Alberta Golf event two years ago, but the flood wiped out all chances of that happening. It’s great to be back on the rotation.”

16 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

It’s also great – never mind remarkably amazing – what Neilson, his assistant Brett Lindenback and 1,500 volunteers were able to do to get the golf course into the condition it is today.

“With most of my time spent on paper work and meetings, Brett, who was in his first year at the club, took the bull by the horns and did a wonderful job,” said Neilson. “Without the volunteers we wouldn’t have been able to save the course.

Most of the volunteers were actually from Calgary and ranged in age from 8 to 85,” Neilson said. “It was strangers working side-by-side.”

The volunteers had to remove debris that included thousands of rocks and splintered trees, but easily the hardest part was getting rid of a sea of mud and silt – in some places over three feet deep – that covered all 27 fairways and all but two greens.

Most of the silt and mud was shovelled, hosed and squeegeed off the greens by hand while some 17 acres of new sod was laid down on the fairways. “Then it was overseed and water, water, water,” said Neilson.

The latter was a major obstacle all by itself given that the irrigation pond had to be dredged because the intake was

completely clogged. “It wasn’t like the flood happened and it was done,” added Kreiner. “Everybody pitched in with volunteers helping out other volunteers. It showed what Canada is all about in this area.”

Highwood, which opened as a 9-hole course in 1958, eventually expanded to be a 27-hole layout. But the flood changed that. Now there are 18 very solid holes – many with mountain vistas – comprised of the Heritage and Mountain View nines.

The opening four holes on the Heritage side are completely new and a little more open than the original pre-flood layout.

All 18 holes are now on the ‘dry’ side of a 3.5-metre berm.

“Because of the raised berm, if there is another flood those holes will now all be safe,” said Neilson.

But that’s not all. The original four holes of the Heritage nine now form a practice loop while what was the Spitzee nine – the hardest hit of the 27 holes – has been converted into an executive-style six-hole course with three sets of tees, hazards and forgiving greens that will open later this summer.

“Spitzee was just about everyone else’s favourite nine because it was so peaceful down on the river banks.

Fortunately, six of those holes were able to be saved,” said Kreiner. “For people without time to play 18 holes – or for golfers who believe 18 holes is just too much – this offers a nice alternative.

“Time is probably the biggest deterrent to golf. My wife is a perfect example. Even nine holes are too much for her. She gets bored after about six holes. Now, people like her can play the six-hole course in just over an hour. They are still six very good holes. I can go out there with a brand new golfer and we can both have fun and be challenged.”

The four-hole practice loop also gives Highwood additional options. “For bigger events like charity tournaments we can

hold a 22-hole shotgun,” said Kreiner, who arrived this year from Golden, BC but who grew up on the Hinton course under head pro Doug Lecuyer.

For the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur, the players will contest the Heritage/Mountain View layout, which will almost undoubtedly come down to the final three holes to decide a champion.

“No. 16 is a relatively short par-4. No. 17 is a drivable par-4 with water in front of the green and No. 18 plays as a par-5 for the ladies,” Kreiner said. ”It wouldn’t really surprise me if somebody has a birdie“WITHOUT THE VOLUNTEERS WE WOULDN’T eagle-eagle finish.

HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE THE COURSE.” “At Highwood you want – LANE NEILSON to get off to a fast start, hang on through the tougher middle holes and then finish real strong. All 18 holes are a fair test.

What you see is what you get; there are no tricks.”

In 2002, Highwood achieved designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Three years after the flood, the course is finally out of the construction and rebuilding phases. The club is welcoming a lot of young families as new members and many former members are returning.

Environment Canada called the 2013 disaster “The Flood of Floods,” while the mantra of the relief program was called “Come Hell or High Water”. Highwood overcame the odds.

“There is a perception that our course is still damaged. But that’s not the case at all,” said Kreiner. “I’m telling people that chapter of our story is finished. We’ve turned the page.

We’ve escaped to a new high road.” ■

Water hazards, bunkers and trees will all pose great challenges for the competitors in the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Highwood GCC.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

17

FEATURE

BY ANDREW PENNER

WHITVILLE A COLD, WET WIND IS WHIPPING OFF THE SEA IN INVERNESS, NOVA SCOTIA AND – JUST A FEW KILOMETERS NORTH OF TOWN ON A DESERTED PLOT OF RUGGED, SEASIDE LAND – A LONE BULLDOZER HUMS AGAINST THE HOWL. Nobody else is around. Anyone who braved the elements on this blustery October day has long since taken cover in a Tim Horton’s or a fire-warmed pub. But inside the cramped machine a determined Rod Whitman is hard at work, alone with his thoughts, his vision, sculpting his plan for what would soon become one of the greatest seaside courses in the world.

While Whitman, the talented architect-shaper from Ponoka, AB, didn’t actually design Cabot Cliffs (that honour belongs to the venerable duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw), his stamp is all over it. So much so, in fact, that his close friend, Coore, dubbed a significant section of the course – a massive parcel that comprises holes 1,7,8,9, and 10 – “Whitville.” It’s a cool tribute, no doubt.

But it also makes sense. Those holes, in large part, are Whitman’s handiwork.

Indeed, the entire Cabot Links project, which has taken the golf world by storm, could rightfully be called “Whitville.” After all, it was Whitman who crafted the original Links course at Cabot. His cunning Scottish-like creation, his eighth solo design, has received numerous Photo Credit: Glynis Santee

accolades. In 2014 it debuted in the lofty number two position on SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Courses in Canada list.

And in its first year of eligibility on Golf Digest’s list of the Top 100 Courses in the World, it took the 47th slot.

Not that the rankings are the be-all and end-all. The proof is always in the pudding. And the original Links course, built on a reclaimed mine site hard on the sea, features numerous holes – and stretches of holes – that are absolutely breathtaking, both in terms of their beauty and their design merits. The run from fourteen through sixteen, for example, which begins with a tiny par-3 set on a windblasted bluff, is exceptional. Fifteen and sixteen, both rock-solid par-4s, cruise along the coast and are framed with gorgeous, grass-capped dunes. Authentic links golf of the finest order? Yes, Whitman can definitely do that.

But, as evidenced by his impressive volume of work – including his extensive shaping on the newly opened Cliffs course, which is decidedly different but every bit as good as the Links – he can do many things. Especially when it involves sculpting ground for golf.

In an impressive career that now spans over five decades, Whitman has worked on over 50 different projects in numerous countries, including Indonesia, Mexico, Germany, France, and in many golf-rich regions in the United States like Nebraska, New York, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oregon.

His most recent work is a renovation/restoration of the Austin Golf and Country Club in Texas, which played host to the World Golf Match Play Championship this past March. So, yes, the best players in the world – in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world – have had first-hand experiences with Whitman’s ingenious work. Not surprisingly, their verdict was overwhelmingly positive.

Rod Whitman at work on Cabot Links.

18 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

“Rod Whitman’s artistry and solid, thoughtful work has, for some unknown reason, long been under appreciated,”

Photo Credit: Andrew Penner

The par-5 10th hole at Cabot Cliffs was dubbed part of ‘Whitville’ by Bill Coore.

says legendary golfer Ben Crenshaw, who has worked with Whitman on a number of projects over the years.

“He seems to fly under the radar in the golf world, but I can certainly tell you I view him as a talented, hardworking friend who not only has built some fine courses on his own, but who also lends a hand wherever he sees fit. The results are always welcomed and admired.”

Unlike many of the famous architects who simply declared themselves active “players” in the golf course architecture “game” (thanks, mainly, because of their ability to hit 2-irons and hoist Claret Jugs), Whitman, who sports a single-digit handicap, got his start the old fashioned way. That is, he earned his stripes by first working on the maintenance crew at the Ponoka Golf Club. And it was there where his passion and knowledge of the game took root.

That intense passion he developed for the game drove him to Texas in the late 1970s, primarily to play golf in the winter. While in Texas, in a chance encounter, he met architect Bill Coore, who was working on a new Pete Dye course in the area. That one encounter with the down-toearth Coore (many golf writers and industry professionals consider Coore the best golf course architect working today) would shape the rest of Whitman’s life.

“Bill Coore introduced me to golf as a strategic game,” remembers Whitman. “To think about where you want to

hit the ball and why. I embraced those principles and it opened my thinking in terms of what was possible when creating golf holes.” Later that year Whitman took a job working for the artistic, free-thinking Pete Dye and his career started to take shape. “Unquestionably, Pete Dye and Bill Coore have had the most impact on my career.

Not only are they life-long friends, but they have been mentors from day one.

It’s been an honour and a privilege to “ROD WHITMAN’S ARTISTRY AND SOLID, work with them and THOUGHTFUL WORK HAS, FOR SOME UNKNOWN for them on many REASON, LONG BEEN UNDER APPRECIATED” different projects over the years.”

– BEN CRENSHAW A few years later, after working on a number of courses for Dye and really grasping the finer aspects of strategic “Golden Age” design – which is best exemplified by the 1920s-era masterworks by architects such as Dr. Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast, and Canada’s Stanley Thompson, to name a few – Whitman returned to Alberta and seized an opportunity that would springboard his career and, ultimately, etch his name into the annals of Canadian golf history. He created Wolf Creek.

Located near his hometown of Ponoka, Wolf Creek was a labour of love with his good friend, Ryan Vold, who is still the President of the Wolf Creek Golf Resort. Brimming

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FEATURE

with confidence and architectural ideas that hadn’t been tested in Alberta, perhaps Canada, before, Whitman put his heart and soul into crafting the legendary design, which seamlessly tumbles and rolls through both prairie and parkland.

Contrary to what most people believe, Wolf Creek, which opened in 1983, was not just laid down amid natural and existing prairie dunes. “It’s a great compliment to know that many people still think the shapes, the dunes, the depressions, are completely natural,” says Whitman, who relishes every opportunity to get back to his homeland and play the course that, to a large degree, started it all. “We moved and sculpted an amazing amount of dirt out there.

Much of it by hand. I think that’s why it turned out special.”

Not surprisingly, the same high standards were in play when Whitman would later create Blackhawk, a private club just south of Edmonton on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. As is customary for Whitman, much of his time at Blackhawk was spent in the bulldozer, getting hands-on with the creative process. Thanks to Whitman’s intricate and ingenious shaping, especially on and around the greens, it’s the type of course where a new secret will be unlocked every time you play.

Especially on the gorgeous holes that plunge into the valley on the back nine.

Sagebrush, too, which came along in 2009, was also a stunning, links-like creation that turned plenty of heads.

Parading through ragged, rock-peppered hills high above Nicola Lake near Merritt, BC, Sagebrush (which may have finally found its feet thanks to Troon Golf taking over management duties), is both beauty and beast. Like all of Whitman’s courses, it’s laced with variety, strategic shot options, incredible contouring on the greens, beautiful bunkering, and an effortless route that incorporates the best natural features the site has to offer. SCOREGolf ranks it 10th in the country.

Fast forward seven years and it’s now the gorgeous holes at Cabot Links – on both courses – that are putting Whitman front and center in the golf world. “Golf on the ocean doesn’t get much better than at Cabot. The two courses are stylistically very different,” says Whitman, who has spent the better part of six years sculpting golf holes at Cabot Links. “The Cliffs has much more variety in terms of its topography. It’s characterized by high cliffs on one end and sand dunes on the other end. The Links has an old-world Scottish feel. Hopefully people who play at Cabot appreciate the merits of both courses.”Without a doubt, they will. Thanks to Cabot Cliffs’ unparalleled drama (Golf Digest recently placed it 19th on their prestigious list of the Top 100 Courses in the World) and the timeless charms of the original Links course, Cabot Links has a rightful claim to being the best one-two punch in Canada. And, like Coore, we can tip our hats to the inspiring work of Rod Whitman – including the fascinating fortress known as “Whitville” – for making that a reality. ■

#7 at Blackhawk – The bunkers are very reflective of Rod Whitman’s course designs.

20 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

With daily flights into St. George on Delta and United or just 90 minutes north of Las Vegas on I-15, getting there couldn’t be easier. Going home...well, that may take some convincing.

You’ve played the same old courses and been to the typical desert golf destinations countless times.

It’s time to revitalize your game on the Red Rock Golf Trail in St. George, Utah.

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Sand Hollow Golf Club has it’s own standard for unique course design that includes an 18 hole championship track as well as a walkable 9 hole links style course. Have you ever played golf on a cliff? Well, get ready because on this John Fought course, you might find yourself teeing one off over the edge just to see how far you can make it fly.

For New Traditions

Falcon Ridge Hole #3

Being inspired by your surroundings while is one of the golf on Mars, golfing most relaxing feelings... but pretty close especially when you’re playing well.

St. George, Utah is quickly becoming the new tradition for destination golf trips, and it’s easy to see why. Impressive courses, intriguing terrain and inviting rates are sure to impress your golf group.

By now you’ve probably heard of the Red Rock Golf Trail with it’s 10 amazing courses, like Sand Hollow, Coral Canyon and The Ledges, just to name a few. That’s 189 holes to get your game on. Oh, and not to mention they’re open for play 365 days a year. Off season? No such thing in St. George.

No, that’s not

Coral Canyon Golf Club is all about the colors. You will be amazed at how green the fairways are in this rustic desert. The fairways here are wide and nicely forgiving – so go ahead, flex your muscles and go for your longest drive. The most common thing golfers say about Coral Canyon is just how fun it is. Golf?

Fun? Hmmm, now there’s an idea.

The Ledges Golf Club comes with unique views of it’s own. The red rock panoramas from the rim of Snow Canyon State Park make you feel like you’re playing golf in a postcard. Designed by renowned golf course architect Matt Dye this course has a friendly atmosphere with an upscale pro shop and delightful restaurant.

Falcon Ridge Golf Club is another desert gem on the Red Rock Golf Trail. Just 40 minutes south of St. George, it’s totally worth the drive. This course has so many water features you’ll forget you’re golfing in the desert. With all its elevated tee boxes you’ll see a side of golf you’ve never seen before.

Sky Mountain is as scenic as it is challenging. The course is appropriately named for the amazing views

from the elevated tee boxes. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself gazing off at the cliffs of Zion National Park and the azure rim of the Pine Valley Mountains in the distance. Anywhere you look and anytime you play, it’s simply gorgeous!

dition with large greens that make for long and rewarding putts. It’s another great course to walk to mix a little exercise in with your game. There are three par 3’s over water that you’ll have fun with, along with a couple holes where the greens are on a small peninsula.

Sunbrook Golf Club is right in town and has a great variety of what the Red Rock Golf Trail has to offer. Play from the top of the bluffs to the desert floor. Shoot through black lava rock and try to avoid the red sand traps. There is even a par 3 island hole that will leave you dreaming about a hole in one.

Dixie Red Hills is the pioneer of St. George golf, opening for play in the mid 1960’s. If you want to play in the red rocks, you can’t get any closer than this. You’ll be calling shots off the boulders, around the cliffs and through the trees as you find your way to the green. The fairways are lined with large cottonwood trees which are great for shade and keeping your game on track. It’s a perfect place for a quick nine holes right in the heart of St. George.

Green Spring Golf Club is a favorite among locals and guests. Holes 5 and 6 have you shooting across red rock ravines that will get your heart racing. There is plenty of water here to have fun with, especially on number 15. You might find yourself wanting to tee off a couple extra balls just to see if you can cut the corner to the green Southgate can be a walkable course for those looking to mix a little exercise in with their golf game. This is a “doable” course that weaves alongside the Santa Clara river – just close enough to make it beautiful and keep the game interesting. Eight of the first nine holes have water features, so you’ve got to be accurate. But the fairways are wide, so there’s usually a safe place to play.

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St. George Golf Club is another course you won’t want to miss. Open since 1976, this course is a local tra-

Sand Hollow Hole #13

Booking

Coral Canyon Sand Hollow Dixie Red Hills Falcon Ridge Sky Mountain Green Spring The Ledges Southgate Sunbrook St. George

The Ledges Hole #12

PEOPLE

BY WES GILBERTSON , THE CALGARY SUN

Photo Credit: Riley Johns

Riley’s Green IT’S ALREADY BEING BILLED BY MANY AS CANADA’S BEST GOLF COURSE.

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hat you might not realize is that Cabot Cliffs – a coastal stunner near Inverness on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island that opened to instant acclaim last summer – has an Alberta influence.

Not only did Canmore’s Riley Johns work on the shaping crew, but his winning entry in an international design competition came to life on the one-of-a-kind fourth hole at Cabot Cliffs. That Par-3 assignment has a pair of putting surfaces, including one that Bill Coore – half of a superstar design duo that also includes two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw – refers to as “Riley’s green.”

“That was just Bill’s reference,” Johns protested. “Those of us on the shaping crew always refrained from claiming a design feature on a golf hole as our own – not saying ‘that’s my bunker’ or ‘that’s my tee-deck.’ Everyone on the team shares in creating the art of a golf hole. It’s one of the few art forms, I think, that has multiple sculptors working on different aspects rather than one artist who says, ‘That’s my masterpiece, and nobody else can touch it.’”

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Riley’s mentioned ‘Lido’ hole during the shaping process.

A good analogy, especially since this story starts with Johns’ artwork for the 2014 Lido Design Competition, an annual contest for up-and-coming course architects that is sponsored by the Alister MacKenzie Society. In 1914, MacKenzie won the original Lido competition in Country Life magazine that was a launching point for a legendary career that included design credits at Augusta National, Royal Melbourne and countless other renowned courses.

The challenge in 2014, as the society marked the centennial of MacKenzie’s winning entry, was to design a Par-3 that best reflected Alister’s philosophies.

Johns dreamed up a tricky one-shotter with several terrifying bunkers. The entry included a fictional back-story about how members at the famed Cypress Point Club in California had discovered ‘The Lost Hole at Cypress Point.’

Johns was logging long hours on a bulldozer or excavator at Cabot Cliffs – the sister course to Cabot Links, designed by Alberta’s own Rod Whitman of Ponoka (see p. 18) – when he received word that his Lido Design Competition effort was picked as the winner from nearly 100 entries.

At about the same time, Coore and Crenshaw were finalizing the plans for the fourth hole at Cabot Cliffs, which would be declared the best new course on the planet in 2015 by virtually the entire golf industry. It debuted at No. 19 on Golf Digest’s rundown of the World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, a nearly unheard of level of acclaim.

The all-star design duo was keen on what would become the ‘lower’ green in the design, but co-owner Ben Cowan-Dewar – the driving force behind the bucket-list 36hole layout – was making a case to perch a putting surface further to the right, which would provide a scenic sightline of a river feeding into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Cowan-Dewar’s partner Mike Keiser – best known as the man behind Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on Oregon’s rugged coast – suggested that they build both dance-floors.

‘The Lost Hole’ was about to be found.

“I had been having some fun – probably at Riley’s expense – about his Lidowinning design being so spectacular,” Coore recalled. “I just said, ‘This looks like the setting for your Lido hole.’ We sort of joked about that a bit, but in all fairness, it did look very much like the setting for

the artistic rendition he had done for his winning entry for the contest. I just said ‘Riley, this is your green. You go to work on this.’ It was just one of those nice things that evolved in the process of building a golf course.

“And it just made sense for Riley to be the one to do it.”

Riley’s green is officially the ‘upper’ on the fourth hole on the scorecard at Cabot Cliffs, only 154 yards from the tips but hardly a cinch for birdie-seekers.

How close is the finished product to Johns’ Lido-winning design? A gnarly bunker on the left is “pretty much bang-on” in size and shape, while a sand-trap on the right is in essentially in the same spot. The contour of the putting surface is different, while ‘The Lost Hole’ included a pot-bunker that wasn’t built at Cabot Cliffs.

“The stars aligned, I suppose, but it was never like, ‘OK, I’m going to move a bunch of dirt to make this look like the Lido hole,” Johns insisted. “The land was calling for the exact shape we ended up with. Bill told me to go build that green and then the joke became that I built the Lido hole. But it was basically already there. I didn’t have to do much.”

Johns, the principal designer for Canmorebased Integrative Golf Co., isn’t giving himself enough credit. “Hopefully, Riley will get some recognition for all the creative things he did out there. It wasn’t just that one green,” said Coore, whose lengthy list of award-winning co-designs with Crenshaw includes Sand Hills in Nebraska, two layouts at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and the restoration of Pinehurst No. 2, host of both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open on back-to-back weeks in 2014.

“Obviously I’m prejudiced, but I think our guys are the best in the world that create these landforms in such interesting fashion,” said Coore. “People often look at men like Riley, and say ‘Oh, they’re just shapers.

They just go by plans. They’re just good equipment operators.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. That doesn’t even

scratch the surface when you’re talking about exceptional people like Riley and a bunch of other fellows that we have worked with.

“The fact is that any one of them, given the right opportunity, could design a really special golf course because they have that

“PEOPLE OFTEN LOOK AT MEN LIKE RILEY, AND SAY ‘OH, THEY’RE JUST SHAPERS. THEY JUST GO BY PLANS. THEY’RE JUST GOOD EQUIPMENT OPERATORS.’ NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.” – BILL COORE

degree of talent. They understand design concepts and what goes into making a golf course special. It’s fun to see them work on the ground. It’s fun to interact with them.

Riley is just so enthusiastic and so excited and so positive. That’s an infectious quality that’s great to be around.”

This isn’t the last you’ll hear of Johns, who turns 33 this October. He already has his own firm – the hard-working three-man team at Integrative Golf Co. that includes Trevor Dormer and Dan Philcox who were also members of the shaping squad at Cabot Cliffs. This Alberta trio seems to be on track for a bright future in the course design business.

to landing an internship with Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design. After Cabot Cliffs opened for preview play last summer, Johns barely had time to catch his breath before joining the shapers at Mickelson National Golf Club just west of Calgary, beginning to bring the vision of PGA Tour superstar Phil Mickelson to life on what has become Alberta’s most-anticipated course construction in many years.

“I just want to be a part of interesting, exciting projects,” Johns said matter-of-factly.

“I want to create quality golf experiences.”

“Cabot Cliffs is just the perfect journey through a beautiful Cape Breton landscape,” Johns said. “It meanders through all sorts of different genres of landscapes, whether it’s forest, cliffs, links-land, dunes-scape or marshland. The variety of golf holes and shots and views is almost surreal. You can see a moose one minute or spot a bald eagle soaring around the forest area the next. On the holes along the ocean, you might see whales or dolphins. Then you’re playing along these spectacular cliffs and you’re looking at birds diving and fishing.

“It just has everything jammed into one amazing golf course.”

Including Riley’s green. Whether he wants the credit or not. “Whatever wonderful successes he goes on to, I think he’ll always have a huge amount of pride – and should – in that,” Cowan-Dewar said. “And I think that’s pretty awesome.” ■

Photo Credit: Riley Johns

Johns cut his teeth close to home, working with the construction crews at Desert Blume in Medicine Hat and Wildstone in Cranbrook, BC as well as on several renovation efforts.

He earned a landscape architecture degree at the University of Guelph, which led Riley with his clubs and CAT at the ready on the practice facility.

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BY TODD SAELHOF,

THE CALGARY SUN

Veteran Bests the You THE GOLF GODS HAVE OPENED UP NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR KEVIN TEMPLE.

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erhaps even a shot at one day playing in the RBC Canadian Open.

At age 49, that’s nothing to sneeze at.

“That would be very good,” said Temple, chuckling at the thought of such a fantastic early 50th birthday gift from the sport he’s been playing since he was a teenager.

“My goal has always been to win the Canadian Mid-Amateur,” continued the Calgarian, a member of Country Hills Golf Club. “It’s a very big goal, but there isn’t a tournament I enter that I don’t think I can win.”

These days, such a dream is hardly out of reach for Temple. He’s the owner of three Alberta Men’s Mid-Amateur Championships – in 2007, ’10 and ’15 –

each of which gave him an exemption to the national mid-am event later that same year. The winner of the annual Canadian Mid-Am earns a spot in the next RBC Canadian Open.

At age 48, Temple put together his finest finish in beating all swingers – young and old – to capture the Alberta Mid-Am crown at Sundre’s Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort last July.

Armed with his trusty driver and the unconditional support of his wife Jennifer, who sometimes doubles as his caddie, Temple is arguably playing the best golf

Temple carded a final-round bogey-free 7-under-par 64, tying the course record.

His 54-hole total of 12-under-total 201 was two shots better than both Brandon Markiw of the Edmonton Petroleum Club and Stony Plains’ Jeff Murdoch.

of his life.

His latest push to appear on the national stage saw him top not only the best of Alberta golfers aged 40 and over, but also talents as young as 25. Alberta Golf has lowered its age minimum to participate in the provincial mid-am from 40 to 25 to fall in line with the mid-am age eligibility of other provinces and governing bodies, including that of Golf Canada and the USGA.

We sat down with Kevin Temple to ask him about his win last year.

Q: Looking at your scores of 70-67-64, you consistently got better as the week went on, and not a lot of guys there could say that. Did you feel that?

A: Yeah. I made my last bogey on the 27th hole there, and I seemed to find something on the back nine of the second day – I shot 29.

And I just carried it on through the third day.

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26 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

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ng Guns Q: So the old dog showed the young guys some old tricks?

A: It did come down to that. I was very aggressive. On the first hole, a par-5, I hit a good drive and then a hybrid from 230 yards over water to the back of the green and made a two-putt birdie. On second hole, a par-3, I hit it to three feet to start birdie-birdie.

Q: After making birdies on 11, 12, 13 and 15 in the final round, is that when you thought, ‘This is where I’m winning this thing’?

A: On the final day, we had to wait on the tee-box of No. 16, a drivable par-4, for about 15 minutes, and a lot of things were going through my head. I decided I would hit iron off the tee and try to make them catch me rather than me make a mistake and come back to the field. So that’s where I really started thinking about winning.

Q: So is that your crowning achievement in golf?

A: Previously, some people might say, ‘It’s a 40-and-over tournament, so it’s not that big of a Sunlife HP Ad_2016.pdf

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deal.’ Now that it has changed it to ages 25-andover, I think it is my best accomplishment.

Temple then took his game to the 2015 Canadian Mid-Am at Abercrombie Country Club in New Glasgow, NS and finished tied for 12th with a 15-over 295.

Kevin Temple at the 2015 Alberta Mid-Amateur Championship, where he claimed his most recent title.

But it’s the outright win he’s looking for to get him into the RBC Canadian Open.

“This year I’m hoping to qualify for the Canadian Amateur (with the winner also earning a berth in the RBC Canadian Open), so I’m going to play the Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur in Innisfail for the first time since 2008,” Temple said. “I just want to see if I still have it at that level,” even though age just doesn’t seem to be an issue for Temple.

“Just like a fine wine, I guess.” ■ 12:22 PM

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Are you ready for life’s back nine? We can help. www.sunlife.ca Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies. © Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2016.

Life’s brighter under the sun ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

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PEOPLE

the

Champions

KATY RUTHERFORD

28 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

PEOPLE

BY WES GILBERTSON, THE CALGARY SUN

BRETT HOGAN

JENNIFER HA

MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPION

LADIES AMATEUR CHAMPION

JUNIOR BOYS CHAMPION

An eight-stroke lead is quite a cushion.

Calgary’s Jennifer Ha had one last crack at this particular crown.

The fine folks at Camrose Golf Course could have warned the rest of the field.

Then again, nothing was going to stop Andrew Harrison at the 2015 Alberta Junior Boys Championship at Henderson Lake Golf Club in Lethbridge.

It’s not necessarily as comfortable as you might think, though.

Just ask Calgary’s Brett Hogan, who found himself in uncharted territory en route to a wire-to-wire win at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship at the Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club. “It was… different.

I’ve never had a lead like that before,” Hogan said. “It was a new experience. In the end, I just wanted to play my own game.”

Although he closed with a 76 after three straight rounds in the 60s, Hogan hung on for a three-shot victory at 7-under 281.

“It was one of those experiences that you don’t really forget,” said Hogan, a graduate of the junior program at Willow Park Golf & Country Club and member of the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners golf squad.

She didn’t let it go to waste.

Ha happily crossed an item off her to-do list with a four-stroke victory at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Lynx Ridge Golf Club.

“I knew that it would be my last Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur event, so I really wanted to win the title and play well there before I turned professional,” Ha said.

Ha, a member at Country Hills Golf Club, posted a three-day total of 8-under 205 at Lynx Ridge.

“The thing that I remember the most is making birdie on the last hole to shoot 67 in the last round,” Ha said. “I really felt like I earned the win at that point.“

ANDREW HARRISON

“The couple of weeks leading up to that tournament, I’d really been playing great golf,” Harrison recalled. “I had just shot a course record 11-under 60 in Camrose.”

His 72-hole total of 9-under 271 was a baker’s dozen better than any of the other hopefuls could manage. With his triumph at the 2015 Alberta Junior Boys Championship, Harrison also erased the sting from the previous summer, when he was perched atop the leaderboard after three rounds but eventually finished as the runner-up.

Jennifer is currently a rookie on the National Women’s Golf Association Tour and earned her first professional win in April.

“That was my goal for a few years – to win that event,” Harrison said. “I’d been trying since I was about 14, so to be on that trophy now is pretty cool.”

romped to a 15-shot runaway in the threeday event at Henderson Lake Golf Club in Lethbridge.

although she now lives in Texas, the talented teen returns every summer to tee it up in the provincial showdown.

She’ll have a tough act to follow in 2016 after carding three straight scores of

than everybody.

“The Alberta provincials was the first tournament that I ever played as a junior,” Rutherford said. “At that time I was really excited because I didn’t finish last.”

It wasn’t even close, in fact, as Rutherford

Rutherford was born in Calgary and

KATY RUTHERFORD JUNIOR & JUVENILE GIRLS CHAMPION Six years earlier, in her first tee-off at the Alberta Junior & Juvenile Girls Championship, Katy Rutherford was simply thrilled to post a better score than somebody.

This time, she posted a better score

1-over 72 in a superb performance at Henderson Lake.

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JAMES LOVE OPEN CHAMPION If you spot James Love’s name near the top of the leaderboard, look out.

Love rattled off five straight birdies during the closing round of Alberta Golf’s marquee event, shooting to a one-stroke victory at Carnmoney Golf & Country Club near Calgary.

FLOYD KILGORE (L)

FLOYD KILGORE SENIOR MEN’S CHAMPION Floyd Kilgore skipped dessert and headed to the driving range instead.

The result was a sweet victory at the 2015 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship.

Kilgore struggled on the second day of the three-round shootout at Red Deer Golf & Country Club, but a late-night practice session paid off as he clawed back to claim his second provincial senior crown.

“I hit balls until they kicked me off because it was getting dark, so I was prepared for the third day.”

The next day, he played great, carding a 4-under 68 to surge to a three-shot victory.

He finished with a 54-hole score of evenpar 216.

“I worked on the driver a lot that night because at Red Deer, you have to hit your driver straight,” Kilgore said. “I hit it right down the middle and that made all the difference.”

“When I get in contention, I usually pull it out,” Love said. “It just seems like the handful of events I have won, I close it out.”

With a two-day score of 7-under 135 at Carnmoney, Love reminded everybody that he’s once again healthy and still capable of the handiwork that made him the 2005 Alberta Amateur king and winner of the Canadian Tour Championship in 2008.

It was an emotional triumph for the Calgaryraised pro, whose father and biggest fan, Rod, passed away in October 2014.

“I’m upset that he’s not here,” Love said after accepting the Open trophy and his $5,000 first-place paycheque. “Because he would have enjoyed it more than I would.”

PATRICK MURPHY MATCH PLAY CHAMPION Thanks to a bunch of timely birdies, Patrick Murphy was able to chirp his buddies.

Consider it one of the perks of being last-man-standing at the 2015 Match Play Championship at Carnmoney Golf & Country Club.

“As amateurs, we all grew up playing together and everyone knows everyone,” Murphy said with a chuckle. “It’s just fun.

I think the golf community is close in Alberta and tournaments like that give us a little more incentive when you’re playing against friends.”

KIM CARRINGTON

KIM CARRINGTON SENIOR LADIES CHAMPION Calgary’s Kim Carrington had a good feeling about the 2015 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Ladies Championship.

After all, she had fond memories of a previous trophy celebration at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club. “I had a won a city amateur event there a number of years ago,” Carrington said. “So I knew it was a great golf course for me. I like Glencoe and I’ve had success there before.”

Carrington captured her first provincial senior title, posting a three-day tally of 5-over 218 en route to a six-stroke victory.

She sealed the deal with a 2-under 69 in the final round, ending a streak wherein five of the six previous years the winner had come from BC. “That just makes it even more special to get a win, knowing that there were lots of top players coming into our territory to compete for the title.”

Murphy eliminated Alex Large, Geoff Fry and Jesse Galvon before a 5 & 3 victory over Brett Pasula in the finals.

“Because match play is such an emotional form of competition, you have to just try to play level and you need to strike when it counts,” Murphy said. “I was able to play really level when my opponents were in trouble and I played aggressively at the right times.”

JAMES LOVE

30 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

PATRICK MURPHY

ALEXANDER SMITH JUVENILE BOYS CHAMPION Calgary’s Alexander Smith is optimistic – and understandably so – that his biggest golf accomplishments are still ahead.

ALEXANDER SMITH

No matter what happens in the future, though, it’s nifty to know he’s already left his name on a piece of provincial championship hardware. Smith guaranteed that with a one-shot victory at the 2015 Alberta Juvenile Boys Championship at Henderson Lake Golf Club.

“It’s a trophy that is going to be played for every year and a long time from now, someone will look back and see my name on there,” Smith said.

ETHAN CHOI & ANNABELLE ACKROYD

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It was a special summer for Smith, who also finished atop the leaderboard at the CN Future Links Prairie Championship.

“You just really have to stay calm and not worry about things,” said Smith, who plays his home games at Pinebrook Golf & Country Club. Smith was subsequently named to Golf Canada’s national development squad for 2016.

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ETHAN CHOI & ANNABELLE ACKROYD BANTAM CHAMPIONS It was the most dominant performance at any of Alberta Golf’s provincial showdowns.

Calgary’s Annabelle Ackroyd opened up a sizable lead on the opening day of the 2015 Alberta Bantam Championship and never looked back, posting rounds of 80-81 to run away from the rest of the field at Goose Hummock Golf Club in Gibbons.

“I was looking for two good scores,” said Ackroyd, a member at Silver Springs Golf & Country Club.

There was more intrigue atop the leaderboard on the boys’ side, with Pincher Creek’s Ethan Choi finishing two shots clear at 4-over 146.

Four shots off the pace after the opening round, Choi signed for a second-round even-par 71 that included a bogey on the closing hole. “I just kept focusing on trying to get the next shot close. I think that helped me just stay in the moment.”

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KEVIN TEMPLE

MEAGHAN LEBLANC

MEN’S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPION

LADIES MID-AMATEUR CHAMPION

A nine-hole score of 29?! That was something new for Kevin Temple. A triumph at the Alberta Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship? That’s a common occurrence for the Country Hills Golf Club member.

Meaghan LeBlanc figured her day was done.

Temple completed his hat trick of provincial mid-am crowns with a 2-stroke victory last summer at Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort in Sundre, starting his surge with a 6-under 29 on the back nine during day two of the three-round shootout and then matching the competitive course record with a 7-under 64 in his final round.

Temple, signed for a three-day total of 12-under 201. “I didn’t make a bogey from my 27th hole on. Something just clicked.”

Temple also won the provincial title in 2007 and 2010. “This one was kind of special because it was the first year of ages 25-and-over. I was 48 at the time and to be playing against the 25-year-olds and to still be able to win felt great.”

Not so fast. Immediately after sinking what she thought was her final putt at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Ladies Amateur Championship at Calgary’s Lynx Ridge Golf Club, LeBlanc received word that she was headed back to No. 18 tee for a playoff to crown the provincial mid-amateur winner.

“I was a little surprised,” LeBlanc admitted.

“Most of the focus is on the Ladies Amateur tournament.”

KEVIN TEMPLE

“Jocelyn Alford (Earl Grey) and I just got in a cart and went back out.” LeBlanc, a member at Bearspaw Golf & Country Club, ensured they weren’t back out for long. With Alford needing to chip out of the trees, LeBlanc made a routine par for provincial mid-amateur bragging rights.

“I had a good week and I really enjoyed myself,” said LeBlanc, who posted a three-day tab of 9-over 222 at Lynx Ridge.

“And it’s always nice to have an Alberta provincial championship to your name.” ■

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2015-04-22 2:31 PM ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

INDUSTRY

BY CHLOE MANSFIELD,

MANAGER, MEMBER & PUBLIC RELATIONS, ALBERTA GOLF

International Sport Day 2 – Thursday, September 17 While in Alberta’s capital, we couldn’t pass on an opportunity to show our visitors the Legislature Building. We were led on an extensive tour of the Legislature by a passionate tour guide, while an interpreter translated for our guests. The athletes took plenty of pictures of the art and architecture, while the officials learned about the roles and protocol in our government.

For lunch, we took our guests to Mikado, a local landmark for Japanese cuisine, hosted in a traditional tatami room. The Japanese delegation was eager to sample our sushi. Despite the language barrier, our new friends taught us Japanese etiquette for meals and the correct way to use our chopsticks.

The whole delegation at picturesque Lake Louise.

S

ports have the unique power to unite people. Golf is special because you can play with someone of any age, ability, culture, background or race.

Through participation in sports, there is a potential to create and build relationships – which is what the International Sport Exchange is designed to do.

The International Sport Exchange is an initiative led by Alberta Sport Connection to foster sport development, friendship and potential economic development between Alberta and our sister provinces in Asia. Every two years, a different sport is selected to take part in the program. Alberta Golf was privileged to take part as the chosen sport in 2014 and 2015 in partnership with Hokkaido, Japan.

In 2014, Alberta Golf sent representatives and athletes to visit Japan.

In 2015, Alberta Golf hosted the Japanese delegation in a province-wide tour to

34 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

sample some of the best of Alberta golf and culture.

Day 1 – Wednesday, September 16 After a grueling 16-hour flight, eight junior athletes and five officials from Japan arrived in Edmonton. Our special guests included the past Governor of Hokkaido, an experienced orthopedic surgeon and the Vice Chairman of the Hokkaido Golf Association. Both delegations exchanged a ‘hello’ or ‘konnichiwa’ to mark the beginning of an exciting week.

After a long day of travel, our guests were eager to relax over dinner and get to know everyone a bit better. The Japanese delegates learned what Caesar salad was and tackled the biggest burgers they had ever seen! After dinner our hosts were eager to get a good night’s rest, so we said ‘oyasumi’ (good night) to prepare for a full agenda the next day.

The next stop Alberta Golf had planned for the visitors was exploring West Edmonton Mall. We anticipated the delegation would enjoy World Water Park or even the chance to pick up some souvenirs for their loved ones within the mall. It turned out that the itch to play golf is something we all have in common, as the athletes wanted to go to a driving range instead!

At the welcoming banquet that evening organized by Alberta Sport Connection, our visitors had the chance to meet their following day’s competitors, as well as industry professionals and special guests.

Day 3 – Friday, September 18 On a chilly Friday morning filled with anticipation, the competitors teed off under clear skies at the Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club. As per Japanese tradition, members of each party participated in a gift exchange as a symbol of our new friendship. Speeches were made by the leader of each delegation to express the excitement of meeting new people, passion for the sport and good wishes for the day ahead.

Exchange Diary The pairings were comprised of representatives from Alberta Golf, Alberta Sport Connection, Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club management, club members and the Japanese delegation. In addition to the full-time interpreter, one of the club members was fluent in Japanese, making for a more comfortable conversation among everyone.

Members of Team Alberta and the Junior Development Team were invited to play with some of Japan’s most talented junior golfers. At first, the language barriers and unfamiliarity with each other made for a quiet environment. As the day continued, players from both countries made an effort to learn about each other’s culture, way of life and backgrounds.

By the end of the round, players were taking pictures with each other as a way to commemorate the day and the new friends they had made.

Day 4 – Saturday, September 19 The delegation departed early for what was going to be a very long day of travel. First stop: the spectacular Glacier Skywalk near Jasper. The Skywalk is a glass walkway almost 1000 feet in the air with incredible views of the Rockies.

Our visitors (and some Albertans!) were tentative to step onto the glass floor and see the huge drop below, but one by one everyone made their way on to the Skywalk (if only for a few seconds!).

After lunch the bus made its way south on the Jasper – Banff Parkway, taking in some of the Canadian Rockies’ most spectacular scenery. We stopped off at Athabasca Falls, Lake Louise and finally checked in at the world-famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

member, kindly hosted the Japanese athletes at his home in Calgary, providing the Japanese delegation a look at the home environment of a typical Canadian family.

Day 6 – Monday, September 21

The female Japanese athletes in Jasper. L-R: Yu Sakurada, Reina Minobe, Marina Ito, Sayaka Shimura.

Day 5 – Sunday, September 20 It was an early start for the delegation, as everyone eagerly prepared for eighteen holes at the stunning and historic Banff Springs Golf Course. Various members of Team Alberta joined in for a round in the mountains, including Claire Emery, who participated in the exchange both years.

“Since I live in Alberta, I sometimes take our proximity to the mountains for granted – but seeing the awe and appreciation of the Rockies from the Japanese delegation was so much fun,” said Emery. “Having the opportunity to reunite with my friends that I made the year before in Japan was a very rewarding experience. It was so sweet that they remembered who I was,” said Emery.

After the round of golf was complete, the delegation continued on to Calgary.

Scott Walker, a former Team Alberta

The last day of the exchange started off with joint training at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club. Both the leaders of the delegations and the athletes participated in interactive training initiatives put on by The Glencoe staff.

After an engaging morning and afternoon, everyone returned to the hotel to get “westernized” for dinner at Heritage Park.

The Japanese delegation, representatives from Alberta Golf, Alberta Sport Connection and the Sport Medicine Council gathered to give our new friends a send-off that they wouldn’t soon forget – starting with an impromptu wild west showdown.

After the Heritage Park show, the delegation gathered in the Canmore Opera House to enjoy great food and company – and took lots of photos to capture the memories. Instead of goodbye, we bid our new pals ‘mata ne’ – which means ‘see you later’. Although the International Sport Exchange concluded that evening, it wasn’t the end of new friendships.

“The exchange of culture and friendship didn't stop for us when we said goodbye,” explained Claire Emery.

And we couldn’t agree with her more. ■

After a long day of fresh mountain air and some souvenir purchases, everyone was looking forward to a good night’s sleep to be well rested for golf the next day.

A friendly competition ensued between Team Alberta and Team Japan. L-R: Alexander Smith, Shin Sasamura, Scott Walker, Noriyuki Kataoka.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

35

INDUSTRY

BY ADAM HELMER, DIRECTOR OF RULES, COMPETITIONS & AMATEUR STATUS, GOLF CANADA

The Rules Have Changed Following the normal four-year review of the Rules of Golf, here are the updates you need to know before your next round.

Originally published in the March issue of Golf Canada magazine.

A

long with the R&A and USGA, Golf Canada holds a unique position as the only other governing body to sit on the Joint Rules Committee that carries out the quadrennial review of the Rules of Golf. Golf’s governing bodies are committed to ensuring the rules constantly evolve and remain relevant to today’s game, while also applying the same set of rules to all golfers worldwide.

We’re a few months into 2016 and a few significant changes to the Rules of Golf have been made. If you haven’t heard, or are still confused about the nuances about the rules changes for 2016, the following provides a summary with examples of the significant changes:

Withdrawal of Rule on Ball Moving After Address (Rule 18-2)

Modification of Penalty for a Single Impermissible Use of Artificial Devices or Equipment (Rule 14-3)

A player is no longer automatically penalized if the ball moves after the player has addressed it. Only when the facts show that the player (also includes partner, caddie or equipment) has caused the ball to move, there is a one-stroke penalty.

The penalty for a player’s first breach of this rule (Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Abnormal Use of Equipment) during the round has been reduced from disqualification to loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play. The penalty for any subsequent breach of Rule 14-3 will continue to be disqualification.

Example: On a very windy day, a player addresses the ball on the putting green.

A short time later the ball moves slightly in the direction the wind is blowing. The strength and direction of wind, as well as the delay in the movement of the ball, are strong indicators that factors other than the player are more likely than not to have caused the movement.

Example: A player places an alignment rod at his feet in breach of Rule 143, incurring a penalty of two strokes. Later in the round, the player places a weighted doughnut on a golf club to make a few practice swings. As the second breach during the stipulated round, the player would be disqualified.

Disqualification Penalty for Submission of Incorrect Scorecard (Rule 6-6d) A limited exception has been introduced to eliminate a disqualification penalty during competition. If a player unknowingly incurs penalty strokes and signs for an incorrect scorecard, failing to account for the extra strokes, he or she will no longer be disqualified. However, that does not mean he or she is exempt from penalty. Under the new rule, the player incurs a penalty under the rule that was breached and must add an additional penalty of two strokes for the scorecard error.

In all other cases in which a player returns a score lower than actually taken for any hole, the penalty will continue to be disqualification.

Example: A player causes his ball to move and under the rules is required to replace the ball. The player is aware that the penalty is one stroke, but is not aware that the ball must be replaced. Prior to the competition closing, the Committee becomes aware of the error. In this case, the Committee would include the additional penalty for not replacing the ball, and an additional penalty of two strokes. Previously, the player would have been disqualified in this situation.

36 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

Prohibition on Anchoring the Club While Making a Stroke (Rule 14-1b) After an unprecedented 90-day comment period that took place over two years ago, the new rule prohibits anchoring the club either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point” while making a stroke. The penalty is loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play. One of the key points of this new rule is that it is not an equipment rule. Belly-length and so-called “broom-handle” putters are still allowed, provided such clubs are not anchored during a stroke and conform to the Rules of Golf.

Example: At this year’s Sony Open, officials questioned Zac Blair on the 71st hole when he gripped down on a fairway wood from the fringe and the end of the club made contact with his body. After television review, the club clearly brushes up against his body but Blair confirmed that there was no intent and it was inadvertent to the stroke. Therefore there was no breach.

To purchase a copy of the 2016 version of the Rules of Golf or learn more about the Alberta Golf & Golf Canada Rules Education program, please visit golfcanada.ca/rules-of-golf. ■

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Thanks to a cool combination of new & old, the East Kootenay corridor is one of the hottest golf destinations.

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FEATURE

BY RYAN LAVERTY

SHE SWINGS SHE SCORES When the final buzzer sounds on a National Hockey League season, the players, almost to a man, trade in their skates and composites for a pair of soft spikes and a set of stiff shafts and begin their off-season pilgrimage to the local golf course.

And while that might be a bit of a cliché or a stereotype, it’s one that Alberta Golf is hoping to build on since launching its newest program in January.

After months of planning, the She Swings She Scores program officially began its campaign to turn more of Alberta’s hockey players into golfers, focusing on females and visible minorities, such as First Nations, between the ages of six and 12.

Two sisters try out She Swings She Scores at the Edmonton Golf Show and get matching toques as a prize.

“Our goal, as an association, is to create as much awareness as possible and to grow the game,” said Tyler McConachy, manager of youth development with Alberta Golf.

“We think She Swings She Scores is one program that will do both of those things.”

Following the lead of the Golf Association of Ontario, which started the SSSS program in that province in January 2013, Alberta Golf is making a concerted effort to target a demographic that has historically been under-represented in its own membership.

While golf participation numbers have dwindled across the board over the past five years, young female golfers has been an area that has been particularly hard hit – especially on the competitive side of the sport.

38 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

In 2001, Alberta Golf had 66 girls registered in the Junior & Juvenile Girls Championship, but by 2015 that number had fallen to just 32.

“Part of the idea behind the program was to get athletes who are already competitive in hockey and expose them to golf,” explained Angela Cooke, SSSS program coordinator for Alberta Golf. “Doing it this way, in a team setting, makes it easier for girls to get exposure to the game and to make sure they are comfortable while they learn.”

The foundation of the SSSS program is a grassroots marketing initiative. Cooke and her colleagues from Alberta Golf have worked with their peers from Hockey Alberta to identify hockey tournaments where competing teams were primarily girls and to directly market to that crowd.

Armed with pink toques, swag bags full of goodies and a pop-up driving range net, Alberta Golf representatives set up camp in arena lobbies in Olds, Camrose and St. Albert in February and March 2016.

Despite benefiting from the insights of her counterparts at the GAO, Cooke said she wasn’t entirely sure how well the first few events would go, but the reception turned out to be even better than she could have expected. Players, siblings, coaches and parents alike all seemed to gravitate to their booth.

“Defining success will probably be how we transition from the hockey tournaments to the golf course, but so far everyone has been really enthusiastic about it,” said Cooke.

The second phase of the program is to recruit a few teams, or at least a majority of those teams, to organize field trips to local courses for a more comprehensive introduction to the world of golf.

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The She Swings She Scores set-up includes an inflatable hitting room and many pink features.

target hockey players in their areas with the SSSS brand.

McConachy said he’d budgeted for three or four trips for the 2016 golf season, but based on interest it appears there could be many more requests than he could have hoped for. He will be directing some interested parties to apply for additional field trip funding from Golf Canada, which typically provides $500 grants for these types of activities.

Burgeoning programs such as this can often stumble in the face of immense growth because of a lack of funding, but SSSS appears to be off to a good start.

The collaboration between Alberta Golf and Hockey Alberta was a key driver in the decision by Alberta Sport Connection and Sport Canada to fund SSSS for its first four years of existence. From 2016 through 2019, Alberta Sport Connection and Sport Canada will provide $32,500 per year to the program with Alberta Golf funding an additional $10,000 through its own sources.

Aaron Lavorato, sport consultant at Alberta Sport Connection, said he expected there would be no shortage of corporate donors and other community supporters that would be interested in partnering with the program down the road, but his association was excited to help get the program off the ground for Albertans.

“For us, that collaboration was very important, but so was return on investment and sustainability,” explained Lavorato.

“One of the biggest challenges for a new program is to find development dollars to get it off the ground, but all of the programs we funded have a great

40 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

opportunity to align with other sources of funding in the future.”

Based on the overwhelming response to the program in Ontario, it appears likely Lavorato’s predictions should come true, but the support and collaboration will need to play a big role in the success of the program.

The GAO has benefited from two years of learning at this point and has started to mature into a broader scale, offering support at the local golf club and community level. Mallory Dayman, manager of sport development for GAO,

“PART OF THE IDEA BEHIND THE PROGRAM WAS TO GET ATHLETES WHO ARE ALREADY COMPETITIVE IN HOCKEY AND EXPOSE THEM TO GOLF” – ANGELA COOKE

said her association purposely partnered with local golf courses and professionals when attending hockey tournaments in Ontario and the results have been remarkable. In two full years of operations, the SSSS program in Ontario has led to the creation of 22 Girls Clubs golf programs in communities around the province, adding close to 200 new female golfers to the game. Going forward, the plan within the GAO is to provide support to local communities with marketing collateral and equipment as required, but to allow their community ambassadors to more readily

“What we’ve found is that it hasn’t just been hockey players that have joined the Girls Clubs, because the hockey players are going home and getting their friends who play soccer or their friends who do gymnastics to come out and join them,” Dayman remarked. “The idea behind She Swings She Scores was just to grow participation in the game as a whole, but selfishly we’re looking for girls who are competitive, because if it can grow into more girls playing in our competitive tournaments then all the better.”

For Alberta, at least for now, the program will take baby steps in the direction of improving participation numbers and promoting physical literacy in our youth.

“A number of sports are looking at how, as national associations, we can crosspromote our sports,” explained Jeff Thompson, chief sport officer at Golf Canada. “The concept of physical literacy is something that everyone is very focused on and I think She Swings She Scores is a good example of organizations working together to promote that.

“The more kids we can get introduced to more sports, the better off we will all be down the road.”

“The plan for next year,” said McConachy, “is to keep building the momentum. As of right now, it’s the more the merrier for the number of girls involved. The interest we’ve seen has been great and the girls we’ve reached already have that competitive spirit, so hopefully we can get that transitioned into golf as well.”

For more information on the program or to have the She Swings She Scores attend your hockey tournament, event or school next year contact Angela Cooke at (403) 236-4616 or by email at angela@albertagolf.org. ■

PEOPLE

BY KEVIN SMITH, GLOBAL TV

Becoming

Team

Jennifer Ha during the first round of the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur.

Her Own

THIS TIME LAST YEAR, JENNIFER HA HAD TEAMMATES AND COACHES TO CHEER HER ON OR LIFT HER SPIRITS DURING COMPETITIONS.

N

ow that the Country Hills golfer and recent Kent State graduate has turned professional, Jennifer says competing is very much different.

“On a college team, you have four other players and a coach who want you to play well. But in professional golf, no one else in the field wants to see your name on the leaderboard. No one else is cheering for me,” she noted. So Jennifer, in effect, has become her own team. Such is the life of a professional golfer.

The two-time Mid-American Conference golfer of the year is now competing primarily on the National Women’s Golf Association tour (NWGA) throughout Florida and Georgia. Ha also expects to get some starts on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s top developmental circuit. While Ha has made the cut most weeks, the bad news is that pro golf is much more expensive than amateur golf and it’s not quite covering her expenses yet.

Ed note: Ha earned her first professional win in April, 2016 at an NWGA event in Florida, earning a firstplace cheque of $2,500 USD.

“Trying to play in all these events becomes very expensive, but I have come close to breaking even,” Ha said. “But I wouldn’t trade the opportunity to play professional golf for anything.”

The transition from amateur golf to pro golf has been fairly smooth. As we already know, Jennifer can handle challenges,

42 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

like winning the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Lynx Ridge in Calgary amid stormy conditions in the final round.

Leaving behind friends both in college and on Golf Canada’s amateur team has been the biggest challenge for Jennifer. She’s not yet on Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad, but Team Canada women’s head coach Tristan Mullally does check in on his former pupil on a regular basis.

“Tristan still gives me a call once in a while to see how I am doing,” said Ha. “It’s not part of his job to help former amateur players, but he honestly cares about my progress.”

“I WOULDN’T TRADE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL GOLF FOR ANYTHING.” – Jennifer Ha Ha doesn’t currently have a coach, but her father John is always there for her. “My dad helps me out for the most part with my game,” said Ha. “He knows my swing better than anyone. I’ve made a few swing changes, and if I can tidy up my short game and score a little better from inside 100 yards, I think that I have a really good chance being successful as a professional.”

Jennifer can become a full-time member on the LPGA Tour if she plays well at qualifying school this fall, but she could see LPGA action sooner than that at the CP Women’s Open in August.

Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club will host its third CP Women’s Open during

the final week of August. The previous events held in 1999 and 2009 were very popular in the Calgary area and Jennifer is eager for the opportunity to tee it up with the world’s best in her home city.

“I am hoping to get an exemption,” Ha reports.

“If not, I’ll tee it up in Monday qualifying at The Hamptons.”

She competed twice as an amateur in the CP Women’s Open, making the cut in 2014 at The London Hunt Club. That week she roomed with Canadian star Brooke Henderson, dueling her for low amateur honours, finishing only two shots behind Henderson, who has become one of the brightest new stars on the LPGA Tour.

“This is something that I have dreamt of since I was a little girl. When I played in London in 2014, all the Canadian support was incredible.

It would mean so much more with the support of my home town behind me. I’m not far off from competing with the best.”

And when she does, Jennifer Ha will once again have a big team cheering for her – a team of Canadian golf fans from coast to coast. ■

45

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INDUSTRY

BY GLENN CAMPBELL

Women and The Wolf T

he fine people of Ponoka are hoping that the wind howls and “The Wolf” bares its teeth in late August. Wolf Creek Golf Resort will be the site of the 2016 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship from August 24-26.

Mary Beth McKenna, manager of rules and competitions at Golf Canada, claims that Wolf Creek is the perfect site for this tournament.

“Wolf Creek has hosted numerous Alberta Golf and Golf Canada championships in the past and director of golf Ryan Vold has always been a great supporter of amateur golf,” McKenna said. “The course is one of the best in the province and will provide an excellent test for all the competitors.”

Kim Carrington won the 2015 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Ladies Championship at The Glencoe Golf and Country Club and she’s excited that Wolf Creek is hosting this year’s national championship. You see, the Carrington name is pretty well known at Wolf Creek.

“My dad, Bill Carrington, is a 50-year lifetime member of the PGA of Canada and was actually a golf professional at Wolf Creek for six years in the late 1990s,” Carrington proudly stated. “I was fortunate enough to play the course many times.”

Competitors will play Wolf Creek’s Old Course in the championship. There will be three competitions underway simultaneously: the Mid-Amateur for women aged 25 and over, the Mid-Master

for those 40 and up, and the Senior Championship for women aged 50 and over as of the first day of the tournament.

Favourites in the senior division will likely include some of the past champions such as Terrill Samuel, Mary Ann Hayward, Jackie Little, Helene Chartrand and Alison Murdoch. Christina Proteau will be a strong contender in the Mid-Amateur division, having previously captured five national titles in that category.

“Both Hayward and Murdoch are members of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and both have numerous championships on their resumes,” said McKenna.

You can also throw Carrington’s name into that list of contenders, as she finished

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in eighth place at the 2015 Canadian Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship.

With this year’s event being held in Alberta – and with her knowledge of the course – Carrington may just have an advantage. Kim isn’t so sure about that.

“It’s been long time since I played Wolf Creek,” Carrington noted. “I’m in golf sales and Ryan Vold is a great customer, so maybe I’ll have to make a few more calls to the course! I hope to play it as much as I can before the championship.”

Carrington says it’s a fantastic golf course and it should attract all of the best players. “Wolf Creek has proven itself to be an outstanding venue for men’s events. Hosting a Canadian [Women’s Mid Am and] Senior Championship will be fantastic for not only the players, but also for Wolf Creek. It will provide great exposure for women’s golf.”

Carrington has been competing in national golf events for over 30 years and has a Canadian Mid-Amateur title and two provincial Mid-Masters Championships to show for it. She says winning the

The ladies will be playing the Old Course at Wolf Creek, including the treacherous #4.

Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship would be icing on the cake. “To add a national senior title in my own province would make it that much more special.”

Carrington’s 2015 win at The Glencoe GCC gives her a ton of confidence heading

into this season. “I played with Jackie Little of Vernon, BC in the last group last summer at The Glencoe. Jackie has been a great friend for years,” Carrington said.

Maybe the pair will find themselves in the final group on a bigger stage at Wolf Creek. ■

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2016-04-11 1:35 PM ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

PEOPLE

BY JIM CLAGGETT

The real Boss of the Moss JIM ROSS HAS HAD A CAREER THAT WAS BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP – LITERALLY.

R

oss got his start in the turf industry in 1976 in Brandon, MB, moving to Kenora, ON as a course superintendent, followed by stints in Alberta at Highlands Golf Course and Stony Plain.

Ross was instrumental in the development of the Alberta Golf Superintendents Association (AGSA) and was the group’s first president. He was also on the board of the Alberta Turfgrass Research Foundation when the Foundation decided to hire him as the full time operations manager for the Prairie Turfgrass Research Centre at Olds College, from where he called it a career last September.

“The research part of it was interesting and exciting,” he said. “I thought my skill set was quite good for being able to organize a new type of venture.”

Fundraising was the source of his salary in addition to dealing with some capital costs at the centre, but Ross says that the PTRC was always primarily funded by the golf industry.

“The AGSA and Alberta Golf have always been the main supporters of the PTRC,” Ross said. “Those two groups were really the reason why that turf research program got going and was able to keep going.”

Being able to help some of the turf managers and turf growers in the province with some of their issues and problems was a high point in Ross’s career. One such issue occurred in 2006 at the Glendale Golf and Country Club in Edmonton,

when many of the greens suffered damage due to anoxia (lack of oxygen).

Daryl Asher was the Glendale’s superintendent at the time and had known Jim Ross for many years, so it was only natural for Asher to call Ross for advice and support to solve his problem.

“If you had a question, you called Jim Ross.

Everybody knew that,” said Asher who himself retired last year from Glendale.

Asher says Ross is a one-of-a-kind person with his infectious personality, his knowledge of turf, people, and his familiarity with so many of Alberta’s golf courses. His retirement leaves a gaping hole in the turfgrass research industry in the province.

Another career highlight for Ross was being named recipient of the prestigious

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that bunker wasn’t raked properly. I finally got to the point where it was disrupting my game and I thought I had better learn how to deal with this or I wasn’t going to enjoy playing.”

John B. Steel award for Distinguished Service, presented by the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association.

Ross says he has always had an inquisitive nature, so when confronted with a turf problem, he would do his research, which almost always resulted in a solution but also expanded his knowledge of turf.

“Let’s put it this way. Later in my career I got stumped less frequently than I did when I started,” he chuckled.

British Columbia is home now and Ross plans to do some consulting in the Edmonton area, but this plan carries with it an asterisk.

“I don’t want to be full time busy. I want to pick and choose things that are the most fun and then take on those challenges,” he said.

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Jim Ross received a very unique retirement cake from Olds College.

He did play golf while being a superintendent because it helped him understand how to maintain the golf course for the players. But separating player from superintendent wasn’t simple.

He would take a pen and paper out with him during his round.

“There was a day I was playing and I was getting angrier as I was going along,” he said. “You know, this wasn’t cut right or 2016-05-04

10:53 AM

In the future, Ross hopes to see a better understanding of course maintenance practices, which may need to be less extensive and less expensive. For example, reducing the amount of fertilizer going down on putting greens or the amount of water needed to keep grass healthy.

“There is a crunch in the golf industry these days from a lack of funding and budget cutbacks. I see that continuing to be a major issue in the game of golf moving forward.”

Maybe now he can leave the pen and paper at home, though. ■

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49

FEATURE

BY ANDREW PENNER

SOCIAL MEDIA

GROWING GOLF IT'S SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE 2016 WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN AND, THANKS TO MY PHOTOGRAPHER'S CREDENTIALS, I'M STANDING RIGHT BEHIND THE TEE BOX ON THE LEGENDARY “COLISEUM HOLE” – THE PAR-3 16TH AT THE TPC SCOTTSDALE – SHOOTING THE ACTION. It's a surreal, one-of-a-kind experience. I'm surrounded by 17,000 booze-fuelled golf fans who are, for the most part, acting like immature college students out on a bender. Which makes sense. They are. As Phil Mickelson pegs up his ball I glance up at the stands and within the sea of hell-raising humanity, I notice something. Phones. Thousands of them.

Most of them pointing at the action.

Of course, these days every PGA Tour event takes their social media “Klout” very seriously. “Klout,” a mobile app that is used gauge the influence of a user’s social media, is becoming a widely used industry term. Essentially, the higher the “Klout Score,” the more effective your social media reach.

But it’s not just the major tours getting in on the social media craze. The entire game is becoming social media “happy.”

Incredibly, over 200,000 people strolled through the gates of the TPC Scottsdale that Saturday, setting the all-time, one-day attendance record at a PGA Tour event. (News flash: golf is not dying.) Obviously, that means thousands of phones were put to use, capturing video, posting, texting, and Tweeting. In other words, millions of megabytes of data were distributed, flung into cyberspace and gobbled up by millions of golf fans (and, perhaps more importantly, potential golf fans!) around the globe. Indeed, the digital media platforms were alive and well with “golf.”

Thanks, in large part, to the YouTube revolution, which began in 2005, it was initially the high adrenaline adventure sports that were given the most powerful boost due to social media.

Clips of intense, high flying competitions at the X Games, for example, often went viral. Crashes, death defying tricks, bloopers, and so on, also fuelled the fire. Other extreme activities such as base jumping, big wave surfing, and downhill mountain biking also reached mass audiences thanks to phone captured videos from wide eyed spectators. Naturally, golf, too, has benefited from that youthful, fun loving dynamic that accompanies social media and sharing.

“We don't know exactly how many images and how many social media posts were made by those 200,000 people,” says Ryan Woodcock, director of communications for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “However, through our analytics we know that our social media reach on that record-breaking Saturday was off the charts. According to our conservative figures, over 60,000 social media posts were made mentioning the WM Phoenix Open during the week and those posts reached over 250 million social media users.”

Obviously, things tend to snowball in the social media realms, especially in that type of setting. Keep in mind, Woodcock’s numbers do not include posts that did not include their account handle or the keywords they customized to track the numbers. So, in reality, those numbers would certainly be higher. “Bottom line,” says Woodcock, “is that people like to share cool stuff. For a lot of people, that's what social media is all about. And, trust me, a lot of cool and crazy stuff goes on at that tournament.”

52 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

“In general, social media in golf has been fantastic in terms of drawing younger people to the game,” says Scott McGinty, online marketing specialist with the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Things like trick shots, amazing golf feats, toddlers smashing drives, and, yes, clips from ‘The Greatest Show on Grass,’ the WM Phoenix Open, are out there and the game is benefiting. When you see Rickie Fowler using Instagram and SnapChat, it helps make golf relatable and cool. When social media is used correctly,

especially by PGA Tour players, it shatters the stereotype that golfers, and golf, are boring.”

Janeen Driscoll, director of public relations for the USGA, voices a similar sentiment. “In general, social media has been a powerful tool to connect golf fans with their favourite players.

All of a sudden they get to know these superstars in a very personal way. Of course, this idea of 'connecting with your audience' extends to all facets of the game and every type of golf business out there. With social media we can educate, entertain, engage an audience and, ultimately, grow the game.”

While the older, country club set may not be the social media savants like the younger generations, the times, as Bob Dylan wisely noted, they are a changin’. Facebook, still the top dog when it comes to social media platforms, is now 12 years old. In terms of its lifespan in the social media realms, it's a dinosaur. But, obviously, one that still packs a powerful punch. According to DMR, a company that tracks digital stats, at the end of January, 2016, Facebook boasted a mind boggling 1.591 billion monthly users.

is definitely where a lot of younger people are going these days,” says Jones, who often posts three times a day on multiple channels. “So, obviously, the information we post there has to reflect that. Twitter serves a key purpose in terms of quick, informative posts. It's the ideal outlet for live tournament updates. For people who can't be at the tournaments, it's a great way to keep track of an event, especially on the final day when things are coming down to the wire. We want to make sure we are posting relevant, interesting and useful information. You can do a lot of harm if you're posting too much, too little, or if you're making irrelevant posts that your followers just won't care about.”

Obviously, providing these regular tournament updates via social media channels is a key piece of the puzzle for Jones.

However, being at the tournaments and interacting directly with the fans and people on the ground is also vital. “You can spend an obscene amount of time on social media, hiding behind a computer and, unfortunately, not get much out of it in terms of advancing your cause. If you don't have a game plan and know what you’re doing, it can be a deep, dark hole,” said Jones.

Photo Credit: Andrew Penner

The crowd at the 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open watches with anticipation and phones ready to capture the action.

“When we look at the analytics,” says Landon Jones, manager of communications and digital media with Alberta Golf, “we know that our average Facebook follower is getting older. It's now people in their 30s and 40s who are most active on Facebook. But people in their 50s, 60s, and even older, are also jumping on board. These are often highly educated, professional people who have raised the bar in terms of what they're looking for.” For Jones, that means his Facebook posts need to be more refined, more professionally composed, and, obviously, the material must be slanted for this older demographic.

Indeed, each of the social media platforms is slightly different, catering to a different audience, stressing a certain “niche.” “Instagram, which is highly image based,

As with any venture you undertake, including social media, you want to build it to last. Quality is key. (Take note, all you habitual “posters” of useless information!) “We'd rather have a smaller, but loyal following that is very active and highly interested in what we're doing and how we're doing it,” says Jones. “Being at the tournaments allows me to interact with our followers, make friends face to face, and ask them, 'Hey, what do you want to see with our social media campaign’? At the end of the day, if it aligns with our overall mission we want to be on top of it and, to borrow a common sports expression, ‘bring it.’”

Which, getting back to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, is what the 17,000 golf fans encircling the 16th hole also seemed to have in mind. At least the ones on their phones.

Follow Alberta Golf on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. ■

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

53

INDUSTRY

BY JOHN GORDON

National Junior Golf Development Centres Alan Robertson teaches the grip technique to junior girls.

H

ow times have changed. In the past, “junior golf development” usually meant dropping your kid off at the course in the morning and picking him up before supper or, perhaps, signing her up for a week-long day camp in the summer.

These days, with the game facing participation challenges, golf facilities and associations have realized that more organized and coordinated efforts must be directed to developing young players at both the recreational and competitive levels.

Not coincidentally, the PGA of Canada is putting more emphasis on instruction and coaching at all levels, particularly with juniors.

Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “That model didn’t exist in golf.”

“Alberta was very keen on the program right from the start,” Thompson says.

Just three years after the establishment of the program, there are 40 Junior Golf Development Centres in nine provinces, including four in Alberta: Bearspaw Country Club, Brooks Golf Club, Derrick Golf and Winter Club and the Golf Canada Calgary Centre.

And they remain very enthusiastic, says Tyler McConachy, Alberta Golf’s manager of youth development. “The Junior Golf Development Centres really function as hubs for junior golf and provide the best introduction possible to the game for kids by using age-specific programming from the Long Term Player Development Guide.

We currently have four great centres, but we are aiming to have at least one in every zone of the province.”

Jason Haley monitors a chipping station at a high performance training and selection camp.

These two factors are synthesized in the Junior Golf Development Centre ( JGDC) program, a joint initiative of Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada and the provincial golf associations.

“If you looked at swim or ski clubs, for example, they provided coaching, resources, guidance, expertise and programming right from the start for kids who might just want to enjoy the sport, as well as for those who wanted to move up in the competitive levels, depending on their appetite and aptitude,” says Jeff

If anyone has the credentials to assess the merits of the JGDC program, it’s John Deneer.

Photo Credit: Golf Canada Calgary Centre.

54 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

The accreditation as a JGDC comes at no charge, but the facility must meet certain requirements. One of the most important is that the PGA of Canada professional on site be certified in the “Coach New Competitor” context. The host club must commit to being “linked” to a local school through the Golf in Schools program, must register for the CN Future Links and, at minimum, run the Learn to Play program. The club must conduct a field trip for students to its facility and a JGDC coach must visit the school for a day.

For Deneer, the primary benefit is personal and professional gratification.

“I love coaching kids. It is so great to help them grow not only as golfers but as people. This is my fourth year of focusing almost solely on juniors and it brings complete satisfaction. It doesn’t feel like work.”

His attitude is mirrored by Chad Rusnak, director of golf operations at the Golf Canada Calgary Centre, who points out that while customer acquisition and retention might be attractive to clubs considering becoming a JGDC, there should be more altruistic motives. About 500 juniors annually take advantage of JGDC programming at his facility.

Deneer, the lead teaching professional and junior development coordinator at Bearspaw Country Club, was named the 2015 PGA of Alberta Junior Leader of the Year. He is also the head coach of Alberta Golf’s Junior Boys Development Team, and the founder and lead instructor of Junior Development Golf (www. juniordevelopmentgolf.com).

“Bearspaw has always embraced junior golf, so when the opportunity came up to become a Junior Golf Development Centre, they were all for it,” says Deneer.

“Basically, they said, ‘If we can help more kids, let’s do it’.”

The benefits to the juniors at a JGDC are obvious, as they receive instruction from specially trained and certified PGA of Canada professionals who align their programming with Canada’s Long-Term Player Development Guide. But there are other benefits, says Deneer, tangible and intangible. By encouraging and supporting juniors, the host club identifies itself as having a sincere interest in growing the game. There is a commercial aspect, as juniors and their families will no doubt contribute to the club’s revenue, now and in the future, through retail purchases, memberships and greens fees.

“The facility and the personnel have to be dedicated to developing young golfers.” said Rusnak. “Not everyone makes a good junior instructor. You have to have a coach who is passionate and dedicated to teaching juniors, from the grassroots right up to elite competitors.” Combine that with state-of-the-art JGDC programming, and parents can be assured their children are getting the best coaching possible.

“We are ‘all in’ when it comes to these centres,” says Cundari. “We’ve been a partner in developing them [with Golf Canada and the provincial associations] from the start and for good reason. We know that golfer performance at all levels, from entry to more advanced, is in direct correlation to the skills of their instructor and coach.”

Thanks to golf’s return to the Olympics this summer after a 112-year hiatus, there is a surge expected in the number of people, especially youngsters, who will want to get involved in the game.

With all due respect to junior programs everywhere, Junior Golf Development Centres must be considered “best in class.” Having said that, their final evaluation will be based not only on increased numbers of young recreational golfers, but on a heightened Canadian profile at golf’s highest levels as well.

“Ideally, these centres will produce more and more golfers across the country, as well as more Brooke Hendersons, but by design and not by chance as in the past,” says Thompson. ■

The PGA of Canada is justifiably proud of the advances made over the past several years in its approach to teaching and coaching. Glenn Cundari, PGA of Canada technical director, says he is encouraged by the increasing number of young pros who see this stream as a viable career path. Not every professional is suited to be an instructor or coach but for those who have the aptitude and enjoy mentoring youngsters, there are opportunities such as the Junior Golf Development Centres.

More information on the Junior Golf Development Centre program can be obtained by contacting Tyler McConachy, Alberta Golf’s manager of youth development, at 403-236-4616 or tyler@albertagolf.org.

Information on Junior Golf Development Centres and all other junior golf programs can be found at juniors.golfcanada.ca.

The information at learntocompete.golfcanada.ca/athlete-development/ junior-competitive-pathway is geared toward coaches and instructors but is of considerable value to parents who want to understand what the future may hold for their young golfer.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

55

PEOPLE

BY ANDREW PENNER

Three Alberta Golfers Who Have Left Their Mark

Legends In Their Ed. Note: Three Canadian Golf Hall-ofFamers, Bob Wylie, Betty Stanhope-Cole and Doug Silverberg sat down over the winter with Calgary golf writer Andrew Penner to talk about their careers in golf, favorite courses, and fondest memories.

Here are those interviews.

BOB WYLIE Like all of these Canadian Golf Hall-of-Famers and Alberta golf legends, Bob Wylie’s list of victories and accomplishments in golf – provincially, nationally, and on the world stage – would fill numerous pages. Wylie is one of the most decorated amateur golfers in Canadian golf history. He won the Canadian Senior Championship seven times, the Alberta Amateur five times, and the Alberta Senior Championship seven times.

What is your fondest memory of golf?

Making the 1984 Canadian World Amateur Team as a 54-year-old. I was playing with guys in their 20s. I was low Canadian and we were playing in Hong Kong, so that tournament stands out.

(Wylie worked for a few years at the Calgary Golf & Country Club as an assistant golf professional and played in a few dozen PGA Tour events in the late 50s. He regained his amateur status in 1960.)

The 1995 Canadian Senior Amateur Championship. I was 65 and it was my last one.

I didn’t make any money. In 1958, I played about a dozen events and made every cut.

My best finish was a tie for 5th in Tucson.

I made $500 for that. The caddies made more than the players back then. I came home and I was done playing pro golf.

Do you still play golf?

Which tour player did you admire most?

Yes, three times a week at the Calgary Golf & Country Club.

Ben Hogan. He was the best. He told me I had to get out of Canada if I wanted to play good golf. He didn’t think the winters were good for your game. I couldn’t argue with him.

Which of your victories means the most to you?

Do you still practice?

Six days a week, all winter long, I hit balls into the nets at the course. That’s where you’ll find me in winter.

How has the game changed since you competed?

What is the “one that got away?” The tournament you wanted to win, but didn’t?

Everyone is bigger and stronger.

The Canadian Amateur. I played in it over a dozen times and came close many times, both in match play and in stroke play.

What is your favorite course in the world?

What is the best thing about golf?

I don’t have one favorite. But, if I had to narrow it down, a few that have really impressed me are Harbour Town Golf Links, Royal Melbourne, where I played in the World Amateur, and Riviera, where I played in the L.A. Open.

It’s something you can enjoy all your life.

Bob Wylie as a young professional at the Regal Golf Course in Calgary, 1953.

Photo Credit: Glenbow Archives

56 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

How would you sum up your experience playing on the PGA Tour?

Own Time

Betty Stanhope-Cole, (far L) ca. 1952.

BETTY STANHOPE-COLE Inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1991, Betty StanhopeCole was ranked the number one female amateur player in Canada in 1974 and 1976. She represented Canada four times between 1964 and 1976 on the World Amateur Team and the Commonwealth Team. While her three national titles are certainly impressive, it’s her provincial success that really sets her apart. Incredibly, between 1964 and 1988, she won 21 provincial championships, including 16 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championships.

“Winning the 1957 Canadian Amateur was no doubt my biggest victory,” says Stanhope-Cole, who has called Highlands Golf Club in Edmonton her home course since the 1950s. “I was also fortunate enough to play on 25 Alberta interprovincial teams. The game has been good to me.” True, and with her countless hours volunteering and helping others in the game, she has certainly been good to the game.

What has golf meant to you?

Golf has given me the opportunity to travel and play the game I love in eight different countries. I have met people from around the world and had many amazing experiences because of golf.

What is your fondest memory?

The day I broke 70 for the first time. I was playing with my dad. I needed to make a 20-footer on the last hole and the ball hit the back of the hole and jumped in.

Which of your victories are you most proud of?

Winning the 1967 Canadian Ladies’ Closed Championship. Because I had already won the Canadian Junior, the Canadian Amateur, and, lastly, the Canadian Closed, it meant I had won the “Triple Crown.”

Do you still play golf?

Yes, two or three times a week at Highlands.

Who helped you the most with your game when you were younger?

My pro, my friend, Henry Martell. He let me caddy for him and he would tell me why he was playing various shots and helped me tremendously with my game. I was able to learn from the best.

Where do you see the biggest changes in golf?

The technology has made an enormous difference. The distance the players are now able to carry the ball has shortened all the courses and young players are getting proper instruction from the beginning.

What is your favorite golf destination?

Scotland. Playing St. Andrews was an awesome experience. Links golf is so vastly different but, to me, it’s the ultimate experience a golfer can have.

What is the best thing about golf?

You can play it your whole life. It’s a mindbending game but so rich and rewarding!

What is your favorite course in the world?

Without a doubt it’s Jasper. I never get tired of the beautiful scenery, the layout, and the variety of shots you are required to hit.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

57

DOUG SILVERBERG Red Deer native, Doug Silverberg, 83, was one of the best amateur players in the world in the 1950s and 60s. Like Wylie, he played during the era when amateur golf was king and the pro game was secondary. Silverberg represented Canada numerous times on the world stage and won every major Alberta provincial championship there was to win. He also won the Canadian Junior in 1950 and the Canadian Senior in 1994.

Silverberg has countless memories of playing with the likes of Byron Nelson, Harvey Ward, and Moe Norman, to name a few. “Moe Norman was an amazing guy,” remembers Silverberg, who struck up a good friendship with him. “When I first met him he was sleeping under some trees at the Kanawaki Golf Club in Montreal. Typical Moe.”

What has golf meant to you?

Doug Silverberg powered through golf courses with a control and determination that his competitors often found unnerving.

Photo Credit: Calgary Golf and Country Club

Aside from the fun and competitive experiences, I have seen much of the world in a way that money could never buy. The game has taught me a way of life.

Which of your accomplishments are you most proud of?

The national team wins I was a part of in the Commonwealth Matches, America’s Cup Matches, and also finishing second in the World Amateur in Italy in 1966. Beating Harvey Ward, who was the number one amateur in the world at the time, 1-up in 36 holes in London, Ontario in 1954 is also something I’m proud of.

Do you still play golf?

For the past 15 years, or so, only six to ten games a year.

How has the game changed since you competed?

Prior to the 1960s amateur golf was king. Now pro golf dominates.

Technology, including clubs, shafts, and the ball, have also made considerable advancements.

58 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

Are you concerned with where golf is going? Would you change anything, if you could?

It would be nice to see faster play and a greater emphasis on amateur golf again.

What is your favorite golf course in the world?

Augusta National has an aura unlike anything else. I stayed there for five days in the Eisenhower Cabin with a couple of Augusta National members I got to know.

We just played the course whenever we wanted.

What is the funniest thing you’ve seen on a golf course?

Moe Norman hitting a 20-yard bunker shot stiff while looking at me and talking like only Moe could talk.

What is your career low score?

My best non-competitive score was 61, eleven under, at my home course, the Red Deer Golf & Country Club.

In competition it was a 64 in the 1964 Alberta Open.

What is the best thing about golf?

It’s always a challenge. Ben Hogan, a perfectionist if there ever was one, said if you managed five or six perfect shots a round, that’s as good as it gets. ■

INDUSTRY

ALBERTA GOLF

2016 Tournament JUNE 1 & 3, 2016

JUNE 7 – 9, 2016

ALBERTA OPEN QUALIFYING SOUTH NORTH

June 1 Carstairs GC June 3 Goose Hummock GR

FIELD: Maximum 120 players at each site EVENT: 18 holes of stroke play – Qualifying positions determined by regional participation ELIGIBILITY: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 5.0 at registration close ENTRY CLOSES: May 25, 2016

JUNE 5 – 6, 2016 ALBERTA JUNIOR (U19) & JUVENILE (U17) QUALIFYING EDMONTON June 5 SOUTH June 5 NORTH June 6 CALGARY June 6

Broadmoor GC Henderson Lake GC The Dunes G&WC Woodside GC

ALBERTA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP ALBERTA MEN’S AMATEUR QUALIFYING EDMONTON June 7 Barrhead GC CALGARY June 8 Silverwing Links GC NORTH June 8 Grande Prairie G&CC CENTRAL June 9 Olds GC SOUTH June 9 The Bridges at Claresholm GC FIELD: Maximum 120 players at each site

REDTAIL LANDING GOLF CLUB

ELIGIBILITY: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 8.0 at registration close ENTRY CLOSES: May 31, 2016

JUNE 13 & 16, 2016

FIELD: Maximum 96 players EVENT: 36 holes of stroke play ELIGIBILITY: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified ENTRY CLOSES: May 25, 2016

redtail landing JUNE 23 – 24, 2016 ALBERTA MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP REDTAIL LANDING GOLF CLUB

EVENT: 18 holes of stroke play – Qualifying positions determined by regional participation

ALBERTA SENIOR MEN’S QUALIFYING

ELIGIBILITY: Alberta Golf members under 19 years old as of August 1st each year, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 15.0 at registration close

FIELD: Maximum 120 players at each site

SOUTH NORTH

June 13 Calgary Elks Lodge GC June 16 Leduc GC

EVENT: 18 holes of stroke play – Qualifying positions determined by regional participation ELIGIBILITY: Alberta Golf members 55 & over as of the first round of the 2016 Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 20.0 at registration close ENTRY CLOSES: June 6, 2016

60 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

REDTAIL LANDING GOLF CLUB

EVENT: 18 holes of stroke play – Qualifying positions determined by regional participation

FIELD: Maximum 120 players at each site

ENTRY CLOSES: May 29, 2016

JUNE 21 – 22, 2016

FIELD: Maximum 16 players ELIGIBILITY: Lowest 16 amateur scores from the Scott Venturo Alberta Open will be invited to compete

Schedule JUNE 28 – 30, 2016

HIGHWOOD GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

JULY 5 – 7, 2016

JULY 12 – 14, 2016

ALBERTA MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

ALBERTA JUNIOR (U19) & JUVENILE (U17) GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP

PONOKA COMMUNITY GOLF CLUB

COTTONWOOD GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

FIELD: Maximum 120 players CONTEST 1: 54 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties CONTEST 2: Mid-Master; 54 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut within Event 1 cut of low 60+ ties ELIGIBILITY: • Alberta Golf members 25 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship • Mid-Master competitors must be 40 & over as of the Canadian Men’s MidAmateur Championship HANDICAP FACTOR ELIGIBILITY: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 8.0 at registration close INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low two (2), Mid-Amateur Championship medalists, and low Mid-Master Championship medalist will be selected as the Alberta Mid-Amateur Team ENTRY CLOSES: June 21, 2016

ALBERTA LADIES AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHWOOD GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB FIELD: Maximum 120 players CONTEST 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 30+ ties if the field is over 50 players; if under, a cut will be at the discretion of the Tournament Committee CONTEST 2: Mid-Amateur; 54 holes of stroke play CONTEST 3: Mid-Master; 54 holes of stroke play ELIGIBILITY: • Maximum Certified Handicap factor of 25.0 at registration close • Mid-Amateur competitors must be 25 years & over as of the first day of competition • Mid-Master competitors must be 40 years & over as of the first day of competition INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Ladies Amateur Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Ladies Amateur Team ENTRY CLOSES: June 28, 2016

FIELD: Maximum 48 players EVENT: 54 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 30+ ties ELIGIBILITY: Alberta Golf members under 19 years old as of August 1st each year, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 25.0 at registration close INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Junior Girls Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Junior Girls Team ENTRY CLOSES: July 5, 2016

JULY 12 – 15, 2016

JULY 19 – 22, 2015

ALBERTA MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP INNISFAIL GOLF CLUB FIELD: Maximum 120 players EVENT: 72 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties ELIGIBILITY: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Men’s Amateur Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Men’s Amateur Team.

ENTRY CLOSES: May 31, 2016

ALBERTA JUNIOR (U19) & JUVENILE BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP

(U17)

COTTONWOOD GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB FIELD: Maximum 120 players EVENT: 72 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties & age protection ELIGIBILITY: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Junior Boys Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Junior Boys Team ENTRY CLOSES: May 29, 2016

DEWINTON

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COTTONWOOD GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

61

ALBERTA GOLF

2016 Tournament Schedule AUGUST 10 – 12, 2016

STONY PLAIN GOLF CLUB FIELD: Maximum 120 players CONTEST 1: 54 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties CONTEST 2: Super Senior; 54 holes of stroke play 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties ELIGIBILITY: • Alberta Golf members 55 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship • Super Senior competitors must be 70 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship

CONTEST 1: Championship – 36 holes of stroke play

ELIGIBILITY: • Alberta Golf members 50 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship • Super Senior competitors must be 65 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship HANDICAP FACTOR ELIGIBILITY: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 30.0 at registration close INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Senior Ladies Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Senior Ladies Team

FIELD: Maximum 120 players

CONTEST 2: Novice – 36 holes of Stableford competition ELIGIBILITY: • Alberta Golf members under 15 years old as of August 1 each year will be eligible for the Championship • Members under 13 years old as of August 1 each year will be eligible for the Novice division

CANMORE GOLF & CURLING CLUB FIELD: Maximum field of 32 teams; 4 players per team. Maximum quota of 4 category II clubs and 28 category I clubs; registration on a first come first serve basis EVENT: 18 holes of stroke play – Best 3 out of 4 scores per hole are counted – gross and net prizing ELIGIBILITY: Certified Handicap Factor of 20.0 or lower at registration close ENTRY CLOSES: September 1, 2016

HANDICAP FACTOR ELIGIBILITY: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 36.4 for boys and 40.4 for girls at registration close. Novice players are required to have at least 4 verified 9 hole scores under 64 ENTRY CLOSES: August 16, 2016

ENTRY CLOSES: August 3, 2016

AUGUST 30-31, 2016 ALBERTA NET AMATEUR (STABLEFORD) CHAMPIONSHIP AUGUST 15 – 16, 2016 GFTC LADIES TEAM CLASSICS

HANDICAP FACTOR ELIGIBILITY: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified

WINTERGREEN GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

INTERPROVINCIAL TEAM SELECTION: Low three (3), Senior Men’s Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Senior Men’s Team

EVENT: 36 holes of four ball net stroke play. Teams divided into flights based on their overall team handicap

ENTRY CLOSES: June 6, 2016

ALBERTA MEN’S INTERCLUB

OLDS GOLF CLUB

CONTEST 2: Super Senior; 54 holes of stroke play.

ALBERTA SENIOR MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

ALBERTA BANTAM (U15) & NOVICE (U13) CHAMPIONSHIP RIVERS EDGE GOLF CLUB

CONTEST 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

JULY 26 – 28, 2016

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

ALBERTA SENIOR LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: Maximum 120 players

CANMORE GOLF & CURLING CLUB

AUGUST 23 – 24, 2016

FIELD: Maximum 120 players (60 teams)

ELIGIBILITY: Teams must possess a combined Handicap Factor of 25.0 or more

DINOSAUR TRAIL GOLF CLUB FIELD: Maximum field of 60 men and 60 women.

EVENT: 36 holes of Stableford competition ELIGIBILITY: • No maximum Handicap Factor required • Players must be 19 and over as of August 1, 2016 ENTRY CLOSES: August 23, 2016

ENTRY CLOSES: August 8, 2016

DINOSAUR TRAIL GOLF CLUB Golf & Country Club

drumheller

62 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

INDUSTRY

BY JEFF THOMPSON, CHIEF SPORT OFFICER, GOLF CANADA

Photo Credit: Graig Abel, Golf Canada

Olympic revival: Defending the gold medal

Canadian George Lyon took home this Olympic golf trophy in 1904.

G

olf makes its return to the Olympic Games after a 112-year hiatus. There is great excitement surrounding golf’s return to the Olympics – and rightfully so. With the Olympic dream now a reality, it is important to remember a Canadian legend – the story of defending Olympic gold medalist George Seymour Lyon.

the qualification process. On the women’s side, Brooke Henderson (currently ranked No. 5 on the Olympic rankings) and Alena Sharp (No. 36) hold Canada’s best female rankings and both have very good chances of being on the women’s squad come the July 11th cut off date.

Canada has held the title of Olympic golf champion for 112 years since the trophy was last hoisted at the St. Louis Games in 1904. Lyon, 46 at the time of his victory, defeated American H. Chandler Egan 3&2 in the 36-hole match play final. You can make a case that had his accomplishments happened against today’s sport and media landscape, we would be talking about one of Canada’s iconic athletes.

At the time, golf enthusiasts could not have predicted that 1904 would be the last time the Olympic golf competition would be contested for more than a century. As time went on and pro golf tours like the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour made their way to the forefront, golf slowly faded from the Olympic landscape.

Rounding out the squad if the selection were made today would be DeLaet, (No. 38), who has been a leading Canadian figure on Tour and is primed for a strong return following last year’s injury plagued season.

The selection of the men’s team could come down to the wire as a pair of rising stars – Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor – could very well make a run at one of the top-two rankings. Hadwin currently sits 14 world ranking spots out of the second Olympic spot.

Canada’s golf Olympians will be leaning on the expertise of Team Canada coaches Derek Ingram and Tristan Mullally who will lead the men’s and women’s squads respectively in Rio. They will provide support to the players leading up to and during the event.

Brooke Henderson will lead Canada’s Women’s Olympic golf team in Rio this August.

Fast forward to 2009, when the International Golf Federation (IGF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) collectively agreed to reintroduce golf to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as a 72-hole stroke play event.

At just 18 years of age, Brooke has vaulted herself amongst the world’s elite through her amazing talent and work ethic. She has shown poise beyond her years and is eager to represent Canada on the global stage.

How will Canada fare at the Games in Rio? Our team is well positioned to defend its title – thanks in part to Mr. Lyon paving the way for golf in Canada.

Sharp had her best season in 2015 with five Top-25 LPGA finishes and continues to impress as the Games get closer.

Golf Canada is extremely excited to have a very talented group of professionals in line to fill the four spots (two male, two female) that we expect to receive based on

the RBC Canadian Open – eventually finishing third.

On the men’s side, PGA Tour stars David Hearn and Graham DeLaet are currently positioned to fly the flag for Canada. Hearn (No. 40), wowed Canadians this past summer in his bid to win

Ingram and Mullally will both have made a site visit to the golf course in advance of the Games to gain some insight into how they can best support the players.

The global exposure will be huge for our sport and for Golf Canada’s high performance program. Will we see Canada defend George S. Lyon’s gold medal in Rio? Our athletes and our coaches are determined to take advantage of this incredible opportunity. The 2016 Games will be two of the most exciting weeks in golf’s storied history. ■

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

63

PEOPLE

BY WES GILBERTSON,

THE CALGARY SUN

A Resilient Love THERE WAS NO RECAP IN GOLF DIGEST AND NO HIGHLIGHT PACKAGE ON GOLF CHANNEL’S MORNING DRIVE, BUT IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR WORD OF JAMES LOVE’S EMOTIONAL WIN AT THE 2015 ALBERTA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TO SPREAD AMONG SOME OF THE BEST IN THE BIRDIE-MAKING BUSINESS. WANT PROOF? CHECK HIS IPHONE.

T

here was an incoming call from Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet, a close friend and arguably Canada’s brightest star on the PGA Tour. Love also received shout-outs from B.C. buddy Nick Taylor, who just months earlier had joined the exclusive list of guys from the Great White North to triumph on the PGA Tour, and from Ontario’s David Hearn, who a few weeks later would come oh-so-close to ending the lengthy home drought at the RBC Canadian Open.

There were many more messages, too.

“Just the texts and the emails that I got from guys around golf that I hadn’t talked to in a long time… It’s nice to know that I still have

people in my corner that follow me and still care about me doing well,” Love said. “Golf is definitely a lonely game and sometimes you feel like the game has passed you by or all your peers have moved on to bigger and better things. So when you can win any professional event, it means a lot when world-class players shoot you a text or call to say ‘congrats’ and ‘keep it up’ “

Truth be told, it had been a long while since Love had received any congratulatory texts from his pin-seeking pals. The past couple of seasons have been a struggle for the Calgary-raised, Denverbased golfer. He was bothered by a nagging neck injury and his tournament results were often painful, too.

But during Alberta Golf’s marquee event last summer, Love proved he’s again healthy and still capable of leaving a lot of circles on a scorecard. He mixed three birdies and a bogey en route to a 2-under 69 in the opening round of the Alberta Open at Carnmoney Golf & Country Club in De Winton, leaving him two shots off the pace at the midway mark of the 36hole shootout.

His only blemish during the final round was a double bogey on the second hole.

He erased that damage – and then some – with seven birdies, including a string of five in a row, registering a grand total of 15 strokes from the tee box at No. 9 until he scooped his ball out of the cup at No. 13.

Just as important, Love drained a 60-yard shot to save par – he pulled his drive into a bunker and then chunked his second from a horrible lie into the water – on No. 16.

He had to sweat for a few minutes after missing a short birdie putt on the finishing hole at Carnmoney, but the contenders in the last group couldn’t force a playoff.

Strathmore’s Dustin Risdon and Tyler Saunders of Glendale shared second, one shot shy of matching Love’s two-day tally of 7-under 135.

“It was a really good, fun couple of days,” Love said. “It was nice to win, obviously.

It’s been a while since I had had a win.

The one thing that just sticks out is that it was really cool to win an event in Calgary and have some family there to share it with.”

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DeLaet and James Hahn, all now regulars on the PGA Tour. Love, who turns 33 in July, is determined to join them.

It was great to hear from his pals and peers after his victory at the Alberta Open Championship at Carnmoney, but he would prefer to be chatting with them on a weekly basis on the practice range or in the locker room at Colonial, Harbour Town or Torrey Pines.

James Love and his mother pose with the Alberta Open Championship trophy and cheque in hand.

Unfortunately, his personal cheering section at Carnmoney didn’t include his biggest fan – his father. Rod Love, a prominent political strategist and righthand man to long-time premier Ralph Klein, passed away in October, 2014 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

His son choked up outside the clubhouse at Carnmoney when a TV reporter asked how Rod would have reacted to his triumph.

James later admitted, “He would have enjoyed it more than I would.” The 2005 Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur champion is certain his proud pops would have enjoyed the victory party, too – a low-key family gathering at a nearby watering hole.

“We just went to a pub and had some beers and talked about the shots and talked about the tournament and how it transpired.

That’s exactly what my dad would have wanted to do,” Love said. “He was my biggest fan. He never missed an event that I played in anywhere close to Calgary, and he was the first guy that I would call or email after any round – good or bad – anywhere in the world.”

Love called his parents, Rod and Charlene, immediately after working overtime to win the 2009 Canadian Tour Championship in St. Catharines, ON, defeating Brazil’s Lucas Lee in a playoff. Other notable names in his rear view mirror that week included

“I think I struggled a little bit over the last few years, especially the years after everybody kind of moved on. I wasn’t really sulking but I was also not necessarily looking at it from the best perspective,” admitted Love, who made a dozen Web.com Tour starts in 2012 but has mostly teed it up on what’s now known as the Mackenzie TourPGA Tour Canada. “I should have looked at it as, ‘That’s how close I am.’ I wasn’t resentful, by any means, that they were there and I wasn’t. It was more like, ‘I should be there, too.’

“To be honest, it’s hard at times keeping the faith,” he added. “You’re only as good as your last round, but I know how well I can play.

For whatever reason, over the last little while, it hasn’t happened for me in the events in which I needed it to. I’m still enjoying trying to get better and doing the things I need to do on and off the course to make it.

“The desire hasn’t gone away at all. It’s just a matter of doing it at the right time.” ■

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2016-04-11 1:31 PM ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

PEOPLE

BY WES GILBERTSON,

THE CALGARY SUN

Albertans Abroad AS A ROOKIE ON PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA, WIL BATEMAN’S RESEARCH WASN’T LIMITED TO MARKING YARDAGE GUIDES AND STUDYING GREEN COMPLEXES.

“And then I went down to Latin America and I saw all these things… after a month down there, I came back and it was honestly like I was an entirely different person. I had so many experiences and saw so many different cultures, people and places.

“One of the things that my mom and I did was check to see what the minimum wage was in every country we went to on the Tour,” Bateman said. “In some countries, it was less than $250 a month.”

“I had really been contemplating whether or not I really wanted to play pro golf because the lifestyle was obviously tough.

You go down to Latin America and you think, ‘Wow, look at the life I’m living in Canada.’ It was very humbling.”

Bateman certainly wasn’t lining his pockets as a professional golfer, but that particular statistic was an eye-opener for the twotime Alberta Junior champion from Edmonton – especially after some soul searching about his future in the bucksfor-birdies business.

“Last year, I went through a pretty tough time,” Bateman revealed. “I didn’t play golf for something like 40 to 45 days in the summer. I was debating whether or not I even wanted to play golf ever again. I got back into it with the help of my family and some people around me who said, ‘You can’t give it up, you’ve worked so hard.’

Wil Bateman, Hyundai BBVA 89th Chile Open champion.

Photo Credit: PGA Tour.

66 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

It's getting tougher and tougher to keep track of Bateman and the rest of Alberta's aspiring PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars… and that's a good thing.

It's still common, of course, to see plenty of familiar names on the tee sheet at Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada or Canadian Women's Tour stops, but upand-comers from the Wild Rose Province are also putting their passports to good use as they gain experience, Airmiles and (hopefully) world ranking points in far flung locations.

Bateman, who made headlines when he won a McLennan Ross Junior Tour event at the ripe old age of 11, made history again when he earned a spot on Alberta’s Willingdon Cup squad at 15. He wasn’t planning to follow the PGA Tour Latinoamérica circuit in 2015, but he received an exemption to the Mazatlán Open in Mexico, finished in a tie for fifth, and eventually gained full status on that tour in the mid-season reshuffle. It only seemed to snowball from there.

With his mother Dorene keeping him company, Bateman would dig divots in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,

Photo Credit: Paul Bernie.

4-under par to capture a National Women’s Golf Association event in Florida, taking home first place earnings of $2,500 USD. “After every week and every tournament, I learn a little bit more about myself and my game that helps me prepare for my next event,” Ha said. “My dad has always said ‘It’s all about progression not perfection,’ and in these last few months, I’m really starting to understand what that means.

I’ve also learned to be my own best friend while I am out on the course. No other player in the tournament fieId wants to see your name at the top of the leaderboard, so I might as well be kind to myself and stay positive.”

Riley Fleming tees off during the 2015 ATB Financial Classic.

Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and, most notably, Chile. Just a few months after he seriously considered a career change, the 22-year-old was celebrating a victory in early October at the Hyundai BBVA 89th Chile Open, where he set a new PGA Tour Latinoamérica scoring record by shaving 24 strokes off par in the 72-hole event.

Yip nearly proved that again before settling for a third-place showing at the Web.com Tour’s Digital Ally Open last August in Kansas. Now 31 and with eight years of professional know-how – including a victory on the Mackenzie Tour, an appearance at the 2013 U.S. Open and tournament experience on several

“YOU GO DOWN TO LATIN AMERICA AND YOU THINK, ‘WOW, LOOK AT THE LIFE I’M LIVING IN CANADA.’ IT WAS VERY HUMBLING.” – WIL BATEMAN That trophy presentation was more than 10,000 km south of Edmonton, where Bateman honed his skills as a youngster at Blackhawk Golf Club.

Calgary-raised Ryan Yip (Bearspaw) was even further from home when he surged to victory at the Asian Development Tour's PGM Port Dickson Championship in Malaysia in September 2014. It was just past midnight back in Calgary when Yip – a past winner of both the Alberta Amateur and Alberta Open Championship – put the finishing touches on an 8-under 63 in his final round to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.

“That win showed me that I can win anywhere in the world,” Yip said.

It’s been said, time and time again, that professional golf is a lonely game. That’s especially true when you travel so far out of your comfort zone to tee it up.

“It definitely opens your eyes a little bit. You get so comfortable playing in Canada – you go out for dinner wherever you want, you eat the same thing and you show up the next morning at 7 a.m., and you go play,” said Crossfield’s Riley Fleming (Collicutt Siding), a two-time Alberta Amateur and Alberta Open champ who played a couple of Asian Development Tour events this winter, shooting his career-best competitive score of 63 at a tournament in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, Fleming had to withdraw from the final stage of Asian Tour qualifying due to heat stroke.

different continents – Yip continues his crusade to reach the big stage. He has status on the Web.com Tour through 12 events this year, before a reshuffle will determine where he plays the rest of the summer.

“Golf is still golf. At the end of the day, you’re still trying to get the ball into the hole as fast as you can, but everything else – getting to the course, your pre-game routine, your post-game routine – is totally different. If you can wrap your head around that, I think you have a big advantage.”

Calgary’s Jennifer Ha (Country Hills), meanwhile, is starting her climb as a rookie on the Symetra Tour – the primary feeder for the LPGA Tour. After a stellar collegiate golf career at Kent State University and a victory at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship, the 22-year-old turned professional late last year. She earned her first professional win in April by shooting a 54-hole total of

“As long as you’re playing somewhere in the world, if you play well enough, you’re going to the climb up the ranks quickly,” added Bateman, who has 2016 full-time playing privileges on both PGA Tour Latinoamérica and the Mackenzie Tour.

Bateman also started the season with partial status on the Web.com Tour and made his PGA Tour debut at the Puerto Rico Open in March. ■

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

67

WHAT’S NEW

2016

Whats New

WATSON COMING TO SHAW CHARITY CLASSIC The Shaw Charity Classic continues to earn accolades as one of the most prestigious events on the PGA Tour Champions schedule. For the third year in a row, the Shaw Charity Classic broke its own record for charitable donations by raising $3.9 Million for 99 youthbased charities in Alberta. Those efforts

did not go unnoticed by PGA Tour Champions as the tournament earned its second consecutive President’s Award in recognition of those achievements.

that Tom Watson will be making his first tournament visit to Calgary at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club from August 31 – September 4.

Miller Brady, PGA Tour Champions Chief Operating Officer, presented the award to tournament executive director Sean Van Kesteren at the PGA Tour’s annual meeting held in Miami, FL in December.

Van Kesteren said, “I didn’t think we had a chance to win this award two times in a row.

We are very happy for all the charities we support. The Calgary community has really embraced this event.”

World Golf Hall of Fame member Watson, with 39 PGA Tour wins, including eight major championships on his resume spoke about his desire to come to Calgary at a media conference in April. “I heard about the success of the Shaw Charity Classic and there was no way I was going to miss it this time around,” commented Watson, who made his final appearance at The Masters this year. “I have heard nothing but positive things about the Shaw Charity Classic, and the record amount of money they raise for children’s charities.” ■

The golf fans in Calgary and area aren’t the only ones who have taken notice of the great things going on with the Shaw Charity Classic. The 2015 tournament had one of the strongest fields of the PGA Tour Champions season and it will only get stronger this year.

The tournament recently announced

MACKENIZE TOUR RETURNS TO EDMONTON Touring professional golf returns to Edmonton this July for the first time since 2012 as the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada will become part of the Edmonton golf landscape for at least the next five years.

Glendale GCC will be the site of the inaugural Oil Country Championship, as the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) will be partnering with the Mackenzie Tour to host the tournament from July 25-31, 2016.

68 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

“We are delighted to partner with the PGA Tour on the new Oil Country Championship,” said OEG CEO Bob Nicholson. “Adding golf to OEG’s expanding roster of sports and entertainment assets makes a lot of sense, given Canadians’ passion for golf. Spectators will enjoy a hugely entertaining and fun atmosphere at the Glendale this July.”

Glendale last hosted a Mackenzie Tour event in 2009,

when James Hahn won his second Mackenzie Tour event at the northwest Edmonton layout, which will play at 7,243 yards for the Oil Country Championship.

Hahn, now a mainstay on the PGA Tour, captured his first win at the 2015 Northern Trust Open. The tournament’s rotation will include Glendale this year, Windermere GCC in 2017, the Edmonton Petroleum GCC in 2018, Edmonton CC in 2019 and an as yet to be named site for 2020.

Dinosaur Trail Golf Club

New Net Amateur Championship for 2016

A

re you an Alberta Golf member, male or female, aged 19 or over? Are you looking for a fun-filled, 36hole tournament at one of Alberta’s most interesting golf courses? Are you perhaps a bit nervous about entering an Alberta Golf championship, but want to give competitive golf a try in a low-stress atmosphere?

Well, have we got a tournament for YOU! The inaugural Alberta Net Amateur Championship will be held August 30-31, 2016 at the sensational Dinosaur Trail Golf Club in Drumheller. The 36-hole event is open to both men and women and will be in a Stableford format, with full handicap allowances in the net scoring system. Many of the entrants for the Net Amateur are expected to be relatively inexperienced in competing in Alberta Golf championships, so the Stableford scoring format will

eliminate the worry about having to complete every hole, regardless of the number of strokes you might take.

Rob Forshner, manager, rules and competitions for Alberta Golf, talked about the newest event on the Alberta Golf tournament schedule. “We think the Net Amateur has the potential to be one of our most popular events.” Forshner said. “We have thousands of Alberta Golf members who perhaps aren’t quite skilled or confident enough to enter the men’s or ladies amateur championships or even the seniors or mid-am events, but still want to feel part of the Alberta Golf community.

“We have added the Net Amateur Championship to our tournament schedule this year to help give these players an event in which they can feel

comfortable. We fully expect that over time, the Net Amateur will become one of Alberta Golf’s most popular tournaments.”

There is no question that the host venue, Dinosaur Trail Golf Club, provides an outstanding site for the first Net Amateur Championship. The front nine is a parkland style, tree-lined fairway traditional course, but the back nine is where the course has earned its reputation as one of Alberta’s most scenic venues, as the holes twist and turn through spectacular hoodoos.

Visit the Alberta Golf website at www.albertagolf.org to enter. ■

Glendale Golf and Country Club

In addition to a 72-hole championship with a $175,000 purse, the event will feature a Celebrity Pro-Am on Monday, July 25 featuring current Oilers players, Oilers alumni and other sport and entertainment celebrities. There will also be a fun-filled Celebrity Horse Race with each of 10 teams containing a celebrity and a Mackenzie Tour professional in an alternate-shot format.

The addition of the Oil Country Championship now gives Alberta three stops on the Mackenzie Tour, adding to the Syncrude Boreal Open, presented by AECON at the Fort McMurray GC, August 4-7, and the ATB Financial Classic at Country Hills GC in Calgary from August 11-14.

The Mackenzie Tour is a major step for young touring professionals on their path to the PGA Tour. Enjoy these great young players from Canada, the United States and around the world as they move up the ladder in pro golf. ■

Your Home For Prairie Golf

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ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

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2016

Whats New

Ft. McMurray Golf Club

Opens New “Foxtail” Nine T

he Ft. McMurray Golf Club has been one of Alberta’s top courses for many years, and will become even more spectacular this summer with the opening of their third nine holes, bringing the facility up to 27 holes of great golf. Currently the site of the Syncrude Boreal Open on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada, Ft. McMurray GC also hosted the 2007 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship.

Ed. Note: The devastating fires in the Fort McMurray area are happening literally as we go to press with the 2016 Alberta Golfer magazine. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Fort McMurray for their safety. At this writing, our understanding is that the Fort McMurray GC has suffered significant damage to many structures and the golf course itself.

Jason Vaughan, Head Professional at the club, talked about the anticipation at the club for the new holes, which will be known as the club’s “Foxtail” nine. “Our new nine will help the club on many levels,” Vaughan said. “We expect play will be faster and more relaxed as we can increase the tee time intervals to nine minutes. We also anticipate that the entire course will be in better condition with the traffic more spread out.

“We will have more prime time tee times for members and guests, and we will be able to have more options

for strategically placing our outside tournaments. I know our members will also appreciate just having more variety in their options for the layout they choose to play.”

Course Superintendent Jeff Hacior talked about the construction process for the Foxtail nine. “We began to knock down trees in the winter of 2012-13. Architect Wayne Carleton, who also designed Shadow Mountain in Cranbrook and Dakota Dunes in Saskatoon, began construction in the spring of 2013. Everything was pretty much done by late fall of 2014, and we left all of 2015 for a grow-in period,” Hacior noted. “The new nine will have a somewhat different look than our existing 18 holes as it features several spectacular elevation changes, excellent bunkering and challenging, but fun green complexes.”

If you are in Ft. McMurray this summer, make sure you drop by the Ft. McMurray GC to experience these exciting changes for yourself. ■

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2016-04-28 11:48 AM

PUMA GOES “HIGH-STEPPIN’”

T

elevision viewers were somewhat startled over the winter when they observed Puma poster boy Rickie Fowler sporting an entirely new ‘look’ in golf footwear with what at first glance appeared to be high top basketball shoes. In some ways, they were in fact high top basketball shoes!

Fowler had been at Puma headquarters over the winter and was given some high top shoes

by Puma for casual street wear.

He fell in love with the shoes’ fit and comfort and asked Puma engineers if they could somehow fit the shoes with golf cleats so that he could wear them out on the golf course. The Puma staff

went to work and the result is the new Ignite Hi Top. Fowler enjoys the new fit and feel of the Ignite Hi Top and appreciates the look they provide with some of his more progressive golf attire. Puma now has the Ignite Hi Top in full

production and golfers can watch for the shoes in pro shops and retailers across Alberta this spring. ■

Innisfail Golf Club’s New Clubhouse The Innisfail Golf Club will have a fantastic new addition to their club for the 120 competitors in the 2016 Sun Life Financial Men’s Alberta Amateur Championship. We’re not talking about a new green or a new hole on the already fabulous 27-hole Central Alberta layout.

We’re talking about Innisfail’s brand new clubhouse that opened this spring!

Club Manager Darren Black says that the new clubhouse has been eagerly awaited, not only by the members in Innisfail, but by the entire community. “Planning for the new clubhouse began in 2013,” said Black. “We knew that we needed to build something that would be more efficient, help us attract and retain members, and be a focal point for the entire community.”

Planning and budgeting took more than two years to complete, and the final plans were approved by the membership in May, 2015. The existing clubhouse was demolished last September, and the favorable winter weather allowed construction to be completed a couple of months ahead of schedule. The much anticipated grand opening is expected in May, 2016.

“The main floor will have 5,600 sq. ft. of space,” boasted Black. “We will have all brand new kitchen equipment, larger washrooms and the building will be fully handicap accessible. Our Tournament House facility will continue to service most of our larger tournaments and

banquets, but we will be using the new clubhouse for weddings, staff parties and other events in the community.”

Black expects the spectacular views from the dining room will draw significant new food and beverage business to the club from the community and surrounding areas. “We are open to the public,” said Black. “The view from the dining room is second to none, and we will have food and service to match.” The clubhouse will have seating for 100 inside, plus room for 40 more on the deck and another 30 guests on the patio. We would expect all the seats will be filled in July to watch Alberta’s best male amateurs coming up the 18th hole! ■

Championship golf in the heart of Lethbridge • • • • •

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2016-05-04 12:02 PM ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

2016

Whats New

RedTail Landing Golf Club

ALBERTA OPEN

T

he Calgary-based law firm of Scott Venturo LLP has come on board this year as the new Title Sponsor for the Alberta Open Championship that will be held at RedTail Landing Golf Club in Nisku from June 21-22. The 36-hole championship will pit the top amateur and club professionals from the Alberta Golf and PGA of Alberta Order of Merit listings, along with exemptions granted to any Alberta-based touring professionals competing on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada.

John McDougall, managing partner for Scott Venturo, spoke about the firm’s new involvement with the Alberta Open and their ongoing support for national and international sport.

“Scott Venturo is proud to partner with Alberta Golf,” McDougall commented. “We are delighted to be designated as the Title Partner for the Scott Venturo Alberta Open Championship for the next three years.”

The Scott Venturo Alberta Open is one of Alberta Golf’s most prestigious events. Dating back to 1935, the tournament has had an illustrious list of champions over the years, including

names like Stan Leonard, Henry Martell, Moe Norman, and Kirk Triplett. In more recent years after Alberta Golf jump-started the event in 2003, some of Alberta’s top touring professionals such as Wes Heffernan and Riley Fleming have captured the title on multiple occasions.

A field of 96 competitors is expected to compete at RedTail Landing, which will play at 7,322 yards to a par of 72. In addition to the Order of Merit and Mackenzie Tour exemptions, sectional qualifying will be held at Carstairs Golf Club on June 1 and at Goose Hummock Golf Resort on June 3 to complete the field.

Professionals will compete for a purse of $15,000 with $5,000 going to the champion. ■

CP Women’s Open Returns to Priddis Greens

Photo Credit: Gabriel Roux, Golf Canada

Brooke Henderson

72 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

The CP Women’s Open is returning to Alberta this summer for the fifth time in the last decade. Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in Calgary will host 156 of the best women professional golfers in the world from August 22-28th in what is always one of best-attended and most prestigious events on the LPGA Tour schedule. Priddis Greens has hosted

Golf Canada’s flagship women’s tournament twice previously, in 1999 and 2009, and the club is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase their spectacular course again this summer.

Canadian superstar Brooke Henderson will be one of the favorites at the 72-hole event, which will be the first tournament on the LPGA Tour immediately after the women’s golf competition at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Will Brooke have a gold medal around her neck when she steps off the plane in Calgary?

Defending champion and world #1-ranked player Lydia Ko of New Zealand will also be in the field at Priddis Greens. Top stars of the LPGA Tour from around the world such as Ha Na Jang, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson as well as Canada’s Alena Sharp and Lorie Kane are all expected to be in Calgary to compete for the winner’s share of the $2.25M USD purse.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation is the official charity beneficiary of the 2016 CP Women’s Open. All funds raised through the tournament will support pediatric cardiac care and research at the hospital.

For more information about the 2016 CP Women’s Open, to purchase tickets, to volunteer, or to donate to the official charity, please visit cpwomensopen.com. ■

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FEATURE

BY MIKE DEMPSTER

Stepping Up the F&B Game A

t the 2015 member-guest tournament at Calgary’s Silver Springs Golf and Country Club, everyone went home with a story to tell. At some point during their round, head golf professional Dean Ingalls visited every group.

Frank Maloney and his grandson show off their delicious meals at Silver Springs Golf Club.

Photo Credit: Silver Springs Golf & Country Club

He wasn’t there to read a challenging putt or give a swing tip. Instead, he was delivering food: fall-off-the-bone Alberta short ribs and buttery mashed potatoes, a feature item of the food and beverage team.

“It blew people’s minds,” says Jon Fisher, general manager and chief operating officer, who along with Ingalls joined Silver Springs in 2015. “The message to our members was: ‘We realize you have a guest here and we want your guest to know how much we care that they are out here.’ ” The VIP treatment is part of what Silver Springs G&CC calls ‘social engagement innovation’. It’s about making the club a special place, a second home.

“It’s important,” Fisher says,”because golf courses have a big responsibility ahead of them to grow the game.

“We have to excel in all areas of golf service and product delivery to compete with this busy world and be exceedingly relevant and entertaining for the member,” Fisher says. “Golf is a luxury that we need to make luxurious.”

Whether it’s a private club, a semi-private facility that’s open to the public, or a municipal course, food and beverage delivery plays a varying role of importance in the golfing experience.

74 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

“Members are demanding a higher quality of food, a more consistent product and a place where they can be proud to bring their guests,” says Fisher, noting that the guests might in turn become new members. The Silver Springs board of directors has created several opportunities to help enhance a member’s experience at the club.

The Daily Grind, a winter evening social event in the turf maintenance building is one such opportunity.

Turf professionals host members in a demonstration of grinding mower blades, sharing the art of equipment maintenance and showing off new additions to the fleet. Chef Drew Double and the food and beverage team mingle in a social environment with appetizers and beverages.

Similarly, the opening mixed golf tournament enjoys an on-course food and social component with members playing in groups of eight. In 2015, golf course superintendent Paul Dodson greeted players at the 15th green, displaying a composite sample of the green and talking about the turf’s complexities. Players were invited into a willing member’s back yard where a club chef manned a barbecue and a server sang opera. At another watering hole, The Back Shop Boys – a live band made up of four members of the club’s back shop – delighted players.

“It’s entertaining and educational because members are meeting the staff and getting to know them personally, which just makes the club experience better,” Fisher says. “When our members

In Calgary, the city’s golf course operations business unit is responsible for eight municipal courses at six locations.

With limited clubhouse space, food and beverage is concession based, usually serving up “grab and go” choices.

Having great tasting food is critically important at any golf course.

know the turf crew personally, it just makes their knowledge and relationship with the golf course that much more interesting.”

Fisher, who was general manager at Calgary’s Willow Park Golf and Country Club from 1992 until 2015, says food and beverage for many clubs is a social catalyst, not necessarily a money maker.

Private clubs that hold only a few outside tournaments often budget for a loss on food and beverage delivery. Public and private facilities may make a profit if they host a lot of outside tournaments, weddings and corporate events.

Tim Pols, food and beverage manager at the Innisfail Golf Club, agrees that providing food and drink to members is an amenity, where breaking even is a nice outcome.

This season, Innisfail will up its game when it opens a spectacular new clubhouse. The restaurant, with stellar views overlooking the course, will offer new food options to club members and the public, including competitors in the 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship, July 19-22.

Innisfail understands the tournament market perhaps better than most area clubs. Each year the 27-hole facility manages 4,500 to 5,000 tournament rounds that help keep annual dues down

for its 500 members. A tournament house, separate from the main clubhouse, holds up to 160 people. “The tournament house allows us to host an outside tournament and still have the main clubhouse available to our members,” said Pols.

“MEMBERS ARE DEMANDING A HIGHER QUALITY OF FOOD, A MORE CONSISTENT PRODUCT AND A PLACE WHERE THEY CAN BE PROUD TO BRING THEIR GUESTS,” – JON FISHER

In a small town of about 8,000 people, clubhouse price points are sensitive.

“I have to compare myself to the other restaurants in town,” Pols says. “We are getting a new building and perhaps we may be a bit more expensive, but we still have to find a reasonable balance and not scare people away.”

The new clubhouse increases the dining area to about 140 seats from 75 and presents multiple uses for outside functions like weddings in the off season.

Food choices will move a “bit more upscale” to include pastas, flat breads, and seafood. “It will allow us to be a bit different,” Pols explains. “Everybody in town does a burger.”

“We focus on the provision of golf,” says Lisa Lanctot, business development coordinator. In 2014, golf customers were surveyed specifically on what they would like to eat and drink. “We have seen an uptick in healthier choices like wraps, salads and fruit salads,” Lanctot noted. “But it always seems that the ever popular ‘beer and a hotdog’ is still the number one seller.”

Course operators often create unique identities for their facilities with simple house specialties such as butter tarts, lemon meringue pies, or a mac and cheese burger that was “incredibly popular” at Innisfail.

“Every club has its brilliance,” Fisher explains. “The best clubs are populated with staff who provide small-town service.

These are people who know your name, your allergies, your favourite drink and what makes you laugh.”

Like most Alberta golf courses, the majority of staff at Silver Springs are seasonal employees. While the club’s chefs are highly talented and capable of delivering a standard of food you might see on The Food Network, they are only as good as the rookie on the cooking line and the first-time server. Fisher says.

“It’s best to stick to feature items that are consistently of a high standard.”

And of course, there are the savoury Alberta beef short ribs and heavenly mashed potatoes that club members and their guests always talk about. ■

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TRAVEL

BY DUNC MILLS

GOLF THE NORTH THE PASSION AND ENTHUSIASM ALBERTANS HAVE FOR GOLF IS NO SECRET. WHETHER IT’S THE NEWEST DRIVER, PUTTER OR PAIR OF SHOES, WE HAVE PROVEN OUR WILLINGNESS TO SPEND MONEY ON GOLF. It is no different when it comes to travel opportunities, either. Every fall, thousands of snowbirds head south for at least part of the winter to warm weather destinations like Arizona, California or Nevada, but during the summer, we can’t overlook the tremendous golf and recreation options at our disposal within our own borders. When you consider the diversity of golf courses combined with the sensational scenery, golf in the northern part of Alberta is an exciting and affordable travel option to consider.

Fuel prices are on the rise again. Airplane travel is often nothing but hassles and aggravation. The exchange rate, while improving, still makes travel to the States a more expensive proposition. Seek out some of the tremendous golf courses and other recreation options right at our fingertips in northern Alberta.

76 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

Cougar Creek Golf Resort

WEST CENTRAL Barrhead Golf Club is only about an hour northwest of Edmonton, and is always one of the best conditioned courses in the province.

The superbly manicured fairways and exquisite greens make this a fun-filled destination for an easy day trip out of the city. The club also has an on-site campground convenient for RV-ers considering a longer stay.

Cougar Creek Golf Resort is another gem, less than an hour’s drive west of Edmonton.

You know you’re in for a treat driving in the front gate past arguably the most beautiful course sign in Alberta, but there is so much more to enjoy. Cougar Creek is a splendid layout which is always in fantastic shape.

One of the newest facilities in northern Alberta is Trestle Creek Golf and RV Resort, only about 20 minutes west of Cougar Creek on the Yellowhead highway. The course opened their second nine holes last summer, and have a third nine under construction.

When finished, the resort will include an outstanding new clubhouse and recreation complex, featuring a water slide for the kids!

Bring your game though, as Trestle Creek is a fun, but very challenging layout.

Northern Alberta has several exceptional ninehole courses.The Mayerthorpe Golf Course is a lovely, easy to walk layout and features a well-equipped campground adjacent to the course. Silver Birch Golf Club in Fox Creek is another nine-hole beauty, showcasing treelined fairways and a warm, inviting clubhouse.

GRANDE PRAIRIE & AREA The most well-known course in the Grande Prairie vicinity is the Grande Prairie Golf and Country Club. The club has hosted numerous Alberta Golf tournaments, including the 1997 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur championship. Their calling card has always been the warm hospitality of its members and staff in addition to the exceptional golf course.

A little further down Resources Road in Grande Prairie is The Dunes Golf and Winter

P

Y

If you’re heading for Jasper National Park, give some thought to stopping in at Edson and Hinton on your way west. These lovely community-owned courses are fun to play, more than enough challenge for anyone, and you can almost smell the Rocky Mountain air from the first tee. Both courses offer a friendly, small town atmosphere for anyone to enjoy in addition to some outstanding golf.

Club, featuring generous fairways framed by stands of jack pine and spruce, and smooth, undulating greens. The third 18-hole course in Grande Prairie is Bear Creek Golf Club in the northwest corner of the city. In addition to the golf course, Bear Creek contains an on-site 20-stall RV park, and RV guests staying for a week or more receive complimentary golf!

Y & STA

starting at

99

$

AC

P

Whitecourt Golf & Country Club, about 90 minutes northwest of Edmonton, is another beautfully conditioned and challenging course. Whitecourt sports a very impressive new clubhouse for after-round relaxation. If you’re lucky, you might also see some power boats racing on the Athabasca River that flows past the course.

LA

KAGE

S

WHITECOURT

THE PEACE COUNTRY

GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

The Mighty Peace Golf Club is located just minutes outside the town of Peace River and features a fully stocked pro shop, practice facilities and a fun, but very challenging golf course. The Valleyview Riverside Golf Course is another picturesque nine-hole course just minutes outside the town. Located alongside the Little Smoky River, Valleyview Riverside has well maintained fairways and excellent putting surfaces.

Eaglesham Lakeside Golf and Country Club is another terrific nine-hole course, located about halfway between Grande Prairie and Peace River. This is another course with an on-site campground, perfect as part of an RV tour of northern Alberta, or a more extended stay.

The High Prairie and District Golf Club services the town and surrounding area with a lovely nine-hole course, showcasing meticulously groomed fairways and slick greens. Just north of the town of Slave Lake, the Gilwood Golf and Country Club is arguably the most challenging 18-hole course in northern Alberta. Designed by Les Furber, the course opened with nine holes in 1987 and has since expanded to 18 holes of tree-lined fairways and well-bunkered greens.

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Barrhead GOLF CLUB • 18-hole championship course only an hour northwest of Edmonton • One of Northern Alberta’s best conditioned layouts • Memberships, daily play and corporate tournaments • Early bird specials and ‘free ride Fridays’!

• Pro shop, full service restaurant and on-site camping • Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play”

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2016-05-04 10:30 AM

hosted Alberta’s best women amateurs in the 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship.

Bonnyville Golf and Country Club features scenic lake views and rolling parkland style fairways, and is adjacent to excellent camping facilities on Moose Lake. The Cold Lake Golf and Winter Club is located on the 4 Wing Cold Lake air base and services the general public as well as the service personnel on the base.

Natural wildlife abounds on the course.

The city of Fort McMurray boasts two outstanding golf courses. The Fort McMurray Golf Club hosts the Boreal Syncrude Open on the Mackenzie Tour every summer as some of the world’s top young touring professionals compete for a $175,000 purse. The club is opening its new Foxtail nine this summer, providing guests even more variety and challenge.

Athabasca Golf and Country Club

Miskanaw Golf Club.

One of the newest additions to the golf landscape in northern Alberta is the Puddicombe-designed Eagle Point Golf Club, located just north of the hamlet of Wabasca.

Opened in August, 2013, the course is maturing beautifully and first-time visitors this year get nine holes for free! How can you lose with that offer?

The Athabasca Golf and Country Club is without question one of the top courses in northern Alberta. The club undertook a multi-million dollar renovation project a few years ago, and the layout is now simply outstanding. The club hosted the Alberta Golf Men’s Mid-Amateur a couple of years ago and the competitors all came away very impressed with the course and the incredible hospitality of the members.

FIND US ON THE WEB Here are several websites for tourism boards, golf organizations and media that will help you plan your golf vacation. golfnorthernalberta.com fortmcmurraytourism.com gptourism.ca peaceriver.ca athabascacounty.com travelalberta.com mygolfwest.com/northernalberta scoregolf.com/northern-alberta-golf-courses golfcanada.ca (Find a Course)

78 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

The Miskanaw Golf Club in Fort McMurray is an integral part of the incredible McDonald Island Park and sits adjacent to the Suncor Community Leisure Centre. In 2014, the course completed a total renovation and construction project that saw a six-year rebuild of the entire golf course, three holes at a time. The results are nothing short of incredible! Test your nerves at the signature Par-3 16th hole featuring an island green.

This compilation is not meant to be a comprehensive list of every golf course in northern Alberta. There are many other outstanding 18 and nine-hole courses we have not listed. When you combine the variety and value of these and other courses with the myriad of camping, fishing and other outdoor recreation opportunities, it is ample reason to consider a northern Alberta family golf vacation very soon. Enjoy! ■

NORTH EAST & FORT MCMURRAY

Ed. Note: The devastating fires in the Fort McMurray

Situated on the shores of Lac La Biche Lake, the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club is one of northern Alberta’s most scenic courses. It features naturally rolling terrain and you can practically see the fish jumping from the first tee!

area are happening literally as we go to press with

Another Puddicombe-designed northern Alberta course is Whitetail Crossing Golf Club in Mundare. The routing is a mix of links style holes and rolling parkland on the front nine, with natural wetlands and marshes adding to the challenge of the back nine. The course

the 2016 Alberta Golfer magazine. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Fort McMurray for their safety. At this writing, our understanding is that the Fort McMurray GC has suffered significant damage to many structures and the golf course itself.

INDUSTRY

BY DUNC MILLS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE MCLENNAN ROSS JUNIOR GOLF TOUR

Tour Talk

W

hen the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour, Presented by Crowe MacKay, was founded twenty years ago, one of the main goals of the Tour was to help grow the game of golf in Alberta by providing a platform for aspiring young Albertans to start to get their feet wet in the world of tournament golf. As the Tour enters its 21st season this year, I think it is fair to say that the Tour has more than accomplished that goal as tens of thousands of juniors have entered tournaments over the last two decades and many of them are now introducing their own children to our wonderful sport.

One of the most unique and heartwarming ‘grow the game’ initiatives in Alberta golf circles came to light last summer after receiving a phone call from Jim Fraser, the CPGA Head Golf Professional at Eagle Point GC in Wabasca. Eagle Point is a terrific new nine-hole course located about a twohour drive north of Athabasca and serves the hamlet of Wabasca/Desmarais and the entire Municipal District of Opportunity, Alberta’s third-largest M.D. Fraser has been the head pro at the tree-lined Puddicombe Golf designed layout since the course opened in August, 2013. Fraser said in his call that he had some very enthusiastic, but inexperienced young juniors. All were from the aboriginal community of Wabasca/Desmarais and had been learning golf over the past couple of summers. He felt they were now ready to expand their horizons by entering a junior golf tournament.

“It has been very interesting and very rewarding working with these boys and girls the past couple of years,” said the personable Fraser, who had previously been the head pro at the Smoky Lake GC for five years. “In 2013 when the course opened, we started out from ground zero. We had a brand new golf course and a fabulous clubhouse, but no members and no juniors.”

Fraser tirelessly went about the task of building a membership base, both by recruiting kids from the school system in

Aboriginal junior golfers learning the game at Eagle Point GC in Wabasca under the watchful eye of head pro Jim Fraser (far L).

the community and introducing adults to golf as well. The club offered very affordable family passes designed to get youth and adults alike interested in taking up golf.

“We have a small, but very dedicated core of volunteers here in the community who were already golfers, and they helped tremendously in both getting these youngsters involved and encouraging adults to learn the game as well,” Fraser said. “It was a steep learning curve for these kids, and for some of the adults, too. We had to coach them in everything from basic swing mechanics to things like keeping up a proper pace of play, course etiquette and even learning to play from the appropriate tees!”

Once the juniors started to improve, Fraser thought it was time for them to spread their wings, and last August, he and some volunteers accompanied ten budding stars to the McLennan Ross Tour event at Blackhawk GC in Edmonton. Talk about jumping into the deep end of the pool to get your golf careers started!

The kids were nervous of course and needed some help at first with things like how to use a tournament scorecard, which other more experienced juniors

perhaps take for granted. But they behaved beautifully, competed hard, and made many new friends among the other competitors. Fraser said the kids and the entire community couldn’t stop talking about the experience afterwards.

“The kids had a great time,” he continued. “It was a fantastic experience for them and a nice reward for all the hard work they have put in learning to play.”

This summer, Fraser hopes that the Eagle Point juniors will be competing in several McLennan Ross events over the summer.

We have a full slate of 25 Tour events on the 2016 schedule leading up to the 21st annual Tour Championship at Wolf Creek Golf Resort on August 29, 2016.

Our corporate partners in the Tour, led by the law firm of McLennan Ross, our Presenting Sponsor Crowe MacKay, and the rest of our roster of partners, have been critically important to the ongoing success of the Tour. Thanks must also go to the clubs that host Tour events as well as the parents and families who support their kids’ participation. See you on Tour this summer! ■

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

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2016 JUNIOR TOUR SCHEDULE May 28 | Drayton Valley GC Drayton Valley 780.542.3602

July 28 | Strathmore GC Strathmore 403.934.2299

June 18 & 19 | Henderson Lake GC Lethbridge 403.329.6767

Aug 4 & 5 | Goose Hummock GR Gibbons 780.921.2444

June 29 | Whitecourt GCC Whitecourt 780.778.3531

August 8 | Stony Plain GC Stony Plain 780.963.2133

June 30 | Barrhead GC Barrhead 888.674.3053

August 10 | Edmonton Petroleum GCC Edmonton 780.470.0700

July 5 | Innisfail GC Innisfail 403.227.3444 July 6 | Lacombe GCC Lacombe 403.782.3951 July 11 | Turner Valley GC Turner Valley 403.933.4721 July 12 | Carstairs GC Carstairs 403.337.3382 July 13 | Olds GC Olds 403.556.8008 July 18 | Ponoka GC Ponoka 403.783.4626

August 11 | Trestle Creek GR Entwistle 780.727.4575 August 16 | Nanton GC Nanton 403.646.2050 August 17 | McKenzie Meadows GC Calgary 403.257.2255 August 18 | Black Bull GR Ma-Me-O Beach 866.586.2254 August 22 | Pinebrook GCC Calgary 403.246.3315

July 19 | Whitetail Crossing GC Mundare 780.764.3999 July 20 | Montgomery Glen GC Wetaskiwin 800.419.2913

Plan Your 2016 Tour Schedule Now! AUGUST 29

July 21 | Camrose GC Camrose 780.672.2691

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 25 | Canmore GCC Canmore 888.678.4785

866.783.6050

July 27 | Country Hills GC Calgary 403.226.7777

2015 Tour Champions: Sharmaine Rapisura (L) of Inglewood GCC and Nick Vandermey (R) of The Links at Spruce Grove.

WOLF CREEK GOLF RESORT

It is easy to enter. Just pick out the events in which you wish to play and phone the host club to enter. Entry fees for one-day events will be in the $50-60 range; slightly higher for multi-day tournaments. Enter as many events as you like; there is no maximum. Space is limited, and there are entry deadlines for each tournament, so enter early to avoid disappointment. Be prepared to pay entry fees in advance to ensure your entry is accepted.

Official handicap factors are required to be eligible for net prizes. If you are not a member at a golf club, you can join Alberta Golf and Golf Canada as a Gold Level Member to obtain and maintain an official handicap factor in addition to many other benefits.

Tour competitors MUST adhere to the dress code of the host club as well as the Tour’s Code of Conduct.

For complete details on how the Tour works, visit our website at www.mrossjrtour.com

AGE ELIGIBILITY!

Tour events are open to any boy or girl born in the CALENDAR year of 1997 or later.

SRIXON ORDER OF MERIT

Earn Ranking Points at Tour events for the Srixon Order of Merit. Three age groups for boys plus Junior Girls.

See how you compare with other juniors on the Tour.

The Old Course WOLF CREEK GOLF RESORT

PEOPLE

The Year in Pictures

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4 1. The 2015 Alberta Golf staff.

2. The championship trailer received a brand new wrap in 2015. It travels to all major provincial championships. Keep an eye out for it on the road in 2016.

3. Alberta Golf was pleased to partner with The Glencoe Invitational. The challenging and beautiful Forest course hosted many top amateurs in the event’s 2015 return.

4. James Love sends a wedge sky-high during the final round of the 2015 Alberta Open Championship at Carnmoney G&CC, where he captured the title.

5. The official standard bearer keeps a close eye on the action while accompanying a marquee group during the 2015 Alberta Open Championship.

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5 6. Alex Scherer of Banff Springs GC accomplished one of the rarest feats in golf by holing out his second shot on the par-5 18th hole during the final round of the 2015 Alberta Open Championship. The albatross was a very memorable moment – what a finish!

7. It’s long, wet and cold days for tournament officials in the scoring tent. Here, scorers Jim Richardson (L) and Ted Thresher (R) watch the action at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship while drying out the caddie bibs.

8. Henderson Lake GC hosted Alberta’s best junior and juvenile golfers on Canada Day during the 2015 Alberta Junior Championships.

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6 9. Two proud fathers (and caddies!) watch as competitors in the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship close out their tournament.

10. Brett Hogan didn’t get much time after tapping in and signing his scorecard to reflect on his wire-to-wire victory before the media wanted his reaction on finally capturing the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship at the Edmonton Petroleum G&CC. 11. Fuzzy Bergh and Ted Thresher, two veteran volunteers, are looking sharp as they start the groups off the first tee at the Red Deer G&CC during the 2015 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship.

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12. The Japanese delegation found themselves in a western gun fight during the International Sport Exchange. Alberta hosted the Japanese junior golfers and delegates at Heritage Park for their final evening in our spectacular province.

14. Jack Wood of Banff Springs GC has a chat with his driver’s headcover prior to teeing off in the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship. You can caption it for yourself!

13. The team from Inglewood G&CC proudly showing off their medals and hardware at the 2015 Alberta Interclub Championship hosted at the Canmore G&CC.

15. 2015 Alberta Open Champion James Love

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16. Andrew Harrison receives a handshake and congratulations from Tournament Rules Chair Lyle Cuthbert after closing out the competition and claiming victory at the 2015 Alberta Junior Boys Championship at Henderson Lake GC.

shares a proud and emotional moment with his mother, Charlene.

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

83

FEATURE

BY RYAN LAVERTY

Southern Alberta course rating captain Howie Jaquish (R) shares a laugh while rating the Olds Golf Club last fall.

THE LIFE OF A

COURSE RATER WITH THE EARLY MORNING BREEZE IN HIS FACE AND THE LOWHANGING SUN GLEAMING THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF THE CART, HOWIE JAQUISH SILENTLY WONDERED WHETHER HIS INTEREST IN STAYING ACTIVE AND GIVING BACK TO THE GAME OF GOLF MAY HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN THE BETTER OF HIM. Riding shotgun down the first fairway of the Calgary Golf and Country Club, the 70-year-old retiree held onto a mitt full of papers with one hand and the safety handle with the other while his mentor, Stan Prime, hit the proverbial gas.

“I’d known Stan for a few years from doing rules (officiating) and I’d been bugging him for a while to take me along on a course rating,” explained Jaquish. “But when he finally did I thought, ‘what did I just get myself into’?”

With golf balls flying all around them and members either noticeably interested or somewhat annoyed at the intrusion, Jaquish scribbled down the numbers Prime barked at him. ‘So this is the life of a golf course rater’, he thought?

“Stan was the kind of guy that really knew what he was doing.” said Jaquish, who spent his career working in schools as an operations manager. “I think there were probably five or six other guys who had gone through the same process as I was going through, but just decided that being a course rater wasn’t for them. I guess I just happened to be one of the obstinate ones who was just determined to learn.”

Several years later, the student became the teacher as Jaquish took the role of course rating captain for southern Alberta. He now leads a team of 12 individuals in a quest to make golf a game that continues to be enjoyed by players of all ages and skill levels by determining both the slope rating and course rating for Alberta Golf member clubs south of Red Deer.

Up north in Edmonton, Herb Schlotter holds the same responsibility and it is one that he said he takes very seriously.

“For a long time, the problem was that the handicap system only looked at the difficulty of the course for a scratch

84 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

player. It didn’t take into account the relative difficulty of the course for all golfers,” Schlotter explained. “Over the last 25 years the USGA has developed the Slope Rating system that helps take into account the difficulty of the course from the bogey golfer’s perspective as well as from the scratch player’s perspective.

“There is often a misunderstanding of the definitions of ‘slope’ and ‘course rating’,” Schlotter continued. “The course’s rating is a measure of its absolute difficulty for the scratch player. For example, a course with a par of 72 and a course rating of 76.5 is one very hard course to play.

“A course’s slope rating is a measure of the relative difficulty of the course for the bogey golfer as opposed to the scratch player. Slope takes into account a huge variety of factors including location of water hazards and bunkers, width of the fairways in the landing areas, size of the greens and their difficulty to putt, length of carry to reach the fairway and many other considerations. What the slope and course rating does is to underpin the handicap system which enables all players to take their game ‘on the road’ and compete equitably at any course against any level of competition, depending on the tees they choose to use on any particular day.”

The slope rating of a course can range between 55 (lowest) and 155 (highest), with the average pegged at 113.

But how, you may ask, are those ratings determined? Well the short answer is, it’s complicated and it’s time consuming.

“There is a lot of math involved,” Schlotter admitted. “But it’s something most of us really love to do.”

That is a good thing considering the amount of time involved in getting to the right number. Typically the team captain, Schlotter for the north and Jaquish down south, will spend time discussing the course with the club pro, general manager or superintendent to get a feel for how the course is typically set up and how it plays. They’ll follow that with a deep dive into the scorecard, entering values such as hole length, width of fairways, and distances to hazards into their online scoring system in order to set themselves up for the fun work.

On a typical day, a team of four to eight course raters will show up at the course ready for a full day of measuring and number-taking. Traveling from tee to green in a caravan of golf carts, distances are tracked to determine the degree of difficulty for golfers of almost every skill level.

Of course, assumptions need to be made in order to gauge that difficulty. For instance, the idea that a male scratch golfer will hit his tee shot 250 yards with 230 yards of carry, while a bogey golfer will hit his drive 220 yards with 200 yards of carry. These numbers are adjusted on courses with elevations over 2,000 feet, which goes to show just how much math is involved for the course raters.

“We also assume that if an obstacle is more than 50 yards off the fairway that it’s not really an obstacle,” Schlotter said with a chuckle. “Because we all know all right-handed male golfers hit the ball straight every time and they never slice…”

Effectively, what all this work attempts to do is to rate – from zero to 10 – the difficulty of an obstacle and the likelihood of a golfer ending up in a position to deal with it. It’s no easy task and the process has evolved over the years thanks to improvements made by the USGA. For the small group

of Alberta-based volunteers committing their time to the process, it is a rewarding exercise, every time.

“I would definitely say my game has improved since I started rating,” said Jaquish, noting his volunteerism is often rewarded with a round of golf at each course he rates, both as a nice gesture from the member club and as a confirmation of his team’s rating. “I understand golf courses a lot better now – why they do things and how they do things.”

All told, both ratings captains would estimate they spend between 12 and 16 hours of time per golf course to establish course and slope ratings.

Typically their teams are at the course for six or seven “WHAT THE SLOPE AND COURSE RATING hours doing measurements and scoring. Both Schlotter DOES IS TO UNDERPIN THE HANDICAP and Jaquish agree that SYSTEM WHICH ENABLES ALL PLAYERS level of volunteerism isn’t TO TAKE THEIR GAME ‘ON THE ROAD’ AND necessarily for everyone, COMPETE EQUITABLY AT ANY COURSE” but for those who enjoy a – HERB SCHLOTTER challenge, are good with numbers and generally just have a passion for the game, the life of a course rater is an immensely gratifying one.

“Golf is something I’ve done for 50 years and I’ve gotten a lot out of golf through a lot of associations over the years,” said Jaquish. “I’ve enjoyed being able to give something back to it.”

For more information on the USGA Course Rating System, the Golf Canada Handicap System, or volunteer opportunities, please contact Alberta Golf. ■

The course rating team in action at Olds Golf Club during the 2015 golf season.

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85

INDUSTRY

BY GORD MONTGOMERY

Canadian ladies team up in fight against breast cancer

GOLF fore the CURE G

olf in the truest sense is an individualistic sport. But when it comes to raising money on the golf course for worthwhile causes, teamwork comes into play in a very big way.

Golf Fore The Cure is an annual event that sees thousands of participants team up for a day on golf courses all across the country in order to raise funds for much needed research into helping to cure breast cancer. Alberta is annually one of the top fund raising provinces in the Canada in support of this program.

Golf Fore The Cure’s national coordinator, Whitney Gorges of Golf Canada, explains the rationale for creating the platform. “The purpose initially was to get more women involved in golf, both as participants and by adding a fund raising component in support of breast cancer research,” said Gorges.

“Over the course of 13 years we’ve had well over 100,000 women participate in the program,” Gorges continued, describing the largest grassroots program of its kind in the nation. “I get calls all the

time from women who aren’t necessarily golfers, but who are really invested in the cause and who want to participate.”

As for the growth in the game this particular day has helped generate, Gorges said, “I don’t have a specific number but I do know that a large number of women who participate are new to golf. That’s how they got introduced to the sport and now many of them have stayed involved in golf.”

In Alberta, as many as 24 clubs have held this event in a single year with RedTail Landing GC in Edmonton showing great returns on its time and energy. In 2014, RedTail Landing led the nation in Golf Fore The Cure fundraising with over $22,000, and then followed that up by being fourth overall in 2015, despite the downturn in the Alberta economy.

Joshua Davison, the head professional at RedTail said his course has seen the event grow substantially over the past seven years to the point where there is now always a field of 120 players of more in attendance.

“The women do all kinds of amazing things,” Davison continued, ranging from decorating the power carts to dressing up in costume. “This began out of our ladies’ league and it’s hosted every year on the last Tuesday in July.”

Nationally, Golf Fore The Cure takes place at anywhere from 150 to 200 golf courses across the country. Gorges proudly boasted, “We usually get between 10,000 – 15,000 women involved in the program.”

The research dollars raised by the ladies come through a variety of means, including not only full 18-hole events, but nine-hole competitions, mini-putt tournaments, and driving range swing clinics. “It can be anything involved with golf as long as it involves swinging a club.”

Gorges claimed.

The Golf Fore The Cure event is a very special day at RedTail Landing.

Davison pointed out that the course does as much as possible to aid in the fund raising activities.

“The entry fee here for this event is the least expensive we offer all year for a

A group photo of all the participants at RedTail Landing’s Golf Fore the Cure event in 2015.

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The Golf Fore the Cure

program is all about using the sheer power of women playing the game of golf to make a difference.

Have fun on the golf course while creating awareness and raising funds for breast cancer research.

Golf Fore the Cure team of cowgirls. L-R: Betty Adams, Ronda Nedelec, ‘Pink Man’ Matt Truong, Catherine Vu & Sherri Parker.

tournament,” claimed Davison, “We want to make it affordable for the ladies, but also so we can raise the most money possible for the charity. It’s really not about making money for the club that day. We are really committed to making this an important event for a great charity.”

One big part of the day’s activities at RedTail Landing is the involvement of the tournament organizer, PGA Class A Professional, Matt Truong. He noted that while the event started simply, it has grown immensely in popularity.

“This event is something that allows us to give back to the community,” said Truong. “The first few years were a learning process for us, trying to come up with new ideas, but once we got things going, we have raised much more money than we ever have.”

One of those money making ideas, explained Truong, is to “Pink The Day,” including having pink flags on the greens and Truong going “all-in” for the cause by dressing up in a bright pink unitard for what’s called the “Pink Man Fund.”

“I’m in a pink body suit and nothing else,” Truong explained, not having to add that his attire is greeted with great enthusiasm by the ladies. “It’s just having fun and helps make the day more successful at the same time. The ladies appreciate it, even though it’s not the most flattering thing to see!”

“I think the event itself does help grow the game, too,” said Truong. “We offer it to our ladies club members first and they can invite friends. It is such a good cause.”

To run your own Golf Fore the Cure event, please visit www.golfcanada.ca/golfforethecure.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2015, the Golf Fore The Cure website recognized both RedTail Landing GC and Alberta Springs GC in Red Deer for their fundraising by naming national breast cancer impact funds in the courses’ honour.

Golf Canada partners with both the Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation to ensure that all the money raised stays within the country. A total of more than $5.4 million has been raised since the program’s inception thirteen years ago.

The women who participate all share a common goal of defeating breast cancer. Their hard work and dedication has had a tremendous impact on the scientific world and on the lives of thousands of Canadian women, their families, friends and caregivers in communities across the country. The five-year survival rate for breast cancer patients now stands at 88 per cent, a significant improvement over the 70 per cent survival rate from the 1980s.

And that’s largely thanks to teamwork in what is normally viewed as an individualistic sport. ■

To participate in the designated provincial Golf Fore the Cure Ladies Team Classic, please visit albertagolf.org/competition.

Pick a partner and dress in pink!

Golf Fore the Cure team of bandits.

L-R: Nicole Rademacher, Haley Coackwell, ‘Pink Man’ Matt Truong, Katie McMann & Stephanie Mejia.

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87

INDUSTRY

Scholarship

A.J. Armstrong

Washington State University

Barrett Belland

MacEwan University

Katie Benoit

University of Lethbridge

Chantele Broderson

University of Alberta

Brianna Carrels

University of Victoria

Emily Creaser

University of British Columbia

Quinn Fitzgerald

University of Victoria

Jolene Freerksen

Southern Wesleyan University

Kevin Gfrerer

Golf Academy of America - San Diego

Patrick Gobran

Longwood University

Andrew Harrison

University of British Columbia

Kat Kennedy

University of British Columbia

Alissa Kuhn

University of Lethbridge

Julie Kuhn

University of Alberta

Kristyn Kurio

University of Alberta

Carolyn Lee

University of British Columbia

Noah Lubberding

University of South Dakota

Chloe Mansfield

Mount Royal University

Erin Martens

Sonoma State University

Ryan McLaren

Concordia University

Scott McNichol

University of Calgary

Melanie Murchison

University of Victoria

Patrick Murphy

UCLA

Nathan Nobert

Augustana University

Jack Pengelly

University of Calgary

Eric Praught

University of Victoria

Tyler Saunders

Texas State University

Christa Spahmann Memorial Fund

Courtney Schubert

University of Calgary

Lola Rozsa

Amanda Sha

University of Alberta

Jeff Llewllyn Memorial Fund

Jesse Teron

University of Victoria

Sun Life Financial

Ben Throndson

University of Alberta

Bob Rintoul Memorial Fund

Rebecca Todd

Lethbridge College

R.E. Courage Memorial Fund

Cara Vanderham

California University of Pennsylvania

Tyler Vandermeer

University of Alberta

Shae Wagner

MacEwan University

Mackenzie Walker

University of British Columbia

Jack Wood

University of British Columbia

Award Winners T

he Alberta Golf Foundation (AGF) was created to facilitate the distribution of scholarship awards to deserving young Albertans to assist them in their post-secondary education. Each year, the scholarship committee of the AGF meets to review dozens of applications from young men and woman throughout Alberta to allocate awards based on a combination of academic excellence and financial need. Since 2002, the Alberta Golf Foundation has helped over 400 students by distributing over $550,000 dollars to our successful scholarship recipients.

In 2015, the AGF awarded 37 scholarships totalling $64,500 to students attending post-secondary institutions in Alberta, across Canada and in the United States. The funds to make this program possible came from a variety of sources, including individual contributions from Alberta Golf competitors, foundations and corporate partners, and other patrons of Alberta Golf interested in helping further the education of these young people who will help shape the future of our province. The AGF also raises significant scholarship funds from a casino fundraising initiative that has been very beneficial in making larger awards possible in recent years.

The generosity of our patrons allows the AGF to build and grow the scholarship program and increase our awards on a year to year basis. Please contact the AGF for more information of how to establish your own legacy in this very worthwhile program.

THANK YOU! â–

Patrons Charles C. Reid Foundation Frank Lindsay Memorial Foundation McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour

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Donate Now! Scan this QR code to learn more about contributing to the AGF.

I N 2 015 , $ 64, 5 0 0 WAS AWA R DED IN POST -S EC O N DARY S C H O LA R S H I PS TO D ES ERV I N G , YOUNG A L B ERTAN S B Y TH E A L B ER TA G O L F FO U N DAT ION

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG 

89

INDUSTRY

BY JEFFERSON HAGEN

An Early Start

I

t’s a bit of a twist on the old playground mantra: ‘Everything I learned, I learned in phys-ed class.’

Thanks to a burgeoning Golf Canada program, administered by Alberta Golf, students are getting exposed to the game at a young age in their classes.

Launched in the province in 2007, the Golf in Schools program has since grown to include more than 320 elementary schools, more than 10 junior high schools and more than 35 high schools Matt Rollins, former executive director/CEO of Alberta Golf, spearheaded the program in the province.

“All these other sports that were in physical education classes had a huge advantage over us. Kids were learning those sports at a young age and the teachers controlled the environment. We figured ‘why can’t we do that with golf?’

“As we improve the Golf In Schools program every year, students are going to continue to get introduced to golf in a positive way.”

In the village of Amisk, AB, with a population just north of 200, a number of youngsters have already hit the links at the nearby Hughenden Golf Club.

Principal Colette Johnson, who is also the phys-ed teacher, set up the Golf in Schools program three years ago and now puts about 55 kids from Grades 1-3 through golf instruction each year.

“We teach them how to hold the club and we show them the swing and the

90 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

Students at Blessed Mother Theresa school develop their swing in phys-ed class.

stance,” she said. “We give them the basic skills and let them have a little bit of fun.”

The pay off came when the Hughenden Golf Club sponsored their classes for a field trip to the course.

While it’s tough for kids in the farming community to get to the course regularly, Johnson notes some former students have continued playing golf.

“A few of them have said they’ve talked their parents into taking them golfing.”

Johnson claimed.

Jeff Thompson, chief sport officer for Golf Canada, noted that approximately 325,000 students are being exposed to golf every year in roughly 2,700 schools across the country. While the exact number of kids who go on to play the game regularly is tough to quantify, there are encouraging metrics to study.

“When a school comes to visit a facility on a field trip program or when a facility sends a golf pro into a school, we have provided our Golf In Schools passes to give out to the kids. The passes are redeemable for free buckets of range balls,” Thompson added, referring to last year’s pilot project.

“Just over 10 per cent of those passes were redeemed, and in most cases, the students coming back to the club weren’t

by themselves but came with their entire family. That was really encouraging information.”

There are also options for schools to take field trips to local golf courses to learn more about the game. Golf clubs can apply for a grant, which allows them to invite a school in their area out for a tour, which may include practice time on the range, chipping and putting lessons.

Arlene Buchan, learning leader at Dr. E.P. Scarlett high school in Calgary, notes they’ve long been taking their classes out to area courses under sponsorship from the Calgary Board of Education. Most recently their classes went to Blue Devil Golf Club.

“They loved it,” Buchan said. “Some of the students had previously played golf, but there are a lot of students who had never held a golf club in their hands. It’s awesome.” Many Dr. E.P. Scarlett students are continuing on with golf after taking the program in high school.

“We see that because that’s the whole premise of our phys-ed program now,” said Buchan. “The Golf in Schools program really sparks their interest. One of our focuses is to foster lifelong learning and being active for life. Golf is one of the perfect sports for that.”

At the high school level the Golf in Schools program is primarily about skill development. The elementary school curriculum introduces the game much more through fun activities.

“The elementary kit is about physical literacy, basic motor movements and games,” said Tyler McConachy, Alberta Golf’s manager of youth development.

The kit and curriculum includes all the equipment and a learning resource full of lesson plans to teach golf. “It’s a lot more unstructured, including exercises such as hopping on one leg or using the putter and a ball to wind their way through an obstacle course. It’s a lot more of a game.

“From there, the program transitions into the fundamentals of the sport, including more technical and structured play and practice,” McConachy added.

Golf Canada has added a new ‘Life Skills’ component to the program, in which students are taught skills such as perseverance, emotional regulation, teamwork, respect, honesty and goal setting. “We felt that the addition of life skills to the program was really important to demonstrate some of the core values of golf and what it delivers as a sport,” said Thompson.

“The first schools that took on the program were mostly ones that had teachers who were golfers or who had

some affinity towards golf. We felt the addition of the life skills component could help attract other schools that were undecided about the program,” Thompson added. “We think that will resonate with the schools.”

“Our goal is to have one of these kits in every school at some point,” said McConachy. “Some schools haven’t been able to afford even the subsidized kit, so, starting this year, we’ve gone into full adoptions to make the program affordable for any school.

“We’ve been fortunate to receive a very generous fund allocation from the Shaw Charity Classic each year,” he added of $5,000 annually they receive from the PGA Tour Champions event in Calgary.

These funds help Alberta Golf to provide subsidies or underwrite the full cost of the program to interested schools.

curling leagues in town. The membership increases at the golf course and at the curling rink,” he said.

Thompson noted that 60 per cent of schools that enter the program now obtain full subsidies from donations from individuals, corporations or even the local golf course itself.

“We see that as a good investment in the future of a facility,” Thompson said. “It helps cultivate the next generation of golfers.

“We’re excited with the solid numbers now in the Golf in Schools program.

With more and more facilities delivering the Future Links program as well, we can create golf communities where golf facilities have a relationship with the school,” Thompson added. “They keep getting the students from the school to the golf course — that’s the critical piece. ■

Alberta Golf sent a kit to Deer Meadow School in Olds, which has proven to be a big boost to the school’s golf program, said Principal Carey Collin.

“We have an academy program here with 42 different course offerings, including golf,” Collin explained of the junior high school.

“What we find is those life sports like curling and golf start to bolster some of the junior golf leagues and junior

Adopt A School Golf is the number one participation sport in Canada.

It’s a game enjoyed by people of all ages, yet many of students in the Canadian school system do not get the opportunity to play.

You can be a part of making a difference by participating in the “Adopt a School” initiative.

You, your club, or a group of friends can sponsor a school of your choice. Private donor contributions are tax deductible.

Jamie Reimer, a PGA of Canada Teaching Professional from the Golf Canada Calgary Centre, teaches students the basics of golf.

For more information please visit golfinschools.golfcanada.ca

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91

INDUSTRY

BY MIKE DEMPSTER

Going The Distance

Sport Plan

A

lberta Golf took another creative step in growing the game this January when staff visited the Olds Sports Complex – an arena brimming with young girls in an atom and peewee hockey tournament.

Between games, youngsters tried out the She Swings, She Scores (see p. 38) kiosk, taking turns hitting golf balls. Some players were naturals; others, not so much. Each girl, however, was part of a demographic the game needs to attract.

Exchanging hockey sticks for golf clubs was a fun introduction. The program embodies the direction and spirit set out in Going the Distance, the Alberta Sport Plan. The plan establishes a framework to develop all sport activities, for all ages, over the next 10 years.

“It is ambitious,” says Eoghan Curran, director of sport development at Alberta Sport Connection which is responsible for

implementing Going the Distance. “We were charged [by the Province] to find ways to do things differently. It has a vision that Alberta becomes a national leader in sport.”

Being a leader isn’t all about winning medals. “It’s about lifelong participation and athletic excellence,” Curran continued.

“It’s about developing coaches and officials as well as increasing resources and capacity in the sport system.” Organizations such as Alberta Golf will be responsible for delivering the plan to its respective sport.

Curran emphasizes that Going the Distance takes a holistic approach in developing and creating opportunities in all sport activities. Alberta Sport Connection is a provincial crown agency that promotes athletic excellence and multi-sport games while partnering with and funding community initiatives. It also provides base funding to provincial sport organizations including Alberta Golf.

The Alberta Sport Action Plan identifies “critical

linkages” that will successfully contribute to over-all health, well-being and quality of life for all Albertans.

These benefits include:

• Improving gender equity and programs for under-represented populations including aboriginals, new Canadians, persons with disabilities, women and seniors.

• Increasing the number of shared-use facilities to improve access and to increase available programs.

• Using sport as a social development tool for youth at risk and economically disadvantaged families.

• Striving for excellence by providing opportunities to achieve success inter-provincially, nationally and internationally.

• Improving the health of individuals through increased physical literacy and physical activity.

• Complementing education goals, shared resources and knowledge in support of the holistic growth and development of children.

92 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

Meanwhile, red flags were raised in an Alberta Health Services report that studied obesity in school children. The study found that about 22 per cent of Albertans aged two to 17 are overweight or obese and almost 35 per cent of six to 11 year olds do not meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity of at least seven hours per week.

The plan explains that participation in organized sport, even at the recreational level, can provide the activity, intensity and duration required to really benefit from sport.

Further, in an Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association 2006 survey, corporate and political leaders listed many benefits or life skills associated with student involvement in high school athletics.

These included: teamwork, discipline, goal-setting, leadership, independence, self-confidence, stress relief, character

Ready, aim, fire! Students at Blessed Mother Theresa School hone their golf skills as part of their physical education curriculum.

development and personal growth, fair play, and acceptance of others.

to focus on, to see where they can improve, and understand what they’re doing well.”

“The action plan stresses the need for coordination among sports bodies and the education system,” Curran says. At the same time, stakeholders consistently stressed the need for a strong foundation of trained and certified coaches for all participants.

The sport plan notes that funding from all levels of government and other stakeholders is needed. Alberta Golf would welcome increased financial resources.

“The Alberta sport system is one of the lowest funded in the country,” said Jack Lane, chief operating officer for Alberta Golf. “If we had increased investment in sport from government, we’d see better results, simply based on resources.”

Adam Sollitt, an Alberta Sport Connection consultant, explains that Alberta has an “enormous amount” of coaches who are in training or who enjoy trained status.

Only a few have gone through an evaluation component where they are judged on their competency – a required step to receiving national coaching certification. Putting more resources into increasing evaluations will be a “critical” step in moving forward. “The evaluation process is what is going to develop them as coaches,” Sollitt says. “It gives coaches areas

“Alberta Golf has been involved and apprised of the sport plan’s evolution and is well positioned to deliver on its expectations”, Lane explains. Alberta Golf’s strategic plan and business plans align with the action plan and with those set out by Golf Canada.

Going the Distance provides new opportunities for golf and other sport groups. As an example, Lane points to the Golf in Schools program (see p.90-91)

being taught in over 350 Alberta schools.

“If we become better partners with the education system, it’s just going to be that much easier for us to grow our sport,” Lane says.

Alberta Golf, with more than 50,000 club members and individual members, has a vision for the next decade that moves in tandem with the action plan.

“Our mandate is to grow participation in the game, to get more Albertans involved, and help people understand the positive impact golf has on communities and individuals,” Lane says.

“Through Golf Canada’s long-term player development framework, in conjunction with PGA Canada, we want individuals to stay involved in golf for their entire lives,” Lane continued. ”Golf is well-positioned because it can be played for such a long time and contributes to improved health and wellness.” ■

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93

INDUSTRY

BY KEVIN SMITH, GLOBAL TV Team Alberta Girls member Kehler Koss demonstrates her ability at the 2015 Sun Life Financial Ladies Amateur Championship.

Team Alberta “TAPS” Into Talent T

he last time I heard the word “TAPS”, I was a kid watching the 1981 movie of the same name starring Sean Penn and Tom Cruise. It was the movie debut for both actors and it certainly tapped into their potential that has since made both superstars. How does this relate to Alberta Golf 35 years later? Two coaches for Team Alberta have devised a new scorecard called “TAPS” to help Team Alberta junior golfers mature more quickly in both their golf games and in life.

Randy Robb, Alberta Golf’s manager of high performance sport, has been a Team Alberta coach for over a decade while Pinebrook Golf and Country Club junior coach, Luke Workman, joined Team Alberta last year. Robb and Workman have devised a program for their Alberta juniors unlike anything we've seen in Canada. “TAPS” or “Team Alberta Performance Scorecard” has 18 specific categories on a unique scorecard that helps each player assess areas of strength and weakness in his or her golf game.

The “TAPS” scorecard focuses on different aspects such as long game, short game, putting, tactical and technical skills, as well as physical and mental skills. If a category is an area of strength, the player

earns a birdie or an eagle. If it's an area of weakness, then the player chalks up a bogey.

If it’s average, then the player gets a par.

Workman, Team Alberta junior girls coach, says he and Robb wanted to devise a more objective measuring tool for the juniors and their parents in the Team Alberta program. “It's a feedback tool,” said Workman. “It helps us identify where players are excellent and areas where players need improvement to help them lower their scores. It will also help them become more well-rounded athletes and people for that matter.” The scorecard helps provide an individualized practice plan for each player and shows them how best to spend their time.

Robb points out that college golf programs often have as many players sitting on the sidelines each week as they do competing in tournaments. His objective is to help develop juniors that not only make college golf teams, but are leaders on them. “Our goal is to have them be successful at college, both in the classroom and on the golf course,” Robb said. “We're trying to set it up so they have a better college experience.”

The eight girls and nine boys on Team Alberta will be the first golfers in

Luke Workman (R), former Boy’s Development Team coach, talks to Alexander Smith (L) during the 2015 Junior and Juvenile Championship.

the province using the “TAPS” system.

Kehler Koss, 17, plays out of Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary and is one of the eight junior girls on Team Alberta.

Koss sees the benefit of this scorecard as a learning tool.

“I love it,” Koss raves.

“It sets goals for you and everyone wants to be under par on the scorecard. It really helps athletes who want to take this sport seriously and to know exactly where they need to improve. This really sets the benchmark for athletes in Alberta.”

Koss has already found out she gets lots of birdies in categories such as school work and fitness, but some bogeys in her short game. She is already working harder on her 60-70 yard wedges and lag putting. “It's really an honour to be a part of that program and be supported by Randy and Luke,” she said. “They really have their hearts set on the juniors developing into the best they can be. The “TAPS” program is one of the main keys that they use.”

Randy Robb has used many coaching techniques in his years with Alberta Golf, but he's very excited to see if the “TAPS” scorecard becomes one of the best.

“We are just starting to use the “TAPS” program with the players this year, but in the future we'd like to see more and more kids use this concept.”

Robb and Workman will assess the effectiveness of the “TAPS” program once the golf season has ended to see if it did indeed ‘tap’ into the talent of these junior golfers. ■

94 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

PEOPLE

BY LESLIE DUNNING, 1ST VICE PRESIDENT, GOLF CANADA

Alberta Golf Hall-of-Famer Glenn Gray (C), captained an Alberta Golf junior interprovincial team and also won the Ashdown Cup in 1940.

Brian Bastin (R) was all smiles after winning the Ashdown Cup in 1962.

The Return Ashdown Cup of the

IN THE FALL OF 2015 I WAS APPROACHED BY GARRY COOK, A FELLOW MEMBER AT EARL GREY GOLF CLUB, REGARDING AN OLD TROPHY FROM A LONG-AGO JUNIOR TOURNAMENT AT SHAGANAPPI GOLF COURSE.

G

arry told me that all he knew was that the tournament had run for many years and had been sponsored by a hardware company. Garry knew the person who had possession of the trophy and wondered if Alberta Golf might be willing to accept it.

The Alberta Golf office requested more information to determine the historic significance of the event in order to determine if the hardware belonged in either the Alberta or Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Cook put me in contact with the trophy holder, Brian Bastin, a former Calgarian now living in Vancouver. Bastin, a retired

lawyer and judge, was pleased to hear from me and informed me that the Ashdown Cup had been a juvenile competition that ran continuously from 1922-1962 at Shaganappi. The event has been sponsored by the Ashdown Hardware Company, but when Ashdown terminated its sponsorship after 1962, Brian was given the trophy to keep as he was the final winner of the event. The list of past winners contains many well-known names in Alberta golf history: Aitken, Gray, Silverberg, and Scott among others.

Ashdown Hardware Co. was founded in Winnipeg and was owned and operated by the Ashdown family for over 100 years until the company was sold in 1971. The founder, James Henry Ashdown, was a very successful businessman and served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1907-08.

On a trip to Calgary in February, 2016, Bastin brought the still-gleaming Ashdown Cup with him for a “passing the trophy” ceremony at the Alberta Golf office. Bastin

ASHDOWN CUP WINNERS 1922 - Bertie Hudson

1942 - H Gerlitz

1923 - R C MacWilliams

1943 - A Thomson

1924 - Hudson

1944 - Billy Ilott

1925 - James Jenkinson

1945 - Stan Goss

1926 - Hudson

1946 - Pete Greene

1927 - Roy Aitken

1947 - Jack Brandreth

1928 - Aitken

1948 - D Silverberg

1929 - Aitken

1949 - D Silverberg

1930 - John Aitken

1950 - B Appleton

1931 - J G Chaston

1951 - Joe Ferguson

1932 - Kemp Richardson

1952 - D Silverberg

1933 - J R Henderson

1953 - D Cavers

1934 - J O Richardson

1954 - N Hudson

1935 - J O Richardson

1955 - B Alexander

1936 - J O Richardson

1956 - F Sharpe

1937 - Jack Wittup

1957 - B Bahan

1938 - C M Anderson

1958 - L Scott

1939 - J Caddick

1959 - Don Oliphant

1940 - Glenn Gray

1960 - E Jones

1941 - No competition held

1961 - M Desmarais 1962 - B Bastin.

had been caring for the simple, but delicate trophy for half a century and was pleased to know that it will have a permanent home in the Alberta Golf trophy case. This grand piece of Alberta golf history is now nearly 100 years old and contains the names of many of Alberta’s top players in its era.

If you have more information on the history of this event, please contact Alberta Golf. ■

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INDUSTRY

BY JEFFERSON HAGEN

Finding our stride T

ransition could easily be the word of the season for Alberta Golf. In fact, new executive director/CEO Phil Berube worked the concept in as a talking point during an interview a week after taking over the post from Matt Rollins, who left in February for a job in Hawaii.

“We need to connect what’s been done in the past with what’s happening in the future,” said Berube, pointing to the longtime success of Alberta Golf which is 104 years old this year.

“Alberta has a great volunteer culture with a passion of helping your neighbour,” he added. “If we can connect the generations with that mentality, I think Alberta Golf will be successful for another 100 years.”

Berube is no stranger to the provincial golf scene. He worked for the PGA of Alberta for 14 years (11 as its executive director), leaving the province in 2013 for Toronto, where he landed a job with Junior Achievement Canada.

When Rollins announced in February that he was leaving Alberta Golf to take the job as executive director of the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, Berube jumped at the chance to return to his lifelong passion.

“I had known a great deal about Alberta Golf from my work with the PGA of Alberta and I had known the terrific job Matt and his staff did,” said Berube, who got his start in the industry right out of university as a marketing assistant with Cobra Golf in the mid-90s.

As a kid, although neither parent played the game, Berube took a summer camp and was hooked. His mom drove him to 15 different courses in the Oakville, Ont. area looking at membership options.

96 THE ALBERTA GOLFER 2016

“None allowed you to join without an adult, except Hidden Lake (in Burlington, ON), which allowed you to work off your membership by picking golf balls on the range,” mused Berube.

While at Hidden Lake, he rubbed shoulders with Canadian golf legends such as Moe Norman and Nick Weslock, working long hours in the back shop as well as on the greens crew of nearby Saw-Whet Golf Course.

IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE BERUBE DECIDED TO DEDICATE HIS LIFE’S WORK TO THE GOLF INDUSTRY. ALL THESE YEARS LATER, HE’S BRINGING THAT PASSION TO ALBERTA GOLF.

Although he was the executive director for just over two years, Rollins had been with Alberta Golf for 13 years, first hired as a fresh-out-of school 22-year-old tournament intern in 2003.

“It was a huge learning curve,” Rollins recalled. “There’s a lot that goes on at a tournament, so you kind of get thrown right into the fire.”

It wasn’t long before Rollins got his big break when the player development position opened. While in that role, he instituted some of the key parts of his legacy with the organization — chiefly the Golf in Schools program (see p. 90).

While he was player development coordinator, Rollins also introduced the Team Alberta program for junior golfers in the province.

“The Team Alberta program gives our top junior players a look into what college life could be like. The aspect of being on a team supports our goal of helping prepare them for college. I feel that many of these kids have had success because of our programs,” said Rollins.

Rollins also pointed to the quality of the staff in place at Alberta Golf as a key component of the organization’s success moving forward.

“I feel like Alberta Golf has good momentum with a great staff, a really solid board of directors and an outstanding crew of volunteers. I have a lot of faith in the group that’s there. I hope the team stays intact and I know their hearts are in it.”

Berube is keen to build on Rollins’ work. Among his first steps since taking over has been to get to know the people already in place.

“The current staff are running the operation. They’ve been doing it so well that I just wanted to fit in as part of the team,” he said.

Communications were key during Berube’s time at the PGA of Alberta, an experience he plans to draw on in his new role. “I’m a big believer in effective communications,” he said. “Even as technology takes over, I’m still a huge believer in face-to-face meetings.

“During my entire time with the PGA of Alberta, we had so many great members. We also built a committee and board structure that encouraged our young professionals to become involved and to remain engaged with the association,” Berube said.

“At the PGA of Alberta, the staff was a kind of invisible communications centre that provided support and resources to the golf professionals. I would like help continue to build a similar culture with the Alberta Golf staff to support our members,” Berube said. “With the relationships I have developed with club professionals in Alberta, I think that will open some doors to allow me to engage with these men and women and better align the PGA of Alberta’s initiatives with those of Alberta Golf.” ■