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THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
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Fleeing thief apprehended by martial arts instructor Michael Potestio THE MERRITT HERALD
PUTTING ON THE RITZ (From left) Julie Curnow, Clara Moyes and Dick Curnow dressed in their sharpest attire prepare to putt their way through the Rotary Club of Merritt Sunrise’s 18th annual indoor mini golf course on Saturday (Feb. 27) Photos on page 3. Michael Potestio/Herald
TEE TIME
Sagebrush one step closer to May opening David Dyck THE MERRITT HERALD
As the expected spring opening for the Sagebrush Golf Course draws closer, Newmark Group, the owners of the 400-acre recreation site as of November 2015, have announced the general manager of the facility will be Scott Masse. Masse will be responsible for the day-to-day operations at the club. He is no stranger to the hospitality industry, having served at one time as the For all your landscaping needs call the professionals at
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general manager at Westwood Plateau Golf & Entertainment in Coquitlam. “Scott is a great people guy, with a customer service focus, employee focus, and was very successful in achieving objectives at Westwood,” said James Cronk, president of the Newmark Golf Group, in a phone interview with the Herald. “We know he’s going to bring those same things to the table at Sagebrush, and we’re excited about working with him.”
New
The Sagebrush Golf Course opened to much fanfare in 2009, and earned several accolades in the years following. The course remained closed for last year’s golf season due to rezoning complications that arose with the cottage rentals on the property. Newmark now owns 100 per cent of the facility, and hired international golf management company Troon in January to manage the facility — the first Canadian course in Troon’s portfolio.
Newmark said they were currently undertaking a redesign of the clubhouse, set to be open in late May, and promise that more amenities will be added in the future. He said a job fair would be held in April to begin looking into staffing the facility. “We’ve got some plans and we’re going to start sending those announcements out after March 15,” said Cronk. He confirmed that the course will be open to the public.
A fleeing thief was caught in the act by a Good Samaritan who witnessed an attempted robbery on Feb. 29. Kim Carlton, who owns a martial arts club and tattoo shop across the street from the Old Barley Market on Quilchena Avenue, said he saw a young man cover his head with his hood and begin running towards the beer and wine store. Observing the man from his shop, and concerned for a friend he knew was working inside, the martial artist ran across the street and followed the man into the liquor store. “He came running out from between a couple of shelving units with some booze bottles in his hands, and he ran out the door,” Carlton said. The liquor store has a median between the entrance and exit doors, which Carlton had to run around to catch up with the thief. “I was right behind him and as soon as he got outside the door, I tackled him,” Carlton said. He said he brought
down the thief just outside the entrance in the parking lot, holding him in a figure-four body lock until police arrived. “I didn’t choke him out, and I didn’t hit him or anything like that — I just held on to him,” Carlton said. RCMP Sgt. Norm Flemming said that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol, and was brought to the cells at the police detachment. “[The suspect] was waiting for the employee to go into the back and then dashed in the door, grabbed a couple of bottles and then dashed out,” Flemming said. He said charges against the thief are pending the outcome of an investigation. Carlton said he wasn’t sure if the man was carrying a weapon when he decided to act. “When he was running in the store he had his hand under his shirt holding onto his pants [and] I thought he had a gun or something, but he was just apparently holding his pants up,” Carlton said. Flemming doesn’t advise people follow Carlton’s lead by trying to apprehend fugitives.
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