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Win one of eight Tee-Off, play and save books!
How sweet is that ! Tee Off is Canada's favourite play and save book, saving golfers hundreds of dollars. For your chance to win one of 8 Tee Off books, send along an e-mail marked teeoff@saskgolfer.com before the end of July. Don't delay, enter today !
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Saskatoon set for Canadian Amateur
The national men's golf championship rolls around Aug. 10-17 at Riverside Country Club in Saskatoon . It's a great opportunity for golfers in Saskatchewan to view some of the finest amateur golf in the country.
Some 162 golfers qualify for the tournament, 126 of those spots going to provincial-regional amateurs. It's expected there will be top amateurs from New Zealand , Mexico , Colombia , Australia and the United States attending.
The tournament plays to rounds of stroke play at which point the field is cut to 64 and ties. Then match play starts. The Wellington Cup will also be presented to the winner of the interprovincial competition.
This is the ninth time the Canadian national championship will be held at Riverside and the third Canadian Men's Amateur Championship. To learn more about the tournament and view the results, go HERE>>
The Skinny on Mainprize
By Bob Hughes
MAINPRIZE – It is to visit another world, if you must know. Saskatchewan has always been too well known as a land of endless flat prairies, and too much wind. The truth is, Saskatchewan can boast some of most diversified scenery in the whole of Canada . MORE>>
Spiritwood par 4 diabolical!
The fifth hole at Spiritwood Golf Club has our vote as having the most diabolical par 4 in Saskatchewan . Picture this – a 280-yard dogleg left along Lost Pinnacle Lake (named that for a reason). The hazards include lake on left, right on lake edge, a tall line of trees along the left edge of the fairway, a fairway 35 feet wide (about 10 metres), sandtraps bordering the right side, followed by woods the length of the right side. It all adds up to no landing area and a Hail Mary tee shot.
The members view this hole with trepidation and a complete vocabulary. Some try to score on the hole by duffing a shot left into the left rough and then wedging over the trees and bush and small gap in the corner. It's simply one of the most challenging and diabolical holes around.
Win The Perfect Drive !
Head to www.theperfectdrive.ca for your chance to win a complete set of Tour Edge Clubs and bag. Your prize package includes Tour Edge graphite J-Max QL Driver, #3 and #5 graphite woods, a Tour Edge Bazooka J-Max QL hybrid iron set - all hybrids with graphite shafts - a Tour Edge Putter and a stand bag. All prizes are compliments of Loney's Golf Shop in Regina . Contest is sponsored by Tourism Regina and Tourism Saskatchewan .
Are you getting better?
It's always helpful to know if you're actually getting better at the grand old game of golf. That's where the Saskatchewan Handicap Trakker comes in. The Trakker will give you an individualized record of your progress and automatically calculate your handicap on an ongoing basis. While the handicap is not RCGA approved for competitive tournaments, it's a lot better than sandbagging (cheating) with your handicap in unofficial tournaments. Courses periodically change their slope and rating numbers, plus new courses are added - so double check the numbers on the Trakker and change them if you need to. Have a great season!
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The amazing golf ball
After a particularly poor game of golf, a popular club member skipped the clubhouse and started to go home. As he was walking to the parking lot to get his car, a policeman stopped him and asked, "Did you tee off on the sixteenth hole about twenty minutes ago?"
"Yes," the golfer responded.
"Did you happen to hook your ball so that it went over the trees and off the course?"
"Yes, I did. How did you know?" he asked.
"Well," said the policeman very seriously, "Your ball flew out onto the highway and crashed through a driver's windshield. The car went out of control, crashing into five other cars and a fire truck. The fire truck couldn't make it to the fire, and the building burned down. So, what are you going to do about it?"
The golfer thought it over carefully and responded...
"I think I'll close my stance a little bit, tighten my grip and lower my right thumb." 
Amen Corner
“Good golfing temperament falls between taking it with a grin or shrug and throwing a fit.”
- The late great Sam Snead
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The pride of Lloydminster
Players who like to stack their game against the very best courses in Saskatchewan will inevitably find themselves on the first tee at the Lloydminster Golf and Country Club. A stones throw from the Alberta border, the course is considered one of the most relaxing and pleasurable courses in the province.
“As one of the top five courses, we're very proud of our championship course,” says the new head professional Kyle Mulligan.” It has all the amenities and features to provide a great golfing experience There's been perfect conditions since May 1 this year.”
For starters, at 7,000 yards from the tips – the second longest course in the province – it's a challenging golf course. But, with four sets of tee boxes, golfers can pick their level of difficulty.
“It's a traditional track – you get what you see. If you hit the shots, you're rewarded. If you don't, you're not rewarded,” says Mulligan. “In order to shoot well at Lloydminster , you can't be too conservative or your score will balloon, he says.
The golf course is well-treed throughout, and features lush fairways and high quality greens, provided by long-time superintendent Don Bilyk and his crew. Water is in play on 11 of 18 holes and landing areas and greens are well-bunkered. It's rated 71.6 with a slope of 126 off the men's tees.
“You can hot the driver and let the shaft out on all but one hole,” says Mulligan. “Greens are large and flat and require accurate iron play and putts with the right speed.” The greens speed is estimated at 10, one of the faster greens in the province.
Holes 4 and 16 – both picturesque par 3s over water to large greens – are considered the signature holes. Before choosing a club on the 165-yard No. 4, you may want to check the direction and strength of the wind. Below and left of the hole is the target. As for the 155-yard 16 th , aim for the front half of the green.
The city-owned course has a full range of facilities including a lounge, driving range, two practice greens with bunkers, and an extensive pro shop. During the last three years a new drainage system has been installed. Green fees are set at $41 any day of the week and $23 for nine holes. Seniors are charged $34 and $21 for nine holes; juniors $24 and $17 for nine.
Take one look at the great photos of every hole on www.lloydminstergolfclub.com and you'll be booking a tee time at 306- 825-5494.
Win a round at Lloyd
Win one of three free rounds at Lloydminster Golf and Country Club by surfing their website and answering this question: "What do you see that's wet on the left and right side in the homepage photo?" Send your answer to Contest@SaskGolfer.com by the end of June. Good luck!
For tee times phone -306- 825-5494. and visit their extensive website at www.lloydminstergolfclub.com
Around Saskatchewan links – York Lake Golf and Country Club in Yorkton was vandalized June 13 with damages as much as $10,000. Last year alone the clubhouse had five break-ins alone. A day after Deer Park Municipal Golf Course suffered a break-in, a theft of a golf cart and damage to greens before destroying the machine. Two years ago two young offenders were charged for wrecking numerous golf carts at Deer Park …. Kyla Reay of Saskatoon has accepted a golf scholarship to attend Alabama State University next fall, a NCAA Division One school. Reay is a two-time Saskatchewan junior champion and three-time Saskatchewan high school provincial champ… Graham DeLaet of Weyburn is making his mark in the early stages of the Canadian Tour. He's carved out four top-10 finishes and sits ninth on the Order Of Merit overall money leaders with $16,323. DeLaet won 10 NCAA titles before graduating with a physical education degree in 2006.… |
Golf real estate booming
The cottage-buying frenzy caused by retiring baby boomers and prosperous Albertans has spilled over to the golf courses in Northern Saskatchewan .
In northwest Saskatchewan , one lot and one premade cabin remains at Northern Meadows Golf Club out of an inventory of 89 cottage lots. Another development is being considered for next year.
“It's the recreational property boom internationally,” says Ken Olan, an owner-operator at Northern Meadows Golf Club. “We have the largest provincial park at our back door with crystal clear lakes, nice beaches and beautiful scenery.”
Olan figures 90 percent of the buyers are coming from Alberta and especially Edmonton , many of them former Saskatchewan residents returning to their roots.”
At the Elk Ridge Resort near Waskesiu, Eagle View Villas have sold all of their condos. But another 10 condos at are being designed for construction this fall and sale starting in the spring of 2008. Prices will be in the range of $242,000 to $450,000.
“People are seeing the value of property and are buying now in anticipation of more good economic times in the province,” says general manager Debby Klarenbach.“ The $15 million expansion at Elk Ridge is also an attraction.”
This next phase of this destination resort will see the construction of a high quality, 35,000 sq. ft. conference and recreation hotel. The hotel will include a full range of conference facilities, a balanced room mix, fitness centre, spa, indoor pool and waterslide, restaurants and licensed areas.
In addition to the hotel, this expansion will include a staff housing complex, a community based amenity facility with an outdoor seasonal pool and 8 additional rental cabins. Construction began this spring and the new hotel will open to the public in 2008.
“Only about five per cent of the properties have been sold to Albertans,” says Klarenbach, with most of the buyers coming from Saskatchewan . “I anticipate more and more Albertans will be buying this summer though.”
Elk Ridge has sold half of it's inventory of 110 building serviced, full title building lots at Eagle View Estates. The prices range from $90,000 to $120,000. There are also future plans for some sort of fractional ownership properties. http://www.elkridgeresort.com/investments.html
The most recent golf course real estate development in the province is at Candle Golf Resort located about an hour northeast of Prince Albert . About half of the 70 residential lots – all sold in 2006 – were sold to Albertans.
“It's not a secret that Alberta hit us in 2006,”says director of marketing Mike Jenkins. “This year it's a lot of local people from Prince Alberta , Saskatoon and so on. People are starting to realize the value of an all-season resort in Northern Saskatchewan and how they appreciate in value.”
“There's no end in sight,” says Jenkins. Starting this month, the resort will begin selling a 120-unit condo development that's located in the middle of the golf course and the lakeside facility. Units are priced at $200,000 to $380,000 with occupancy in one year to 14 months.
There's currently a waiting list of about 100 people interested in the project and it's expected it will be sold out in a couple of weeks. About a quarter of the expressions of interest are from Alberta . www.candlelakegolfresort.com/default.aspx?page=14
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Nuggets of golf wisdom
Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.
When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.
If you're afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options:
you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.
The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about your golf swing.
No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.
The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors. If it ain't broke, try changing your grip.
Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.
A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents' luck.
It is surprisingly easy to hole a fifty-foot putt. For an 8.
Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut.
Nonchalant putts count the same as chalant putts.
It's not a gimme if you're still away.
The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.
There are two kinds of bounces; unfair bounces and bounces just the way you meant to play it.
You can hit a two-acre fairway 10% of the time and a two-inch branch 90% of the time.
If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.
Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.
When you look up, causing an awful shot, you will always look down again at exactly the moment when you ought to start watching the ball if you ever want to see it again.
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.
If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger Woods does, simply try to lay up just short of a water hazard.
To calculate the speed of a player's downswing, multiply the speed of his back-swing by his handicap;
i.e., back-swing 20 mph, handicap 15, downswing 300 mph.
There are two things you can learn by stopping your back-swing at the top and checking the position of your hands:
how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove.
Hazards attract, fairways repel.
You can put a draw on the ball, you can put a fade on the ball, but no golfer can put a straight on the ball.
A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.
If there is a ball on the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is in the bunker; if both balls are in the bunker,
yours is in the footprint.
It's easier to get up at 6:00 AM to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the yard.
Sometimes it seems as though your cup moveth over.
A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.
Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up having to pray a lot.
A good golf partner is one who's always slightly worse than you are...that's why I get so many calls to play with friends.
That rake by the sand trap is there for golfers who feel guilty about skipping out on lawn work.
If there's a storm rolling in, you'll be having the game of your life.
Golf balls are like eggs. They're white. They're sold by the dozen. And you need to buy fresh ones each week.
A pro-shop gets its name from the fact that you have to have the income of a professional golfer to buy anything in there.
It's amazing how a golfer who never helps out around the house will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his sand traps.
If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight.
You probably wouldn't look good in a green jacket anyway! A sweatshirt will do just fine.
It takes longer to learn to be a good golfer than it does to become a brain surgeon. On the other hand, you don't get to ride around on a cart, drink beer, eat hot dogs, and pass gas if you are performing brain surgery.
Don't buy a putter until you've had a chance to throw it.
Kids Golf Free from July 2-8
Sixteen Saskatchewan golf courses are set to help get more children playing golf at the “Take a kid to the course week” July 2 to 8.
Glenn Pilling, owner-operator of the Spiritwood Golf Course, has participated in the program for several years.
Developed by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada to encourage families and juniors to take up the game of golf, this cross-Canada campaign is designed to illustrate how easy it is to improve both your score and your relationship with your children by bringing them out to the golf course.
Hundreds of courses will offer free golf to kids under the age of sixteen who are accompanied by a paying adult. In addition to the free golf, many courses will offer additional program such as junior clinics, free range balls, free junior club rentals and parent/child tournaments.
For more information, see www.kidsgolffree.ca |
Willows is more than just golf
The Willows Golf and Country Club, built in the southwestern tradition and operated year-round, has emerged as one of Saskatchewan 's premiere golf facilities.
A large clubhouse, one of the finest in the province, sits in the middle of the property located in the south part of Saskatoon . This course offers a challenge to both the novice and accomplished golfer with 36 holes of rolling dunes-style golf. With four sets of tees, the course is built around a theme of dunes, sand and water.
“We have 36 championship designed holes, the only one of its kind in the province,” says CPGA head professional Brennen Gee. “With 36 holes, there aren't too many times when we can't accommodate your requests. The facility is ideally suited to guests and travelers.” MORE>>
FreeLabels affiliates Who hasn't said, “ @!#%$&^* ,” after forgetting a club at the last hole?
Saskgolfer.com has joined FreeLabels.com to make high-quality, adhesive address labels available for free - well, you have to pay $1.86 (Cdn.) in postage. A small price to pay for helping to get your club returned.
To order, find the FreeLabels column ad on www.saskgolfer.com or through the link on Hole 17 click and fill in the form. By the way, it's wise to add your phone number on the address label. The secure transaction is done through a credit card and they arrive in the mail within a few weeks.
FreeLabels will ask if you want to receive more information on their company products by e-mail. If you don't want to, that's ok, just indicate on the form.
Tee-Off reinvented for greater savings
Depending on how many balls you put in the bush, the number of golfers in your family, and how long you spend on the 19th hole, golf can be a pricey past-time. For about 15 years, thousands of golfers have trimmed their golf budgets and have been encouraged to try new courses with Tee-Off Golf Course Guide, the dominant play-and-save program in Canada .
After falling on hard times - competition from discount books, programs and the Internet took a slice of business - the glossy Tee-Off began to struggle like so many other discount programs. Then, new owners Jim Davidson and Rod Macintosh bought the company and moved it from Manitoba to the sleepy Vancouver Island town of Shawnigan Lake . MORE>>
Golf music while you surf !
If you haven't heard some of the golf song classics out there – Golf Rehab by Brandon Ayre, Itsy Bitsy Golf Ball by Rex Fowler, Jesper Parnivik by The Divots, O Stupid Tree by Danny and The Divots come to mind – you haven't really lived.
This month SaskGolfer.com has introduced a golf music player to the website to allow its thousands of viewers a chance to listen while they surf. Information is provided for those who much buy a copy to add to their CD collection and check out more samples.
There probably isn't a sport in the world that has such a fanatical following that reveals itself in culture – go to a bookstore and there are shelves of books about golf, look long enough and you'll find golf art and paintings, and then there's golf music. It ranges from country to goofy to down-right clever. MORE>>
Katepwa Beach 's reputation growing
If any of us were asked to describe a memorable course, such factors as great conditions and panoramic views would certainly rank toward the top of the list. As many golfers have discovered, the 3,176 yard, par 36 track at Katepwa Beach , Saskatchewan nestled in the quiet beauty of the Qu'Appelle Valley, has more than its share of both.
Since opening in 1998 and adding a clubhouse in 2000, the Katepwa Beach Golf Club quickly started attracting golfers from the Qu'Appelle Valley, the Regina region and beyond. MORE>>
Best golf deals in 2007
Depending on how many balls you put in the bush, how long you spend on the 19th hole and if your family golf, golf can be an expensive game. Golf courses around Saskatchewan offer you a number of incentives to save a few dollars and to try a new course. Here are dozen great ways to stretch your golfing dollar a little further . MORE>>
Saskatoon celebrates 100th
Anybody reaching 100 naturally likes to reflect a bit on their achievements and kick-up their heels. So it is with the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club in Saskatchewan , which celebrates its founding at the Empire Hotel on April 6, 1907 , at a time when the population of Saskatoon was about 4,500.
From modest beginnings, the club has grown from nine holes on what is now Kinsmen Park , to become a premiere 36-hole golf facility, offering 18 holes of private golf and 18 holes of semi-private golf. The second oldest club in Saskatchewan plans to celebrate with the release of an illustrated history, a membership drive and a few parties . MORE>>
Step aside Scotland !
Step aside Scotland – In 2007, there are three new courses, two expansions and several upgrades underway or planned in Saskatchewan . Read all about it. MORE >>
Sweet Stay-n-Play packages
The annual list of Saskatchewan stay and play packages has started on SaskGolfer.com on Hole #10. More deals will be posted during the coming weeks, so check back again. This year's special deals include packages at Spiritwood, Harbor, Elk Ridge, Evergreen, La Verendrye, Weyburn, the hawood at Waskesiu, Deer Valley, Golf Kenosee and White Bear - check it out at www.saskgolfer.com/travel.php
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