|
Pay less for Green Fees with Tee-Off Golf Guide!
The Tee-Off Frequent Player Program is the most respected golf discount program in Canada . For $39.95, order the 2007 edition of Tee Off for B.C. OR Manitoba and Saskatchewan . If you're like the average golfer you'll pay for Tee-Off with just one or two uses and continue saving hundreds of dollars throughout the season. MORE>>
|
 |
Sunny packages
More and more golfers are turning to the ease of the Internet to book their winter golf packages. Here are a few of the most popular:
Uniglobe (uniglobetrips.com), Expedia.ca, Travelocity.ca, Signature Vacations (signaturevacations.com), Sunquest Vacations (sunquest.ca),
Air Canada Vacations (aircanadavacations.com), Transat Holidays (transholidays.com)
Nolitours (nolitours.com),
Go Travel Direct (goltraveldirect.com) and WestJet Vacations (westjetvacations.com).
Ultimate Golf Vacations (ultimategolfvacations.ca) out of Miississauga specializes in golf.
Jazz changes ownership
The Western Investor reports recently that Winnipeg-based Jazz Golf Equipment Inc. has staved off insolvency by selling its assets to ENSIS Growth Fund. ENSIS is a labour-sponsored fund, Jazz's largest shareholder. The company will continue to operated privately as Jazz Golf, formally known as Jazz Sports Ltd. Dan Halldorson, who played on the PGA and Canadian Tours, has joined Canadian legend Sandra Post as a product advisor.
These balls are no joke
If you're looking for a birthday gift for your favorite golfers, why not try Schwetty Balls. Not only are these balls a conversation piece, they were voted “best new product” at the PGA 2006 Fall Expo. Not to be out done by other manufacturers, the balls claim to go even longer and straighter along with better feel. www.schwettyballs.com
Reay shooting for a scholarship
When the world's best tee it up in Ireland last summer, you saw the golfing gods in action, but you didn't see Kyla Reay of Saskatoon , Sask.
The 17-year-old amateur shot off-camera at the Scotland Kingdom of Fife Team Matches in Fife, Scotland in August, - the so-called Junior Ryder Cup - as one of two girls chosen for the eight-person Maple Team Canada team. They scraped for the hardware against the Scots at St. Andrews and other great courses. MORE>>
Small town life rewarding for Morrow
One of the fascinating things about golf is the people you meet - just ask Ken Morrow, Saskatchewan 's executive director of the CPGA. ”I met a cute little girl on a greens' mower and Cathy and I were married the same year,” says Morrow. The year was 1980 and he was working during the summer at Holiday Park Golf Course while attending the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon . MORE>>
Golf real estate hot
Aging baby boomers in Saskatchewan are retiring and they want to golf in the morning, afternoon and night. Increasingly, they are choosing to live in an affordable golf course community where they can practice their passion at their doorstep. From the native prairie, links-style courses of southern Saskatchewan , to the majestic boreal forest and lake area of the North, there's a venue for everyone. MORE>>
Golf discount book expands!
The Lung Association of Saskatchewan has produced an annual golf discount book since 1996. The number of participating Saskatchewan courses has grown from the original 36 to a whopping 131! Offers vary by course and include free and reduced green fees (2/1 and 4/3 etc.), free or discounted golf carts and 2/1 range balls. Visit www.sk.lung.ca/golf for more details.
Amen Corner
”I never, never worry, and always take time out to smell flowers along the way ”
-PGA great Walter Hagen
|
|
The Skinny on St. Andrews
By Bob Hughes
Editor's Note: For most sports fans in Saskatchewan , Bob Hughes needs no introduction. Bob spent a lifetime as a sports writer, sports editor, columnist and an administrator with the Regina Leader-Post writing about what he loves best. Now retired, this passionate golfer will be contributing a monthly column on golf for SaskGolfer.com. Starting next month look for “The Skinny by Bob Hughes” under Bunkershots.
St ANDREWS , SCOTLAND – When I woke up, the morning had yet to break. I got up quickly, snapping awake with a sense of surprising urgency. It was five o'clock , and the room in the bed and breakfast showed hardly any light. I shaved, showered and quickly got dressed. I pulled on a sweater because I knew there would be a chill in the air. It was like a dream coming true, yet I couldn't grasp it. Not yet. That would take hours and hours. I fumbled around in my suitcase, trying not to wake my sleeping wife. I found my golf shoes and pulled them out. I headed to the door and left. Down the winding stairs, into the lobby, and onto a street that was hundreds of years old.
Last year I was in St. Andrews , Scotland , one of the most historic places in the world, a few blocks from the famous Old Course. The morning had a cool nip to it as I stepped outside, and headed down the street where royalty has walked, where names such as Nicklaus, Palmer, Woods had walked, where battles of religion took place, where a cardinal was burned at the stake and a bishop was hung high up on a castle. Everywhere you went, looked, was filled with chapters of history. We had come here with the hope I could fulfill a dream, to play the Old Course at St. Andrews , the Home of Golf. I chose to walk along the coast to the golf course, which was only a matter of a few minutes away. I was alone on the streets in this town. The streets were empty. The sun was beginning to crawl over the horizon. To my left were buildings, old buildings, university buildings and homes, so old, so steeped in yesterday it took the breath away. To my right, was the sea, soft and shiny in the morning dawn.
We had arrived in St. Andrews the day before. We immediately sought to find out if I could play the Old Course the next day. The lady at the hotel tried to book me a tee time, but to no avail. And, my heart sank. “What time do you get up in the morning?” she asked. “Around 5 o'clock ,” I said. “Well,” she said, “you can go down there and put your name in with the starter. I think you'll have a good chance of playing.”
I arrived at the course as the sun was beginning to show its splendor. It cut through the morning grey to reveal a lineup of, perhaps, nine people at the starter's booth on the Old Course. I put on my shoes. I went to the starter's booth and put in my name and the starter, a true gentleman, took it down. He said to wait, so I did. I waited just behind the first tee. I looked out over the tee box to the fairway, peered at the Swilcan Bridge on the 18 th , which is right next to the first, and I began to shiver with excitement. Nicklaus, Palmer, Woods, they have all stood on the first tee box, gazing out, chasing the British Open. I was in heaven.
Quickly, though, I was jolted back to reality when the starter called my name. “Mr. Hughes. Please report to the starter's booth. You will take to the first tee in 30 minutes.” I think I almost fainted. My hands began to shake. My heart was racing. And, I got scared. Scared stiff. I was about to tee off on the first hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews . If you golf, this is it, this is the final destination, this is the ultimate.
So, I played it. The whole course. With 112 bunkers. I stood on the first tee, shaking at first, then a calm came over me, and I hit the ball. It left the tee, headed up _ I had caught it all _ and I watched it as it left its arc and fell to the ground of the first fairway on the Old Course at St. Andrews . Four and one-half hours later, the round ended. I had seen the Principal's Nose, played the Road Hole, avoided the Valley of Sin on the 18 th . I had lived golf history through my caddie, Andrew, listened in awe as he told one story after another while we made our way around. I had my picture taken on Swilcan Bridge, the way Nicklaus had, the way Palmer had, the way Woods had.
The next day, I woke up early again. I went over to the Old Course one more time. On this morning, I walked the course, not playing, just walking, looking, soaking it all in one more time. I still could not grasp that I had actually played it, played the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland . I had lived my dream.
No life like it
Jeff Chambers, provincial coach for the Saskatchewan Golf Association in Saskatoon , worked as a touring pro for four months this winter on a cruise ship sailing to South America .
“It's been a great four months of cruising,” says Chambers. “I can now say I've played golf at the end of the world.”
Chambers taught for the Celebrity Infinity Cruise ship. |
Breathing properly critical
By Jeff Chambers, Saskatchewan Provincial Coach
How do you breathe properly over the ball? If you're like most you will answer that you have no idea what you do. It's a safe guess to say you hold your breath but the problem exists if you hold it with your lungs full rather than empty. Any trained athlete in any sport will tell you that breathing is one of the key ingredients to their success.
Golf is no different and the elite players are aware of their breathing, and use it to help control stressful situations. At the highest level of play stressful situations are very common and breathing is the first thing great players rely on to calm the nerves. At an every day level, how many get nervous over that three footer that our partner didn't give to you. I guarantee you are not breathing very well over that putt.
Before every shot learn how to implement proper breathing into your pre-shot routine, which will make it into a pre-shot mental, routine which is far more effective. At least two deep breaths should be taken and then just before pulling the trigger the last breath should be let out slowly and the swing can start at the end of your exhaling. This will relax the tension in your hands, arms, shoulders, and basically your whole body. When you complete the swing, you can breathe normally.
By accomplishing proper breathing, your energy level will be higher longer into the round and your stress level will dramatically lower, allowing you to make better swings.
See your qualified local CPGA Professional for advice on proper breathing techniques and how it can help you with your swing and game. Chambers can be contacted at www.saskgolf.ca
Around Saskatchewan links
Steve Knapp , formerly of Murray Golf Course, is the new manager at Long Creek Golf and Country Club at Avonlea….This year the Canadian Open will be held at the Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham , Ontario . Tickets are already on sale and can be purchased at: www.rcga.org/cdnopen/en/tickets/default.asp.... Golf Digest reports that Saskatchewan favorite Mike Weir earned $2.3 ( US ) million playing golf in 2006 and $4.2 million in off-course earnings such as his wine enterprise and other endorsements. You will need to subtract expenses from these totals….For about $8,000 you can take in the annual Mecca of golf at the Master's in Georgia . the Saskatchewan Party will be leading a contingent down there as part of a fundraiser this spring….At Waskesiu Golf Course, Derrick Tallon is the new general manger, Greg Salmon , head pro, and Jeremy Powlowski , the new superintendent….A tip of the cap to Perdue Oasis Golf and RV Resort nominated for 1 2006 Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce ABEX award, a finalist in the new venture category…..
RCGA inducts the famous
The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and the Royal Canadian Golf Association announced today that Mary Ann Lapointe (nee Hayward) and Lorne Rubenstein have been named the 2007 inductees into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.
Lapointe distinguished herself as one of North America 's top female amateur golfers. Among her many accomplishments, the native of Lachine, Que. is a four-time Canadian Amateur champion, a six-time winner of the Quebec Amateur Championship, a five-time Ontario Amateur champion and a 12-time winner of the Ontario Mid-Amateur Championship.
For almost 30 years, Rubenstein has been chronicling the game of golf in Canada and around the world. Renowned as one of this country's pre-eminent golf journalists, he has written a weekly column in the Globe and Mail since 1980, appeared in every major golf publication in Canada and abroad.
CPGA Sask award winners
The 2006 Canadian Association of Professional Golfers (CPGA Saskatchewan) award winners are:
Player of the Year (Overall and Assistant) - Cory Schommer - Riverside CC; Player of the Year (Head Professional) - Ryan Danberg - Elk Ridge Resort;; Player of the Year (Senior) - Scott Knapp - Tor Hill GC; Frank Fowler Trophy for Low Scoring Average -Tie at 69.1 Strokes, Ryan Danberg - Elk Ridge Resort, Dean Brown - Royal Regina GC; Bill Taylor Trophy - Jeff Gross - Elmwood G&CC; Facility of the Year - The Willows G&CC; Junior Promoter of the Year - Jeff Chambers – SGA; Merchandiser of the Year - Kerry Schofield - Wascana CC; Teacher of the Year - Brad Vinnick - Saskatoon G&CC West Course; Assistant of the Year - Kevin Marushak - Holiday Park GC; and Graham Coulter Trophy - Professional of the Year - Jamie Windjack - Moon Lake G&CC. |
|
Words to live by!
1. Don't buy a putter until you've had a chance to throw it.
2. Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.
3. When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.
4. 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.
5. The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas
about the golf swing.
6. No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.
7. 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.
8. If it ain't broke, try changing your grip.
9. Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.
10. A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents' luck.
11. It is surprisingly easy to hole a fifty foot putt ...for a 10.
12. Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut.
13. Nonchalant putts count the same as "chalant" putts.
14. It's not a gimme, if you're still away.
15. 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.
16. There are two kinds of bounces; unfair bounces and bounces just the way you meant to play it.
|
17. You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.
18. If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.
19. Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.
20. 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.
21. Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.
22.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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. Hazards attract; fair ways repel.
26. 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.
27. A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.
28. 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.
29. It's easier to get up at 6:00 AM to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the lawn.
30. Sometimes it seems as though your cup moveth over. |
