An Early Start | The Alberta Golfer
Written by Jefferson Hagen
An Early Start
This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
It’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 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.
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 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, wecan 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.”
An Early Start
This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
She Swings She Scores | The Alberta Golfer
Written by Ryan Laverty
She Swings She Scores
This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
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.
“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, female youth golfers has been an area that has been particularly hard hit – especially on the competitive side of the sport.
In 2001, Alberta Golf had 66 girls registered in the provincial championship tournament, 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, she said.
“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 fulsome introduction to the world of golf. 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, so 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 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 benefitted from two years of learning at this point and has started to mature into a broader scale offering thanks to support at the local golf club and community level. Mallory Dayman, manager of sport development for GAO, 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 target hockey players in their areas with the SSSS brand.
“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 cross-promote 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.”
In its first year of operation, the SSSS team set up shop at hockey tournaments in Olds, Camrose, St. Albert, golf shows in Calgary and Edmonton, and finally at Exshaw School where Alberta Golf team members provided girls between Grade 3 and Grade 8 with their first exposure to golf. 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,” said McConachy. “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.
She Swings She Scores
This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
UBC Thunderbirds Make History In Sweeping Team and Individual Titles at Canadian University/College Championship
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Kraft Heinz and TSN Inspire Communities Across Canada to Build Better Places to Play With The Return Of Kraft Heinz Project Play
– Partnering for an 8th consecutive year, Kraft Heinz and TSN encourage Canadians to nominate a local recreation project at KraftHeinzProjectPlay.comfor a chance to win infrastructure upgrades –
– The Grand Prize winner will receive $250,000 towards a recreational facility upgrade, and the three second-prize winners will each receive $20,000
– TSN’s James Duthie, Jennifer Hedger, Jason deVos, Milt Stegall, and Tessa Bonhomme rally behind this year’s Kraft Heinz Project Play campaign as new program ambassadors –
TORONTO (May 2, 2016) – Vibrant communities start from the ground up. From soccer fields to basketball courts to playgrounds, the places where Canadians play bring communities to life. That’s why Kraft Heinz Project Play, together with Bell Media’s TSN and RDS, are encouraging Canadians to start building a better future by building better places to play. Kicking off today, Kraft Heinz Project Play invites Canadians nationwide to nominate a local recreation project – be it new or existing – at KraftHeinzProjectPlay.com for a chance to win infrastructure upgrades. The Grand Prize winner will receive $250,000 towards a recreational facility upgrade, and the three second-prize winners will each receive $20,000.
“With crumbling facilities, fields, and equipment, combined with growing financial pressures, our country’s places to play are in desperate need of upgrades,” said Joanna Milroy, Marketing Director, Kraft Heinz. “Kraft Heinz Project Play is a wonderful opportunity for us to rally behind communities, and leave a lasting impact on the vital places we play in our local cities and towns.”
Kraft Heinz Project Play is once again partnering with Bell Media’s TSN and RDS, marking the eighth consecutive year of their partnership. TSN and RDS will amplify Kraft Heinz Project Play by integrating the program across their industry-leading platforms, with TSN showcasing Kraft Heinz Project Play on SPORTSCENTRE – Canada’s most-watched sports news and information show, on TSN.ca, as well as on TSN’s official Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat accounts.
New this year, TSN’s James Duthie is joining the Kraft Heinz Project Play team as a Program Ambassador, alongside SPORTSCENTRE hosts Jennifer Hedger and Tessa Bonhomme, TSN soccer analyst Jason deVos, and CFL ON TSN analyst Milt Stegall. Through their passion for sport, TSN’s roster of Program Ambassadors will encourage Canadians to build better places to play in their communities, and will also be featured in a series of testimonial videos that will debut at KraftHeinzProjectPlay.com and on TSN’s social media in the coming weeks.
“It’s an honour to join this year’s Kraft Heinz Project Play as a Program Ambassador alongside my friends Jen, Jason, Milt, and Tessa,” said James Duthie. “As a dad of some very active kids, there’s nothing better than seeing them play outside. Kraft Heinz Project Play is all about building more places to play for our kids and for our communities, and that’s something I’m proud to be a part of.”
Over the past eleven years, Kraft Heinz has supported 157 communities, contributing more than $4.5 million dollars to play-based infrastructure projects across Canada.
Nominate Your Community Today!
Beginning today (May 2) through June 12, Canadians can nominate the places, spaces, and projects that keep our communities playing, active, and united at KraftHeinzProjectPlay.com.
The top four Kraft Heinz Project Play finalists will be announced July 8 on TSN. Canadians can then vote for their favourite community project at KraftHeinzProjectPlay.com beginning July 25 at 12 p.m. ET through to July 26 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The Kraft Heinz Project Play grand prize winner will be announced in August (date TBC) on TSN, winning a quarter of a million dollars ($250,000) for a recreation facility upgrade. Three second-prize winners will each receive $20,000.
Learn more, share your story, and encourage others to nominate their own towns and cities on Facebook and Twitter using #PLACETOPLAY.
Team Alberta, The Game Before the Game
On the score card, the game begins at the first tee box. For the players however, it starts long before that. Team Alberta has been performing phenomenally well to start the 2016 season. The CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Kamloops turned out to be one of the best all-around tournaments in recent history for Alberta players, and the PGA Junior Masters was won by Team Alberta members on both the girls and boys sides. All of this considered, it is easy to get lost in the magic that seems to be happening on the course during tournament play. Although, if you asked the players, they’d tell you that magic has nothing to do with it.
Christopher Horton (right) take a minute to read the green on 9 during the practice round at The Dunes at Kamloops.
Tournament preparation for the budding Alberta Golf Team starts long before tee time, days before in fact. Competing in national events means extensive travel, often times all over the country. For the CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Kamloops, it was an eight hour bus ride through the Rockies that brought Team Alberta to the tournament. Once the team arrives at their destination, their pre-competition routine has all but begun. The day before official play begins, the team is up with the sunrise and on course for an early shot gun start. During their practice round, players need to fine tune their game, discuss strategy with their coaches, and familiarize themselves with a course that is miles from home.
Randy Robb discusses strategy with two of his players during the practice round at The Dunes at Kamloops.
Team Alberta’s day is far from over when they step off the course. Team meetings, healthy meals, and an evening yoga session are awaiting them upon arrival back at the hotel. Amongst this extensive routine, the players find support in each other in order to relax and mentally prepare for the busy few days of competition ahead of them. Finally, last minute adjustments are put in place at early driving range and putting green sessions the morning of the opening round. With that, the game before the game comes to an end, and the competitors make their way to the tee box with the hope that all their hard work will translate to low scores for themselves and their teammates. The video (below) chronicles the events discussed above, providing a behind the scenes look into Team Alberta’s early success so far this season.
The 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine is now available!
The Official Magazine of Alberta Golf 2016 is now available, please click here to enjoy the 2016 edition!
In this issue…
FEATURES
* The Year In Pictures
PEOPLE
* The Return Of The Ashdown Cup
TRAVEL
* International Sport Exchange Diary
WHAT’S NEW
* CPWO Returns To Priddis Greens
INDUSTRY
* The Rules Have Changed
* Junior Golf Development Centres
* Tournament Schedule
* Olympic Revival
* Golf Fore The Cure
* Going The Distance
* Team Alberta ‘TAPS’ Into Talent
Visit your local member facility to pick up a hard-copy print version of The Alberta Golfer Magazine l 2016. Do you have a question, comment or concern? Write to us via email at info@albertagolf.org.
CN Future Links Pacific Championship Kamloops Recap
This past weekend, Team Alberta competed at the 2016 CN Future Links Pacific Championship at The Dunes in Kamloops, British Columbia. This early season event carried with it a lot of opportunity for the young competitors. This tournament, as well as the upcoming Prairie and Western Championships later this summer, provide players with the opportunity to earn an invite to the 2016 Canadian Junior Championships. The Canadian Junior Boys Championship takes place in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador from August 1-4, and the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia August 2-5. Those who finish in the top six positions on each of the girl’s and boy’s sides will land themselves an exemption into Nationals. Each year, Alberta is awarded a limited number of spots into the Canadian Championship. With a win at one of the three aforementioned tournaments, the individuals who have already been given a spot in the Canadian Junior Championships can secure an extra place for another Alberta-based player. It is an accomplishment when the players are able to secure a spot, or an extra spot, in a CNFL championship, as every player dreams of attending Nationals at some point in their junior career. If Alberta can represent the province like they did this past week in Kamloops when they attend the Prairie and Western Championships, they will be able to send a higher than average number of players to the Canadian Junior Championships to help represent Alberta.
Team Alberta member, Ethan Choi, blasts out of a fairway bunker on the 18th hole at The Dunes. Choi’s impressive play throughout the the tournament is an indication of great things to come from the young Pincher Creek golfer.
The 2016 Pacific Championship in Kamloops was one that won’t soon be forgotten. Having already secured spots in the Canadian Junior Boys Championship due to their affiliation with Team Alberta, a third place finish and a tie for fifth by Brendan MacDougall and Chandler McDowell, respectively, secured two more entries into the Canadian Junior Boys Championship. Team Alberta coach, Randy Robb, described the tournament as being monumental in terms of the positive connotations this has for his young players. “There hasn’t been a tournament in recent memory where Alberta golfers and Team Alberta members have had such a rounded display of success.” Robb reiterated that “With the Team Alberta boys having secured two more spots with their top six finishes, it gives other deserving individuals the chance to play in the Junior Championships.”
Chandler McDowell, surrounded by his coaches, teammates, and spectators, tees off on his playoff hole where he secured a spot in the top six, earning one of his teammates a position to compete with him in the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship this August.
All of the Team Alberta members showed great potential over the three-day event in Kamloops. Personal best scores in a national event, Kehler Koss (71) and Annabelle Ackroyd (72), highlighted the Team Alberta girl’s play at the tournament. The Prairie Championship in Neepawa, Manitoba running June 10-12, and the Western Championship in Medicine Hat, Alberta on July 4-6, are the next opportunities for the Team Alberta hopefuls to tighten up their game and potentially earn more spots for their ready and waiting fellow Albertans.
Brendan MacDougall proudly accepts his third place plaque after the final round of play this past Sunday. MacDougall’s 68 in the final round helped Team Alberta earn another entry into the 2016 Canadian Junior Boys Championship this August.
2016 CN Future Links Pacific Championship Results
Click here to see photos from the event
Letter of Support for Fort McMurray
May 5, 2016
“Thank you for the many messages of concern we’ve received regarding the course and our staff. We can confirm the Fort McMurray Golf Club (FMGC) infrastructure sustained extensive damage as a result of the fire, including the loss of our clubhouse. Thankfully, we evacuated safely, everyone was accounted for, and there were no injuries sustained during the process. When we are permitted by authorities, and it is safe to do so, we will be able to better assess the condition of our courses. We are committed to returning to operation when it is safe and appropriate to do so. For now, our thoughts are with our many staff members, the community of Fort McMurray, and the tireless and brave workers who are fighting to protect our city.” – from Fort McMurray G&CC
Stakeholders across Alberta’s golf industry have always been there to support one another in times of need and this situation is no exception. The forest fires that are currently destroying the city of Fort McMurray have already burned thousands of buildings to the ground along with one of the province’s most challenging and beautiful golf courses.
While information is still being gathered on how the golf industry can support Fort McMurray and the affected golf courses in the long term, below are some suggestions for immediate consideration by golf clubs, individuals and corporations:
- Direct donations to the Red Cross. Their buying power is twice that of what an individual can purchase, plus both the Federal and Provincial Governments are matching these funds.
- https://donate.redcross.ca or texting “REDCROSS” to 30333 or calling 1.800.418.1111
- Donations of cash should be made whenever possible. For consideration in engaging various individuals in support of this initiative, special fundraising events can be organized including: Pars & birdie competitions, Special events or competitions, Portion of green fees.
For official updates, including evacuation information:
- Red Cross Alberta – redcross.ca
- On Twitter: @RMWoodBuffalo and @511Alberta
- On Facebook: Fort McMurray Evacuee Open Source Help Page- https://goo.gl/EkQzMi
- http://www.rmwb.ca/News-Room/McMurray-West-Wildfire.htm
- emergencyalert.alberta.ca
- http://alberta.ca/
To help: Edmonton Emergency Relief Services is calling for volunteers as well as donations of diapers, baby wipes, new toiletries and new socks/underwear
As further developments are known, the golf industry will continue to provide all stakeholders with updates.
For more information:
Brent Hutcheon, President, National Allied Golf Association – Alberta, 403.335.2834
Alberta Golf Association
Alberta Golf Superintendents’ Association
Canadian Society of Club Manager – Alberta Chapter
Professional Golfers’ Association of Alberta
National Golf Course Owners’ Association – Alberta Chapter
Calgary’s Jennifer Ha notches first victory as professional golfer
Published in the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun on April 18, 2016
Happy Gilmore stored his oversized cheques in the back-seat of his car.
After celebrating her first professional victory last week at a National Women’s Golf Association (NWGA) shootout in Florida, Calgary’s Jennifer Ha had other ideas.
“I was actually joking the other day that I want to go to the bank and see if the tellers will let me cash it,” said the 22-year-old Ha, who turned pro shortly after winning the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship last July at Lynx Ridge. “It was really cool, just taking the picture with the cheque and having people congratulate me for my first professional win.
“It’s a little different than a college win.”
In this case, US$2,500 different.
A five-time trophy-winner during her stellar collegiate career at Kent State University and a former member of Golf Canada’s national amateur squad, Ha signed for a three-day tally of 4-under 212 en route to a one-stroke triumph last Thursday at Timacuan Golf & Country Club just north of Orlando. Her scorecard for the week included a pair of eagles, eight birdies, six bogeys and one double.
“I’m working on some stuff with my swing and with my game right now. I always am. I’m always trying to get better,” said Ha, who has been based in Florida for the past several months. “But I feel a lot more confident right now in my game than I did over the summer or than I have, actually, in a while.
“Being on my own and kind of figuring out what my game is to me has been the little change. I usually had a coach or my dad there to tell me the little things while I’m practising, and right now I don’t have that in Naples. And just trying to figure what works for me and what I like in my game, that’s definitely given me more perspective towards what I’m good at and what I need to work on. That’s been really good for me and I think it’s only helping me.
“And knowing that I can win professional events and I can go out there and shoot good numbers, that definitely helps my confidence.”
Ha is a rookie on the Symetra Tour — the primary feeder for the LPGA Tour — but with limited status on that circuit, she has been banking experience at NWGA showdowns.
The smooth-swinging Calgarian has teed it up in eight events so far in 2016, earning a payday in seven of those. Timacuan seems to be her favourite track — she also enjoyed a second-place showing at the water-logged layout in mid-February.
Along the way, Ha is also learning the job description isn’t limited to just smashing drives and sinking putts.
“It’s definitely a lot different than college golf,” Ha said. “Being a pro, there are a lot more things that I have to plan and figure out — not only how I’m going to get places, but how I’m going to afford it and budgeting. It’s a lot of work.”
That oversized cheque will certainly help cover some expenses, even if the tellers ask for the pocket-sized paper version.
Ha will try to add to her winnings at another NWGA regional-series stop this week.
“Not everyone can say that they do what they love every day for a living,” Ha said. “This is definitely what I love doing. This is what I’ve always loved doing since I was little, so I feel very fortunate that I do have this opportunity to play golf for a living. It’s pretty cool.”
Alberta Golf Announces 2016 Provincial Amateur Championship Schedule
Registration is now open for all qualifying competitions, championships, as well as the Golf Fore the Cure Ladies Team Classic and the all new Alberta Net Amateur Championship.
CALGARY (Alberta Golf) – Alberta Golf is pleased to announce its competition schedule, including host clubs and dates, for the 2016 championship season. A total of 12 provincial amateur championships will be conducted – along with qualifying events – that lead to entry into Canada’s national amateur championships.
“Nearly 1,500 talented Albertan and regional golfers will gather at some of Alberta’s top golf facilities to compete for a provincial golf championship,” said Alberta Golf’s COO, Jack Lane.
“It is Alberta Golf’s honor and privilege to conduct these championships in partnership with our host clubs, committed sponsors and the hundreds of devoted volunteers from communities across Alberta. We are pleased that our championships offer an opportunity for all members to compete, whether that be for the simple enjoyment of the challenge, or for our athletes who are hoping to add their name to the history books.”
The complete 2016 schedule and registration information can be found here.