It is with sadness and respect that Golf Canada, the Golf Canada Foundation and Alberta Golf extend sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr. Clay Riddell who passed away suddenly on September 16, 2018.

“On behalf of Golf Canada, the Golf Canada Foundation, Alberta Golf and the Canadian golf community, we extend our most sincere condolences to Clay Riddell’s family, his many friends and colleagues, and the team at the Shaw Charity Classic,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “Clay used the sport of golf to leave an incredible legacy in Calgary and across Alberta and was a driving force behind the amazing success of the Shaw Charity Classic.”

“Clay’s generosity touched the game of golf through his meaningful support of the Golf Canada Foundation; he was a Foundation Trustee and Leadership in Golf Philanthropy recipient, funding programs that will reach tens of thousands of children across the province,” added Golf Canada Foundation CEO Martin Barnard.

Our sincere respect, admiration and deepest thoughts are with Mr. Riddell’s family and friends at this difficult time.

Golfers in Alberta have reason to be excited. After all, we’re talking about a golfers’ paradise.

Consider the total golf supply of 308 facilities—third most of any province—of which, 92 percent are publicly accessible. For those who prefer a private club experience, the province counts two dozen private golf courses and another 22 tied to real estate developments.

You also can’t talk about resort golf in Canada without featuring the 24 Alberta resort facilities, many set amongst or in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. From iconic Stanley Thompson designs such as the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and Fairmont Banff Springs to similarly spectacular layouts such as Silvertip Resort, Canmore, and Stewart Creek, beacons that help support a robust tourism industry.

Albertans are celebrating the long-awaited return of Kananaskis Country Golf Course in 2018, the 36-hole gem decimated by the 2013 floods that ravaged southern Alberta. Talk about Alberta resilience!

The impact of golf on tourism in Alberta is part of a larger economic impact which contributes an estimated $2.4B towards the province’s Gross Domestic Product. This includes some 43,000 jobs, $82.9M in property and other indirect taxes, and nearly $309M in federal and provincial income taxes.

Beyond the economic impact, Alberta is on the leading edge of accessibility. Consider the multitude of 9-hole facilities—121 spread across the province that are a gateway for avid players, casual participants and potential new enthusiasts to enjoy the game.

Alberta has welcomed eight new golf courses over the past decade, the most of any province. Another eight are currently in development, including the much anticipated Mickelson National Golf Club set in the community of Harmony, Alta, just outside of Calgary.

And speaking of Calgary, its 31 courses are the most of any city in Canada. Among those city-based courses is Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, a wonderful member club that welcomes the legends of professional golf every August to what has quickly become a must-attend event—the Shaw Charity Classic.

I felt the enthusiasm around the Shaw Charity Classic first hand—a jewel on the PGA Champions Tour that welcomes golf greats such as Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomery, Bernard Langer and Canadian Stephen Ames. I’m so impressed by the event’s charitable impact with nearly $20M raised for various causes over the past five years. It’s an incredible event that Albertans have really wrapped their arms around.

Since joining Golf Canada as CEO in July 2017, I’ve connected with golfers across the country. I visited with more than 150 member clubs across all 10 provinces over my first 100 days—a national listening tour that included round table discussions with almost all of our partners from the provincial golf associations and PGA of Canada professionals to our club owners and managers along with corporate partners and other constituents who share a vested stake in the game.

I wanted to explore the state of our game and fully understand what our stakeholders and partners expect from their relationship with Golf Canada. My first impression—the support for golf in this country is overwhelming and Canada continues to have this incredible appetite for this amazing sport. But just as important, Golf Canada needs to do more. We need to invest in the game and become more relevant to all our golfers.

In Alberta, that means building more meaningful relationships with the 308 golf facilities across the province. It also means working closely with our partners at Alberta Golf to better communicate with the golf clubs and deliver more value both to the clubs and golfers at large.

There’s real optimism around the game right now all across Canada. But there also needs to be more focus on bringing new enthusiasts to the game. Whether by growing club membership or engaging green fee golfers, efforts to address affordability, accessibility and inclusiveness are areas of focus for both Alberta Golf and Golf Canada.

It is encouraging to hear about progressive clubs rolling out innovative programming to bring down barriers to the game. Every club can look at their facility through fresh eyes and ask, “How can we lower the barriers at our club?”

Connecting with more of Alberta’s passionate golfer base isn’t just an opportunity, it’s a priority. After all, we’re talking about a golfer’s paradise.

Alberta – A Golfers’ Paradise!

This article was originally published in the 2018 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Podcast producers, from the eager to the established, say the same thing.

Golf fans deserve more.

They should know what makes their favorite players tick. They should be taken behind the scenes, inside the ropes.

They should get insight about the rivalries and friendships, the quips and put-downs – but, especially, the characters.

“People really want to hear the stories,” says Calgary’s Emmett Oh, who, with chum Vincent Martino, started a podcast called Over The Top. “Some people may want to hear how that 8-iron felt on Hole 6, but I really care about all these random stories.”

“A great way to put it – the 19th hole. You’re sitting there throwing stories around and hanging out.”

Oh and Martino, roommates during their time on the University of Houston golf team, are podcast newcomers. They pumped out four episodes in October 2017.

At the other end of the spectrum is No Laying Up, one of golf’s most popular podcasts, which has posted more than a hundred episodes, many featuring A-list stars.

No Laying Up co-founder Chris Solomon echoes Oh’s sentiment – the sport’s enthusiasts are hungry for content.

Podcasts are a solution.

“That was always our point of emphasis, ‘As a fan, what would I want to hear?'” says Solomon, on the phone from Dublin, Ohio. “We entertain. We’re not that worried about the business model of it.”

That appears to be taking care of itself.

Because podcasts, which can be streamed or downloaded, are flourishing.

According to one survey, 10 million Canadians listened to podcasts in the past year – in other words, 34 per cent of the adult population. The audience is expanding annually by 10 to 20 per cent.

Golf, explains Solomon, is only now catching up to this booming medium. And the sport, with its massive following, lends itself to all kinds of niches.

Physical conditioning and mental fine-tuning. History and architecture. Tips and technology.

Amateurs and professionals. Beginners and experts.

For keen ears, there is no end of variety. At a glance – The Fried Egg, Fore Play, Mindside, ShackHouse, 18 Strong, On the Mark, A Good Talk Spoiled – with dozens of others available.

“I just love hearing good interviews, good in-depth questions,” says Oh. “Right now, in the golf world, you have the Golf Channel and they just pound Brandel Chamblee down your throat for 24 hours. Like, constantly, right? They don’t have any comedic relief.”

“Podcasts are an escape for these players to go into an environment that’s not a press room – a place where they can talk about their hobbies, talk about their family, talk about their friends. Those kinds of podcasts are doing the best right now.”

Hard to argue.

No Laying Up, in 2017 alone, boasted seven digits’ worth of downloads. And it’s only growing. Solomon recently quit his day job to oversee the operation.

“It’s a crazy, weird, organic story of how it all started.”

In 2013, Solomon and three like-minded golf fanatics started using Twitter to offer wisecracks, in real time, during PGA Tour events. Their sense of humour struck a chord. Players began to follow them on Twitter, and, suddenly, Solomon & Co. had profile.

They discovered they could attract top pros for podcast sit-downs. (Justin Thomas was the first victim.)

“It’s evolved into a place where players have felt safe to come on and have a free-flowing conversation,” says Solomon. “We saw an opportunity to say, ‘Look, the way the media covers golf directly, through the press conferences, the players don’t really get to say what’s on their mind. It’s not really indicative of what fans are interested in.’ It had become this corporate mess of click-bait and trying to sell ads.”

As their podcast’s popularity soared, so did its credibility.

Meaning they could wrangle a who’s-who of guests, including Rory McIlroy. Solomon credits the two-part interview with the Irish superstar in September 2017 for their brand’s explosion – five times more downloads this past year than the first three years combined.

“People do get inspired – and should be inspired – that we were nobodies,” says Solomon. “We were just dudes that started a website and it got to be the No. 1 downloaded golf podcast probably in the world.”

None of which had been lost on Oh and Martino who dropped $70 on a microphone and a subscription to a podcast-posting website.

Over The Top was born.

The first episode featured Conrad Shindler. Topics included everything from college football to freak injuries to fast food.

“I have no idea what the end game is,” says Oh, who, last winter, began graduate studies in Houston. “We just wanted to start it for fun. And it’s been a whole lot of fun so far.”

Listen Up

This article was originally published in the 2018 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Golf’s new Rules have been published by the The R&A and USGA in partnership with Golf Canada ahead of their effective date on Jan. 1, 2019.

For the first time, a new Player’s Edition of the Rules of Golf is being introduced to provide a shorter, more user-friendly version of the Rules for golfers at all levels of the game. This version, which will serve as the primary publication for all golfers, features:

• A more intuitive organization with 10 simplified topical groupings
• A “Purpose of the Rule” description at the top of each Rule, to better define why the Rule exists
• Easy-to-follow, full-colour diagrams and charts to aid in understanding
• A simpler, more direct writing style

The Player’s Edition is being launched alongside the modernized full Rules of Golf book, which includes some of the most significant changes made to the Rules in more than 60 years.

Adam Helmer, director of Rules, competitions and amateur status at Golf Canada said, “We are embarking on one of the most significant changes to the Rules of golf in the history of our sport. Today marks the start of the education process to communicate the modernized Rules with additional resources and publications available to all golfers, member facilities and referees in Canada and worldwide.”

Thomas Pagel, senior managing director, Governance for the USGA, said, “From the project’s inception, our one goal was to make the Rules easier to understand and apply for all golfers. It sets a new standard in the way we write and interpret the Rules and is central to our efforts to ensure a healthy future for golf. We look forward to continuing that process in the years to come.”

David Rickman, executive director – Governance at The R&A, said, “We are delighted to be rolling out the modernized Rules of Golf today. This is the biggest set of changes to the Rules in a generation and a major step forward in our efforts to make the Rules, and the sport itself, more accessible and more in tune with the way the modern sport is played.”

A new Official Guide to the Rules of Golf is also available in digital format and official apps today, with a printed version to be released in November. Designed for golf administrators and club officials, the Guide features Interpretations on specific Rules (which replace the current Decisions) and includes the first jointly-produced Committee Procedures document, providing practical guidance to Committees for running competitions and overseeing general play.

Another key feature is the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disabilities. This document is released alongside the Rules of Golf and enables players with disabilities to play fairly with other players with the same or different types of disability and, importantly, with those without disabilities. The Modified Rules were developed in close consultation with the community of players with disabilities and disability organizations.

All of the new books are available in digital formats online and a range of explanatory videos and resources is available on and websites to enable all golfers to learn about the 2019 Rules.

Extensive educational programs are being conducted around the world, with the assistance of national and regional associations, to ensure that golfers and administrators throughout amateur and professional golf are ready for the new Rules when they take effect on Jan. 1.

The process to modernize the Rules began in 2012 with the aim of making the Rules easier to understand and apply for all golfers and to help make golf more appealing and accessible for newcomers.

Some of the key changes in the new Rules include new procedures for dropping the ball when taking relief, the elimination or reduction of several penalties, relaxed putting green and bunker rules, and rules that encourage improved pace of play.

Golfers are reminded that the current Rules of Golf remain in effect for the remainder of 2018. The Rules of Amateur Status and the Rules of Equipment Standards were not part of the review process.

As an extension of its support of the Rules of Golf worldwide, Rolex has made a commitment to support The R&A and the USGA’s efforts to modernize golf’s Rules. The Swiss watchmaker’s contribution to excellence in golf is based on a rich heritage stretching back more than 50 years, forged through pivotal partnerships at every level of the sport, from the leading professional and amateur competitions and organizations to players at the pinnacle of their sport worldwide.

“Where Champions Are Crowned”

Although it’s the marketing tagline for Duncan Meadows Golf Course on Vancouver Island, site of the recent men’s Canadian Amateur Championship, it could be adopted by any of the scores of courses across Canada that play host each year to provincial and national championships.

Ming Hui, owner of Duncan Meadows, says the course hosted its first event, the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship, in 1999. Since then, the course and its members have welcomed a veritable spectrum of tournaments: provincial junior and amateur championships, Future Links events, the Canadian University/College Championship, the Canadian Women’s Tour, and even an American Junior Golf Association tournament where, says Hui, a young Paula Creamer set the women’s competitive course record before heading off to LPGA Tour stardom.

“The overall experience is fabulous,” Hui says. “Although the members have to give up their course for a few days, it’s a positive experience for everyone. It’s good for our course because it gives us exposure and visibility and it’s good for the game overall.”

At any given time, Golf Canada is in contact with hundreds of courses in order to secure sites over the next three to five years for the 30 or so tournaments they conduct each year, says Adam Helmer, Golf Canada’s director of rules, competitions and amateur status.

“Lots of advance notice and excellent communication is key,” he says. “Once a course hosts an event, they realize it is a positive and lasting experience for all concerned. Some courses want to showcase major changes, celebrate a significant anniversary or get more recognition. Others may target a specific championship because they have strong players in that category and it never hurts to have local knowledge.”

Phil Berube, executive director and CEO of Alberta Golf, agrees. “We are very fortunate in that many clubs in Alberta see this as an opportunity to showcase their facility and demonstrate good will for the golf community.” He says the key is a “partnership” between the golf association, the members and staff of the host club, and the players themselves.

Finding the appropriate number and type of facility is a formidable task for Golf Canada and the provincial associations. Although smaller provinces conduct a relative handful of competitions, Ontario runs more than 50 qualifying events and two dozen championships.

“It’s a very compact season and it’s difficult to schedule them all in during Ontario’s short summer,” says Rob Watson, Golf Ontario’s coordinator of next generation and competitions.

Some provincial associations offer nominal remuneration to host clubs and that has made the experience more palatable for some courses, but there’s much more to the equation. While British Columbia, for example, does so, the association “works with host clubs to help them understand the local economic impact of hosting an event as well as revenue opportunities for food and beverage as well as local sponsorship,” according to Kris Jonasson, CEO of British Columbia Golf.

Golf Canada, says Helmer, is working toward a new hosting model that would leave behind a “lasting legacy” commemorating their contribution to the game. That legacy could include donating Golf In Schools kits to local schools or some other support for growing the game locally.

One of the most memorable events during my 30 years at my club was when I volunteered last year for a Future Links tournament that had a Special Olympics component. We have hosted a men’s Ontario Amateur and some other events over the years and, with our centennial coming in 2019, our club is pursuing another significant championship. An unspoken motivation could be that we’ve got a very good golf course that we’re sick of being referred to as a “hidden gem.”

No matter what your motivation, reach out to your provincial association or Golf Canada to see what’s involved in hosting an event.

If for nothing else, do it for golf.

Unfortunately, it is apparent that the vast majority of golfers view Golf Canada’s Score Centre as the “Snore Centre.” But their narrow view of maintaining a current handicap is short-sighted, to their detriment.

Consider the numbers. Just over seven million scores were posted for handicap purposes in 2017. That’s impressive. Less impressive is the fact that they were all reported by the same 285,000 golfers.

To try to understand this disparity, let’s first dispose of the misconception that a “handicap” is something that only top-level competitive golfers are interested in. Everyone who plays the game should be tapping into the Score Centre, for a variety of reasons.

“A Golf Canada handicap factor allows you not only to compete on an equitable basis with anyone who may be a better golfer than you, or maybe not as good as you, but also gives you the ability to track your personal progress year over year,” says Taylor Stevenson, Golf Canada’s Manager of Member Services.

Stevenson, who oversees the Score Centre initiative, is incredulous that more golfers don’t understand how intrinsic tracking your scores is to your overall enjoyment of the game. Before he came on board at Golf Canada, he golfed but until he started maintaining a current handicap, he not only didn’t understand his progress but couldn’t compete fairly against better players.

“Once I started keeping an accurate handicap, I not only could see if I was getting better or worse, but I could play against friends who were better than me on a net basis, thanks to my handicap.”

Stevenson understands that that traditional “core” golfers, like those 285,000 who posted all those scores in 2017, will continue to do so. But, as a millennial at the age of 31, he also appreciates that it’s time to shake things up.

“Tracking your scores on Score Centre makes every game more enjoyable. You can track your progress, relive memories, share them with your friends. It’s a great way to engage with the game.”

He’s talking about a few of Score Centre’s attributes such as being awarded virtual “badges” for significant achievements (which can be linked to Twitter and Facebook), an “ultimate scorecard” which records your all-time best score per hole, tracking hole-by-hole performance and other statistics, and more. A mobile app allows golfers to instantly post their scores after completing a round.

In stark contrast to the traditional concept of a “handicap” for strictly competitive purposes, the new Score Centre approach has a wider purview, but the competitive aspect remains. The difference is that the competition is against yourself. You can set personal goals, compare your status with your golfing partners and celebrate milestones. Stevenson says, much like a Fit Bit tracks your fitness goals, Score Centre helps you monitor your golf progress.

“What golf really comes down to is you’re trying to do better than you did the last time you were out; it’s you against the golf course,” says Stevenson. “You want to improve, and to understand that, you have to keep track of your past performance.” He notes that the updated Score Centre allows golfers not only to look back at their performance for the current season, but for past years as well.

Stevenson says updates for 2018 include a more robust, reliable and stable platform for Score Centre that will further enhance the user experience.

If you enjoy golf, consider this a wake-up call. Golf Canada’s Score Centre is anything but a Snore Centre.

Perhaps call it your “Golf Centre.”

My Golf Life, Golf Canada’s Score Centre

This article was originally published in the 2018 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

The Mens and Ladies teams from Inglewood brought their A-games to the 2018 Alberta Mens and Ladies Interclub Championships!

Both squads from the inner-city Calgary club won the gross contest by six shots over their nearest competitors.

The format for the Interclub is an eighteen hole competition where the best three of four scores on each hole are counted in both a gross and net contest.

32 mens teams of four from clubs across the province competed in Kananaskis.

14 ladies teams of four competed in the inaugural ladies interclub in Canmore.

Dana Cooper of Edmonton Riverside made an ace on the par three 17th hole on the Mt. Lorette course. It was his seventh career hole in one!

A special thanks to the staff and members of the Kananaskis Country GC and Canmore G&CC for hosting the 2018 Alberta Interclub Championships.

Mens – Full Results

Ladies – Full Results

Social Media

Pleasure to be back! 3⃣2⃣ member clubs are represented for the 2018 #ABInterclub https://t.co/xfwOvJgKKJ

— Alberta Golf (@Alberta_Golf) September 4, 2018

Looking forward to playing in the @Alberta_Golf inter club @KananaskisGolf with my home club @CottonwoodGCC pic.twitter.com/ZU4F3xS0QS

— Theo Fleury (@TheoFleury14) September 4, 2018

Kananaskis Country Golf is back on course! Q and A session with Kevin Smith and Kananaskis Country Golf Course Head Pro Bob Paley about the 2018 re-opening of the Alberta provincial gem that was destroyed in the 2013 flood. The Gary Browning led restoration of the 36-hole layout is complete. 18 holes open for play in May of 2018 and all 36 holes open in late summer 2018.

Q: What did you take away from the dozen or so sneak-a-peek events you had in the fall of 2017 where supporters of the restoration of the golf course got to play the restored Mount Lorrette course?

A: It was a celebration of golf, it was a celebration of this really special place, it was super rewarding for us to get a chance to see human beings out on the golf course again on golf carts enjoying the game of golf and really just celebrating.

Q: What was the feedback from people who had a chance to play the course?

A: We had high expectations going in and it exceeded every expectation that we had. So great to see the smiles on people’s faces when they got out there and just to see some of the reaction and the feedback that we got. The fact that the greens were as pure as they were and the golf course just felt more playable, it is a little bit more wide open and fun to play. Just everybody was blown away by the shape of the courses and the experience of the day and getting a chance to hear our story and that’s something that meant a great deal to us as well.

Q: During the sneak-a-peek you recounted a story just after the Evan Thomas River spilled it’s banks in 2013. You had called course superintendent Calvin McNeely and told him there’s a big problem here and the course could be shut down for a couple weeks. Could you have ever imagined it would be closed for five years?

A: No not at all. But there were some people who didn’t think it would happen (Golf Courses getting restored) at all, certainly nobody on our team, we believed it was going to happen but no I don’t think anyone thought it would take the amount of time that it did take but for a variety of different reasons it did. Bottom line is we got to the finish line and we can’t wait to get back being open with renovated facilities and two brand new golf courses and a new team and creating some unbelievable experiences for our guests and our team. I think it’s going to be super emotional just to see people and see smiles on people’s faces and just to have other human beings here with golf clothes on instead of vests, and to have their equipment and golf clubs and not jack hammers and excavators.

Q: Are Albertans being handed back two golf courses that are even better than before the flood?

A: Absolutely, it’s just a better version of itself. No matter the golf course whether it’s Augusta National, Pebble Beach or St. Andrews they all go through renovations and restorations and our course is no different to that. One of the silver linings to this whole project was to look at every hole with Gary Browning and our management team who have been out here for 30 years and just evaluating every shot on every hole and what could be done and all with the thought in mind that this was a restoration. Even if there were no design changes there were better grasses, better irrigation system, better drainage and on a number of holes there are improvements to the green structure. The courses are now more inclusive than it was before. The courses were built during a time that was pretty punitive, the harder the golf course the better and that’s something we really wanted to address. We’ve added two new tee boxes that are shorter than the previous ones so right now the yardage range is anywhere from 3,600 yards to 7,200 yards on one golf course so essentially the new tees cut the golf course in half so people who have never played before have an opportunity to come out and play a game of golf on a course that’s fitted for them and that’s super exciting for us.

Q: When and how can Albertans book tee times for the 2018 re-opening season.

A: Tee time bookings for individual bookings will start online on our website kananaskisgolf.com on Monday, March the 12th at 8am mountain standard time. And then Wednesday, March 14th at 8 am mountain standard time our phone bookings will be on our toll-free reservation line 1-877-591-2525. As for what we expect there seems to be a significant buzz about the re-opening of the golf courses and people wanting to see what’s been done to them and how they’ve changed. One of the challenges is that we’ll be opening 18-holes on May 10th, around June 1st to 27 holes and around August 1st to 36-holes so we’re not going to be a 36-hole complex right from the start so that’s going to minimize our inventory a little bit so just another reason to try and get your tee time bookings in a little bit early.

Q: How much more protected from future flooding are the golf courses now?

A: In March of 2016 there was a separate project running next to ours that was a river restoration project and what it did was fortify the river bank from the south end of the property, the Evan Thomas River that separates Mount Kidd RV Park and our golf course, all the way through to the north part of the property near the water treatment plant is and the 14th hole on Mount Lorette. The berms have been built up, big rip rap rock has been used to fortify and build up the berms that were in place before so those are higher which has given us some pretty cool looks on holes as well. So were confident we’re in a better spot than we were in before the flood, I don’t think anybody in this world would ever say you can mother nature proof or water proof anything but we’re certainly in a way, way stronger position than we were pre-flood.

Q: You’re a head pro but you live on the golf course and were part of the restoration team. I’ve seen you out here with the hard hat and construction vest on, what do you know now about restoring a golf course that you didn’t five years ago?

A: It’s mind blowing. When we were going through the whole process there were just so many revelations like seeing mounds on a fairway and thinking that just must have been what was there and not knowing it had a specific purpose as it relates to drainage or how greens are built and what an architect looks at and feels and how the process works. Blown away by the number of people that it takes to build a course and the pride that these people put into creating a golf course whether they are the designers, the on course workers, the contractors, it’s amazing. That was one of the many silver linings for all of us, not just myself, to learning what the construction process is all about and to have a hand in it creatively and seeing the changes that we think are going to be best out here. I know way more now than I probably ever should but I’ve been blessed to be a part of this whole thing.

Kananaskis 2.0

This article was originally published in the 2018 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.