Hosting Alberta Golf Tournaments

What’s in it for the clubs?

Since it opened for play in 2003 RedTail Landing Golf Club has been the host site for Alberta Golf events seven times, including the return of the Alberta Open in the same year it opened for play. The most recent turn at welcoming the golf community in the province was in 2018 when the very exciting Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur Championship was in town.

Head professional Joshua Davison says RedTail Landing steps up so often to host because they feel they offer a solid test for the best players in the province. However, lending support to Alberta Golf is something the membership takes pride in.

“I love hosting tournaments. My team loves hosting events,” said Davison. “I love having big events on the calendar as focal points and things to rally around and get excited about for our team here at the club.”

He says it would be hard to weigh one aspect of hosting against another to determine which may be a favourite benefit. “It would be a collection of all of that because all of those things put together makes it easy for me to say yes, I want to partner with Alberta Golf. Yes, I want you guys to succeed.”

Just down the QE II and a bit west along Highway 27 is Sundre Golf Club which has been the site of the Alberta Junior, the Alberta Open and the Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur over the years.  Head professional Scott Shouldice says the course is situated in a great spot as players come from Edmonton, Calgary and all points in between so the geography works.

Sundre Golf Club

Having a course which can be set up to bring a challenge to all level of player makes accepting a hosting request easier. There is a revenue stream for the golf course, but it extends beyond the property. Shouldice says the town benefits from any hosting of big tournaments as well.

“It’s great for the whole town having a couple of hundred people come into town, staying at the hotel, eating at the restaurants, shopping at our stores,” he said.

Not surprisingly, there is also a pride factor at Sundre which plays into the decision to take on the task of hosting.  “We love showing off our golf course and our members are actually really good about us hosting these tournaments,” Shouldice boasts.

Of course, volunteers are a huge aspect of hosting any type of event and both Sundre and RedTail Landing have been fortunate to get that commitment.  Bill Gyte is a member at RedTail Landing who has worked several of the Alberta Golf tournaments over the years, from carrying scoring signs to spotting on holes.

He’s signed up several times and says it’s very rewarding being an ambassador for the host course and dealing with both spectators and players alike during the tournament . “It gives me an opportunity to interact with some of the players and it’s good that the golf course can do that (host) to showcase the course,” he said.

In addition, Gyte says it’s great how spectators get to see the course and at the same time can be up close with some very talented young golfers in our province. Those players provide another reward for Gyte. “I can honestly tell you they are extremely polite young men on the course,” he said. “They treat all the volunteers on the course with just nothing but respect.”

Gyte says he did experience one incident while volunteering which was a bit awkward, but it worked out in the end. “I was spotting and found one of the player’s balls as he was heading back to the tee to reload. I found his ball and he actually was a little bit unhappy that I found it because he didn’t have a very good lie,” he said. “He probably would have preferred I didn’t find the ball.”

The golf operation side involving staff is another piece of the team work required to host so many events. Davison says it acts as a huge team building exercise for his very talented course maintenance crew. “They work tons and tons of hours to prepare the golf course, not only leading up to the event but also during the event,” said Davison. “We’ve had times when our maintenance staff camped out, they stayed on site. They’ve done double cuts late at night after day one of the event.”

He says crews will have a bonfire and barbecue, then get up early the next day to get the course ready for play.

Shouldice says it is a huge request for maintenance crews to get the course in shape and to keep it there given all the wear and tear during a tournament but it’s worth it. The exposure courses get when hosting is quite valuable when it comes to marketing their product, he said. “People come here, and they love our golf course, they tell all the other members and their friends about what great time they had here at Sundre.”

Davison says golf needs some help in growing the game and hosting events which promote amateur golf is something he feels is extremely important to foster that growth. “You’re giving amateur golfers and junior golfers an avenue and an opportunity, events they can get into, participate in and help feed that excitement and those competitive juices and that passion and love for golf,” he said.

Shouldice agrees and says Sundre has eyes on hosting other events in the coming years, including putting in a bid to host a future Canadian Amateur championship if possible.

“We’re thinking big and we love hosting these big events,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding and a positive experience for us.”

Hosting Alberta Golf Tournaments

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Course Rating Explained

How do the golf courses you play get rated?

Whether you’re new to golf or have played the game for years there are probably still items on a scorecard that you’re not quite sure of. The course rating and slope numbers probably fall under that category.

As a refresher, the purpose of the Golf Canada Course Rating System is to measure and rate the relative difficulty of golf courses in Alberta so that a player’s Handicap Factor is accurate and transportable from golf course to golf course.

The Course Rating System considers factors that affect the playing difficulty of a golf course including yardage, effective playing length and the number of obstacles that factor into play including topography, elevation, doglegs, prevailing wind, bunkers and more.

You’ll note two ratings, course and slope when looking at your scorecard. Course rating is the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions, while the slope rating is the relative playing difficulty of a course for players who are mid-handicap golfers compared to the difficulty of the course for scratch golfers. Every golf course in Alberta has to be re-rated at least once every 10 years by a team that spends the day walking and measuring the course in addition to any recent changes.

“Any time a hole is changed, redeveloped or otherwise altered, it’s important to include an updated rating as part of that process”, comments John Burns, Field Manager of Competitions at Alberta Golf.

Landing zones, fairway width, proximity to out of bounds, trees, bunkers and water all factor into the equation the USGA provides to maintain consistent ratings internationally.

Greens are measured for size, number of bunkers in play, undulation and speed.

Alberta Golf has just over a dozen course raters in the province, all certified by the USGA.

“Course rating is a fun and challenging feature of Alberta Golf.  We’re always looking for new recruits to help, with the level of commitment entirely up to each person,” Burns said.  “Alberta Golf in association with the USGA offers training. There are online courses you can take to get up to speed. If you want to join us for a day and see what it’s like, we can place you on a team. You can be as involved as you want or sit back and take it all in. It’s a great day; you’re on a golf course !”

Alberta Golf continues to work in conjunction with its member golf courses to maintain the consistent ratings, both course and slope that its players have come to appreciate. The next time you look at your score card, don’t be surprised…either by the score or the course and slope numbers you see.

Course Rating Explained

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

ALBERTA JUNIOR GOLF ROADMAP

One of the many initiatives that Alberta Golf is looking to unveil in 2019 is the establishment of a pathway to help junior golfers navigate the road to post-secondary education. This pathway will be called The Junior Golf Roadmap.

“Our goal is to help clarify the competitive pathway for players in Alberta” said Jennifer Davison, Director of Sport Development and High Performance. “We often hear from families that there is confusion surrounding the idea of playing competitively in the province and where competitive golf can lead them. We field questions that range from beginner opportunities, all the way to post-secondary opportunities. The Junior Golf Roadmap will help clarify the routes that players can take.”

Golf Canada already has a junior competitive pathway but Alberta Golf wants to create one that is Alberta-specific for the players in our province.

To develop The Alberta Junior Golf Roadmap consultation with families is invaluable to find out what struggles they had in guiding their players through junior golf and beyond.

The de Graaf family from Edmonton is one of those families. Marlene de Graaf knew her son Ethan had promise in the sport of golf when he was young, but had no idea how to get him started. She didn’t know how to set him up for success when it came to finding a scholarship in the U.S. or get him on the radar of a Canadian University.

“By the time Ethan was 15 or 16 we had no idea what options were available,” said de Graaf. “The feedback we got from coaches in the U.S. was ‘Ethan looks like a great player but we’re done recruiting for this year; we’re recruiting into 2019 & 2020’. We realized we should have started this process when Ethan was in grade 9.”

The de Graafs realized they were too late to find a U.S. school for Ethan but not too late for here in Canada. Ethan is happily playing in his first year at UBC but they remember all the questions they had when he was young. Those questions included: ‘ how do we find out about tournaments, which tournaments should we choose, how do you find a coach, what should our budget be, how do we find college recruiters and what exactly is an order of merit’? They would love to see this new roadmap help other families in the future.

“As one of the older parents who’s been through it, I’m having parents come to me in the same position I was five years ago asking, ‘ what do we do, how does this work’ ?” said de Graaf. “It was really frustrating when you’re new to the golf community to actually know how to get into all of these things, so a junior golf roadmap will definitely help families that are new to golf or new to golf in Alberta.”

Annabelle Ackroyd just graduated William Aberhart High School in Calgary.  She is heading to the University of Minnesota this fall. Her father Carson says the process to find the right post-secondary option for his daughter started in grade 10.

“It’s important to have somebody to provide some counsel and direction on what kind of events you need to play in,” said Ackroyd.  “It’s important to find out what events post-secondary recruiters are going to be at and how to approach them. Information on how early on you need to start would be incredibly helpful to any family that’s looking to get into that area.”

Which brings us back to Alberta Golf and their plan to give families the tools to get their players to where Ethan and Annabelle are in a much smoother manner. Coaches will be discussing some of the requirements needed to play post-secondary golf. There will be a big focus on the under-15 bantam level so it’s not overwhelming for parents and so that they don’t think they are going to make unfixable mistakes.

“Expanding our offering at our championship events for juniors will allow for an open dialogue between the players and the association,” said Davison. “Our goal is to be a resource for these players and to help them find the information they need to make the best decision for their future.”

Alberta Golf wants to take the pressure off of families and steer the focus away from just being competitive. They want to make families aware that there are also post-secondary opportunities for players that are more education-focused and not all about high performance golf. It’s a roadmap no different than in hockey. There are recreational players and competitive players and the goal is to make sure that the roadmap feels inclusive to everybody versus just being for highly competitive players. With input from families and key stakeholders in the industry Alberta Golf is striving to provide a clear roadmap for what has historically been a challenging process.

Alberta Junior Golf Roadmap

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Power of the Public Golfer

By: John Gordon

The game of golf can be confounding. Hit down on the ball to make it go up. Aim right to make a shot go left. And so on.

Just as confounding in many ways is the history of the game itself.  While its convolutions can be unraveled by students of the game, many casual observers are flummoxed. Golf’s recent gyrations have led to misleading headlines announcing the game’s imminent demise.

Time for some historical perspective. Like everything else in this world, golf has proven cyclical over the last 600 years or so. Even in relatively recent history, say the last century, golf has ebbed and flowed in response to social, economic and political tides.

In Alberta, for example, there were only nine golf clubs in 1919, the year after the end of the First World War. A mere 17 years later, there were 66, according to a report quoted in James Barclay’s seminal book Golf in Canada: A History. Eighteen years after that, there were only 37. Now there are more than 300.

Not long after, another golf boom struck only to be followed by a bust in the 1970s. The ‘80s and ‘90s were a dream for the golf industry, from which it was rudely awakened by the recession of 2008. It can be argued that the industry has never quite rebounded from that blow, but to say it is on life support is to be ignorant of golf’s history and resilience.

Murray McCourt is the general manager of The Ranch Golf and Country Club just west of the Edmonton city limits. Now a PGA of Canada Executive Professional, he has been in the golf business for almost 30 years. He’s seen golf flourish thanks to the cash that flowed during the province’s boom. Things are quite different now, he says.

“We’re not nearly as busy as we were then but we are managing to keep our head well above water. Like every business, we had to take a hard look at our business model, our revenue streams. We had to get leaner, but we couldn’t cut our quality of service. We had to get creative,” McCourt said.

The Ranch now is a totally public course, one that McCourt says may be the “…busiest tournament course in Alberta.”  There are no members as such, but there are men’s and ladies’ leagues. Like The Ranch, McCourt says to be successful, golf facilities must continually evolve.

But is it an “evolution” or more so a case of “back to the future”?

Remember those “600 years” mentioned earlier? That’s how long ago the game was first played over what now is known as the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. It was, and remains, a public course. Today, all seven layouts at St. Andrews, including the Old Course, are public courses. While there were (and still are) no members, there were “golf societies,” organized groups that played regularly on one or more courses.  Then along came the proliferation of “private” member clubs, most noticeably on this side of the Atlantic, and with them the now-detested “elitist” tag for the game itself. Public golfers were demeaned as the “great unwashed,” “trunk-slammers.”

Now “back to the future” we go.  Golf societies are on the rise across the country, as are the number of golf facilities, many of them previously private, open to the public golfer.

“There are numerous diverse groups [in Canada] that have organized themselves to play golf,” said Calgary’s Leslie Dunning in her acceptance speech after being elected president of Golf Canada last year. “As we identify these groups, we will reach out to build relationships with them…It is our aim to create relevancy to more golfers.”

Establishing that relevance is easier said than done, says Dave Stockton, Director of Member Services and High Performance Sport for Golf Canada. Golf Canada currently has about 270,000 members, the vast majority of whom belong to private or semi-private clubs. About 17,000 of those are public players. According to Stockton, Golf Canada’s research indicates there are about a million golfers in the country who play at least 25 times a season and that’s the organization’s target.

Of that pool of a million, Stockton estimates about 350,000 play at some sort of competitive level, whether that be tournaments, leagues or other events, and thus should be tracking an official Golf Canada handicap factor. The remaining 650,000, he says, are recreational golfers “who play a more social form of golf with friends, family or regular playing partners.” They may not adhere strictly to the Rules of Golf and don’t see the necessity of an accurate handicap factor.

But, Stockton emphasizes, a Golf Canada Gold membership offers many more benefits including incident protection that covers up to $2,500 reimbursement for damaged, lost or stolen equipment such as clubs and range finders; reimbursement for damage up to $1,000 if you break or damage a window; and up to $2,500 for damages caused by a golf cart accident. Plus other benefits that make a membership relevant to all regular golfers—maybe even more relevant to those who don’t necessarily know where their next shot is going or are accident-prone or forgetful.

Like other industry insiders, Stockton acknowledges the latest paradigm shift in golf. “I don’t think people are necessarily leaving golf. I think they are leaving the traditional golf club membership model for more public golf.”

As a result, there are more options for the public golfer, ranging from public courses like The Ranch to innovative concepts like VIP Golf and Play Golf Calgary. (It should be noted that all encourage their clients to purchase a Golf Canada Gold membership.)

Loosely inspired by the “one membership, more golf” concept developed by ClubLink, which owns multiple courses in Ontario, Quebec and Florida, Rob Wilson came up with the VIP Golf idea 15 years ago. He purchases “tens of thousands of greens fees” at about 100 courses in Alberta and B.C., and then resells them to his VIP Golf members at “substantial preferred rates” that can range up to 60 per cent off the rack rate.

The result is the proverbial “win-win-win” scenario, he says. VIP Golf is thriving, its members get great value at outstanding courses, and the courses themselves receive income from carts, retail sales, and food and beverage purchases.

A VIP Golf membership can also serve as a “gateway to membership” at a specific course, says Wilson, when a golfer wants to sample the experience at several clubs before settling on a home club.

Somewhere between the strictly itinerant public golfer and those who are attracted to something like VIP Golf are those intrigued by models such as Play Golf Calgary. In fact, says CEO Scott Atkinson, “we try to bridge that gap, to create a relationship, a sense of belonging that a lot of golfers seem to want. It’s actually a basic human instinct.”

Play Golf Calgary is comprised of The Links of Glen Eagles, Blue Devil Golf Club and its Lil Devil short course, HeatherGlen Golf Course and Serenity Golf Club. All are accessible, at various levels, through the purchase of a Play Golf Calgary Card or by opting for a Multi-Course Membership.

Atkinson, a past-president of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, says there is a continual push within Play Golf Calgary to meet the demand for programs that tend to reflect those at traditional member clubs such as match-play and other leagues, junior camps, tournaments and social activities for card-holders, their families, friends and colleagues.

“We’re not trying to be the traditional private club. That calls for a whole other financial commitment, among other things. What we are trying to do is provide a setting where they can enjoy the game in a social way. We want to be the best of both worlds. Ultimately, our goal is to create golfers.”

A 2015 report by Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada said there were 2,346 golf facilities in this country of which only 220 were private. There were 312 facilities in Alberta at that time, 23 of them totally private. Among the remainder are semi-private clubs, those which may offer memberships but also welcome public play.

Certainly, public golf may not be for everyone. But golf itself certainly is.

Power of the Public Golfer

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

10 Tips for Parents of Competitive Golfers

By: Randy Robb

Foreword by: Julie Freedman Smith and Gail Bell of Parenting Power

At Parenting Power, we believe that there is more than one right way to parent, and we create a solution for every family. You know the facts as well as we do. The relationship between youth sports performance and rising anxiety levels, along with the fact that 70% of kids drop out of sports at age 13 cannot be ignored. Something needs to change!

The research and recommendations about the roles of the coach, the parent and the athlete are very clear. Parents have an important role to play in supporting young athletes, but it often gets blurred with the coaching role. While kids are keen to hear from coaches about how they can learn from their mistakes and losses, when they hear it from parents the message can leave kids feeling pressured and unloved.

We can’t ignore the research. The one message we need parents to hear is that, when you are talking to your kids about their sports performance, what matters most is: when you do it and how you do it.  Our Parent-Athlete Agreement worksheet is created for parents and their kids to use together to clearly outline how parents can best support their athletes.

This is not something you do to your child, it is something you do with your child. Download our free worksheet at www.parentingpower.ca/paa. Take the time to get your agreement written down so that it becomes a working tool for everyone in the family. We know that parents love their kids and want the best for them. This is a way to support your athlete and clarify how your children’s athletic experiences fit into their life-long journey.

10 Tips for Parents of Competitive Golfers by Randy Robb

There are numerous online articles about high-performance athletes and tips associated with supporting them. Over the past 15 years I have had the opportunity to be involved with dozens of our best juniors and amateurs. There is no perfect method or textbook to follow when helping to guide your children through the journey of high-performance athletics. However, there are certainly some key areas that should be considered. Here are a few tips to help parents along the journey.

1. Nutrition / Well-Being – As part of the integrated support team, taking the lead role in nutrition is key to maintaining daily energy levels and allowing for optimum learning and training.
2. Promote academics – There are three areas college coaches look at when they recruit junior golfers… golf ability; character; and academics. Having good study habits and maintaining a solid GPA will open doors for a wider selection of post-secondary schools.
3. Realistic expectations – Golf is a very individual game, both on the course and also how it relates to practice and training. Having a good understanding of tournament scoring average and the concept of competing against yourself will help keep expectations in check.
4. Understand the competitive landscape – Try to gain a basic understanding of the pathway leading to the major junior tournaments. There are numerous junior events throughout the spring and summer and each has its place in player development. From early season junior tour events to provincial championships in July right through to national championships in August, there is a definite pathway of appropriate events to foster skill development.
5. Eliminate on-course superstitions – Goals need to revolve around helping the junior become as self-sufficient as possible. This will help with their development. There should be no connection between player performance and who is at the course watching the round.
6. Help teach your child how to deal with failure – Golf tournaments are very tough to win. There will be anywhere from 20 – 200 players competing in an event with only one player holding up the trophy at the end. Help keep the scoring expectations realistic and develop ways to deal with those tough rounds. Remember that half of the rounds will be below the scoring average and half will be above.
7. Promote post round analysis – There are numerous systems that allow a player to input a round of golf and are designed to assist with analyzing what went well and what needs work. Helping to set up an account with one of these providers will go a long way with your child’s development.
8. Stress process, not outcome – The amount of information out there is staggering when it comes to goal setting. A long term goal such as playing college golf or getting a spot at Nationals is motivating, but the key to developing and improving as a competitive golfer is to have a weekly/monthly training plan that focuses specifically on what your child needs to work on. Golf is a funny game. A player can be rolling along nicely sticking to their game plan, then have a couple shots go sideways on the 17th hole. As opposed to only looking at the 18 hole score, help with the concept of process and continuous improvement.
9. Stay involved with team sports – Competitive golfers tend to spend countless hours practicing short game and full shots by themselves throughout the year. Tournament golf is playing against the entire field of competitors. As a parent of a competitive golfer, try to encourage participation in team sports for as long as possible. Hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, football, and lacrosse, to name a few will help with maintaining good fitness, developing that competitive mindset needed for golf, understanding teamwork concepts and accountability.
10. Find a qualified coach – and then – allow them to coach – There are PGA professionals who are trained in all areas of competitive golf training. Whether it’s the pro at your golf club, a high performance coach, or a former tour player, find that junior leader who will help sort through all the many aspects of competing, while enjoying the journey at the same time.

10 Tips for Parents of Competitive Golfers

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Alberta Golf’s Rec Series

In the same vein as having your golf clubs, clothes and shoes fit you, Alberta Golf has what may be the perfect fit for recreational golfers who want to experience tournament play but not the pressure to play well in those settings.

“In talking to recreational players, they like the competition but they don’t like the pressure. So, if you can come with a couple of your girlfriends or your buddies or even a mixed event with your kids, would you come and just have a fun round and see where you sit?” said John Burns, Field Manager for Competition and Membership with Alberta Golf.

In a nutshell the Rec Series can be defined as a value-based opportunity for recreational players to come and enjoy a round of golf. In other words – fun without the competitive vice grip which many high-end tournaments can produce for some of its participants.

Burns has taken the reins after the series’ rookie year and will guide it through 2019. He says the season has gone well so far with successful events at Banff Springs, Stewart Creek and Jasper Park Lodge. All three are bucket list courses with an easy-on-the-wallet price. The Ladies Team Classic in Canmore and the Alberta Rec Series Net Amateur Championship in Wintergreen are still to come in August.

The target demographic for this series is quite broad which makes it a very important piece of the puzzle for Alberta Golf as it works towards filling a gap in what they do for golf in this province.

“This is more designed to promote golf to the 50,000 members we have that have never even considered competing in an event either because they don’t think they’re good enough or because they don’t want the pressure of having to qualify or play against players which are head and shoulders better than them,” Burns said.

This series could be a tool which introduces new golfers to the game, expose those recreational players to new scoring formats and more importantly, it will provide some fun in the fresh air.  At its roots, this is a tournament for recreational players regardless of handicap which Burns says is a key component in attracting players.

For example, the Net Amateur was held at River Bend Golf and Recreation Area in Red Deer last year with about 80 men and women taking part. The men’s winner was a 26 handicap. Yep, that’s not a misprint. If there was a poster which speaks to what the Rec Series is all about then Burns says just look at the photo from the event last year.

“These are everyday people. These are the blue collar members who play maybe once a week, a couple of times a month,” said Burns. “These are not the hard-core tournament chasing people.” If Burns needed more evidence to convince him this series has some merit, he got it from his own experience.

“I sat in a number of scoring tents over the summer. When the scores started coming in the volunteers I was sitting with would say ‘Oh, I can do that’,” he said.

That was a perfect example of the stigma attached to competitions where everyday players would never sign up for because they feel they aren’t good enough to compete. Burns continued, “But when you see there is now an opportunity to play in an event that maybe caters to your handicap or your playing level, you’re like ‘yeah, come on let’s go’.”

Burns says he’s contacting men’s, ladies’ and seniors’ leagues around the province to cull players who may be interested in these low-key events. This doesn’t mean there will be foot-wedges and questionable drops during the round. There will of course be rules to follow and players will get the feeling of being in a formal event but not so rigid they feel the pressure of having to perform.

Players will need to be an Alberta Golf member with a recognized handicap in order to register for each event. Think of it like your league night at your club with your friends and then you sit down for a beverage after the round. “I don’t want it to be loosey-goosey. I want it to be fairly structured but at the same time I want people to come and have fun,” Burns said.

For your entry fee (which could vary from course to course) a player will receive his or her round of golf, a meal and tee prizes. In addition, there will be something to reward the winners which may be in the form of a gift certificate.

The one-day events will be stroke play but the Net Amateur will remain Stableford scoring which removes even more pressure to score well. In most cases, when you get to double bogey you pick up and move to the next hole.

Burns feels it won’t be hard to get people to play if they know about the series. Word of mouth will also help while he gets the information into courses around the province, so their members are aware of what is happening.

One of the tenets of Alberta Golf is to educate its members as well as grow the game of golf in Alberta and Burns feels this will add fuel to that fire. For many casual players in the province the Rec Series just might fit like a (golf) glove.

Why not try it on for size?

Rec Series 2019 Schedule

Stewart Creek Golf & CC, May 12th

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, June 15

Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course, June 29

Canmore, Aug 22/23 (2-day Ladies Team Classic)

Wintergreen, Aug 29/30 (Alberta Rec Series Net Amateur Championship)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR AUGUST EVENTS

Alberta Golf’s Rec Series

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Royal Portrush

Home of the 2019 Open Championship

You can’t miss this sign as you roll into town: ‘Welcome to Portrush, Major Golf Capital of the World.’ With that billing, it’s about time that major championship action returned to this seaside charmer in Northern Ireland.

Situated along the Antrim Coast, just minutes from the landmark Giant’s Causeway, Royal Portrush Golf Club will be in the spotlight as site of the 2019 Open Championship, marking only the second time — and first since the early 1950s — that the Claret Jug will be awarded outside of England or Scotland.

“It’s been a long time coming,” grinned Northern Ireland’s own Darren Clarke during a trip to Calgary last summer for the 2018 Shaw Charity Classic. “Royal Portrush is one of the best golf courses in the world — it’s brilliant, it is absolutely sensational — and for us to be able to highlight that, going to a global audience, I think it’s incredible. It will be an unbelievable event.”

The global audience should be warned — once you get a glimpse of the Dunluce Links, you will be tempted to immediately book your own trip.

Clarke’s is one of three names on that entrance sign in Portrush, a reminder of his triumph at The Open Championship — around these parts, you should expect a sideways look if you call it the British Open — at Royal St. George’s in 2011. Fred Daly (British Open, 1947) and Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open, 2010) are the other local legends with major victories, while Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, also hails from this golf-keen community about an hour north of Belfast. That is a lot of hardware for a town of roughly 7,000 residents.

In July, the best of the best will be digging divots in their backyard. Especially in the era of high-def, you can’t help but watch coverage of the majors and find yourself thinking, ‘Whoa, I’ve gotta play there!’ The good news is that in 2019, it’s more plausible than ever in the past, with three of the PGA Tour’s four biggies being contested at public-access offerings.

Augusta National, of course, remains off-limits to Ordinary Joes and Joans, but the PGA Championship — with its new spring slot on the schedule — was held at Bethpage Black, while Pebble Beach marked it’s centennial by playing host to the U.S. Open.

A fixture on international best-of lists, the prep at Royal Portrush included the addition of two new holes. This linksy layout is every bit as good as the admittedly-biased Clarke says, but golf-trippers are as likely to return talking about the proud and hospitable folks who call this area home. They will point out Dunluce Castle — you’ll be treated to a great view from the fifth green, set smack-dab on the shoreline — and tell you about Michael Jackson’s bid to purchase that historic property.

They can direct you to some of the many Game of Thrones filming locations in this area, or suggest their favourite spot for a meal and a pint of Guinness.  If there’s a downpour of rain (“Just a wee spit”) or a wicked wind (“Just a wee breeze”), they might even offer to lend you their weather-tested gear. And most will be tickled to talk golf, not only their dandy Dunluce Links but the others that make this a must-play destination for the par-seeking public.

Just up the road and up the Antrim Coast is the Strand Course at Portstewart, with perhaps the finest front nine you’ll find. Located about two hours away on the opposite side of Belfast is the scenic and stout Royal County Down, which topped Golf Digest’s latest listing of the World’s 100 Greatest Courses. (You won’t have to scroll much further to find Royal Portrush, ranked seventh.)

Its neighbour, cliff-hugging Ardglass Golf Club, boasts the oldest clubhouse building in the world.

On this particular night, just a short drive from Portrush in the pub at The Bushmills Inn, the man at the microphone paused between tunes to poll the polo-shirted crowd. “Have you been humbled by our golf courses?” he asked with a crooked grin. “When people tell you it takes a lot of balls to play golf in Ireland, now you know what it means!”

Once headline news for all the wrong reasons, there has been peace in Northern Ireland for the past two decades. In July, the spotlight shines on these deserving people and this special destination.

Royal Portrush has once before hosted the British Open, with Max Faulkner winning in 1951. It’s time for a new chapter for the self-proclaimed ‘Major Golf Capital of the World.’

“I’d be foolish to say I ever thought we’d get through the dark times in Northern Ireland to get to this stage where we have the biggest and best tournament in the world,” Clarke told reporters when the R&A announced that his home club would host the 2019 Open Champ

Now, you really should see it for yourself.

Royal Portrush

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Changing the Rules

New rules make golf more enjoyable for all

It took almost seven years, dozens of meetings, countless discussions and revisions, but finally a mulligan of sorts has come into being for the Rules of Golf.

Speaking from Toronto about the revisions that will come into effect in 2019, Adam Helmer, the Director of Rules and Competitions for Golf Canada, said whether you’re a recreational player or more seriously inclined, the switches that are now teed up are a good thing for everyone involved in the game. And, they’ll be more easily understood.

“These are definitely significant changes; the biggest in 60 years. This wasn’t just contemplating the professional level, the elite stream level. It focused on everything to make rules more welcoming,” he began.

Helmer agreed the guidelines in their previous state were “confusing, complicated and 99.9 per cent of golfers didn’t know the rules,” which made properly applying them during play a slippery slope. Thus, when the blueprint was put together for these alterations, the idea was to make them both easily understandable and applicable.

“Now that they’re here, I think they’ll help with certain barriers people in the industry see, like the pace of play. I think these are aligning more with what’s happening in practices on the course,” Helmer continued.

Helmer noted that Golf Canada doesn’t really see one specific rule as being the top dog in the pack. Rather, in combination, everything works together to make the game more enjoyable for all with much of the rules confusion in some areas done away with.

“In playing out of a bunker, the challenge should be to get your ball out of the area and now, with a bunch of loose impediments in the bunker, the rules to lift the ball are relaxed. In penalty areas you can ground your club, move loose impediments. On the putting green you can now repair any damage from ball marks or shoe damage. As well, you can now leave the flagstick in which is a welcome change, especially for pace of play. If you hit your ball more than once, it’s not going to be a penalty stroke. You just count the stroke itself,” Helmer commented.

One thing it’s thought these many changes will foster is the continued integrity of the game. Known as a ‘gentleman’s game,’ golf is based upon honesty and good character. With the changes that came into effect early in January, Golf Canada suggests more people will now abide by the letter of law. In essence that means they will begin to more often play the game the way it was designed but was rarely done because of the confusion the previous guidelines brought about due to few players really knowing how to properly impose penalties.

“The whole premise, starting in 2012 when this process began and everything was on the table and up for discussion, was that we were going to try and simplify the rules of golf,” Helmer said about the beginnings of this movement. “When looking at the principles of the Rules of Golf, the thought was everything should tie back to our principles — play the course as you find it. Play the ball as it lies. With that in mind, you had to assume that the rules are meant for the honest player.

“If we get down a rabbit hole of thinking about all the nuances of how someone can take advantage of the rules, or cheat if you will, then the rules are going to be that much bigger. So the rules have to contemplate integrity, the honest player. Now, the rules specifically state ‘Every player is required, or has to enforce, penalties on themselves and is obliged to tell other players about the rules’. These are rules, not advice,” as the latter, if offered up during competitive play, is a two-stroke penalty or loss of the hole.

In order to catch  up to what’s now become the new standards for the game of golf, there are a few ways the general public can access them. From Golf Canada you can order what’s known as the Player’s Edition of the new rules, a small booklet that for an equally small cost will fit nicely into your golf bag and if the need to look something up arises, it’s there and easily  understandable. As well, a larger version of the new doctrine can also be found through the Golf Canada website, and encompasses the many regulations within the game.

“We’re strongly promoting the Player’s Edition with all players,” said Helmer. “It’s kind of an abridged version of the full Rules of Golf. It’s what you need to know and what you’ll commonly see occur on the golf course. It’s got explanatory images and diagrams, references. It’s more user-friendly in terms of bullet points.”

The full edition of the Rules of Golf will be penned in the third person and will include illustrations. This booklet is intended to be the primary publication for officials and is expected that Golf Club Committees and referees will use the publication as their primary Rules of Golf resource.

The Official Guide to the Rules of Golf replaces the Decisions book and will contain information to best support committees and officials. It includes interpretations on the rules, committee procedures (available local rules and information on establishing the terms of the competition), and the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disabilities. It is a ‘long-form’ resource document intended as a supplementary publication. The full Rules of Golf are more for referees and committees, as it delves deeper into the issues that can come up during play.  The Player’s Edition costs $3 while the full set of rules is available for $4 and the official guide is $16, for members of Golf Canada.

Given what’s taken place with these rule changes coming into play, golf officials must upgrade their knowledge about how the sport is now governed, Helmer pointed out. That means referees, used in high level competitions, must catch up on the newest instalment of this massive doctrine.

“Basically, anyone that was a provincial or national referee has to re-certify to be aware of all the significant changes coming up,” he stated.

As to becoming a rules official, Helmer said there are clinics put on by Golf Canada to educate both those new to that part of the sport plus those that have been in such a position previously.

“We have a three-tier system that is first a basic introduction to the rules for anyone that’s interested. Level Two is your provincial certification and Level Three would be the international certification,” with such clinics being available through provincial bodies such as Alberta Golf.

So after many years of discussion, the new rules swing into play in January 2019. Along with Golf Canada, the R&A and the USGA worked their way through “…putting this puzzle together, putting the final touches to it. Once we came to the last year, that was the toughest part. Just finalizing the last few changes. It took almost the better part of seven years,” explained Helmer.

In statements on the Golf Canada website, this is what the men and women in charge of making these many changes had to say: “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,” said Thomas Pagel, the Senior Managing Director of Governance for the USGA.

David Rickman, the 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.”

While it won’t take seven years to read the new guidelines, a lot of work went into them, summed up Helmer.

“There was a lot of alignment, a lot of synergies. I think they knew where they needed to get to, what the priorities were. It was just the last kind of short strokes, the topical issues around things like dropping the ball. There was a big push to get an alternative to stroke-and-distance which was a difficult one to get to. I think there was just a lot of stick handling around some of those tougher issues, how the penalty should fit the crime and how you get the proper wording proper for consistent application.”

And in the end, it’s felt all these changes will help not only speed up play but also perhaps speed up the growth of the game as it becomes easier to understand the rules and regulations that govern it.

Changing the Rules

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

Golf & Tacos

It has been said that golf is a good walk spoiled, and for those new to the sport, that can feel all too true. With all the rules, the etiquette and the unforgiving nature of a golf swing, it is a difficult game to navigate, which can discourage newcomers before they even get started. On top of that, women looking to get into the game are often intimidated by the male dominated  atmosphere and can fear encountering the stereotypical stuffiness associated with golf as they try to learn and improve their game. In fact, for many women, golf has become just another four-letter word. Good friends Birkley Doll and Caitlin Buckell are aiming to change that four-letter word – to ‘taco’.

Golf & Tacos is a program that presents young women with an incredible opportunity to learn the game and have a lot of fun in the process. Doll and Buckell founded the group two years ago to fill a need they found in their own lives.

“It came from a place of wanting to get more of our own friends into golf. We decided to come up with a way to make it fun to go out and play golf,” says Buckell.

The duo started an Instagram page to attract young women like themselves to golf so that they would not only have partners on the course but also an increased Rolodex professionally. They looked at finding a good day to organize lessons and landed on Tuesday. They joked that what more could a girl ask for than Taco Tuesdays and Golf & Tacos was born.

The response was immediate; women quickly responded to the Instagram posts wanting to sign up for lessons and to find out what the group was about, which is taking away the barriers that many women experience and creating a welcoming, fun environment in which to learn the game.

“We didn’t realize that we hit such a niche market,” says Doll. “We knew who we were and the target market because it was the people we wanted to hang out with. We wanted to feel comfortable.”

This target market is a big one made up of like-minded women between the ages of 23 and 35 who are new to the game or who played as kids but are just getting back into it. Most important, they are all looking for a fantastic community of supportive women that they can have a blast with. In keeping with the Mexican theme, the ‘chicas’ have the option of joining a mild, medium, hot and now a new spicy level of lessons depending on their experience and golf ability.

Medium players would have some experience on a course and while they occasionally swing and miss, they are working on their consistency whereas spicy players are more experienced golfers looking to fine-tune their skills. Players can decide at what level they are comfortable and where they need to be for their skills to improve.

Last season Golf & Tacos put together three consecutive sold-out sessions at Golf Canada Calgary Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with each session running five to seven weeks. Intimate groups of eight golfers per session encourages the ladies to really get to know each other. The ideal location boasts a teaching facility that allows players to practice on grass while also offering covered tees with heaters to combat Calgary’s volatile weather.

“It really helps take some of the elements out from a scheduling and planning perspective—we can be out there when it’s colder or going to rain,” says Buckell. “Earlier in the year those heated stalls make a huge difference, especially for beginner or intermediate golfers.”

GCCC Teaching Professional Todd Halpen instructs the women on everything from how to hold and swing a club to which club to use for different shots, all the while encouraging the ladies to visit with each other, listen to music, and have a beer or glass of wine.

“Todd is fabulous. He makes the girls so comfortable, so relaxed and at ease. He’s definitely not stuffy at all, which if you hadn’t been on a course much I think maybe you’d expect,” says Corey Davison, who has been part of the Golf & Tacos family since the beginning.

Davison golfed as a youth but drifted away from it until she recently lost a bet with her boyfriend that required her to join him on the course. He encouraged her to take up the game again, both because she is naturally athletic and because as a lawyer it would benefit her to be able to take clients out golfing. She knew he was right and signed up with Golf & Tacos.

“It’s really difficult as a female, especially a young professional female, to feel included in the golf tournaments when you’re not quite so comfortable around a set of golf clubs or on golf courses as some of your male counterparts,” says Davison. “Caitlin and Birkley wanted to do away with that uncomfortable feeling or feelings of embarrassment.”

Some Golf & Tacos participants have never stepped foot on a golf course, and that’s just fine. The lessons are geared toward demystifying the golf world so that ladies understand what they need to do when they arrive for a game, where and how to warm up, how to take part in a tournament, and of course how to successfully move that little white ball around the course.

At the end of the session they head to a host course where the chicas put their newly acquired skills and knowledge to the test. Halpen and other course pros are on hand to walk the ladies through the process, counselling them on how to set up their tees, which club to use when, and where to aim in order to get the ball in the hole. Buckell and Doll mix up the foursomes so the chicas meet people from the other sessions to further expand their networks. There are prizes and, of course, wine and tacos to celebrate the occasion.

But once the lessons are over the relationships are just getting started. All of the 170 Golf & Tacos graduates are encouraged to join the group’s Facebook group to keep in touch. There, the chicas can post notes seeking to round out a foursome or organize golf games with alumnae to encourage everyone to get out and golf. Given this, Buckell and Doll are looking at ways to grow the program to facilitate that desire to golf more and to accommodate the growing number of women interested in joining Golf & Tacos. They are looking at opportunities to partner with additional courses and organizations throughout Calgary, add more sessions, expand the brand to other cities, and possibly set up a Golf & Tacos league to get clubs in the women’s hands as much as possible.

After all, that’s the objective – to get more young women playing golf so they can both improve their game and network with clients and senior management. In two short years, Golf & Tacos has grown into a fun, encouraging, vibrant community of women who are bringing a tough-to-attract demographic into golf courses by making the game approachable.

“We want to remove the barriers to entry as much as possible for beginners and intermediate golfers,” says Buckell. “We make it inclusive and make everyone feel really welcome and keep it really fun.”

And what could be more fun than golf and tacos?

Golf and Tacos

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

After a great Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur in southern Alberta last year at Willow Park the women are headed north in 2019.

It will be the first time The Ranch Golf and Country Club has hosted the Ladies Amateur, but it most certainly is not their first rodeo, so to speak.

“We’ve hosted PGA club pro championships. We’ve really hosted PGA events here at least one every year over the last decade,” said Murray McCourt, General Manager at The Ranch Golf & Country Club. “The Ranch certainly has a long history of hosting quality events, including some Canadian Tour events back in the early 90’s.”

So, what was it which prompted McCourt and his group to step forward and host the Ladies Amateur July 9-11?

“Over the past couple of years, the ladies golf market here at The Ranch has been on the uptick, more and more women have been coming out here and playing and really enjoying the golf course and what it has to offer,” said McCourt. He engaged in talks with Alberta Golf, feeling the course would be a great fit for this event.

The Ranch will provide a nice balance to test the best women golfers in Alberta with plenty of bunkers, some open holes, well-treed holes and some with enough water to get your attention.

“It’s a course where you certainly need a strategy in order to get around and score,” says McCourt. “Accuracy would be at the top of the list.”

“If you just grab a driver and try to smash it around here all day, you’re going to lose a golf ball or two I think,” he said.

The final four holes at The Ranch may provide a turning point for somebody hanging on to win the tournament or trying to make a charge on the final day.

“They’re all extremely difficult holes and lots of water comes into play and lots of trees come into play,” said McCourt.

He singled out #18 as one that the women will need to have their focus. It measures anywhere from 254 yards to 439 yards and has two different fairways. A specific strategy could depend on the tee in play that day. The closer tee means less water to cover but from further back you have trees to deal with so option one might be the fairway on the left which makes for a longer hole with water on the right side.

“So, you have a very narrow landing area that is very punishable on both sides and then you have a long carry to get to the green over a lot of water,” said McCourt, adding there is a grouping of bunkers protecting the putting surface.  He advises being below the hole because putting downhill on this green can be a bit tricky.

“It’s just a challenge all the way through to make sure you’re paying attention to your game and never lose focus on any shot around the golf course,” said McCourt. “But there are some holes that are birdie-able and I’m sure some of those better players who are in the field will take advantage and there will be some birdies but there’ll also be some big numbers as well.”

The Ranch will undergo a major bunker renovation before the ladies tee it up with some being removed. Those left over will get a makeover.  It remains to be seen if these changes will impact scoring during the tournament, but McCourt says in the end it will make The Ranch a bit more user-friendly for the casual player.

“It’s going to be fun because we’ve never had the best women players in the province play here and we’re excited to see how that looks.”

This being Alberta, weather can impact any golf tournament with wind, rain and even scorching heat. McCourt says if we get a real soaker during the tournament, he’s not worried as the course drains quickly.

“But if we get a drought year and we are trying to keep the course green and lush the water still likes to run away, and we dry out a little bit easier than other golf courses. If it does dry out, you’ll get a lot more roll on the fairway. It might not make it easier, but the ball might roll into places you don’t want it to.”

The Ranch has a reputation for hosting solid PGA events and there is no reason to think these ladies will not get the same red-carpet treatment in July.

The Ranch Hosts the Ladies Amateur

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.