Win a naked golfer in a Skins Game !

Win a framed print of a naked golfer by well-known Saskatchewan’s Alden Seib of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. See Hole #19 on the left navigation bar for sample. You’re your entry today. MORE >>

Search engine added

After six years of operation, the quantity of information about Saskatchewan’s golf courses and golfers is starting to add up so that it’s difficult to find a particular story. Surfers have been able to search at Newscenter. Where monthly newsletters are filed on Hole #17, News Centre. Viewers can now use a search engine that’s customized for SaskGolfer.com – it’s found on the left side navigation bar just below Hole #19.

Sport & Rec set

This year, Golf Expo 2005 will be combined with the Regina Sport and Rec Show in Regina March 11-13 at the Canada Centre Building, Exhibition Park. It’s a great time to check out the latest courses, golf package deals and get in the spirit of golf for a new year. For more details contact Pat Rodgers of Western Show Productions at 522-6440, wsp@accesscomm.ca No show is planned for Saskatoon this winter.

New Year’s resolution?

If you’re fighting the battle of the bulge, you may want to consider carrying your clubs in 2005. More and more golfers are giving it a try during the last few years since the introduction of a new generation of golf bags.

Health authorities report that for every hour of golfing 315 calories are burned, if you carry your clubs. If you pull them in a cart, the number of calories drops to 301. If you use a motorized cart, just 245 calories. (Standard Life Insurance). By the way, one pound (450 g) of bodyweight weighs 3,500 calories.

	What would make you cancel a round of golf? Bad weather Had to work Family commitment Spouse wouldn't let me play Emergency came up I'm hardcore, I never cancel View results

2005 SGA Tournaments

The following is the schedule for the 2005 Provincial Championships:

• 9 Hole Championship, Wynyard GC, June 25th – 26th
• Amateur Women’s Championship, Meadow Lake G&CC, July 5th – 8th
• Mid-Amater Men’s Championship, Meadow Lake G&CC, July 5th – 8th
• Junior Women’s Championship, Deer Park Municipal GC, Yorkton, July 12th – 15th
• Junior Men’s Championship, Deer Park Municipal GC, Yorkton, July 12th – 15th
• Amateur Men’s Championship, Wascana CC, Regina, July 19th – 22nd
• Senior Women’s Championship, Chinook GC, Swift Current, July 26th – 29th
• Senior Men’s Championship, Chinook GC, Swift Current, July 26th – 29th
• Ladies’ CLGA Rosebowl Championship, Moosomin GC, August 13th – 14th
• Mixed Team Championship, Green Hills G&CC, Greenwater Lake, August 27th - 28th

Amen Corner

“May the ball lie in green pastures…and not in still waters.”

- Author unknown

At home on the range in Saskatchewan

By Stan Bartlett

If you look at progress from a golf perspective, the game has changed dramatically in Saskatchewan not unlike the rest of society. The first track in the province was established in 1899 in Regina’s Crescent area and used for three years until “roaming cows and hordes of mosquitoes” drove the members to an alternate location along the banks of the Wascana Creek.”

Since the birth of the Regina Golf Club triggered a frenzy of golf course building – there are about 250 courses now, more per capita than anywhere in Canada - a couple of recent trends have emerged. In the last few years, there has been unprecedanted growth in wonderful high quality courses. As well, many sand green courses have converted to grass greens or simply been abandoned as small prairie communities disappear. But some of the remaining 60 or so nine- hole sand green courses are thriving with golfers quietly enjoying the spirit of the game. MORE >>

Why join a local golf club?

More and more golfers are realizing that membership is about more than just golf. So, what is it then, if it’s not the golf? As one golf course executive recently stated, “A membership club is really about joining a community; it’s about a sense of belonging.”

To many avid golfers their home course becomes their home away from home. What happens at the golf club often creates a bond between you, the club and the other members.

So what are some of the advantages of being a member of your local golf course? Here are 10 great reasons to be a member.

1) Participate in club functions and tournaments.

2) Many membership courses have reciprocal agreements with other clubs to save you money. Plus, save by being a member instead of paying regular green fee rates.

3) Receive personalized instruction with the local golf professional and his support staff on everything from course playability to properly fitting your golf clubs.

4) Members often receive pro shop discounts, preferred member pricing and other golf-related benefits.

5) Members really get to know their local golf course and find out the best way to play it.

6) Develop a real camaraderie and friendly competition with other club members.

7) Receive playing tips from other members on the subtleties of the local course.

8) Participate by having input into how the club is operated and managed.

9) Take advantage of special events like Men’s or Ladies’ Night, etc.

10) Receive preferential tee times and advanced booking privileges.

One knock on being a member of a golf club is that you have to play the same golf course all the time. True, most members do play the majority of their golf at their home course, but if it’s a great course that they love to play, who cares? One golf professional drew this comparison: “Most people would gladly drive a BMW every day. Plus, once members become plugged into the social scene, they are often invited to play at other member clubs as well.”

So, to steal a phrase from a credit card company slogan—membership has its privileges. These benefits are especially evident when it comes to golf. For more information about becoming a member of your local golf course, contact your golf pro today.

Source: mygolfwest.com

Shivas Iron Society tees off

For many golfers, the modern golf magazine is an endless parade of repetitive stories about the best driver, the best ball, the top 100 courses, celebrity trivia and golf tips. With this in mind, the Shivas Irons Society has launched The Journal, a veritable treasure of good writing and good tales.

The Carmel, California.-based Shivas Iron Society was organized in 1992 “to explore golf’s beauty and mystery, and to provide opportunities for personal and social transformation.” It’s named after the mystical golf professional who was introduced to us in Michael Murphy’s classic novel, Golf in the Kingdom. The Journal is the latest effort on this non-profit society whose activities include sponsoring at-risk youth in golf endeavours.

The bi-annual journal – a membership is $85 US – typically includes short stories, poems, drawings and full plate reproductions of photos and artwork. It’s goal is to foster and honour high quality and thought-provoking art and literature on golf, it’s history and the contribution of golf to personal development. In short, the quality of The Journal is a tribute to the game. www.shivas.org

Golfers at colleges and universities

A number of Saskatchewan golfers are playing golf at the collegiate and university level in Canada and the United States. The SGA has a section on the website found in the PROGRAMS section called WHO’S WHERE, detailing the players, the colleges/universities she/he is attending, player’s hometown, and a direct link to the college/university golf pages. MORE >>

Lights! Camera! Action!

GOLFMOVIES.COM is a worthy addition to our search for the best golf websites – beside saskgolfer.com. This website, dedicated to every movie about golf ever made, has been operating successfully since 2000 and has accumulated quite a database. Golf feature movies are profiled, rated by you the viewer and linked to various companies that sell the films. There’s also a section on tv films and a extensive section on training films. Just to spice things up, you’ll find audio clips throughout the site. So, if you’re wondering who starred in the first Ben Hogan big-screen feature, or classics such as CaddyShack 1 and 2, Tin Cup, Happy Gilmore and the Legend of Bagger Vance, check it out.

Getting a perfect image

In the world of photography, top location photographers like Douglas Walker of Oxbow are at the top of the pyramid in North America. Go to exotic locales, preferably one with warm sand and cool drinks, cruise around for a few days and get paid the big dollars. Seriously, like almost every thing that generally appears simple, this is not.

Taking that one key shot that is going to present a client course in exactly the manner desired is a complex process. And what makes this different than any other golf photography? Budget. When you are shooting an image to be used in ad placements that will literally run into the millions of dollars, price is not generally an issue.

Walker, who now maintains his home in Los Angeles, was a location photographer who came to golf in his 30s but actually shot courses before he even played the game. Dealing with ad agencies and working on multi-million dollar ad campaigns, he is a photographer who can spend weeks preparing just to take one shot.

Walker is fairly concise in defining his role, "The job is to make a golf course look good. You get hired to do one thing and one thing well. But it's really much more than just taking that one shot. It starts with you going out for three to four days to scout a location, then obtaining releases from all relevant parties, followed by the shoot which may or may not have the ad agency and the client looking over your shoulder and then finishing up with possibly weeks of post production. "Truthfully, this process is more akin to a movie shoot than anything else.“

Recently Walker was involved in a shoot for an ultra high-end course in Las Vegas, Cascata. It was an exclusive layout meant exclusively for VIPs - one of those facilities where they are not concerned if only a dozen players tee it up on a given day. The shot was to be used for a coffee table book, a website and in-house promo piece. "It was one of the few times I lobbied my agent to get me a job,” he recalls. “It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had. They gave me a lot of freedom. They made the decision to rely on me and that was a dream.”

Many of Walker’s photos are featured in Tourism Saskatchewan literature, benefiting several provincial golf courses including Riverbreaks Golf Resort, Golf Kenosee and Whitebear Lake Golf Course. Walker’s current project is a retrospective of his work in Saskatchewan called “Land of the Living Skies.”
www.douglaswalker.com

The Pro is my Shepherd

The Pro is my Shepherd,
I shall not Slice.

He maketh me to Drive Straight
Down Green Fairways;

He leadeth me Safely
across Still Water-Hazards;

He restoreth my Approach Shots.

He Leadeth me in the Paths of
Accuracy for my Game's Sake.

Yea, though I chip through the Roughs
in the shadows of Sand Traps,
I will fear no Bogies.

For his Advice is with me;

His Putter and Irons,
they confort me.

He prepareth my Strategy for me
in the presence of mine Opponents;

He anointeth my head with Confidence:
The Cup will not be runneth over!

Surely Birdies and Eagles shall follow
me all the Rounds of my Life,

And I will score in the Low Eighties

Amen

Win a Vancouver Island Oceanside Golf getaway!

2 Rounds of Golf at Fairwinds Golf & Country Club. 2 Rounds of Golf at Glengarry Golf Links. 2 Rounds of Golf at Morningstar International Golf Course. Power Cart for all 3 Rounds of Golf. 2 Nights Accommodation at the luxurious Fairwinds Schooner Cove. Golf Package valued at $755
MORE >>