|
Enter To Win The Perfect Saskatchewan Drive Contest!
The perfect golf vacation is waiting for you in Canada's friendliest province, the Land of Living Skies. Your prize package includes a two-night stay at the Sandman Regina, rounds for two at the Tor Hill, Murray and Deer Valley. Plus, win a new set of Nicklaus clubs and a golf bag. MORE >>
|
 |
Firefighters hot at Katepwa
Firefighters who want to play at the Katepewa Beach Golf Club in the Qu-Appelle Valley can look forward to a healthy discount on green fees during weekdays, says its operator Betty Metzler.
The member-owned club was approached by a member who was a firefighter and asked for an extra incentive for them to come out on their weekdays off. It's traditonally a less busy time for all golf courses.
”We also like firefighters,” added Metzler who hopes to extend the special deal to other shiftworkers like nurses and police. www.golfkatepwa.com
Thirsty golfers quenched
Thirsty golfers are rejoicing at the Tor Hill and Murray golf courses. The City of Regina has finished its review handling procedures of its golf course water coolers with the Regina-Qu-Appelle Health Region and the bottled water is back on the course. Concerns about water of golf courses began in 2003 when a 15-year-old died and 85 others became ill after a suspected outbreak of the Norwalk virus at a Phoenix golf course. As a result, the course was sued for a bundle and pout into bankruptcy.
Teeing it up differently
Technology wizards – no longer content to use a humble white wooden tee – have come up with a few options for the adventurous. Evolve Tee took a couple of years to come up with its version which claims to be biodegradable, high performance and offer a traditional look ( www.evolvegolf.com ). They claim to have 76 Tour victories with their tee.Another option is Pride GolfTee sells four tees of varying lengths, all marked for the optimal insertion into the ground. ( www.pridegolftee.com ) Be prepared to shell out a few more dollars.
David Letterman's Top Ten Reasons
Why Golf Is Better Than Sex.....
#10...A below par performance is considered damn good.
#9...You can stop in the middle and have a cheeseburger and a couple of beers.
#8...It's much easier to find the sweet spot.
#7...Foursomes are encouraged.
#6...You can still make money doing it as a senior.
#5...Three times a day is possible.
#4...Your partner doesn't hire a lawyer if you play with someone else.
#3...If you live in Florida, you can do it almost everyday.
#2...You don't have to cuddle with your partner when you're finished.
And the number one reason why golf is better than sex.....
#1...If your equipment gets old
and rusty, you can replace it!
Golf course roundup 2006
With about 220 courses in Saskatchewan , the most difficult decision is choosing where to get your next par. Keep in mind that in recent years there have been an unprecedented number of courses upgraded, expanded and built. Here are some of the major changes you will expect at courses this year.
MORE >>
Confused about balls?
The well-respected Consumer Reports in the United States has just hired an independent laboratory to test golf balls and came up with a few surprises. It's important to fit your ball to your skill level: The 2-piece ball is best for beginners and intermediate players, the 3-piece ball for more experienced players and the 4-piece ball for stronger players.
It recommends for experts and high-rated players, the 3-piece Nike One Black. For most of us, the Nike Power Distance Super Soft (Also Best Buy of all balls rated), and for slow swingers, the Titliest DT So Lo. info,
MORE >>
Amen Corner
“You get no points for style when it comes to putting. It's getting the ball into the cup that counts.”
- Scottish golfer Laurie Auchterlonie
|
|
Estevan Woodlawn showcases
its new $1.3-million clubhouse
If you have a passion for golf, there's no better time to add Estevan Woodlawn Golf Club in Canada 's Sunshine Capital to your travel plans.
The 18-hole, par 71 championship course has just opened a new $1.3-million clubhouse and the course is in great shape. It's also poised to host the province's most prestigious tournament, the 2006 Saskatchewan Men's Amateur July 18-21.
“People are coming to the clubhouse and upstairs deck to see the phenomenal view,” says General Manager Terry Ozem. “The first comment from visitors is always ‘wow'. It's exceptional, especially for a community our size.”
This classic course and its new clubhouse - with 9,000 square feet over two floors – is situated in a prairie valley five minutes south of Estevan in Woodlawn Regional Park . While measuring a moderate 6,349 yards off the tips, this well-treed course favors the patient shot-maker.
The layout and course design enables duffers or avid golfers to enjoy the course, yet be challenged at the same time. This year, the condition of the greens is good and the rough has been lengthenned in preparation for tournament play.
“There are enough obstacles that a par can turn into a double or triple,” says Ozem. “On the other hand, there are lots of birdie opportunities.”
The 202-yard, par 3, No. 6 is considered the signature hole. Golfers hit from a tee box that's raised 50 feet to a large well-bunkered green. Club selection is the key or you'll end up out of bounds to the right, in the water behind the green or hitting a tree positioned in front of the green.
The par 4, 15th and the par 5, 18 th are two risk-reward holes that will test your nerves. Golfers can choose to cut off the 90-degree dogleg if they dare, but the more they cut off, the longer the carry over the water. The 490-yard finishing hole requires golfers to hold up just 20 yards before the green or risk dunking into the Souris River . Six of the nine holes on the back nine cross water, while the other three are long, demanding par 4's with lateral water and out of bounds.
In order to score, golfers will also need to negotiate large, undulating greens on the front nine, and smaller and flatter greens on the back nine.
One of the main attractions of the 60-year-old Estevan Woodlawn Golf Club is the full-service clubhouse and pro shop and its friendly staff. “We make you feel at home and strive to give great service,” says Ozem.
Green fees are set at $32 weekdays and $35 weekends with special rates for students and juniors. The club offers various stay and play packages starting at $83 nightly. For tee times, phone 1-306-634-2017.
If you go: www.estevangolf.com and www.southeast.sask.info
Win a pass to Estevan Woodlawn!
Win One of 3 Free Golf Passes: Win a free round at Estevan Woodlawn Golf Club by surfing their website and answering this question: "What does the logo picture in the top left corner of the homepage?" Answer to Estevan@SaskGolfer.com by the end of July. Good luck!
We're still golf crazy!
There are still more golfers per capita in Saskatchewan than anywhere in Canada . At 21.5 per cent, golf participation rates in Canada continue to be among the highest in the world, and the province leads the nation with 29.2 per cent of the population golfing, according to a landmark study by Ipsos Reid.
The study, commissioned by the Royal Canadian Golf Association, is the largest done on golf in Canada . Typically, pollsters interview 1,000-2,000 people, but this study by Ipsos Reid polled nearly 21,000 Canadians.
The study found 5.95 million Canadians golf, a 15 per cent increase since 2001. The strong majority of golfers are males, aged 18-64, but the participation rate among females climbed 9.7 per cent since 2001. Importantly, the number of “core” golfers (eight to 19 rounds annually) has grown 47.5 per cent to 2.73 million Canadians.
While the game continues to be in good health on most accounts, the number of junior golfers is declining. Junior golfers age 12-17 are down slightly from 17.6 per cent in 2001 to a decrease of 12.3 per cent in the total junior population (432,000 to 379,000). Affordability, lack of partners, free time and access to instruction are named as the main barriers to participation.
The landmark study concluded that the golf industry has a market size of almost $13 billion for green fees, club membership, apparel and travel. MORE >>
Golf real estate, a hot commodity
Aging baby boomers in Saskatchewan are retiring and they want to golf in the morning, afternoon and night. Increasingly, they are choosing to live in an affordable golf course community where they can practice their passion at their doorstep.
From the native prairie, links-style courses of southern Saskatchewan , to the majestic boreal forest and lake area of the North, there's a venue for everyone. With summer days away, now is the perfect time to check out real estate opportunities at such hotspots as Candle Lake Golf Resort, Northern Meadows Golf Resort, Elk Ridge Resort and Harbor Golf Club and Resort. MORE>
|
The history of golf, oh yea
By Andrew Penner
With millions smitten with swatting sadistically at a stupid little ball until it comes to rest at the bottom of a way-too-small hole, it's only fitting remember how this pastime came to be. The knowledge might be fun to share with the fellow hackers in your foursome while waiting for the hackers in front of you to slash their way out of the bush and back onto the fairway.
There's actually nothing new about games played with sticks and balls. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to prove that the Dutch, Chinese, Egyptians, and many more, all played ancient games where the basic premise was to get blotto and blast around some type of ball with the latest in club technology. The key difference, and this is when the Scots come in, is that tiny void at the base of the flagstick – the hole.
The game, as we know it today, was first played on the East Coast of Scotland in the Kingdom of Fife . Contrary to popular belief, The Old Course at St. Andrews is not the oldest course in the world. Although plenty of bad words and petrified sheep testicles were flying around The Old Course as early as the 1500s, the first real course was most likely the Old Musselburgh Links near Edinburgh . Another early course, Leith, also in the Edinburgh area, was home to the first golf club - The Royal Company of Edinburgh Golfers. And these stuffy, know-it-all stiffs wrote the first 13 rules of golf in 1745.
As high and holy as this “club” was – and still is - in these early years the game was crude and rude. An unadulterated free-for-all, really. There were no tee times, no pro shops, and, certainly, no old, cranky, marshals bouncing around the course in a motorized buggy yelling at you to speed up or get your bush league butt booted off the course. Basically, the courses were public territory where anything went. That's one of the reasons why they chose the sandy, wind-tormented land close to the sea to lay out their courses. This infertile land wasn't really good for anything except walking your dog and, yes, getting blasted (by both the wind and the homemade scotch) whilst flailing at a little ball, which, in those early days, was made by stuffing boiled goose feathers into a hardened leather sack.
Interestingly, there is still evidence of this “free for all” philosophy today as the Old Course at St. Andrews still closes its doors on Sundays to allow the old senile folk of the land (and others) to come out and walk their fuzzy, little French poodles around the course without being tattooed with a Titleist.
Not surprisingly, as the game began to flourish in the late 1800s it soon produced its first superstars. The heroics of father and son duo Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris were legendary. Basically, they made their opponents look like they were playing a totally different game, like lawn bowls, which, not surprisingly, is also much more enjoyable after pouring a fifth of Scotch into the gullet. Together Old and Young Tom won 8 of the first 12 British Open Championships. Old Tom was actually the first pro and “Custodian of the Links” at St. Andrews . A ball maker, a club maker, an architect, and an accomplished player and teacher, Old Tom is considered the grandfather of golf. Sadly, he died shortly after sustaining a concussion after falling down the stone steps in the clubhouse at St. Andrews . Could it have been the Scotch? Could it have been anythng else?
After America was done killing itself in the Civil War, it didn't take long for golf to be brought across “the pond” by transplanted Scots. The Apple Tree Gang in Yonkers , New York , who initially played over a rudimentary 3-hole course, is the oldest surviving golf club in the U.S. In Canada , too, groups sprang up here and there, spearheaded by The Royal Montreal Golf Club, founded in 1873, and said to be the first official club in North America . But shortly after, especially in the 1890s, hundreds of courses sprang up, many of them on the eastern seaboard.
Before WWI golf was exceedingly popular in North America and abroad. But it wasn't until the 1920s when golf, and way-too frilly clothing, really flourished. During this time - golf's “Golden Age” - most of the world's best golf courses were built. Cypress Point, Augusta National, Banff Springs, Pebble Beach , and Royal Melbourne are just a few. The momentum carried on into the 30s when Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur player of all-time, won all four major championships in the same year (1930).
Between the 1940s and 1960s golf didn't really melt people's butter. There were way too many distractions. Things like sock hops, fallout shelters, Elvis, and smoking grass at Woodstock were priorities. But then, out of nowhere, a brash good-looking kid from Pennsylvania and an overweight Ohioan put golf back on the map. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did for golf what Nixon and “Deep Throat” did for presidential scandals. Thanks to their fierce rivalries and courageous play, both Arnie and Jack developed huge throngs of followers. After many epic battles between the two, as well as regular contributions from players such as Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Johnny Miller, golf soared.
Starting in the 1970s - when if you didn't own a pair of plaid polyester pants that could blind people, you were nothing - golf began to globalize. Overseas imports like Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, and Greg Norman added a foreign flare. The major championships produced many thrilling moments, too, including the historic 1986 Masters tournament in which a 46-year-old Nicklaus defeated all the young guns of the day. His pants alone single-handedly maimed a few contenders. This is often considered the most popular major championship victory of all time.
In the 90s, thanks to a strong economy and a heightened interest in the game from celebs such as Kevin Costner, Bill Murray, Sean Connery, and others, golf again rose to new heights. Well, OK, a freakishly talented golfer by the name of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods helped a bit, too. Tiger obliterated the field in his runaway 1997 Masters victory – and has won many more tournaments since. When it's all said and done, he'll likely be the best player ever to have walked the earth.
As golf entered the new millennium, there were some obvious setbacks, such as Jesper Parnevik's wardrobe and John Daly's self-produced music CD. While the post 9/11 golf world is still feeling some heat, there are many positive signs, too. For example, a classical renaissance in golf course architecture is underway and the game is booming in Asia and other far-flung countries. And, oddly, every now and then the world pretends to be peaceful which, not surprisingly, means more and more people will run rampant on the fairways, chasing around their stupid little ball.
Penner is a Calgary-based golf humourist
|
Around Saskatchewan links
Work is progressing well on the new 18-hole Candle Lake Golf Resort despite rainy weather in the northeast. Construction on the clubhouse, cabins and marina are virtually complete, although some work remains on upgrading the original nine holes…. The Tisdale Riverside Golf Course – a dandy nine-hole track set in a valley – suffered some severe flooding this spring along with much of northwestern Saskatchewan . The course opened in June and is well worth playing ….A photo Dakota Dunes Golf Links near Saskatoon, chosen the Best New Canadian Course in Canada (2005) by Golf Digest, will be featured on the cover of the Western Canada summer edition of Inside Golf Magazine . It's the first time a golf course has appeared on the cover of the magazine during its 12 years of publishing…. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Saskatchewan's Athlete of the Year (2005) , finished out his five-years at Boise State as the school's all time leader in top-10 finishes (26) and top-25 finishes (37) and as the leader in top-10 finishes in a season (eight). In June he missed out qualifying for the U.S. open by four strokes in a sectional qualifier. He'll be back in Saskatchewan July 18-21 to defend his Saskatchewan Amateur title
Meadow Lake a bit of beauty and beast
Bordered to the north by the Canadian Shield and to the south by the prairie parkland, northern Saskatchewan is home to some of the province's most enjoyable golf at Meadow Lake Golf Club. The course will be expanding to 18 holes this summer. In a land of 100,000 lakes and dense boreal forest, it's not surprising these northern courses tend to be traditional layouts with golfers needing to negotiate plenty of trees and water and beauty. MORE>>
Trim your golf expenses
Depending on how many balls you put in the bush, how long you spend on the 19 th hole and if your family golf, golf can be an expensive game. Here are dozen great ways to stretch your golfing dollar a little further. MORE>>
|
Harvey struggles on tour
Nancy Harvey, Saskatchewan's only tour player, continues to struggle on the LPGA Tour this year. In the first seven starts in 2006, Harvey has no places or wins and no earnings. She continues to carry non-exempt status this year after failing to finish in the top 90 on the money list last season.
Harvey , now 44, may be considering joining the Legends Tour events before long. Her career-best finish was 2 nd at the Welch's Championship in 1989. To date, her lifetime earnings on the LPGA Tour since 1989 are $750,000 ( U.S. )MORE >>
Hot new hotlinks
SaskGolfer.com welcomes the latest golf courses at Sherwood Forest, Greenbryre, Katepwa Beach and Meadow Lake to join the growing list of hotlinks on Hole #1 Featured Courses.
The nine-hole Sherwood Forest Country Club , a few minutes outside of Regina , sports a lovely new clubhouse and new management this year. Visit www.sherwoodforestcc.com …The friendly 18-hole Greenbryre Country Club on the edge of Saskatoon has been operated by the Semko family successfully for years. See www.greenbryre.com In the Qu'Appelle Valley, the nine-hole Katepwa Beach Golf Course has build a strong reputation for its course conditions especially in recent years. It is now under new management, namely Betty Metzler. See www.golfkatepwa.com Finally, Meadow Lake Golf Club with its scenic views, challenging track and new clubhouse is on board at www.meadowlakegolfclub.ca
Bomb and Gouge
It may be the most significant 15-page cover article to appear in a golf magazine in the last 10 years. In the June issue of Golf Digest Magazine, Peter Morrice talks about the newest trend in golf called “Bomb and Gauge.” Tour players and amateurs are hitting monster drives thanks in part to new technology in drivers and balls, along with better athleticism. If it goes in the rough – heh, no problem – box-shaped groves on wedges allow golfers to gauge the ball out of thick rough and still stop it on the green.
|
