GolfScene Spring 2012

PLACES TO PLAY - IT’S NOT HOW YOU BOOK IT’S WHY & WHERE

Scene MAGAZINE

S o u t h - C e n t r a l O n t a r i o ’s G o l f S o u rc e

Volume 13 | Issue 1 | Spring 2012 | golfscene.ca

THE SPEED

AT WHICH

HOW TO HIT THE BUBBA HOOK?

TECHNOLOGY

+

S CHANGE IS MATCHED ONLY BY

want to hit it farther?

Sean Foley reminds us of the SMASH

GOLF’S DESIRE TO GO

LONG

factor

+ SEAN FOLEY NOTEBOOK

PROSpectives & a few GIMMEES

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Acton Beaverdale Brant Valley BrookďŹ eld Burford Calerin Canterbury Cedar Creek Conestoga Dundee Fergus Foxwood Grey Silo King’s Bay Mystic Orangeville Paris Grand Scenic Woods

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CONTENTS

SPRING 2012

After a considerable preamble of mild stretching accompanied by wheezed groaning, Lazlo nee Poindexter smacked a filthy rock down the fairway and said, a tad loudly: “That’ll play.” p27

SEAN FOLEY: INSIDE THE ROPES Speed comes from a power generation system that starts with how a player uses the ground and progresses through an efficient use of the kinetic chain [page 31]

Golf has failed to differentiate between the players who play strictly for fun, and competitive players such as Bubba, who just has fun playing competitive golf at the highest level. p50

p46

A stellar excerpt from Lorne Rubenstein’s book MOE & ME awaits on [page 40]

p39

REGULARS

35 27 32 31 30 50

GREEN SIDE UP T M QUINN ESSENTIALS H Q THE TARTAN CHAMELEON C INSIDE THE ROPES S F MIND OVER MATTERS P D TALKING IN YOUR BACKSWING I H om

argetts al

uinn

arolanne

ean

Doig

oley

aul

an

ewland

utchinson

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GolfScenery Âť

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True to the links heritage, square tee boxes, linear bunker lines, wide generous fairways, rolling fescue, and sophisticated plateaued greens are just a few of the design elements that create the calming drama of Piper’s Heath - a charm usually reserved for the old world.

Piper’s Heath, Milton Ontario

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GolfScenery » THE SHANKER ►

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GolfScene TM

Quagmire Golf continues to be one of the golf / lifestyle brands injecting a little ‘life’ into the game. Clothes that work equally well chillin’ at the beach, chippin’ from the drop area, or sittin’ on the patio work equally well for us.

◄ THE SWITCH

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GolfScenery Âť

It’s been more than a few years since our last visit to Lora Bay, but archived images like this are often just the reminder we need to rekindle road trip fever. Panoramic views of Georgian Bay and the Niagara Escarpment headline this 7,200 yard championship design.

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EDITOR’S ASIDE: Do take the time to stay for a bite and beverage.

And if you can - try and sit right here. (hopefully the Art Director will remember to draw an arrow to the patio beside the 18th green with the view of Georgian Bay). Best place to sip ceasars and watch three putts. Good Times.

The Raven at Lora Bay, Thornbury Ontario

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One might want to consider adding Nova Scotia to the must-visit-golf destinations-list. By all accounts (and it’s not even officially open yet), Cabot Links is not only going to be this country’s first true links course it’s going to be magical.

Cabot Links, Inverness Nova Scotia

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FROM THE EDITOR

S

pring is in the air. Actually arrived a little early for a change which has been great news for those of the early birdie variety. Hope you’ve all got the jump on things.

For those ardent GolfScene readers - this marks our 13th season, you may notice a subtle change to the width of the magazine.

It’s closer to standard now which helps us out on the ‘business’ side of things - and in turn provides us more time to be ‘different’ on the content side.

NO SPEED LIMITS

Scene MAGAZINE

South-C e n t r a l O n t a r i o ’s G o l f S o u rc e

Vo l u m e 1 2 | I s s u e 3 | F a l l 2 0 1 1 | g o l f s c e n e . c a

we miss you already

a life

well played

this magazine is in tribute to its founder and publisher Norm Woods 1944 - 2011

Thanks to all for the kind words and condolence messages with regards to the passing of GolfScene’s founder Norm Woods His passion for the game and the people continues on in the pages of this issue.

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As is customary, this issue looks at some of the new equipment out there in the wild.

The buzzword for 2012 certainly seems to be SPEED. In particular changes to clubs to reduce effective drag and increase swing SPEED. More technical advances in materials and or weight displacement to gain more ‘pop’ off the clubface and, subsequent, increases to ball SPEED. All of which translate into extra yards and hopefully lower scores. And while those pushy drivers get their faces on the cover, we’ve not neglected the scoring clubs (those inside 100 yard sticks) which actually account for a lot more strokes. Not to mention, have a greater impact on the time it takes to get the ball into the cup. Last, but not least, let’s not forget that little white (sometimes yellow) dimpled sphere we’re always searching for - using the correct one can

GolfScene TM

certainly add some positive SPEED to our games. Whether it’s added yardage or changes to spin control depends entirely on your focus or fancy.

Hal Quinn provides another notable scribble. This time on the MOST DREADED WORDS IN GOLF. Really great stuff. Ian Hutchinson continues to talk in everybody’s backswing - this time ‘round’ he’s chatting about how golf needs a few more non-conformists.

We could not agree more. In order to grow the game needs a disruption or two. It will happen - progress only waits so long. Sean Foley is back with some important insight into the SMASH FACTOR. Looking for more speed, more distance ... read on. Columnists Tom Margett’s, Carolanne Doig, and Paul Dewland all bring their unique perspectives to the word SPEED in different contexts / applications to the game.

In a special feature we’ve got an excerpt from Lorne Rubenstein’s new book Moe & Me about his relationship with the incomparable Moe Norman. We’ll get you started, but I think hope you’ll want to read more and go out and pick it up. Lots of insight into the game, but more so the human element that tends to get lost in today’s textme-later world.

Enjoy the read.

Enjoy your next round.

GolfScene TM

INSPIRATION Norm Woods PUBLISHER GolfScene Media Inc EDITOR Steve Woods CONTRIBUTORS Ian Hutchinson | Hal Quinn | Sean Foley COLUMNISTS Carolanne Doig | Paul Dewland | Tom Margetts COVER NO SPEED LIMIT (+) © GolfScene Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the publisher.

This magazine is printed 3x per season and distributed to over 350 golf courses in Ontario, with additional distribution through selected golf outlets.

SPRING 2012 : Volume 13 : Issue 1 Advertising rates and publishing schedules are available on request. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author only and not necessarily those of the Publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts are invited, but their return cannot be guaranteed. Letters to the Editor may be edited for legalities and only signed letters will be considered for publication.

PRINTED IN CANADA SUBSCRIPTION & ADVERTISING INQUIRIES 416 548 4143 | • info@golfscene.ca SINGLE COPY PRICE $4.25

CANADIAN OWNED & OPERATED

PLEASE RECYCLE

PREFERABLY TO A GOLFER

212 Harvest Drive | Milton | Ontario | L9T 4T3 Phone: (416) 548 4143 | info@golfscene.ca www.golfscene.ca GolfScene® Inc. 2012

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NOTEBOOK Dropped the better part an hour tinkering around with a motion sensor based attachment that you wear on your glove. In short the sensor transfers data, via bluetooth, to a mobile device and into a software application. In our case we paired it with an iPad. The full story on that and our review can be found online at golfscene.ca.

As an advance to that review, have to say that the device’s ability to pick up and translate a fairly complex action (the golf swing) was pretty impressive. Within a few swings the ‘machines’ were able to tabulate swing speed, path and plane. Then with a swipe of the screen I was able to essentially view my swing (software uses a technical human form diagram) at multiple angles and in 360 degrees - something the touch screen interfaces quite nicely.

It worked. Very Cool. I think.

But then I thought about why I had a just gone through this excercise and, more importanly, just how it would help my game? And could this new found exponential layer of information in any way improve my overall experience as a golfer. And I was stumped. I really was - which, in turn, prompted this edition of the notebook.

Deconstructing the why.

Golf - certainly as far as sports goes - seems to be overly focused on technology and trying to understand every last detail of every last thing.

Whether it is a facet of the swing and or crosssection of a cavity back - maybe even the shape of a groove and or deciphering complex dimple patterns, there is always another layer. It truly is mind numbing. And one might argue (I sometimes do) counter-intuitive to the athletic motion and pure enjoyment of just trying to hit the ball where you want it to go - or prefer it had went.

The weather on this day was perfect. The range bucket I’d just shelled out $10 bucks for was - wait for the symbolic insertion of emotional prose - definately ‘half-full’ and I found my instincts automatically moving away from the science work at hand and instead returning to a more child-like process. See a flag, choose a club, try and get it close. Get another ball. It’s natural. That’s fun. And whether anyone in the industry wants to believe it - it’s the basis of why we play. I think. Well, it’s why I do.

Less information = less work = more play.

[ simple still works - steve woods ]

THE NUMBERS ADD UP, YET MAKE LITTLE SENSE

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ANTHONY KIM

NEXCOR FACE TECHNOLOGY BALL SPEED BEGINS AT THE FACE, AND NEXCOR BRINGS MORE OF IT TO MORE OF THE FACE. THE BEHIND-THE-FACE TECHNOLOGY IS CUSTOM TUNED FOR THE MOST BENEFIT FOR EACH CLUBHEAD THROUGHOUT THE VR_S FAMILY.

REENGINEERED ADJUSTABILITY REDESIGNED STR8-FIT SYSTEM INCORPORATES A CLEAN, THROUGH-THE-CROWN CONNECTION FOR TRADITIONAL LOOKS WITH NEXTGENERATION ADJUSTABILITY.

OUR FASTEST FAMILY EVER

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EQUIPMENT 2012

The G20’s variable-thickness face generates FASTER ball speeds while also increasing forgiveness. An external weight optimizes the center of gravity position which generates high launch angles, low spin rates and incremental distance.

Cobra’s AMP Driver utilizes Advanced Material Placement (hence the acro-name), E9 Face Technology & Adjustable Flight Technology to deliver blistering ball speeds and optimal performance.

Old school good looks will only get you so far ... but a unique sole design, pear-shaped profile, & deep clubface make up the distance.

The Classic is engineered with ultralite technology, which helps players generate increased clubhead speed and distance without exerting any extra effort.

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The combo of Forged Composite and OptiFit Technology allows players to adjust the face angle for improved accuracy and trajectory while the weights can be adjusted to promote either Draw or Neutral ball flights. Aerodynamic contours reduce energy loss from downswing drag by 14% over the previous RAZR Hawk. Less drag equals higher speeds and added distance. More than a little fashion with the function here as well.

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NEED FOR SPEED

A couple of other fairly notable ground speed animals ...

Ferrari’s F12 Berlinetta is the fastest Ferrari ever built.

Powered by a 740hp V12 engine this testosterone laden masterpiece can get you from 0-100km in ‘yikes’ 3.1 seconds. No problems with slow play here. And, yes, it boasts a pretty capable pair of brake calipers as well.

Long renowned as the world’s fastest land animal, the Cheetah can cover even the longest of fairways at speeds of up to 120km /hour. Which is a little better than the average golfer’s swing speed. It should be noted that on our frequent visits to the zoo, the average speed of this amazing animal is about zero - equal to the Cheetah at rest.

Engineered for extreme distance, the Rocket Ballz Driver from TaylorMade includes Flight Control Technology for easy face angle and loft tuning.

Add to that an aerodynamic white crown – built for speed and power - and you have yourself a yardage monger.

At 4 feet in length (48" for those wondering) Cobra’s Long Tom Driver is the ultimate distance generator. Long drive champions know that the bigger the arc, the greater the speed, the farther she goes.

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Nike’s VR_S driver features NexCOR variable face-thickness technology, for more speed at impact and greater distance. The NexCOR infinity design creates a bridge for an ultra-thin, ultra-hot face and unmatched ball speed.

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◄ SHORT GAME ►

Inspired by the world’s finest cigars, the Connoisseur Series from Never Compromise use super soft 303 stainless steel and a forged grain structure to provide increased feel at impact. We really like that the one to your left is called the Gambler. And that trait, our cigar toting (sometimes decelerating) friends, is what makes good putters great.

the fastest way to get under your opponents skin is to sink a lot of putts PUTTING IS THE GREAT EQUALIZER IN THIS GAME THAT PLACES SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE TEE SHOT. RECOVERING FROM A POOR TEE SHOT IS ACTUALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT. THE SAME CAN NOT BE SAID FOR A MISSED PUTT.

The distinctive look will certainly catch your attention but it is the science that may well be the reason it finds it’s way into your bag. The face of the putter is light, weighing only 90 grams.

The body is heavy, weighing 200 grams.

The combination of the two sections results in increased stability and every putter’s goal - a truer roll.

Scotty Cameron’s new Select putters feature a deep milled face which contributes to a softer feel and sound.

Elegantly refined shapes promote ‘visual flow’ and are now available in a Tour-validated Black Mist finish.

All are precision milled from soft, 303 stainless steel, with the exception being the Big Sur models that feature high grade milled aluminum heads.

Nike’s VR Pro Forged wedge features additional (20) highfrequency X3X grooves.

This pattern adds 3X the surface texture versus conventionally-finished faces to create more spin in various conditions.

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EQUIPMENT 2012

the trick to getting the ball in the hole quicker - if you putt anything like the average human - is to get the ball closer to the hole faster

SHOTS INSIDE OF 100 YARDS ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 70% OF AN AVERAGE GOLFERS GAME - IMPROVEMENT HERE IS THE FASTEST WAY TO LOWER SCORES

Hitting it longer is an important part of the game - seeing as the architects of chaos seem hell bent on lengthening everything.

But if you’re serious about better scores than accept the basic math and concentrate on your wedge play.

Things you can do: ► go for a wedge fitting - lies, bounce, and grinds customized to your style and proper gapping can vastly improve your game ► make sure that your grooves are not worn out - no grip equals no consistency and or control ► practice hitting shots from a variety of distances and with varying trajectories - understanding how a 30 yard shot looks and ‘feels’ is an essential part of making that shot during a round

Cleveland’s 588 Black Pearl is precision forged from 1025 carbon steel for incredibly soft feel. An exclusive True Temper shaft promotes a penetrating flight.

Cobra has brought back the Trusty Rusty series. The modernized version comes complete with non-plated finishes, a TriBounce sole and laser precision technology.

Knowing how to play the hop-skip-stop is one thing ... pulling it off under pressure is all about ‘trust’.

21 tightly spaced, conforming grooves with sharper edges offer golfers more control, spin and feel to attack any pin position. A more gradual ‘C’ shape provides versatility by relieving the heel and reducing the width of the sole.

Vokey’s SM4 Series (spin milled) wedges produce more spin and control thanks to entirely re-engineered grooves and tighter scoreline spacing.

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ADJUSTABILITY sometimes half the battle is being prepared for the environment - and the ability to adapt and adjust are paramount partners to performance

1

3

2 PING became the first major golf company to introduce a USGAapproved adjustable-length belly putter shaft. Players change the length using a specialized adjustment tool that threads into a locking ring on the shaft. Turning the tool loosens the ring, allowing the shaft to slide telescopically.

1

ODYSSEY’s flip face putter design provides the ability to own two putter faces in one. One side features the new Metal-X insert while the other side features a White Ice insert. Adjust according to conditions and or personal preference - whatever gets the ball to drop.

2

TAYLORMADE’S ATV (All-Terrain wedge has a radical sole design built to handle a multitude of shots and interact with turf, rough, and sand. Akin to the new ‘grinds’ available from other companies - a reminder that proper bounce characteristics are an important part of playing certain shots.

3

Versatility)

DID YOU KNOW?

one of the easiest ways to increase distance and or accuracy around the greens is by playing the proper golf ball - harder covers travel farther while softer shells offer feel and control

~ 5.2 INCHES

the distance a golf ball travels in a single revolution

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Golfers playing in a professional tournament are not held under any special regulation that limits the number of balls that they can have in their bag to use over the course of the round.

For this reason, it is advisable that a player bring more balls than they think they will need, as running out of balls leads to a disqualification.

And also answers that question your significant other might ask when watching Tin Cup.

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GAME IMPROVEMENT

GolfScenery »

HEREIN LIES THE HOOK Suffice to say that very few players on the PGA Tour could have - would have attempted the shot that Bubba Watson pulled off to secure his name in history during the 2012 Masters playoff.

Yet, shouldn’t we all know how to hit that shot - or at the very least give it a serious whirl? Go ahead, blast it into the trees - our panel of Professionals are planning your escape route ...

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PROSpectives One awesome panel of experts = more insight, knowledge, and answers.

Our expert panel is made up of some of the top Canadian PGA Professionals in Ontario in an effort to provide GolfScene readers with a cross-section of views and a wealth of game improvement knowledge.

DANNY

KING

Simply Intuitive! Looking at every player in the field that week there were only a couple of players that would have been able to hit that shot from that improbable lie. Bubba Watson can’t hit a straight shot from the middle of the fairway without ‘moving’ the ball 10-15 feet. Unlike his playing competitor that week Peter Hanson who sees the ball traveling straight every time.

Bubba Watson could be compared to a fearless Moe Norman with a swing that can’t be taught - in addition to being a very poor ballroom dancer.

H

NNA ROB HA

Golf would be more enjoyable if everyone could ‘bend it like Bubba’!

Bubba Watson has abilities few possess ... and he demonstrated that by putting so much curvature on the ball yet still maintaining control over the flight. His clubhead awareness through impact and clubhead speed can produce some amazing shots – shots that are very difficult to emulate.

To work on curving the ball in both directions head to the range and experiment with clubface and body alignment at set-up as well as forearm motion through impact. Specifically, to work on hitting Bubba’s ‘slinger’, start with a 5 or 6 iron rather than a higher lofted club which is more difficult to curve.

If you are a right handed golfer, aim your body to the right of the target and close the clubface. On the downswing as the club approaches the ball close the clubface even more with a rotation of the forearms and feel the arms ‘pass’ the body through impact. If done correctly and in the proper sequence, this will produce a ball flight that moves significantly from right to left which is exactly what Bubba did (except from the left side of the ball).

E RYALL BRADLE Imagination. Visualization. Practice. And self belief. Did I mention Practice! Bubba Watson is reknowned for not spending countless hours on the driving range working on his technique, but rather being a player who spends those hours hitting countless different shots (hooks, fades, low, high, etc). All of this ‘practice’ prepared him to be able to execute such a dramatic shot at such a pressure packed time. Hitting the wedge hook in the playoff was simply a reaction to the shot that was required. It was art at its finest. I could get into the geometry of how this hook was created, however I’ll save that for a different time. I am pretty sure on this one Bubba ‘felt’ his way to victory!

OS GARY B

Hitting a shot like Bubba’s to inevitably win the Masters is a pure adrenaline rush. The moment gets completely taken over by feel and it is one of those situations where all logic gets thrown out the window. Only the true champions in history can make something like that happen.

Be aware of your emotions ... see the shot ... visualize the entire trajectory to the hole. Pick a target. Make your backswing. Stay over the ball. And turn your hands over as much as you think you need to make it hook. Don’t forget to swing confidently and be aggressive!

You have to have developed your game as a feel player to pull this off. Bubba has hit shots like this countless times and he absolutely loves it. He said in his victory speech that the back nine was a complete blur and he doesn’t remember anything. He just made it happen. Congrats to Bubba!

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an alternative view from the veranda

QUINN ESSENTIALS

by

Hal Quinn

There are more fallacies than truisms in the ever-expanding lexicon of golf.

Chief among them is the common misconception that the most dreaded words in the game are:

R

ra ted R for rea d at ow n ris k / rew ar d or rea lly wo rth wh ile rea din g

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“You’re still away.”

Not true, not even close.

The most dreaded words in the ancient and modern game of golf are: “The threesome on the 1st tee will be joined by a single.”

Now, there’s the rub of the freakin’ green.

A close second is: “The worst day on the course is better than the best day in the office.” Bull freakin’ feathers!

How could shooting a smooth 98 in a sleet and hail storm be an improvement on hearing at the water cooler that the sanctimonious, mamma’s boy VP of HR had been caught in flagrante delicto with the intern in the second floor broom closet and had been canned on the spot? Office days like that are better than a free round at Pebble.

But back on the tee, things can go from bad to worse as quickly as a snap hook leaving the property, like the time our three drives had accidentally ended up in the first fairway (one off a tree, another barely escaping the long grass at the end of the forward tee box) and we were already hoisting our double-straps when the crackle of the muni’s loudspeaker shattered our Saturday morning reverie and changed the day completely.

The single would be joining us.

He ambled toward the tee box and our collective hearts sunk beneath the garish logos of long-forgotten charity events permanently stitched to our 100 per cent cotton, 100 per cent off-shore fabricated short-sleeved shirts. He was wearing a long-sleeved number that was at least 100 per cent polyester, one of those crumpled Tilley canvas hats with a chin strap that couples seem to buy for their 50th wedding anniversary cruises and would make even George Clooney look like a geek, and the clubs in his single-strapped bag looked older than him, and that’s saying something. All thoughts of a four-hour round evaporated like the last glistening of the morning dew as we muttered expletives under our breaths.

He introduced himself as Lazlo Tiffin, attorney-at-large, but I suspected it was a pseudonym, especially after I glimpsed one of the metal tags clanging irritably on his bag that read:

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Poindexter B. Quigley. By any other name, we were hooped.

After a considerable preamble of mild stretching accompanied by wheezed groaning, Lazlo nee Poindexter smacked a filthy rock down the fairway and said, a tad loudly: “That’ll play.”

And so it went.

By the time we reached the fourth tee, the only utterances from our uninvited and decidedly unwelcome guest sounded like a reading – emotionless, as if he were a bystander not a participant – of golf ’s clichéd compendium.

On the first green, as my ball rolled to a stop a couple of inches past the cup after a fanciful try for a double, he said: “That’s good.” Hmmm.

When one of my buddies, invited and welcome, offered him the same when he left his par putt a foot short, without looking up, Lazlo (we may as well call him Lazlo) said: “I came here to hear 18 death rattles and I’ll hear 18 death rattles.” And so he tapped it in, and as that rock hit the bottom of the cup it did its best impersonation of a death rattle, I guess.

On the second, it was “Never up, never in” to me and “Hit it Alice” to himself, followed by “Got my putter stuck in my skirt.”

In rapid succession, as balls careened across stretches of fairway and into the rough, the woods and adjacent bunkers and ponds, we heard: “Hit a house,” “Beachcomber,” “Keep it on the short grass,” “Nice sandy,” “Wind’s got it,” “Get up,” “Good roll,” “Be the club,” “Into the grain,” “Quack,” “Ah, hit it through the break,” “Curl, curl,” “How did that lip out?” “Not enough club,” “Fat city,” and most irritatingly of all; “Anyone beat a three?”

It was then that we decided to abandon conversation too and lapse totally

into golf speak. On the next green, as my putt slid left when I’d played it to break right, my pal Greg (his real name is Bob, but we’ll call him Greg because he idolizes Greg Norman and despite the overwhelming evidence offered by his swing and his bathroom mirror, he has absolutely nothing in common with the Shark) piped up: “Man, that putt was a real Salmon Rushdie.” Lazlo looked around perplexed.

With no help from we three, he was left to figure out that a Salmon Rushdie putt is an impossible read. Hmmm.

The round might still have its possibilities.

away from the hole, Greg sighed and said: “Rock Hudson.” (Looked straight, but it wasn’t).

On the par 3 16th, Greg’s four iron flew the green into the hazard. “Rodney King,” is all Gord said. (Overclubbed). When Gord promptly hit behind his five iron, Greg responded: “Kate Winslett.”

(A bit fat, but otherwise perfect). When I bladed my shot but managed to clear the hazard, my buddies said in unison: “Condom” (Safe, but didn’t feel real good).

A couple of holes later, when Gord (his real name is Gordon) struggled in a fairway bunker, I said, within ear shot of Lazlo: “Man, you did an Adolf Hitler there.” (Two shots in a bunker.)

When Greg left a putt on the lip, Gord muttered: “A Cuban.” Lazlo, growing increasingly silent, was at a loss to fathom that a Cuban needs one more revolution.

Our tee shots on 18 were perfect as they exhausted our reservoir of golf speak. Greg played safe with a 3 metal but came up well short, earning: “Princess Grace.” (Should have used a driver). Gord bombed his 460 cc beast through the turn in the fairway eliciting: “Princess Di.” (Shouldn’t have used a driver). All in all, in any language, the back nine had gone along nicely as the increasingly puzzled Lazlo uttered nary a cliché.

On the 15th, Lazlo hit a towering 9 iron into a greenside bunker, the ball buried just under the lip. I took a look at the lie, looked at Lazlo and said: “Wow, Yasser Arafat.”

(Ugly, and in the sand). After he’d hacked his way out (a Hitler), he lined up his putt.

When it surprisingly broke

In the end, after we shook hands with our silent partner, Gord whispered: “Guess we did an O.J.” He had me on that one. “Okay, what does that mean?” I asked. Greg had it covered. “We got away with it.” I guess we did, until the next time we hear the most dreaded words in golf.

13809 Golf Diploma Ad - Golf Scene:Layout 1 5/2/12 11:01 AM Page 1

TURN THE GAME YOU LOVE INTO A BUSINESS CAREER. PROFESSIONAL GOLF MANAGEMENT DIPLOMA PROGRAM

HAL QUINN is a writer / broadcaster whose articles and columns have appeared in magazines and newspapers across North America, England, and as far away as New Zealand. Quinn lives in North Vancouver with his wife, their two daughters, and their dog Mulligan.

business.humber.ca GolfScene TM

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“

MIND OVER MATTERS

It always goes away for periods of time – the point is that we want it to come back sooner and stay longer.

IT US AT

IS COME AND V

When I

NTY ’S HURON COU LF HOME OF GO

often

PAUL DEWLAND works with many of Canada’s best professional, amateur and side of the game. He is passionate about helping players “bridge the gap between the range and the course.” Paul is a Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and lives in Mississauga - www.puremindgolf.com -

Join us July 26-28th for Seaforth Country Classic Open “Your $20.00 ticket could win you a trip for two to the 2013 Masters”

Visit www.seaforthcountryclassic.com for details

www.seaforthgolf.com 1-A Doig Drive | Seaforth | Ontario | N0K 1W0 30

| Spring 2012

a

cottage

in

for summer

One particular year, we stayed at a cottage with a big deck. After arriving, I sat on the deck while my parents unpacked the car. I noticed a little chipmunk standing on his hind legs, about 10 feet away, staring right at me. He started making a chirping noise as if to be demanding something.

It soon occurred to me that the owners of the cottage had been feeding this little guy, so I ran to my mother and asked for some nuts (which we fortunately brought). I threw a few to him, and he grabbed them, stuffed them in his cheeks and ran off.

He came back a bit later and chirped again, but this time he seemed a bit more comfortable and came closer to me, so I gave him a few more. This went on for a day or two, and each time, I threw the nuts down a bit closer to me, and he would timidly crawl closer and closer. I was fascinated with this little guy, so I got the idea to offer the food from my hand. Eventually, if I stayed very still and calm, he would stand in my hand and stuff his cheeks.

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Then I got the idea to capture the chipmunk and keep him for a pet.

The next time he stood in my hand, I tried to grab him - but he was quicker than me and ran away.

I got impatient because things weren’t going at my speed. I tried a few more times, but I only intimidated him. From then on, he kept his distance. I got so frustrated with his lack of cooperation that I chased after him through the woods with a handful of nuts, but the faster I ran, the harder he was to catch. The fun and excitement was gone, and I was exhausted and frustrated.

The moral: consider your “best game” to be like the chipmunk. It will show up and stay for longer periods of time if you patiently give it a nice calm place to hang out. It always goes away for periods of time – the point is that we want it to come back sooner and stay longer. Aggressively pursuing your best golf game drives it farther away. As the saying goes, infinite patience brings immediate results.

Play well.

INSIDE THE ROPES with Sean Foley

Everyone feels the need for speed when they are playing golf.

Speed comes from the power generation system that starts with how a player uses the ground and progresses through an efficient use of the kinetic chain. Because form follows function most golfers find themselves struggling to hit the ball far enough.

Power is complex, but hitting the ball further is much simpler.

It's all about impact conditions and efficiency with respect to the transfer of energy from the club into the ball. The highest possible transfer of energy from club to ball happens when the player hits the ball directly in front of the club’s center-of-gravity or what is more popularly known as the sweet spot.

Smash factor is a number that occurs when you divide club head speed and ball speed. The higher the smash factor the more momentum/energy. So my advice is the next time you play golf make your singular focus hitting the ball square in the middle of the clubface. Your distance will increase quite noticeably even if your swing speed remains the same.

Sean Foley is the Coach of Tiger Woods, Stephen Ames, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose and others.

GolfScene TM

- golfscene.ca -

31

THE TARTAN CHAMELEON

“

Golf has never been a “speed” game. It is far too cerebral … but let’s at least make an effort.

CAROLANNE DOIG is a member of the Doig Family, Owners of the Seaforth Golf Club.

WHEN STEVE WOODS EMAILED that the theme of this year’s first GolfScene Magazine would be, ‘speed’, it caused all sorts of thoughts to go through my mind. I thought of fast greens and stimp-meters. Then I thought of club head speed and how it relates to ball compression and distance. I soon realized that me writing about these would be like trying to have a conversation with Sheldon Cooper. I know little of them. When it comes to speed and golf my area of expertise is more in the line of fast food and “boy that winter went fast!”

Then of course I thought of the bane of golf, the subject of much discussion, even more analysis, and a gazillion studies … slow play. However, I didn’t want to preach about the usual pace of play guidelines because golfers, from their very first lesson, get all the perceived slow play causes drilled into them.

I thought it best we start at the real beginning, the place where slow play rears its ugly head, peaks out at that

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| Spring 2012

beautiful sunny golf day, and then proceeds to ruin it for golfers, golf operators, and families waiting for Dad to get home from his five and half hour round. Let’s start with you and your buddies getting to the first tee on time!

Skidding into the parking lot on two wheels because you left late, forgot your tee time, missed your turn, and got caught in traffic is no way to start your round. It’s no way to make friends on the golf course either because if you’re late for your tee time there’s a good chance you’re going to tick a few other golfers off too.

When you booked your time did you ask for directions on how best to get there from your location? Did the person taking your booking ask if you have been there before and if you need directions? This alone is a great way to insure that your golfing guests arrive with enough time to start their round in a relaxed fashion. Of course good course signage is always helpful and not just at the front gate either!

You’ve finally found the course unloaded your clubs at the drop off and parked. But you’re running late, still have to put your shoes on and get into the pro shop to pay for your greens fee. Now is no time to try on gloves or decide to have those three lost spikes replaced. They are already calling your name for the tee but you didn’t have time for breakfast so you order a toasted western to go. Meanwhile your buddies are on the tee and wondering where you are. The starter is doing his best to keep the peace – and the pace - as the group that’s next off the tee is already chomping at the bit. Not only are you affecting your own play but you are now affecting

GolfScene TM

the play of all those who will follow you on the course. Being late for a tee time is one of the worst problems in golf. It’s not only poor etiquette but it also leads to disgruntled patrons and affects the economy of our great game.

Did you know that if your tee time is 8:48 then the first ball hit by your group should be in the air at 8:48?

This rule of thumb alone would allow most golfers to experience a round of golf with a pace of play that leads to relaxation and enjoyment. Many golfers think that they should just go ahead and hit as soon as the group in front of them is out of range but a good starter will make every effort to keep the groups moving along according to their tee time. Believe it or not it’s much more efficient to have the tee times spaced far enough apart to allow the groups to keep a decent space between them. Tee times too close together (I call them greedy times) just jam up the course, cause delays to multiply, and annoy golfers who never return because of the slow pace of play. A starter’s time every hour or so is about the only bail out a starter has when things get backed up but many course operators don’t like to give up the full time so even a reduced time will give them the break they need.

On the course there are many ways to keep the pace of play moving and most golfers have these tips drilled into them from day one. Experienced golfers either move along or have gotten into bad habits that they don’t even know they are doing.

Some people just don’t realize that they are sharing the golf course with a lot of other players. Skill levels,

physical fitness, even sideline betting can influence the pace of play.

The same guy that came in late, ordered the western, had his spikes replaced, and tried on a half dozen gloves before he teed off LATE is also the same guy who will stop the beverage cart on every third hole and then order fish and chips at the turn. He is oblivious to the fact that he’s sharing the golf course with many others who have also paid the fee to enjoy their weekend 18. It’s funny how his buddies roll their eyes but seldom tell him to get his butt in gear.

Yes golfers talk about fast greens and stimp-meters, club head speed and acceleration. Golf courses hire starters and marshals, rent power carts, and put in phones on the 9th tee to speed up play, but if you don’t get to the course on time, don’t get to the tee on time, and don’t keep up the pace, slow play will be the downfall of our game. Golf has never been a “speed” game. It is far too cerebral … but let’s at least make an effort.

“I’m going golfing in the morning, I hope the sun is going to shine.

I have my best clubs, am playing with my best buds, For Golf ’s sake get me to the tee on time! (sing to the tune of “I’m Getting Married in the Morning)

What do Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Mike Weir and Georgian College’s Golf Program have in common?

EDUCATION

They were all were in Florida over reading week to play some golf, catch some rays and breathe in the sweet smell of freshly cut grass. While the best golfers in the world competed for millions of dollars in prize money, Georgian students enjoyed a million-dollar experience.

Two different groups of students made the trip to Florida and each participated in a unique itinerary.

First-year Golf Management degree students visited the Golf Channel studios, the headquarters of Jack Nicklaus Golf Course Design, attended the first round of the Honda Classic, and toured the maintenance facilities at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

Diploma students traded the classroom for the driving range and learned more about the fine art of instruction through completing their Golf Skill Development course. All students were treated to a number of rounds of golf on world-class facilities. + FILES PROVIDED BY GEORGIAN COLLEGE

Founded in 1963, our golf club boasts a challenging 18 hole, Par 70 course in a picturesque country setting. Overlooking the Eldale Valley, seating on the Patio or in the Lounge affords our guests, golfers and diners alike, a great view of the pastoral surroundings

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40 Eldale Road

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Elmira, Ontario

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PLAYER

IN TWELVE EVENTS GRAHAM DELAET HAS MADE 8 CUTS, BEEN IN THE TOP 10 TWICE, AND EARNED $485,864. HE AVERAGES 300 YARDS OFF THE TEE WHICH IS LONG ENOUGH FOR 12TH ON THE PGA TOUR’S BIG HITTERS LIST.

WORLD RANKING

TOUR

Graham DeLaet David Hearn Adam Hadwin Stephen Ames Matt McQuillan Stuart Anderson Brad Fritsch Andrew Parr Roger Sloan Richard Scott

270 230 274 359 415 606 623 626 638 656

PGA TOUR PGA TOUR NATIONWIDE PGA TOUR PGA TOUR NATIONWIDE NATIONWIDE EUROPEAN TOUR CANADIAN TOUR NATIONWIDE

Lorie Kane Alena Sharp Jessica Shepley Stephanie Sherlock Samantha Richdale

187 205 289 338 426

LPGA TOUR LPGA TOUR FUTURES TOUR PGA TOUR PGA TOUR

• all stats as of May 1, 2012 •

GOLF | TOURNAMENTS | WEDDINGS | MEETINGS | DINING Copetown Woods is more than just the area’s top public golf course. Our Victorian style Clubhouse is open year round to the public for dining, birthday parties, Christmas parties, Bar Mitzvah and meetings. Our practice facility is the perfect place to hone your skills, or get a golf lesson from one of our Teaching Professionals.

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GREEN SIDE UP

“

So, there is a need for ‘speed’ and unfortunately far too often there is a need for the negative ‘S-P-E-E-D’.

Golf Course Superintendents are very accustom to “speed” when it comes to maintaining their courses. There never seems to be enough hours in the day and Mother Nature is always throwing curve balls. Many Superintendents like to joke and say they need a plan “A, B, C and sometimes D” when it comes to daily maintenance. They never know what the weather will bring and need to be willing to adapt to change constantly.

TOM MARGETTS is a soil and turf consultant. He was a Golf Course Superintendent

So, there is a need for “speed” and unfortunately far too often there is a need for the negative “S-P-E-E-D”.

for 11 years, holds a Diploma in Horticulture from the University of Guelph in addition to being a licensed Technicial Agrologist and a certified independent agronomist.

Just to confuse things a bit, “speed” and “S-P-E-E-D” are akin to “controlled and uncontrolled”, “organized and chaotic” or “quality over quantity”. We demand quality as golfers. We want our greens to be rolling consistently, we want the flagpoles to be straight, and we expect a nice soft, but not too soft lies in the bunkers. We generally have a high level of expectation for our golfing enjoyment and Golf Course Superintendents are driven to provide that!

tom@innovativeagronomics.com

We are generally spoiled as golfers. Our Superintendents produce great turf, under ever changing conditions with less tools and resources than they had before.

As golfers, we are an accessory to “S-P-E-E-D” when we: • • • • • • • •

Tee off ahead of our scheduled tee time.

Don’t replace our divots or repair our ball marks.

Improperly rake our footprints in the bunkers.

Step on the traffic ropes without using the appropriate openings provided.

Park with two tires off the cart path.

Do not allow a member of the maintenance crew to finish mowing the green or rake that bunker.

Are intolerant to course maintenance, even from adjoining holes.

Disrespectful of on-course rules and marshal guidance.

Let’s do our part as golfers to allow our Golf Course Superintendents to manage the level of “speed” that is necessary for their operations, without being contributors to negative “S-P-E-E-D”.

King’s Forest

Places to Play www.golfscene.ca/PLAY GolfScene TM

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G is for ...

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GolfScene TM

.ca NEWS | TIPS | GEAR | STYLE | MEDIA | TRAVEL | PLACES TO PLAY

The region’s online source for golf news, new equipment , apparel, photos, videos, destinations, and of course that next place

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37

DEMO DAY

SWING TOWN

the amount of information provided can be a little overwhelming and like all statistics requires a little extra context and analysis - gaining an average of 15 yards with a 6 iron is substantial but needs to be correlated with player specific objectives and counter-effects like gapping etc - the Swing Labs process combined with a knowledgeable fitter helps with both

Spent a few extremely informative and very valuable hours at a Golf Town recently. Call it a test run of their new Swing Labs technology - now available to the public.

In short, it is another fitting option / opportunity.

The tech - a derivative of SkyGolf (makers of SkyCaddie). The difference - essentially it is a non-bias approach to crunching numbers and cross-referencing a database of over 820,000 different clubhead / shaft options in an effort to provide the optimum combination for an individual player. The process - begins with an interview wherein variables are gathered to assist the system to best match personal goals with the hard evidence gathered via the next step, your swings.

The results - a few club recommendatons and a bunch of valuable swing related data that gets delivered directly to your inbox for future reference.

Advancements in technology continue to make custom fitting an even more integral part of the equipment selection / purchasing process. Find what works for you - not what works for some random PGA Tour player who’s being paid to tell you what works for them. l

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23 years of affordable golf at private club standards 38

| Spring 2012

GolfScene TM

REGIONAL NEWS

GUELPH CELEBRATES CENTENARY! Longevity may be the only true answer to that perpetually unrelenting test we call time.

Founded in 1912, the fact the The Guelph Country Club

is still thriving after 100 years is certainly a testament to a healthy facility and, more importantly, the work and will of the people who have kept it going throughout the years. Like all historical landmarks, the nine hole design has undergone many changes to both to the course as well as additions/renovations to the clubhouse making it what it is today.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME:

A few member rules that were once part of the code of conduct and we believe still relevant today:

1) no member or guest shall park his motor vehicle at the Tradesmen’s entrance or at the entrance to the clubhouse, or in any manner so as to obstruct free passage to the roadway. (yep, blocking the way in or out is probably still important) 2) no person shall wear high heels or other contrivances on his (her) shoes that will in any way damage the course .... that’s right soft spikes only ladies (men) l

THE ORIGINAL CLUBHOUSE was constructed in about 1912 by contractor George A. Scoggie. The grounds comittee were charged with transforming the land into playing conditions at a budget of $1000 dollars. A herd of sheep maintained the length of the rough in the early days. It was a success. Much has changed since the early days, but what a great spot to tee up a little - or in Guelph’s case a lot - of history.

GEORGE S. LYON and American Chick Evans (US Open & Amateur Champion) played an exhibition match at The Guelph Country Club in 1916. Lyon (58) lost the match to a much younger Evans (27).

George S. Lyon is Golf’s 1904 Olympic Gold medalist. As well as 8-time Canadian Amateur Champion.

www.golf-management.org

Graduates Receive: Graduate Studies Diploma from GMIC and Certificate of Completion in Golf Operations from Wilfrid Laurier University www.golf-management.org | 905 844 7666

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[ members of these organizations receive 10% off course fees ] 1333 Dorval Drive | Oakville, Ontario | Canada | L6J 4Z3 (905) 844-7666

GolfScene TM

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39

SPECIAL FEATURE

BOOKMARKED

special excerpt from a must read book ...

Excerpted from Moe & Me: Encounters with Moe Norman, Golf’s Mysterious Genius by Lorne Rubenstein. © 2012 by Lorne Rubenstein. All rights reserved. Published throughout the world by ECW Press Ltd. www.ecwpress.com

Fairways look like deserts to me, even if they’re only thirty yards wide. Look at this ball. It’ll fit, won’t it? — Moe, 1989 1. MEETING MOE IN THE EARLY 1960s, when Arnold Palmer was dominating golf and Arnie’s Army was following him, I was thirteen years old and encountered Moe Norman for the first time. He was working at the De Haviland Golf Centre in north Toronto, a fiveminute drive from where I lived. Moe’s responsibilities included teaching and selling equipment and, generally, just hanging around De Haviland, which featured a two-tier driving range, a huge practice green, a nine-hole course, a thirty-six-hole mini-putt course, and a night-lit, par-three, eighteen-hole course. After some difficulties on the PGA Tour, which I’ll discuss in the next chapter, Moe had found some peace here. He was comfortable among people who came to De Haviland for practice and play. I first remember Moe behind the counter dispensing white wire pails of yellow golf balls to golfers. Small pails. Medium. Large. Beaten-up drivers whose heads were scratched filled the racks behind Moe. He grabbed the pails of balls from the bins behind him. In between customers, this red-faced man in his tangerine shirt, banana slacks and torn golf shoes through which his toes stuck out flashed his snaggled teeth, sharp as the tines of forks, and performed card tricks. I watched. Moe was friendly. He told me to hit some balls.

“Go on, go on, it’s a nice night, it’s a nice night,” he said. “It’s warm. It’s warm. Maybe I’ll hit some too.”

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| Spring 2012

GolfScene TM

I walked out the door to the night and put a pail down by the hitting station. Moe emerged a few minutes later, holding his driver and bouncing a ball off the clubface. He walked slowly to a station with a pail of balls.

He then placed a ball on the rubber tee embedded in the hitting area. The rubber tee popped up as if it jumped from underground. His head snapped left as he looked quickly down the vast, grassy area flecked with balls. The sky was black, but the klieg lights turned night into day. Moe set his clubhead a foot behind the ball. I wondered why.

He looked unlike any other golfer I’d seen. Who sets the club a foot behind the ball? Only Moe, I would learn. He spread his feet well apart — although not as far apart as he would later in his life — so that it appeared he was trying to do the splits. Moe extended his arms out so far in front of him, with his hands held so unusually high, that I thought they could pop out of his shoulders. He looked like a lion awakening from slumber.

Moe did more than hit balls off the rubber tees. His real show started when he hit balls off the asphalt that extended the entire width of the range, 100 yards or more. Moe picked the ball cleanly off the asphalt with a driver.

His contact with the ball was so clean that he didn’t leave a nick on the driver’s soleplate. How was that possible?

Moe moved the club back low and slow and returned it through the ball low and long. His arms and the club were a unit, like one of those triangles used to set balls on a snooker table.

The clubhead pointed down the range as if it were tracking the flight of the ball. His ball flew straight, an arrow.

Then, hardly stopping, he hit another ball. Same routine, same result. Balls continued to fill the night sky like sparklers. They were tracers, and I was mesmerized. Other golfers had stopped hitting balls and walked over to watch Moe. He was sweating, hitting one ball after another. He talked while he hit.

“Hope and fear, hope and fear, that’s how people play golf,” Moe said and thwacked another ball dead straight.

“Not me. No, not me. I see happiness,

I see happiness.” He was drenched in sweat, and he was speaking as quickly as he was swinging, words flying out of his mouth like popcorn out of a popper. “The ball fits the Moe Norman way.”

I lived a mile away, and I went to De Haviland with my father a few nights a week. We hit balls, and we played the par-three course with my dad’s pals, including a fellow named Sam Shapiro.

Sam showed up at De Haviland one day because he wanted to learn how to play golf. He ran into Moe and asked where he could take some lessons.

“You’ve come to the right place,” Moe told Sam, who took more than fifty lessons from him.

“I had a good relationship with Moe,” Sam said. “I liked him. He was a nice guy, and he would give you his heart. I went to Florida with him, and we’d go into restaurants to eat, but he wouldn’t stay inside. He would take a sandwich, put it in his pocket, and eat outside. You had to feel for him. I’m not a doctor, but he was a human being.” Moe taught Sam so well that he got down to a single-digit handicap, and he had a short game that turned bogies into pars regularly. Sam stayed close to Moe and attended his funeral.

As much golf as my dad and I played at De Haviland, we spent more time watching Moe. He fascinated me not only because of his extraordinary ability to control the flight of the ball, the true art of the game, but also because he was so different from every other golfer I’d seen. Moe looked like no other golfer I’d come across, nor did his style resemble that of any other golfer. He never took a practice swing — he never took a practice swing his entire life — but every shot flew dead straight, virtually without any sidespin.

Even the best players in the world hit the ball with some side-spin. Moe hit the ball so that it rotated as if it were a Ferris wheel. He could also curve the ball at will. He could hit the ball high or low and everything in between.

Moe knew where the ball was going.

When somebody asked him to hit it to a specific spot, he hit it there.

“I make narrow holes look wide,” Moe told me. “I never get tired of the

GolfScene TM

middle. It’s beautiful there.” The faces of his irons were worn with a spot the size of a quarter in the -center, equidistant from either side. He liked to show -people the spots. Moe craved adulation. He needed approval.

Moe was in his early thirties when I first encountered him, drifting that summer from course to course and tournament to tournament, as he would the rest of his life. It was immediately apparent that he was like nobody else I’d met. By being himself, Moe stood alone.

I don’t know why Moe galvanized my attention to the degree he did. I was a shy kid myself and didn’t socialize easily. Maybe the few incidents that I remember from when I was a youngster are the ones that made me sympathetic to Moe when I met him.

Before I met Moe, I attended a Hebrew day school in Toronto. We studied Hebrew and Jewish history for half a day, and the conventional public school education in Ontario filled the other half. I enjoyed the intense focus on academic subjects but also missed sports, for which there wasn’t a lot of time. I followed sports closely, though, and was paying more attention to the seventh game of the 1960 World Series than perhaps I should have been. The Pittsburgh Pirates were at home playing the New York Yankees at Forbes Field. I brought a transistor radio to class and carefully tucked it into my pocket. I listened to the game through an ear bud in my left ear and leaned forward to listen to the teacher. My left hand covered my ear. The score was 9-9 as the Pirates took to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. Their second baseman, Bill Mazeroski, was leading off. He hit a walk-off home run that has been called the most famous home run in baseball history. Nobody had ever hit a walk-off home run to win a World Series. I rose up from my desk as soon as the ball left the park.

The teacher wasn’t pleased and came over to rap me on my neck with the back of his hand. The pleasure I felt while listening to the game was worth the punishment.

A few weeks later I decided that I wanted more sports in my life and left - golfscene.ca -

41

the school for a nearby public junior high. The school had a proper baseball diamond and an ice rink. I played for the football team, called the Red Devils. Meanwhile, in my first gym class, I noticed a boy whose first name was the same as mine. He was standing in a corner away from the other students. He didn’t want to participate in any of the activities. Clearly, he was different. He was gay, although nobody used that word then. Classmates called him a “fairy” and a “homo.” They laughed at him.

He felt even more apart, even lonelier. I tried to be kind to him, maybe because we shared a first name or maybe because I thought my classmates shouldn’t be ridiculing him.

He was different, true. But so what?

Let him be.

I’d reached my adult height of six foot three by the time this happened, and I was always the tallest kid in class. I felt apart from other students and didn’t mix easily. At school parties, I faded to the margins. At dances, I stood by the wall — the classic “wallflower.” I took refuge in sports, especially golf. Although I was a fair athlete in hockey, baseball, football and soccer, golf provided me with a place where I could most be myself.

I felt a freedom on the course that I felt nowhere else. A golf course provided a refuge. Golf was a way into myself and, therefore, a way out of myself. Was it that way for Moe, only much more so? I was too young to be able to formulate such questions consciously, let alone answer them.

But something in Moe captured my attention.

Night after night I went to De Haviland, usually with my father.

He’d played pro football in Winnipeg, his hometown, but had given it up after a knee injury. Now he had a small automotive supplies store.

He loved sports, and he saw that I had some talent for golf. I played the Ontario Junior and won a provincial team event with the pro at the club where I played. Other kids were going out with friends or to summer camp or the local Dairy Queen for ice cream. We called it the Puppy

42

| Spring 2012

Palace. I spent many more evenings at De Haviland than at the Puppy Palace because of Moe. I didn’t know it then, but I would chase the truth of the man from then on. I would chase it through university as I acquired a master’s degree in psychology, and I would chase it while I caddied on the PGA Tour a few tournaments each summer while I was in university, and I would chase it after I became a golf writer. I would chase it until Moe died, and I’m still chasing it.

Always there was Moe, flitting along the fringes of the game, owning his swing or, as he said, “capturing” it. Always I would find him, and follow him, and meet him, and write about him. I watched him at De Haviland. I followed him in tournaments. Later, after I started writing, I argued, along with other colleagues, that Moe should be an inductee into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, and when he was finally admitted in 1995 I was at the ceremony at Foxwood, a small rural club where Moe felt comfortable. I told Moe Norman stories everywhere I traveled in golf; his name always came up. Everybody knew Moe or of him. Everybody was curious about him.

Maybe it was because I felt some kind of kinship with Moe, but I never ridiculed him in private or public.

Some writers called him the Clown Prince of Canadian Golf or Sleepy Moe from Hollow Norman — a description that appeared when he was playing out of the Sleepy Hollow Club near Toronto. An English writer called him a “nutter of imperial status.” He even called himself Moe the Schmo.

Moe hit the ball cleanly and accurately with a swing that appeared to defy convention. Yet he never succeeded on the game’s biggest stages.

He was far too insecure for that; professional golf is a private game played publicly, and Moe couldn’t cope with its public side until late in his life — and even then not easily or comfortably. After he won the 1955 Canadian Amateur in Calgary, he hid by the bulrushes on the banks of the Bow River rather than give a speech

GolfScene TM

at the prize ceremony. He could address a crowd many years later, but mostly he spoke by rote, reciting material he’d memorized — usually the same material. Life was never easy for Moe. But he cruised along, finding his way.

On the course, Moe had control of the golf ball if nothing else. The course was the one place where he was able to exert mastery. He loved being on a course or on a range or in his car, listening to tapes about the psychology of golf.

Moe was ill at ease in social situations and tried to avoid them. The practice range, the golf course, his car, and his motel room were his natural, chosen places; he couldn’t cope with the social side of the game.

I was at a cocktail party at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, as part of Jack Nicklaus’s induction into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in the builder category; Nicklaus had designed Glen Abbey, home of the Canadian Open from 1977 to 2000, with the exception of 1980 and 1997 when it was held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club. Moe was invited, and he stood wearing a red sports jacket. The bar was crowded, and he was trapped. Suddenly, I heard my wife, Nell, yelp; Moe, trying to be friendly, had come up behind her and put his glass of ice-cold Coke against the back of her neck as a way of saying hello. “Somebody told me you’re Lorne’s wife. Just want to say hello.”

Another time Moe was sitting outside a clubhouse when a golfer came along. He was going in for lunch and asked Moe if he wanted anything.

Moe said he’d like some ice cream.

The member went inside and asked for some ice cream for Moe. He was told ice cream wasn’t available and went outside to tell Moe. “Sorry, they have no ice cream.” Moe said, “I know. You asked what I wanted, and I said ice cream.” To Moe, this was the right answer. He wanted ice cream.

He hadn’t asked the club member to get him ice cream.

His reactions didn’t depend on where he was or to whom he was

Project4_Layout 1 12-05-07 5:27 PM Page 1

talking. Craig Shankland, a PGA Master professional who was close to Moe for the last eighteen years of his life, went with him to the Bay Hill Club in Orlando to do a clinic for a medical company. Arnold Palmer owned Bay Hill and drove toward Moe and Shankland near the driving range, where they were to conduct their clinic. Palmer said, “Hi, how are you, Moe?” Moe knew that Palmer, seventime major champion that he was, wasn’t the most accurate striker of a golf ball. Moe came right back to Palmer’s friendly greeting with “I haven’t had a thorn bush stuck up my ass for the last seven years, how about you, Arnie?” Palmer didn’t know what to say for a moment, and then, Shankland remembered, he “began to crack up, ending on the floor of his cart, tears coming from his eyes, doubled up with laughter.”

Moe reacted immediately to situations. He lacked a trip wire or filter. This wasn’t helpful in social situations, but it was valuable in golf. Moe turned golf into a reaction sport rather than a creation sport. He played golf as if it were hockey or baseball; he was reacting rather than initiating a motion. Moe looked at

the target, assimilated all the information he needed, and swung immediately: his swing was his reaction. All golfers want to play the game without thinking. His nature compelled him to play that way. That’s why he hated blind shots, where he couldn’t see the target.

Moe occupied a cubbyhole all his own, and he made that space his world. The sport at which he excelled forced him to encounter the world beyond the spaces he preferred to occupy.

Yes, he lived in the golf world, but he never did truly occupy it. There was always something impermanent about his place there. The place where Moe could best express himself also imprisoned him. A driving range, a field in the countryside where he could hit balls, or his car at the side of a rural dirt road — these were his real homes, where he felt most at ease.

When I think about Moe, I think about a line from a Leonard Cohen song: “There’s a crack in the world, that’s how the light gets in.” Moe represents a crack. By being in the world, he let some light in.

Book your tee time today!

EXCERPT: Moe & Me: Encounters with Moe Norman, Golf’s Mysterious Genius by Lorne Rubenstein. © 2012 by Lorne Rubenstein. All rights reserved. Published throughout the world by ECW Press Ltd. www.ecwpress.com

Less than an hour’s drive from Kitchener/Waterloo 275 James Street, Otterville | tel: 519-879-9800 www.ottercreekgolfclub.com

PLACES TO PLAY GREEN FEES

WEEKDAY

$45

with a cart after 11am

WEEKEND

$55

with a cart after 11am

JUNIORS PLAY FREE

after 3 on weekends with a paying adult

WHAT’S NEW Newly renovated clubhouse for tournaments, weddings and corporate & family parties

cambridgegolfclub.com

As golfers, we are very lucky to be living within a region with so many

1346 Clyde Road Cambridge, Ontario (519) 621 5491 • (877)621-5491

great golf options.

New and old. Parkland or links. Private and public. There is something for everyone - let’s get out and

PLAY!

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| Spring 2012

GolfScene TM

124 11

Huntsville 141

Tobermory 400

Muskoka Lakes Bracebridge Gravenhurst

6

400 11

Owen Sound

Orillia

26

Southampton

Collingwood

21

Barrie

10

6

Kincardine

24

4

89

400

9

Walkerton

9

9

86

89

Mount Forest

9 404

Orangeville

9

407

400

Arthur Goderich

401

10

Listowel

6

Brampton

Fergus 24

8

Toronto

86

Waterloo

Mississauga

25

Seaforth Guelph

401

Stratford 7

QEW

Cambridge

21

5

Grand Bend

Oakville

Kitchener Hamilton QEW

7 403

Woodstock

St Catharines

Brantford

Niagara Falls 21

London

402

Sarnia

402

401

St. Thomas

20

56

406

Dunnville Tillsonburg

2

6

24

3

Simcoe

3

Fort Erie Port Colborne

401

40

Chatham Windsor

2 401

check out some of the great regional options on the next page â–ş and online as more courses are being added ...

3

Amherstburg

GolfScene TM

- golfscene.ca -

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PLACES TO PLAY Here at GolfScene we know - what all of those self-titled social media experts are still learning - that it is less about the how than it is about the why and where ... so the why part is simple - you love this game - and the where part is, well, RIGHT HERE

CARDINAL

For additional info and details on these great places to play visit us online anytime www.golfscene.ca/PLAY

CARDINAL GOLF CLUB is Canada’s largest golf facility, with 72 holes of golf including: three 18 hole championship courses, an 18 hole executive course, large driving range, 18 hole mini-putt, C.P.G.A. staffed Golf Academy, and two unique Clubhouses. Cardinal Golf Club is sure to exceed your expectations.

OTTER CREEK

OTTER CREEK is located just 20 minutes from Woodstock. The stunning layout is deceptively hilly with several holes cut across the picturesque and wooded valleys of Otter, Cedar and Spittler Creeks. At just over 7,100 yards and with six sets of tees, the course plays to every golfer’s ability.

Book your tee time today!

BRAEBEN

BRAEBEN is, in simplest terms – beyond expectations. The highlands links inspired 18 hole championship design boasts an overall imprint and attention to detail that can only be fully appreciated in person. A unique golfing experience, the City of Mississauga run BraeBen is as comprehensive a full-service public facility as you will find.

CAMBRIDGE

CAMBRIDGE GOLF CLUB is an inviting, golfer-friendly, 18 hole facility that is always well managed and manicured to ensure a consistently great golf experience. Come in and check out the renovations to the clubhouse. At Cambridge, we are always finding ways to improve the facility and make your next round even more enjoyable.

ELMIRA

ELMIRA is located just outside Elmira in a quiet country setting approximately 15 minutes north of Waterloo. Situated in the Eldale Valley, the course rolls gently across the picturesque country-side, creating unique views from every tee deck. It’s the sort of place that reminds you why you play this game ... and leaves a yearning to return.

CHEDOKE

CHEDOKE is home to two wonderful city run 18-hole public courses (Martin & Beddoe). These mature, tree lined layouts are both nestled into the rolling parkland landscape of the stunning Niagara Escarpment. Location, location, location ... just five minutes from downtown Hamilton and easily accessible off Highway 403 at Aberdeen Avenue.

LOWVILLE

LOWVILLE is central to Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hamilton and Mississauga. Built along the Niagara Escarpment, the course has many panoramic vistas and views. Lowville Golf Club blends natural beauty with a challenging 18 hole layout. The Toronto Star’s ‘Bogey Man’, gave it most scenic and most improved club honours.

COPETOWN WOODS

COPETOWN WOODS represents not only one of the newest championship courses in south-western Ontario, but also one of the finest. The meticulous condition of the course, and the yester-year beauty of the Victorian-style clubhouse provide old world charm. The facility is consistently ranked among the top golfing values in all of Ontario.

GUELPH COUNTRY CLUB

THE GUELPH COUNTRY CLUB is celebrating our centenary this year. We are proud of our history as Guelph’s very first Golf course. The Guelph Country Club’s mature nine-hole layout across rolling fairways and towering pines are rich in design and heritage. A premiere private facility with public play access - check out our membership options.

DERRYDALE

DERRYDALE is unique in that it’s a 12 hole facility which makes it the ideal way to get a round in despite the busiest of schedules. Conveniently located minutes from the 401 at Hwy#10 and Derry Road in Mississauga, Derrydale is an inviting course for players of all ages and abilities to tee it up. A great golf value.

HIDDEN LAKE

HIDDEN LAKE is a 36 hole semi-private facility that offers the public an opportunity to play the course of their choice. Golfers are split between the traditional charm of the Old Course and the nouveau stylings of the New Course. Both courses have been painstakingly sculpted to create interesting and demanding contours. Challenge awaits.

CROSSWINDS

CROSSWINDS provides a majestic natural setting that takes you away from the hustle and bustle of today’s modern world. This 18-hole championship layout is designed to challenge the lowest handicapper while rewarding a novice’s shot-making skills. Choose the correct tee blocks and Crosswinds will provide the test you’re looking for.

SEAFORTH

SEAFORTH GOLF CLUB is a mature and challenging golf course, with the rich tradition of hospitality and friendliness of small town Ontario. The course is located on 100 unspoiled, un-crowded and uncommonly beautiful acres in the heart of southwestern Ontario.

KING VALLEY

KING’S FOREST is located in the heart of the picturesque Red Hill Valley and at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. Without a doubt one of the premier public golf facilities in the province and, subsequently, also one of the busiest, averaging 42,000 rounds annually over the last five years.

GIMMEES

Cambridge Golf Club continues to make renovations and changes. The redesigned clubhouse should be a welcome addition to both members and public play golfers. Good to see golf courses moving forward and investing in the future of the game.

HYBRID STYLE THINKING DRINKING Akin to a mirage sighting is sometimes knowing the exact yardage to the nearest beverage cart. And here’s a little something extra special to look forward to on select mobile refreshment stands and or patios this season. Equal parts beer and ice tea are a seemingly perfect way to beat the heat on the back nine.

FAST FACT: After water, tea and beer are the second and third most consumed beverages globally.

Cambridge

Golf Club

HANDBOOK

2012

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| Spring 2012

SHORT SHOTS Significant changes are in store for the 2012 version of the Seaforth Country Classic.

• July 26 - July 28 • Format will be OPEN. Entries will no longer be contingent on the Canadian Tour rules • Competition will be 54 Hole – No Cut – Stroke Play • Prize money will be based on the number of entries in the event. The total purse will be between $36,000.00 and $50,000.00

Opened in 1962, Glen Eagle Golf Club is celebrating their 50th season. The track is a 27 hole Rene Muylaert design located just north of Bolton.

FIFTEEITUP.

◄ ATTENTION JUNIOR GIRLS

Carla Munch-Miranda of the cambridge golf club is putting together a special program for junior girls ...

“We know from many studies that girls really benefit from an all-female environment, especially when testing their abilities / limits to try new things. We also know that girls who are physically active feel better about themselves. If they want to stay positive and try challenging, fun things the Girls’ Club is the way to do it.” - Carla GolfScene TM

Tarandowah Golfer’s Club has built a solid reputation as an authentic links style layout. Those who have played there know how quickly playing conditions can change and now their website has an online widget (The Links Factor) that displays the current conditions and difficulty rating for the day.

Victoria Park Valley Golf Club is a new executive course located at the corner of Victoria Road and Maltby Road.

The course features shorter holes - each nine sports a par of 31 and measures around 2,000 yards. Ideal for juniors, seniors and those taking up the game.

THE BACK SHOP The place for all of that extra stuff you just may need on or before that next round. And maybe even a few things you didn’t know you needed.

STRESS LESS, PLAY BETTER

TAYLORMADE FOR HOCKEY THE CROSSOVER is an es-

WANT TO SHAVE A FEW STROKES off of that game? A therapeutic massage can improve your performance on the course by allowing greater freedom of movement and a better swing. The massage therapist needs to focus on the hips and thoracic spine of the golfer. Hips become stiff by the nature of most sitting professions and the golf swing itself exerts a great deal of stress on the muscles of the spine. So massage the kinks out of your body and your swing by incorporating regular massage therapy into your golf season and watch the strokes disappear.

sential part to skating.

Just as hockey is an esential part of Canadian life. CCM, in collaboration with TaylorMade (a couple of companies who know a thing or two about innovation) are bringing a new composite stick to the market that uses much of the same technology that goes into making the golf ball travel farther. Stick is expected to be on the racks late June. And unlike golf it should be a whole lot easier to find one in a left. www.CCMHOCKEY.com

www.ALLEGRASPA.com

EVEN MORE MOBILITY GOLFSHOT provides true Golf GPS for the iPhone 4, 3G-S, 3G, iPad 3G, and Android devices.

• Quick & Accurate distances - Greens / Bunkers / Water / Layups / Out-of-bounds • Track the distance of any shot!

• View aerials for courses with Google imagery • Use TouchPoint Positioning to view the distance to any point and from that point to the green • Over 37,000 courses ready to play • Keep scores & statistics www.GOLFSHOT.com

OPINION: TALKING IN YOUR BACKSWING

Every now and again, however, there’s a kid who is a non-conformist.

The most memorable shot of Bubba Watson’s career, at least to this point, came out of the woods, which is something we can all relate to, even if the draw Watson put on it to set up his 2012 Masters victory isn’t something quite so familiar to the masses.

“I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head and somehow, I’m here talking to you with a green jacket on,” said Watson in the self-deprecating manner that has endeared him to the regular Bubbas or Bubbettes who watched his fireworks.

Bubba Golf is fun stuff. The grip-it-andrip-it style that he used to put him into the woods before successfully extricating himself from the timber captured the imaginations of those who itch to use their drivers as often as they can, just like he does with his pink Ping G20.

Just as magnetic for some was his emotional response to what he’d just accomplished, what it meant to his family and how he couldn’t wait to get home to see his bouncing, baby Bubba, make that Caleb, who is on the first tee of life with the Watsons.

In the hours shortly afterwards, many of the postings I saw on Facebook about Bubba’s win were from women touched by the reaction of a guy who makes golf an important aspect, but not the priority in his life.

“The thing is, golf is not my everything,” said Watson after his win.

“If I would have lost today, I’m not going to go home and pout. I’m going to think about the great times I had, the chance I had to win,” he said.

“I won. I get to go home and think about that, but tomorrow, there’s going to be a new tournament and y’all are going to are going to write about other people. Y’all are going to forget about me tomorrow, you know what I’m saying? I’m going to keep living my life,” he said There’s just something about a Georgia Bulldog named Bubba who says “Y’all” winning at Augusta that seems right.

As much as he’s correct about time marching on and new winners stepping to the plate, golf would be wise not to forget

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Bubba, both his style and the message he conveyed at the Masters.

“Golf is boring,” Watson told CNN’s Piers Morgan, who asked him shortly after the Masters, about what he was thinking when he did the infamous “Golf Boys” video with Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane to inject some spice into a game that takes so long to play.

While that statement may shock a few other golf boys, give Bubba and friends credit for doing something a little off-thewall to change that boring image. He’s embraced by golf fans because his life isn’t much different than their own, if you exclude his fame and fortune after the Masters.

Just like Bubba, we’ve got the rest of our lives to lead too, through family or career, so golf is meant to be an escape from work or a way to spend time with our own families and friends, part of our lives, perhaps even a big part, even if it can’t possibly be our priority.

Bubba Fun is the motivation to make golf a life enhancement. Yet, so caught up in rules, regulations and the way things should be done that the fun is too often overshadowed by the arbitrary nature of golf ’s overlords that creates that aura of exclusivity and stiffness that dogs it.

Perception is reality and the efforts to lose that image have as much weight as Augusta National chairman Billy Payne saying his club is helping to grow the game, but refusing to even discuss when a woman will be accepted as a member at Augusta.

For me personally, there are plenty of much more pressing women’s/social issues than a female CEO of IBM getting into an exclusive club in this day and age, but the message it sends to the important female

GolfScene TM

Ian Hutchinson demographic, if the game is to grow, is that you’re not welcome.

That may not the message that many golf operations want to send, but it’s one that rang loudly through Payne’s silence. Over the years, that same message has been sent or implied to junior players, which explains why golf is lacking in the 25-44 age group now.

Golf shoots itself in the foot with messages such as this for people who believe the fashion police are behind every tree to bust them for an untucked shirt or cargo shorts, or that the rules police may pull them over on the fairway for using a foot wedge, even if it’s a recreational round.

Golf has failed to differentiate between the players who play strictly for fun, and competitive players such as Bubba, who just has fun playing competitive golf at the highest level.

There is a difference, but recently, the governing bodies of the game dug in their heels again on equipment rules, saying it’s in the game’s best interests to have the masses who have trouble breaking 90 abide by the same equipment standards for top guns, such as Bubba Fun so often seems like the F-word in golf and the approach towards it by golf ’s power brokers is similar to the infamous line many kids heard from their parents: “You’ll do as you’re told and you’ll like it!”

Every now and again, however, there’s a kid who is a non-conformist. While he played within the rules of the game, Bubba also played by his own rules. In doing so, he managed to reveal the secret in front of the masses that golf can be fun and entertaining.

There will be times when Bubba blows up and there will surely be other major champions to come, but the message he delivered is priceless for golf, even if the game’s decision-makers don’t know it.

If they do get it, the interesting part is will they learn from it, or choose to use it in the game’s best interests?

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