TOP STORIES 16.
38.
Helping To Make Golf A Game For Everyone
Making The New Female Player Stick
18. Water Buffalo - Alberta Corrections Officer
TaylorMade Golf Company Announces TP Patina Putter Collection
22.
46
The 2019 Buying Show Is Headed To Calgary
28. Video: SCGA Rules Crew: Penalty Areas "Old Habits Die Hard"
42. Alberta & BC Dominate At PGA Nat Champ
32
Alberta Golf Is Thinking Outside The Box To Grow The Game
34
Tee it Forward and Have More Fun
36
Estimated $15-20m Hit Comin
40
Helijet & Nanaimo GC Team Up For 1 Day Getaways
Video: SCGA Rules Crew: Rule 18.2a Time For Search
43
Taking A Lot More Kids To The Course
Alberta & BC Dominate At PGA Nat Champ
44
European Tour Introduces 4-point Plan To Tackle Slow Play
Cont ent s aug 2019 08
Inside This Issue
10
Image Of The Month
12
Gender Equality In Golf
14
20
24
Fort McMurray Well Worth The Trip
26
Common Tips
30
Ledgeview Still Waiting For New Clubhouse 3 Years Later
46
47
TaylorMade Golf Company Announces TP Patina Putter Collection Parting shot
FROM THE
EDITOR'S
DESK
BY BRYA N O UTRA M
In si de t h i s Issue
BRYAN OUTRAM Edit or
The phrase 'Growing the Game' has been heard an awful lot around golf circles in the past couple of years, and as such, Inside Golf has made a point of bringing some focused articles on the topic to our readers.
where a great update on the initiative of 'adaptive golf' by Brad Ziemer focuses on the day held at Vancouver's Langara GC as part of the global Golf and Health Week which took place earlier this year.
In this edition of Inside Golf's eMag, we continue with our series of articles that act as follow-ups to the survey presented earlier this summer on the subject of gender equality in golf.
Of course once people are in the game it only stands to reason that they continue to enjoy it...and for as long as possible. To that end the USGA's Larry Gilhuly has a wonderful idea on how to assist with that and you can read about his 'new passion' in the Tee it Forward And Have More Fun article found on page 34.
You can see the first of these follow-up articles on page 12. There's also a great piece on page 16 about what could be done to help those new female players in the game 'stick' with it. In keeping with the theme of introducing people of all ages and areas of life to golf, there are some really interesting articles to be found on page 20 about getting kids out to the course, on page 32 looking at how Alberta Golf is being innovative in their efforts to 'grow the game' and on page 38 PG 8 | AUG 2019
And be sure to check out the entertaining 'Rules Crew' videos on page 28, - Penalty Areas (Old Habits Die Hard) and on page 40 'Time Search' - How long is too long under the new rules? We also have an informative instruction piece that clears up some common misconceptions often encountered when receiving friendly golf 'tips' - see page 26.
THE
IMAGE CREDIT: GOLF CANADA
TOP
IMAGE
Put Me In Coach, I'm Ready To Play
BC's Michelle Liu is seen here with her coach Rob Houlding preparing for the CP Women's Open in Aurora, Ontario. The 12-year old Liu is the youngest golfer to play in the 47-year history of Canada?s national women?s championship. PG 10 | AUG 2019
If men are thinking their home course or club is gender neutral, they may want to ask some women members what they think. That's what Inside Golf did in the month leading up to Women's Golf Day in early June. In partnership with British Columbia Golf, iG conducted a survey on gender equality issues in golf. More than 1700 golfers took the survey and women were clearly engaged. While making up less than 25% of golfers, they accounted for 45% of responses. The picture that emerged showed at the least there is a disconnect between the genders' perceptions.
PG 12 | AUG 2019
GENDER EQUALITY
In Golf More than one-in-three women (36%) see their "home" club or course as not being gender neutral while for men it is only one-in-eight (13%). One-in-four men (23%) think there is no gender discrimination in golf whatsoever as compared to only around one-in-twenty women (6%).
GOLFING A MILE IN THEIR SHOES
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Want to find out how poorly your course may be laid out for women? Try playing the forward teesusing only the clubsthat you hit 130 yardsor less(e.g. 9-iron for tee shotsand PW through 60?wedge for all shotsthereafter). Thiswill give you some understanding of what golf islike for a woman, what penal partsof the course that you likely have never seen before all of sudden come into play. Any forced carry of more than 130 yards must be played around or laid up. Bunkersthat are 260 yards off a tee now are right in the landing area of your second shot! And remember, you are hitting short ironsover which you have much greater directional and distance control. If you really want to test thisout, do thisusing your driver and three-wood for all shots over 130 yards but swing at a slower speed where the ball only goesthat distance. Good luck.
PG 13 | AUG 2019
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IMAGES CREDIT: NANAIMO GC/ HELIJET
Vancouv er
isl and
BY BRA D ZIEM ER, BRITISH CO LUM BIA GO LF
The Nanaimo Golf Club Is A Hidden Gem Designed By AV Macan And Will Celebrate Its 100th Birthday Next Year
Helijet &The Nanaimo Golf Club Team Up For One Day Golf Getaways My day began at Helijet?s Vancouver Harbour terminal, where I boarded the 8:40 a.m. flight to Nanaimo. Did I mention the sun was shining? As luck would have it, it was one of those picture-postcard kind of days when we West Coasters really appreciate where we live. I told my wife it was going to be a tough day at the office, but she wasn?t buying it. She knew I was golfing. Again. And she knew this little one-day golf getaway was going to be different from all of the others.
The views were outstanding as our chopper flew low over the Lions Gate Bridge and out over the Strait of Georgia. Not even a couple of double-bogeys were going to spoil this day.
After all, I was travelling in style.
Click to Read the Full Story
PG 14 | AUG 2019
gr owing t heGame
gender equal it y
in Gol f
BY JEFF SUTH ERLA N D IN SID E GO LF
Making The New Female Player "Stick" Women are half the population but make up just one-in-four golfers. They comprise a third of new golfers but this same group is the most likely to quickly leave the game. And neither of these numbers has really changed over the past 40 plus years. From the demise of male-only clubs to the rise of equal access to tee times, in our #metoo and gender-equality conscious society, the question is why? ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? In a recent survey of occasional and new to the game women golfers conducted by Inside Golf, seven out of 10 respondents said they were more interested in PG 16 | AUG 2019
having fun over playing well or even connecting with their fellow players. But what makes golf fun? Class "A" Professional Ashley Zibrik, who was recently appointed as Head Professional & Director of Golf at Shaughnessy G&CC in Vancouver, sees it as making golf a social experience. "I believe the key to attracting more women to golf is to make their experience as social as possible. (The) golf almost needs to be second to the social experience." Being new to golf also means you are learning and, if fun is key, then learning should be enjoyable. One woman who very much gets CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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this is Lisa ?Longball?Vlooswyk. The Calgary-based long drive champion and keynote speaker also hosts some of the country's most popular women-only golf schools. "The instruction needs to be simple but effective with an emphasis on enjoyment", says Vlooswyk.
clearly feeling more confident/comfortable on the course. In our survey, it was the #1 response when asked 'What might encourage you to play more golf?'
Put another way, feeling comfortable is not feeling intimidated and it's easy to underestimate the effect that "I would like to get rid of even just teeing it up can have on scorecards for new golfers and change it to one of three symbols. a beginner (which we all were at A happy face if the player thought some point). Add in feeling pressured to play quickly and you it was a good hole, a non-emotional face for an ok hole are getting as far as one can get and a sad face for a crumby hole... from having a good time. I want to see new golfers teeing it One survey respondent summed up in the fairway to help them get it up this way, "It takes a big their ball in the air and get decent attitude and personality to bear the potential judgments. I think distance. Is that following the rules of golf?No, but these golfers I'm more concerned with slowing male golfers down and get do not need an official handicap yet as they are not competing. By super-pressured with the pace of teeing it up in the fairway, golfers play. I'm playing in a foursome at a public course with two people experience more successes and the game is more enjoyable, which who paid for a round and didn't ask to play with me - I feel bad will keep more new golfers from that we are paying the same quitting. As their skills become more solid they can take away the amount, yet they have to deal with a beginner." tee and start keeping score." FEELING COMFORTABLE Core to fun for new golfers is PG 17 | AUG 2019
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Fr inge BY PRESS RELEA SE
Water Buffalo Running Loose On Sir Nick?s Vietnam Course At Sir Nick Faldo's signature design, Laguna Golf Lang CĂ™ located in Hue, Vietnam, it is not the traditional sheep that aid in greenskeeping, it is water buffalos. A bovine threesome act as bio-mowers helping to manage rice fields that located in the middle of the golf course by eating excess weeds and crops in an area that would otherwise require machinery and manpower to maintain. The rice paddies are not just for show. Harvested twice a year, PG 18 | AUG 2019
they yield up to 20 tons of rice that are used to support the Club's organic farm and are also donated to families and seniors in the area. Faldo, said, ?We knew that having the holes weave through the rice fields would be a unique and memorable experience for golfers. And there would be potential to give back to the community in a sustainable and regenerative fashion." For more information, visit lagunagolf.com
news about
gr owing t he
game BY BRA D ZIEM ER/ IG
Taking A lot More Kids TO The Course The 17th annual Take a Kid to the Course Week ran July 2-9 and once again the list of participating courses has grown and so has the number of kids taking advantage of the free golf offer. The promotion, which allows a child under the age of 16 a free round of golf with an adult who pays a green fee, is sponsored by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada. ?It is absolutely one of our most important grow-the-game initiatives,? says Erica Beck, regional director of NGCOA Canada?s British Columbia and Alberta PG 20 | AUG 2019
chapters. ?We have been doing it for 17 years and every year it just keeps growing and growing. ?And there has been a huge uptick in sponsorship for the program the last few years, so it is something we are definitely hoping to keep going for many years to come.?
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ThePga of
al ber t a
The 2019 Buying Show will be heading to CALGARY! The PGA of Alberta is proud to present the largest Buying Show in Canada each year. The purpose of this show is to bring Golf Professionals and Equipment Manufacturers together in order to prepare their inventories for the following season. We are very excited to announce that the PGA of Alberta Buying Show will be heading South in 2019 to the BMO Centre in Calgary, Alberta. The dates of this years Buying Show will be Oct ober 22-24, 2019, one week after the Thanksgiving holiday. The BMO Centre is the largest convention centre in Calgary and is a world-class facility PG 22 | AUG 2019
located in the heart of the city. By moving the Show to this venue located on the Stampede Grounds, attendees will have better access to hotels, transportation, restaurants, entertainment, etc., all within walking distance from the venue, helping make for a better overall experience.
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Fort McMurray isn?t really all that far away and what you find when you arrive in this northern Alberta community is way more than enough to make the journey worth your while. Once seen as remote, this community of 65,000 plus another 40,000 or so in the surrounding area, is easily accessible by land or air. Now well on the road to recovery after the devastating fires of 2016 that forced the evacuation of nearly 90,000 people from Fort McMurray PG 24 | AUG 2019
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proper, there is lots to see, and do, for visitors to this friendly, clean community. Topping the list, are three golf courses that are distinctly different from one another. The oldest of the group is the Fort McMurray Golf & Country Club, a tight, tree-lined layout featuring 27 holes. This course was a strong enough layout to host the PGA CANADA/Mackenzie Tour?s Boreal Open for several years. It?s followed off the tee by the Miskanaw GC, which sits on MacDonald Island Park in the heart of the city and features player-friendly fairways. The baby of the trio, Rotary Links, came on-stream just after the fire and features a unique, and fun, links style of play. As for the granddaddy, Fort McMurray Golf Club, new General Manager Dave Callum said theclub has rebounded well after the 2016 blaze destroyed their maintenance shed, clubhouse, and many of the old growth trees that made this layout so intimidating. Asked how the club has rebounded from those PG 25 | AUG 2019
terrible times, Callum said, ?The best answer is that we are back to the business of golf. It was tough on the people here not having these amenities, so we want to get back to the customer service we had.?And with the launch of their new multi-million dollar clubhouse this year, they?re well on their way toward that end. Interestingly enough, plans were already on the books to expand the old clubhouse in the beautiful Athabasca River valley when the firestorm struck. Those renovation plans were scrapped and new ones drawn up to build the amazing facility that now blends in nicely with the landscape. In fact, the boreal forest area is filling back in quickly where it was burned as the undergrowth is thick and healthy, returning the once-charred areas back to their vibrant shades of green. Click to Read the Full Story
Golf tipscan be so easily misunderstood because they may not be applicable to the person reading, listening or watching them. Here are a few common misconceptions that may have hurt your golf swing... #1 DON?T SW ING LIKE A BASEBALL BAT! All of my golf lessons start with
PG 26 | AUG 2019
me trying to get an understanding of what activities the student has been involved in. I love the lessons when I get a baseball player who has been told she/he shouldn?t swing a golf club like a baseball bat. Often these individuals are trying to take the golf club straight back and straight through on the imaginary target line through the ball, this completely ruins the golf swing.
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I will tell these students to set the golf club parallel to the ground as if they were going to take a swing with a baseball bat, then I ask them to take a swing by following the imaginary line straight back and straight through. It usually takes about one of these swings and this short explanation for these athletes to loathe whoever told him/her not to swing it like a baseball bat. Swing the club with the freedom of a baseball swing; now gradually begin to angle the club down toward the ground by changing your spine angle bending at the waist until you are swinging where the ball will be? . just think of it as being a low pitch. The baseball swinger needs to learn to change their swing plane by changing their posture at the start and maintain this golf posture during the swing. The common mistake is to stand up in the backswing (figure 2) causing the club to follow an outside in path. Your starting posture requires a PG 27 | AUG 2019
bend at the waist with a straight spine angle (figure 1). Your goal is to maintain this spine angle from the start to the top of the backswing and through impact. These are very gratifying lessons to give because the results are immediate. #2 KEEP YOUR HEAD STILL. This can be a very good tip if you understand what it is you are trying to perform. However, most golfers restrict their athletic movement and their natural ability to restrict the movement of their head by keeping too still. The point to be taken from this old adage is to minimize the up and down movement in your backswing and through the impact zone. Learn to swing without the up
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Penalty Areas "Old Habits Die Hard"
r ul es v ideo
SCGA Rules Crew:
penal t y
ar eas CO URTESY SCGA
Old habits do die hard, and when the powers that be renamed 'hazards' as 'penalty areas' and what we can do in there - legally some of us are still confused. Fortunately the SCGA Rules Crew is here to help us once again. PG 28 | AUG 2019
f ol l owing up
IMAGE COURTESY: FILE PHOTO
Af t er t he
f ir e
BY BRA D ZIEM ER, BRITISH CO LUM BIA GO LF
The Devastating Fire That Destoyed The Clubhouse At Ledgeview Golf Club In Abbotsford In April Of 2016. The Club Has Yet To Find Out What Sort Of Replacement Will Be Built
BC Mid-Am Host Ledgeview Still Waiting For Its New Clubhouse Three Years After Fire The leader in the clubhouse at the B.C. Men?s & Women?s Mid-Amateur Championship at Ledgeview Golf Club is. . .wait, there is no clubhouse. And that?s a shame. PG 30 | AUG 2019
It has been more than three years since fire destroyed the clubhouse at Ledgeview. In its place sits a large tent. Next to it are a couple of portable washrooms. The pro shop and CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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restaurant are operated out of trailers at the opposite end of the parking lot. The golf course, meanwhile, is in absolute pristine condition. ?The condition of this course is as good as I have played on this year,?said former B.C. Amateur Champion Sandy Harper of Nanaimo, one of the competitors at the Mid-Am. ?It?s just amazing how good the fairways are.? The reason why the City of Abbotsford, which owns the land and what was the clubhouse, has stalled on a replacement is something of a mystery. Ledgeview is highly regarded in British Columbia golfing circles and has produced a number of top-caliber players, including the likes of PGA TOUR winners Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, as well as former amateur sensation James Lepp and former PGA TOUR member Ray St ewart . Kelowna?s Norm Bradley, another of the competitors at the tournament, was a member PG 31 | AUG 2019
of Ledgeview back in the 1980s and early 1990s. He, like so many others, can?t understand why the City of Abbotsford is not looking after a course he considers something of a civic treasure. ?I think this is one of the best golf courses in B.C,? Bradley said. ?It is one of the most challenging courses in B.C. It has the best set of par 3s, it is really demanding off the tee. The greens are very challenging. They can drive you crazy. . .The golf course is tremendous.? Bradley and others think it is a shame that Ledgeview is being forced to operate out of make-shift facilities. ?I think someone needs to go shake their heads on city council and say, ?listen, we have a great golf course here, we need to take care of it and we need to do whatever we need to do and bring the outside of the golf course back to where the actual course is at.?This place is gold. . .I do think saner heads will prevail and they?ll do it right.? Click to Read the Full Story
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Al ber t a
gol f PRESS RELEA SE
Alberta Golf Is Thinking Outside The Box To Grow The Game
2019 has seen the people at the province's amateur organization implementing some very innovative ideas. It was at River Bend Golf and Recreation Area in late May during their annual Spring Launch that Alberta Golf announced an impressive list of new initiatives. As well as continuing to put on the competitive championships, it is clear much of the future focus of the Association will be on junior golfers and families. From the Rec Series (see story on page 8) to the Youth On Course program to
PG 32 | AUG 2019
community-based Golf Festivals, it's clear Alberta Golf is on the move. Phil Berube is the Executive Director of the association and intends this to meet the needs of the vast majority of their members - and potential members - a bottom-up approach that something that's been in their planning for the
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past four years. Says Berube, "We've been looking expressly for ways to serve and provide support for the other 98% of golfers (those who don't play competition at an elite level). That is kind of how we landed on recreational golf and junior golf... So, the idea is, 'Let's fill the bottom of the pyramid and get people into the game'." The idea with the new initiatives is to test new them and see which ones work. THE YOUTH ON COURSE PROGRAM This concept got its start in Northern California nearly a decade ago and has since expanded to more than 1100 courses across 41 states. Basically, juniors aged 6-18, who become members with a unique I.D. number, get to play courses for only $5 a round. The rounds are subsidized so the course is not losing any revenue. The course simply posts the player's I.D. to the PG 33 | AUG 2019
program's and gets a monthly cheque for all rounds submitted. Golf Alberta became aware of the program and went to Golf Canada to see what they thought about it. It turned out that Golf Canada had already been in conversation with the U.S. Youth On Course administrators who coincidentally had been already be thinking about expanding into Canada. Click to Read the Full Story
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IMAGE COURTESY: BRITISH COLUMBIA GOLF
t he2019
bcg agm
BY BRA D ZIEM ER, BRITISH CO LUM BIA GO LF
Tee It Forward And Have More Fun
In Larry Gilhuly?s opinion, the three biggest issues facing the game of golf are pace of play, player enjoyment and economic sustainability. Gilhuly likes to think he has the solution for all three. ?The answer for all of these, in my opinion, are properly placed forward tees,?Gilhuly told the Annual General Meeting of PG 20 | AUG 2019
British Columbia Golf at Tsawwassen Springs Golf Club.
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THE
IMAGES COURTESY: W CTA
indust r y
br ief
BY JERRY RO USSEAU
Estimated $15-20m Hit To BC Golf Industry If WorkSafe Implements Proposed New Golf Cart Rules
Last October, WorkSafeBC (somewhat silently) proposed amendments to Part 16 of the worker safety regulation, 'Mobile Equipment' that would make roll-over protection and seat belts PG 36 | AUG 2019
mandatory on golf carts. Based on preliminary estimates of $1,500 t o $2,000 for upgrades to each cart and an average of 60-75 golf carts per 18-hole golf course, cost could easily range from CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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$90,000 to $150,000 per course with the total expense to the BC Golf Industry estimated between $15m and $20m! Previously, golf carts were exempt from needing roll-bars and seatbelts. Proposed changes apply to work carts and beverage carts, marshal carts and even carts driven by a golf professional during a lesson. All employees operating a golf cart at any time during work are protected by the proposed new rules and there may be other scenarios where new rules would apply, ie. a golf pro or other staff employed at Golf Course A playing golf at Course B. A far greater concern however, is Worksafe?s determination that non-golf course workers are captured under this provision. Specifically, employees playing in a corporate or charity event are considered PG 37 | AUG 2019
workers under this policy and the rules would apply. This bears repeating / restating. If your golf course?s business model includes corporate and/or charity events, patrons playing in the event are considered to be working. If operating golf carts, those carts will require seatbelts and roll-bars (if the new rules pass). The amendment process is in the final stages of public hearings. I attended a hearing in Kamloops on April 30th, finding myself surrounded by loggers, construction contractors and road builders, all potentially negatively affected by proposed
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Adapt iv e gOLF
A Game f or
l if e BY BRA D ZIEM ER, BRITISH CO LUM BIA GO LF
Helping To Make Golf A Game For
Everyone
Tanelle Bolt DemonstratesHow She Is Able To Continue Playing Golf, A Game She Grew Up With, Using A 'Para-Golfer' During The Golf & Health Week Adaptive Golf Day At Langara GC
IMAGE COURTESY: BRAD ZIEMER
Golf has always been a big part of Tanelle Bolt ?s life. Her dad, Michael, was the longtime superintendent and assistant superintendent of Lethbridge Country Club, where Tanelle played junior golf and later worked on the grounds crew with her father. She loved the game and 15 years later nothing has changed, although there have been some very significant changes in Bolt?s life. PG 38 | AUG 2019
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Nearly five years ago -- on Aug. 10, 2014 -- Bolt suffered a life-changing injury after free-jumping off a bridge in Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. She fractured her T6 vertebrae and was left paralyzed from her chest down. Bolt, now 32, was determined that her disability would not prevent her from enjoying her life-long love of the outdoors. And that included golf. She?s back on the course, with the help of a 'para golfer' -- a sports wheelchair that allows Bolt to stand and swing her clubs. A game she feared she had lost after her accident is again a part of her life. ?This is not a new world for me,?Bolt said during a recent round at Langara Golf Course in Vancouver. ?It?s an old world that I had lost. Golf gives me the ability to be outside enjoying fresh air with friends and family. It is just such a calming experience to be on a golf course in the middle of the city. There are not a lot of places like this.? PG 39 | AUG 2019
Bolt was at Langara as part of the inaugural Golf & Health Week, an annual event supported by golf federations worldwide and designed to publicize the health benefits of golf. The session at Langara, organized by British Columbia Golf Chief Executive Officer Kris Jonasson, was focussed on adaptive golf and golfing with disabilities. Bolt is part of an adaptive golf committee formed by Jonasson to advise the association. The goal is to make courses more open to people with disabilities, who can benefit from time on the course. Bolt?s return to the course became possible after she travelled to California and acquired a sports wheelchair that allowed her to
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Rule 18.2a ?Time for Search?
r ul es v ideo
SCGA Rules Crew: how l ong is
t oo l ong CO URTESY SCGA
Anyone who's potentially lost a golf ball would like enough time to find it. The rules used to allow 5 minutes to search for a lost ball. Which doesn't seem like a long time...unless you're in the group behind the ones searching for the ball. Effective this year the amount of time allotted to search for a lost ball has changed. In this video the SCGA Rules Crew explains the new rules regarding time for search outlined in Rule 18.2a. PG 40 | AUG 2019
news f r om
t hepga of
canada
BY GO RD M O N TGO M ERY / IG
ALBERTA AND B.C. DOMINATE AT PGA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Cheam Mountain Golf Course were the top seeds with University Golf Club's Oliver Tubb the #3, Seymour Creek Golf Centre's Bryn Parry #8 and Mark Bicknell from Victoria Golf Club #12. Alberta was also well represented with After 36 holes of stroke play, Wes Heffernan from the the top 16 players from 72 Dynamic Motion Golf qualifiers advanced to match Performance Centre and play with the winner earning Dustin Risdon (The Players $10,000. Shack / Harvest Hills Golf Going into the match play Centre) being seeded #6. Kent portion, BCer's Jim Rutledge of Fukushima from Redwood Victoria and Kevin Stinson from Meadows Golf & CC was #12. Eleven British Columbians and Five Albertans were in the field for the 98th playing of the PGA Championship of Canada at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ontario in late June.
PG 42 | AUG 2019
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In the match of the tournament, Tubb defeated the PGA of Canada?s No. 1-ranked player Marc-Etienne Bussieres in 21-holes in the round of eight. By the time they played down to the semis, it was clear it was going to be an all western Friday at the PGA Championship of Canada presented by TaylorMade & adidas Golf. In the morning matches, Parry would square off against his good friend and fellow B.C. resident Oliver Tubb on one side of the bracket. The other side of the bracket would feature a pair of Alberta boys? Wes Heffernan and Dustin Risdon.
?I?ve never actually played Dustin in match play, but we?ve played together so many times over the years? WES HEFFERNAN ON PLAYING RISDON INTHE SEMIS
Tubb continued his hot play besting Parry 1-up while Risdon took out Heffernan in a match equally as close.
In the afternoon, Tubb, playing in his second PGA of Canada Championship final, threw Said Heffernan before the match, everything he had at the ?I?ve never actually played Dustin 38-year-old from The Players in match play, but we?ve played Shack in Alberta but Risdon together so many times over the didn?t waver in his ultimate goal years,?Heffernan said. ?Our games are completely different? Dustin has a great short game and mine isn?t such CLICK a strength. Where as, I?m pretty H ERE TO long off the tee and Dustin is definitely shorter and more precise.? When the dust settled, Oliver PG 43 | AUG 2019
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cor ner ing
TheSl ow
pl ay sl ot h BY TH E A SSO CIATED PRESS
European Tour Introduces 4-point Plan To Tackle Slow Play The European Tour has announced a four-point plan to crack down on slow play in golf. Starting in the 2020 season, players will be handed a one-shot penalty if they breach time allowances twice in a round. The tour says there will be ?significantly increased fines?for players who are on the clock. Players will have to pass an interactive test on pace-of-play rules as part of their conditions of membership. A pace-of-play timing system will be tested at next month?s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the European Tour?s flagship event, including on-tee displays showing players their PG 44 | AUG 2019
position in relation to the group in front. Field sizes at events also will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144 to give referees better space to monitor groups over the first two rounds. Larger starting intervals will be built into play on weekend rounds to create a better flow between groups. The plan was announced on Monday. Canadian Keith Pelley, the tour?s chief executive, says the new proposals, ?Will bring about meaningful change that will make golf even more enjoyable for the players and our fans.?
news f r om
t hewor l d of
equipment V IA PRESS RELEA SE
TaylorMade Golf Company
Announces TP Patina Putter Collection TaylorMade Golf Company announced the anticipated release of the TP Patina Putter Collection, featuring a refined aesthetic paired with unparalleled craftsmanship. Comprised of seven distinct
models, the TP Patina Putter Collection is a modern take on a classic design, built with TaylorMade?s patented, Tour-proven Pure Roll insert. All in, TP Patina is a look from the past that plays like the future.
SOTO The Soto provides a smooth appearance at address with 47° of toe hang and a full shaft offset. PG 46 | AUG 2019
Click to Read the Full Story
THE
PARTING
SHOT
IMAGE CREDIT: DAVID JACKSON/ COC
Bronze, but still a 1st for Canada
The Canadian golf team of L-R: Austin Connelly, Brigitte Thibault, Mary Parsons and Joey Savoie picked up a Bronze Medal in the Mixed Team event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, Canada's first medal in golf in the Pan Am Games. It was the 2nd time golf was played in the Pan Am Games after making itsdebut at the 2015 Games in Toronto . PG 47 | AUG 2019
THIS IS THE
ENDOFTHE MAGAZINE Remaining Pages Are Cont inuat ions Of Art icles St art ed Previously In The Magazine.
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amendments to the regulation. A common theme ? engineering and manufacturing heavy equipment to the standards proposed by Worksafe isn?t possible due to material physics limitations. In other
words, equipment made to meet the new standards would be too heavy to operate. Also, concern was expressed over ambiguity of the proposed amendments that would leave interpretation up to individual WorkSafe officers.
Any questions? I thought proposed WorksafeBC regulations for golf carts apply just to golf course workers, right? Wrong. Anyone who can accessthe compensation system is protected by the regulation. Thiscapturesanyone being paid that is on your site and even volunteers. They can also be from out-of-province. Are there any exceptions? Yes. If a Qualified Person (QP) performsa site assessment and determinesthere isno significant risk of roll-over, then ROPSwill not be required. No significant hazard of rollover means?an area in which there are no gradesexceeding 10%, no operating areaswith open edges, no open ramps, loading docks, ditchesor other similar hazardswhich might cause a rollover.? | AUG 2019
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What isa Qualified Person? Defined in Part 1 of regulation: "qualified" meansbeing knowledgeable of the work, the hazards involved and the meansto control the hazards, by reason of education, training, experience or a combination thereof; Tim McCarthy, Senior Policy Analyst for WorksafeBC saysthiscan be a local expert meaning a golf professional, superintendent or perhaps the course architect. Food for thought - If roll barsare required on golf cartsto protect workers, including non-golf course employeesplaying in a corporate golf event, this could mean fire extinguishers, hard hatsand adequate training and supervision would also be required but it doesn?t appear WCB will go that far, at least not yet. - Certainly, beverage cartswill be required to have ROPSunder the new regulations. - If a person playing golf at a corporate event isbeing paid to do so and therefore considered by WorksafeBC to be a worker, how does that affect consumption of alcohol supplied by the golf course?
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Tanelle Bolt Putts Under The Watchful Eye Of Jayson ?Nitro? Rite, Who HasOver 35 YearsCoaching Experience Including Working With Blind & Disabled Golfers
strap herself in and be raised to a standing position. Bolt said the time she spends on the golf course greatly benefits her. ?Especially for me with paralysis, golf has a lot to do with circulation and bone density and the health of your overall body,?she said. ?The human body is not meant to sit in a chair all day, every day. This helps your blood circulation, your skin. We suffer from | AUG 2019
shearing (of the skin) and pressure ulcers, so using the para-golfer to be out on the golf course is good for your overall health. ?Golf & Health Week is huge for me to see because my dad was a superintendent, so I grew up on a course that had just started allowing women to golf in the 70s. It is very neat to come back as a disabled golfer and start to see the changes happening in CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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the game.? Since her accident, Bolt has become an advocate for disabled outdoors enthusiasts like herself. She started a company, the Rad Recreation Society, that provides an inventory of adapted outdoor recreation
equipment for low-cost rental fees. ?I never anticipated getting up in a unit like this,?said Bolt, who now lives in the Invermere area in the east Kootenays. ?This para-golfer is such a cool device because it doesn?t just allow me to golf, it allows me to weight train in a vertical position, it
Canadian Amputee Golf Senior National Champion Johannes Grames SportsAn Impressive 7-Handicap
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allows me to bowl if the bowling alley is accessible or shoot darts.? It also allows Bolt to look people directly in the eye. ?I am able to have an interview or a conversation with people where I am not having to look up at everyone. Sitting at belt-buckle height isn?t always the best thing. After my injury I just sought out anything I possibly could. It was four-and-a-half years ago that I hurt myself, so I didn?t give myself a large opportunity to be disappointed. I was too busy. It was like, 'if that is not going to happen, I'm moving on to the next one.' I just try and facilitate as much outdoor recreation with a disability as I can.? Bolt was joined at Langara by two other members of British Columbia Golf?s adaptive golf committee -- former national wheelchair basketball coach Joe Higgins of Delta and Canadian champion amputee golfer Johannes Grames of Vancouver. They were joined for their round on the course by Dr. Roger | AUG 2019
Hawkes, Executive Director of Britain?s Golf & Health Project, which is supported by the World Golf Foundation. It aims to study the many and varied health and well-being benefits of golf. ?I am not the world authority on (disabled golf), but it strikes me that as someone who has enjoyed golf for 20-odd years myself that perhaps we are not quite as inclusive as we should be,?Hawkes said. ?I think we have a great opportunity to bring people with disabilities into our sport.? Hawkes and others strongly believe that a recent decision to award world golf ranking points for elite-level disabled golfers will persuade others to start playing golf. ?I think it is a big deal that there are world ranking points now,?Hawkes said. ?Suddenly at the elite end we have an opportunity to show off our best players and that hopefully will inspire the vast majority of non-elite players to come forward.? Hawkes pointed to the recent Australian Open, where 12 CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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disabled golfers joined the rest of the field at the event. ?They were not tagged on at the end (of the draw),?he said. ?They were on the same course, using same tees, spread out amongst them, and I am pleased that on the last day the leading player with a disability outscored a number of international PGA European Tour players. How many sports will ever be able to emulate that?? Higgins said golf courses can benefit by welcoming more disabled golfers to their facilities. ?When you look at it from a business perspective I can only tell you I know a lot of disabled golfers,?Higgins said. ?But the people I enjoy golfing with the most are my able-bodied friends, my wife, my kids, and that party multiplier is pretty huge.?
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Grames, an above-the-knee amputee who carries a seven-handicap, said courses must make disabled golfers feel welcome. ?There is an element of fear with disabled golf as well,? Grames said. ?I have showed up with shorts on and people fear that I am going to be way too slow or wreck the golf course.? Jonasson said British Columbia Golf is committed to making golf more accessible for disabled players. ?I have been here for 20 years and we had dabbled a little bit with adaptive golf and people with disabilities,?Jonasson said. ?We provided some funding to athletes to attend championships and have done some things with blind golf. But we hadn?t really looked at it as a big part of our operation. Now we are.?
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of etching his name on the historic P.D. Ross Trophy.
Trevino as winners of the PGA Championship of Canada.
?This is the one trophy in Canadian golf that I really wanted to win,?Risdon said after his 3&1 win. ?If you look at the names on the trophy, it?s amazing and now my name will be on there too for the rest of time.?
?I had so much determination out there and I knew I just had to keep fighting,?Risdon said. ?I didn?t have my best swing, didn?t have my best putting stroke but it all kind of came together at the end when it had to and I can?t even begin to tell you how good this feels.?
Risdon joins the likes of golf legends Arnold Palmer, Moe Norman, George Knudson, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Lanny Wadkins, Jim Rutledge, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard and Lee
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In the consolation match, past PGA Championship of Canada winner Bryn Parry winner bested Wes Heffernan 2&1.
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A couple of the keys to running almost any successful business are serving your customers well and devoting considerable time and energy into developing new ones. Golf courses are no different. Baby-boomers are into golf in a big way, but that generation is aging and it?s never been more important for golf courses to develop new players. The Take a Kid to the Course Week initiative is one way of getting children out onto the course. The hope is some of them will take up the game, perhaps enroll in a junior program at a course near their home and become players for life. The NGCOA also sees the program being something of a family day promotion. Most of the kids who come out to take advantage of the program are visiting the golf course with their parents, grandparents or other relatives. ?The kids are out of school and this is a good way for families PG 22 | AUG 2019
to get out and play together,? Beck says. ?And that is how we are encouraging it, to be a family day to get out on the course early in the summer and play as a family and hopefully encourage them to come back throughout the rest of the summer break and the rest of the year.? The Take a Kid to the Course promotion seems to be particularly popular in both B.C. and Alberta. In 2018, B.C. had 135 courses signed up for the program, while 101 courses in Alberta participated. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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Beck expects more than 700 courses across the country will be involved this year. Last year, there were 173,817 participants (a blend of juniors and adults) in the program. That?s nearly triple the 63,000 that participated in 2015. Beck credits the growth to golf courses buying into the program.?The golf courses have become much more engaged in the program,?she says ?Some golf courses run it for the first week. Some are opting to run it for the entire month of July and some right through the
| AUG 2019
summertime.? In addition to free golf, many courses offer additional programs such as junior clinics, free range balls and free junior club rentals. Participants can also register to win some great prizes. Eight full sets of junior clubs will be given away, as well as an adult TaylorMade golf package and four all-inclusive hotel packages to Cuba (airfare not included). A list of participating courses and more information on the program can be found at kidsgolffree.ca.
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Over the course of the three-day show, close to 1200 people gather from across the country and beyond for a look at what?s new and exciting in the golf industry. The Buying Show is an event restricted to Members of the PGA of Canada, Non-PGA of Canada Golf Facilities and Golf Industry Equipment Manufacturers. Exhibitor registration for the 2019 Buying Show at the BMO Centre in Calgary will open in June. If your company would like to attend the Show, please contact Quinn Logan (quinn.logan@pgaofalberta.com) to request a registration package once available.
REGISTER NOW
Click HERE for the 2019 Exhibitor Information Package Last Year?s (2018) Floor Plan and Exhibitor Booth Numbers | AUG 2019
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and down body movement many golfers have, as illustrated by the black dotted line in the three images above right. #3 HIT UNDER THE BALL. Terrible golf tip. If you?re hitting under the ball then you?re hitting the ground and the result is a fat golf shot. It is very important to understand that a well struck golf shot actually consists of the golf club hitting the ball first and then the ground, so the divot actually occurs just in front of the golf ball. If you?re telling yourself to hit behind it or to get under it, then you are accomplishing what you had asked yourself to do. Unfortunately, this doesn?t match the result you had hoped for. Understand what a proper divot should look like and work toward that goal. #4 GRIP THE CLUB TO IMPROVE YOUR SLICE. I often see golfers trying to improve their slice by rotating their right hand counterclockwise (for a right hand golfer) on their grip. It is | AUG 2019
very important to understand that when you rotate your hand counterclockwise, you?re actually promoting an open clubface which will cause a slice. This also promotes an outside-in swing because now your subconscious is trying to create a swing that comes across the target line in an effort to move the ball left, fighting the open clubface which moves the ball right. If you?re rotating your right hand counterclockwise and you?re slicing the ball, you probably have gone too far. Have a great golf season and be sure to visit your local PGA of Alberta Golf Professional to help you better understand your own personal golf swing and game. Scott Orban isa PGA of Canada Executive Professional and the Chief Operating Officer at McKenzie MeadowsGolf Club in Calgary. He can be reached at scott.orban @mckenziemeadows.com.
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For much of his 35-year career with the United States Golf Association, Gilhuly was all about agronomy. His formal title with the USGA is Agronomist, West Region. In other words, Gilhuly is an expert on growing grass. But in recent years, Gilhuly has become passionate -- very passionate -- about teeing it forward. And by forward, he means way forward. ?This topic that I am talking about has got me fired up,?Gilhuly told his audience. It was hard not to buy his argument. Gilhuly came to the AGM armed with data to back up his claim that courses are too hard, even from the current forward tees, for average female golfers and senior players. As we age, our swing speeds decline and so does the distance we hit the ball. The PG 20 43 | AUG NOV 2019 2018
average female player, Gilhuly said, has a swing speed of about 60 miles per hour. She averages about 140 yards with her driver, 120 yards with her 3-wood and about 60 yards with her wedge. That makes it impossible for that player to hit greens in regulation on the vast majority of holes from the current forward tees at most courses. ?There are a lot of golfers, males, who can reach the green in regulation with a lot of different clubs, but not the women,?Gilhuly said. ?And if they do they are hitting low-trajectory shots. ?What is happening now is that it isn?t just the women anymore. This is not a gender issue anymore. As the guys get a little older their swing speeds are slowing down and now they?re hitting those low-trajectory shots.? CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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think we all realize,?he said.
IMAGE COURTESY W IKIMEDIA COMMONS
Alexa Stirling Circa 1919. 100 Years Ago She Concluded That Golf Courses Were Set Up For Men To The Detriment Of Female Golfers This isn?t a new problem. Gilhuly showed his audience a copy of an article headlined, ?Women Handicapped By Men?s Courses.?It was written in 1917 by Alexa Stirling, a past U.S. Women?s Amateur Champion. ?This has been a problem for a lot longer than I |PG AUG 43 |2019 NOV 2018
Thankfully, golf course operators are slowly starting to get it. Gilhuly and other 'Tee it Forward' proponents have been able to convince them that in order to set up a course so it presents an equal challenge to that faced by more accomplished players playing from the regular or back tees, the forward tees need to be moved forward, on average, about 1,000 yards. ?Properly placed forward tees give all players a good experience,?Gilhuly said. ?Think about it, if you started a business from scratch and wanted to be successful, would you say 'let?s make sure in our model here that half of the population tries it once and quits.' I don?t think that is what you do. You try and encompass everybody. This is not just for female players. It is for CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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everybody.? From most current forward tees, which average in the neighbourhood of 5,200 yards, players with slower swing speeds have no chance of hitting greens in regulation on most holes. In fact, on many courses the only greens that can be reached in regulation for those players are the par 3s. ?For (average) females a par 3 should not be longer than 140 (yards), the length of a par 4 should not be over 260 and a par 5 should not be over 380,?Gilhuly said. ?There is this magic number that I find at almost every course and it?s usually between 4,000 and 4,300 yards,?he said. ?That?s it. It always seems to fall in that category. People look at me and blink. They thought the course was short enough at 5,000. No, not even close. And then you can do |PG AUG 43 |2019 NOV 2018
combinations with these new tees and the (former) forward tees. That?s the whole idea of this. It is happening. Golf courses are starting to do this.? Players who never stood a chance of making pars and birdies now have that opportunity. And Gilhuly said the game becomes fun for them again. New forward tees also prompt the stubborn older guys to move up to the former front tees. And they will make it easier for kids to begin the game. ?Forward tees are good for the game,?Gilhuly said. ?They are. They give everybody an option. Pace of play has improved when forward tees are added. All my friends who have lost their swing speed over the last 10 years are now playing what were the old forward tees.? CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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Gilhuly had another message for his audience: ?Red is dead,? he said, referring to red tees. ?I hate red colours,?he said. ?If we could just do this one thing, get rid of the red tees. It is amazing what happens. We did it at Canterwood Country Club (in Gig Harbor, Wash.) and the old guys moved up. . . if that red tee is there, they won?t move. We have got to address that issue.?Gilhuly said some courses have dropped colour-coded tees all together and started simply numbering their tees. ?Start with 1 being the forward tee
| AUG PG 43 2019 | NOV 2018
and work your way back,?he said. ?Seniors will move forward. I guarantee it. I will buy you a beer if they don?t. ?Pace of play, player enjoyment and economic sustainability all improve with forward tees,?Gilhuly said in closing. ?In my opinion this century-old mistake holds the key to our game. That?s a bold comment but it is so simple. . .if we just add these forward tees we will get more women into the game. There?s no question in my mind.?
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