NW Ontario Golfing News

JUNE 2012

US College Player Evan Littlefield Wins Inaugural Whitewater Invitational presented by Boston Pizza.

The TBDGA 2012 Tournament Calendar My Golf Game with a 6 Time PGA Tour Winner- Steve Pate Manitouwadge, Marathon, White River Golf

Fort William Country Club Offers Beautiful Setting For Golf See Page 8

The Next La Costa: Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation See Pages 6 -7

The TBDGA 2012 Tournament Calendar Note: Some of the dates or courses are subject to change 2012 Member Club and TBDGA Tournaments JUNE June 16-17 Mallon’s Play It Again Sports Better Ball Chapples Golf Course Fort William C.C. June 19 Marathon Senior Men’s Open Peninsula Golf Course June 22 Kenogamisis Mens Senior Invitational Kenogamisis Golf Course June 23 North Shore Invitational (27 holes) North Shore Golf Course June 29 Municipal 2 man Scramble Municipal Golf Course JULY June 30-July 1 The Keg District Open

Strathcona Golf Club Whitewater Golf Club July 7-8 Chapples Invitational (3 man scramble) Chapples Golf Course July 12 Steve “O” Senior Invitational Thunder Bay Country Club July 14-15 Strathcona Club Championship Strathcona Golf Club July 20 North Shore Senior 2 Man North Shore Golf Course July 21-22 Whitewater GC Club Championship Whitewater Golf Club July 28-29 Aguasabon 4 Man Masters Agusabon Golf Course July 28-29 Fort William CC Club Championship Fort William Country Club AUGUST August 3-6 Strathcona Invitational Strathcona Golf Course August 4-5 Stanley Thompson Memorial 2 Man Kenogamisis Golf Course

August 10-12 Fort William Country Club Invitational Fort William Country Club August 11-12 Marathon Men's Open Peninsula Golf Course August 11-12 Chapples Club Championship Chapples Golf Course August 18-19 The Bergstrom Kenogamisis Golf Course August 18-19 Municipal Club Championship Municipal Golf Course August 18-19 Thunder Bay CC Club Championship Thunder Bay Country Club August 23-24 TBDGA District Junior Championship TBA\ August 25-26 Centennial Club Championship Centennial Golf Course August 25-26 Aguasabon Men's Open Aguasabon Golf Course August 25-26 Dragon Hills Club Championship Dragon Hills Golf Course SEPTEMBER

Send Us Your Golf Event Results!

We’d Love To Publish Them.

You Can Also Include a Picture or Two Email to Scott Sumner nspinc@tbaytel.net www.golfingnews.ca

September 1-3 Canadian Tire District Amateur Strathcona Golf Course Chapples Golf Course Whitewater Golf Club September 1-2 Marathon Club Championship Peninsula Golf Course September 1-2 Geraldton Club Championship Kenogamisis Golf Course September 8 North Shore Two Man Best Ball North Shore Golf Course September 9 Municipal Invitational Municipal Golf Course September 8-9 Emerald Greens Club Championship Emerald Greens Golf Course September 15 District Mid Am Qualifying TBA OCTOBER October 6 Dragon Hills Open 4 Man Scramble Dragon Hills Golf Course October 7 Stokaluk Shoot-Out Municipal Golf Course The Thunder Bay District Golf Association is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating and promoting golf activities and championship tournaments with member clubs in the Thunder Bay District.

The TBDGA held is annual meeting on Sunday February 19, 2012. The new executive is as follows: President - Laurence Tulloch Vice-President - Andrew Scavarelli Secretary - Scott Adams Treasurer - Peter Campner Past President - Barry Caland Members at Large: Walter Keating Jr. Ed Atwill Curtis Hildebrandt Tony Stokaluk Matt Taylor Dustin Wilson remains as the Junior Chairman Barry Caland has stepped down after eight years as the President. Laurence Tulloch takes over as President after being acclaimed.

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JUNE 2012

www.golfingnews.ca My Golf Game with a 6 Time PGA Tour Winner- Steve Pate

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Golfing News

On a recent trip to the famed La Costa resort near San Diego,California I was looking forward to playing the recently renovated and reopened Champions course. The Champions had been host to 37 PGA Tour events over the years won by such famous golfers as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

During breakfast a nicely dressed man in Calloway garb came up to me and said, I have your clubs on the cart and am going over to the range. Little had I known I would get to play that day with 50-year- old Steve Pate, winner of 6 PGA Tours events including at this very

course and now a regular Champions Tour player. As an avid golfer and someone who watches PGA Tour events regularly on TV and in person it was going to be a fun day!

I’m not a great warm up person before golf but watching Steve Pate hit balls and practice putting to right before our tee time made me realize I might have to start. He liked practicing Steve told me and that day was tinkering with putters before gong up to the Calloway facility some 10 minutes away from La Costa tomorrow.

Just before we began play I saw a familiar face from TV walking towards usDeepak Chopra whose world headquarters are at La Costa and is where he holds many of his retreat events for people from all over the world. Deepak was friendly and it was fun to get two famous people in conversation and a picture!

Our fore some started our game with Art, another golf writer from Dallas and Ed of the PR firm based in Pebble Beach which handles La Costa. Our starter told us it would be cart path only, words I don’t like to hear having a leg injury, but this was going to be a good day anyway.

Steve Pate played on the PGA Tour from 1988 to 1999 and won his last event in 1998. Times have changed since then when his first win gave him a winning purse of $72,000 and last win around $ 270,000. “ The winner of the Valero Texas Open last week made more in prize money than all my 6 wins combined " smiled Steve Pate who now plays the Champions Tour on a regular basis and loves it. " I like the 3 day events with no cut" stated Steve Pate who has always looked at the tee shot as something you get out of the way until you go and have fun. Steve went to UCLA just up the road from La Costa for his college golf and is now partners with Damian Pascuzzo doing golf course design including the renovation of this course, Champions and the second South Course on the property soon. Before reaching the age of 50 Steve played many events and won on the Nationwide Tour to keep his game sharp.

After playing with Steve I remembered his nickname “ Volcano" because of his intensity on the course. Today Steve is much more relaxed on the Champions Tour but still enjoys the competition. He lives in the area, as he has all his life, and it seems to me his life has been a pretty good one. It will be fun to watch Steve play a full schedule on the Champions Tour this year where he has won some pretty good cheques already!

JUNE 2012

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The Next La Costa: Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Golfing News The west coast of North America is always a nice place to visit and during the last week of April I had the opportunity to travel to the San Diego, California area and specially the famed La Costa resort.

home city of Thunder Bay, Ontario to Toronto and then a direct Air Canada flight to San Diego. You will arrive at 1pm at the San Diego airport and after a 30 minute car ride, enter the beautiful 450 acre La Costa grounds. As the LAX airport at Los Angeles got bigger and reached their capacity the San Diego airport benefits with more direct flights.

The beautiful La Costa resort feature 2 18 hole golf courses over 600 rooms and a huge spa complex with over 40 treatment rooms

Your trip to La Costa is really quite easy with a short flight to Toronto from my

They also have the John Wayne Airport just North, some 45 miles at Carlsbad.

Paul Joseph McCormick is the Vice President and General Manager of La Costa located in Carlsbad, California. He grew up in Niagara Falls, New York and came often to Trout Lake, Ontario near Barrie Bay in Canada where his family still owns a cottage. Paul went to college in Las Vegas, spent 6 years working in Hawaii, opened the Luxor in Las Vegas and worked at the Grand Traverse Resort, Michigan and PGA West Barton Creek before coming to La Costa.

The La Costa property was originally built in 1965 and at that time it was the place to go with a destination spa, one of the first in the US and a beautiful golf course. “ In those days the men's side of the spa was about 2 1/2 times the size of the ladies spa. Then the old cronies would go in and get massages. Today it has all changed. The ladies spa is about 2 1/2 times the size of the men's.� said McCormick.

Through the years La Costa has had a high profile holding 37 PGA events and also having an array of the Hollywood set visit. Even recently they have had many celebrities like actors, TV personalities and sports figures so La Costa has a rich

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history. In the old days the Rat Pack would do a warm up here with their lounge show and after that take a break and go to Las Vegas.

Once you are at La Costa you are with in a close distance to many other areas including 1 1/2 hours up the road to Los Angeles.

La Costa was built in 1965, had its hay day and then a Japanese company bought it. They experienced some trouble and KSL bought it in 2001 and started a full renovation process. KSL owns Club Corp which has 160 golf clubs including the Club Link properties in Canada, Western Athletic Clubs, the Squaw Valley ski area, Orion Cruise Lines in addition to the KSL resorts which has 6 properties. Their head offices are in Denver.

In 2006 KSL sold the property to Goldman Sachs and retained the management contract. They owned it for 4 years until 2010 and then KSL brought the property back from Goldman Sachs because they were having a rough go, as it was a tough time to be in the hotel business.

Continued Next Page

JUNE 2012

The Next La Costa: Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation Continued From Previous Page " After buying the property back we started a $50 million renovation which included the Champions Golf Course, all of our

they have to golf companies Calloway, Taylor Made, Titleist and Cobra- Puma. In fact Cobra Puma have their testing centre located right at La Costa. Since March they also have the PGA Tour Academy,

challenge to work with. Sand capping the fairways allowed the water to stay long enough to feed the grasses but then drain away.”

time there very enjoyable. The recent renovations make your living accommodations first class and your dining, golf and spa experiences excellent. You should make your next vacation, La Costa.

La Costa is one of the most beautiful properties I have visited in my frequent travels around the world. The grounds are just beautifully maintained and the over 1000 staff members at La Costa make your

The grounds at La Costa were beautiful. It is a very large campus style with beautiful landscaping everywhere! food and beverage outlets, the meeting space, guest rooms and our retail outlets as well as the overall aesthetics of the resort,” said McCormick. “ It is a stunning place.

Our plans are to move forward with some improvements to the second course including fairways, tees, greens, irrigation and then the aesthetics. On the Champions course 75% of the work we completed you can’t even see, as it was all underground.

We wanted proper drainage.”

La Costa is located on 450 acres of prime real estate in Southern California with a tremendous location an hour from Orange County, 1 1/2 hour from LA and 30 minutes north of downtown San Diego. They are in a sweet spot with a good density of population. La Costa has 610 rooms at the resort ranging from villa products with 3 bedrooms to your standard hotel rooms, some on the course and other near private pools. The property is spread out more campus style so there is lots of walking to enjoy the gardens and foliage. La Costa has received many accolades including the number 1-wellness spa in the nation. “ We leveled the first spa and rebuilt this brand new spa in 2003/4. It has it’s own courtyard and cafe, separate pool, roman waterfall showers and 42 treatment rooms.

We were the originals in Southern California. We look at ourselves as a wellness destination where 12 months of the year you can be outside. Our philosophy is fresh air equals fresh thinking. Our guests spend 80% of their time out side. The San Diego weather is probably our most wonderful benefit here at La Costa,” smiles Paul McCormick. “ We also have Deepak Chopra’s world wide headquarters right here on the grounds of La Costa. La Costa has something for everybody. For the family we have waterslides and pools, great camp programs and a kid center where you can drop your kid's off and mom and dad can go to the spa or go golfing and have a wonderful vacation. The kids do as well.

We have guys groups which come and play some golf, watch some sports, have a cocktail and can relax with our wonderful adult pool.The ladies have the spa which is great.”

their west coast facility, right here at La Costa. You can visit Calloway for instance and do a tour, which is pretty spectacular.

You can even get fitted for clubs here. The manufacturers chose to be here because of the consistent weather where they can test their product in a wonderful environment.

The Champions course at La Costa has been totally renovated. “ We took about 30 acres of turf grass and replaced it with native grasses moving in a green direction saving on water costs.” said Damian Pascuzzo who along with partner former PGA Tour and Champions Tour player Steve Pate and architect Jeff Brauer returned the course to world class standard for which it had become famous. Jeff Brauer helped with 30% on the work. The flood water now stays in the rough away from the fairways. “ Steve Pate and I started working together in 2003 and joined formally in 2006. We made 23 visits to the course during construction. It was a fast track renovation.

They wanted better playing conditions to overcome the reputation of being wet and soggy. The bones were bad and needed a new irrigation system. Our soils were high in salts and the sand capping we did helped flushing that out. The soils were a

At La Cost a package is the best option for guests which can include a spa, golf and room package which can run for a couple from $600 to $800 night. La Costa offers so much to do with 42 different fitness classes every week as part of your experience. The resort is also located 1 1/2 miles from the ocean. Another very unique aspect of La Costa is the close proximity

JUNE 2012

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US College Player Evan Littlefield Wins Inaugural Whitewater Invitational presented by Boston Pizza.

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Golfing News The first ever Whitewater Invitational presented by Boston Pizza was held at the Whitewater Golf Club over the May long weekend. The 4-day match play event started with a stroke play game to determine the championship flight rankings and the other flights to make up the field of 48 players. The final championship match on Monday afternoon featured two local residents who both attend US universities on golf scholarships, Evan Littlefield and Jeff Hunter. Evan won the back and forth match on the 18th hole on a beautiful sunny day at Whitewater. “ It has been a awesome event. We have been looking to do an invitational event for a long period of time. The Whitewater golf course sets up very well for a match play event. It gave us the opportunity to try multiple tee decks and mix it up each and every day play with the pin placements. It has been a fun event and well accepted by the players,” said Matt Simmons Director of Golf Whitewater Golf Club, Thunder Bay, Ontario. “ We chose the top 10 on the TBDGA list and if they weren't already on the list, the top ten of the players of the decade. The junior district champion and any other major winners of 2011 were also given invitations for a total of 15 invitations. We had 12 come and play in our

event from there. Part of the invitations went to the Whitewater members and we had quite a few of them play.” “ Evan Littlefield and Jeff Hunter was an exciting final championship flight match to watch. Both play US college golf; both are Core Golf Academy students and Whitewater members. We are very happy with the condition of the golf course this year, it is fabulous.” smiles Simmons. “ It feels good to win. They were hard matches each one of them. I just played to what I could do out there and got it done when I had to,” said Evan Littlefield, age 20, who had matches against Myles Peterson, Barry Caland, Evan Degrazia and then Jeff Hunter in the final. “ We went back and forth all day and it just seemed I came out on top at the end but it was tough out there. The conditions were tough but the course is in great shape right now. The greens are beautiful. It is really nice for May long weekend.”

Evan Littlefield is 5 feet 10 inches tall

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Eric Peterson, age 95 grandfather Evan Littlefield and Frank Littlefield, father and weighs 130 pounds and can hit the ball a long way. Last year he was a freshman at Western New Mexico in New Mexico. “ It was a great experience playing college golf with guys from all over America and seeing what that is like. It was tough. We played in 6 events. There are a lot of good players in my division from California.

There are lot of good players here in Thunder Bay as well,” noted Littlefield. “ I am planning on playing all the local events and try and come to the course

The 3 wood went well so I should have kept the driver in the bag a little bit more I

n’t change it for the world,”smiles Hunter who had a couple top 10s this year and a

think,” said Jeff Hunter who attends Southeastern Oklahoma University located 1 1/2 hours north of Dallas. He is a the 4.0 grade student taking accounting. “ This was my second year in the US. It went well. I made the all conference team playing 10 events. School is easier for me than golf for some reason.”

second last year in college golf. “ I like playing golf although it is a tough game and is hard to get better. Sometimes it just clicks for some people. I have two years left at school to figure out what to next. I would like to play golf full time but that goes for everybody in this tournament I think. There is a long way to go before that

every day and play 18 or practice. I haven’t decided on what my course specialty at school is yet, right now I am taking golf.”

Evan Littlefield spent two years at the Core Golf Academy in Orlando before starting his college golf career. “ It was amazing at Core Academy. The coaching there got my mental game improved drastically. They just helped me plot my way through the golf course. I spent my senior year in high school and post graduate year working with Sean Foley, Jeff Hay and Tom Jackson,” smiled Evan. “ It was amazing having my grandfather out here watching who turned 95 today. I was playing for him, every shot I hit was for him, and it feels good.”

Jeff Hunter of Thunder Bay was in the championship match and enjoyed the competition. “ I was good fairway to green but not very good off the tee box and it kind of killed me. I was hitting the driver well coming into this event, but not at the event.

Hunter has also attended the Core Golf Academy program in Orlando. “ It was a great experience. I leaned a lot about golf and met a bunch of cool people so I would-

for sure. It was good to do well at this event.”

JUNE 2012

Manitouwadge, Marathon, White River Golf Manitouwadge Municipal Golf Course The Manitouwadge Municipal Golf Course is a 9 hole course measuring 3193 yards for men's play and 2475 yards for ladies.

The course offers a picturesque setting and a combination of undulating and flat fairways with small, well positioned greens.

The course is open from May to October and booking of tee times is not necessary though a call to the clubhouse at 807-826-4265 to check on course conditions and tournament play would be recommended.

Course Information 9 Holes/Par 36 Tees for Seniors National Rating: 75 Slope rating: 125 Putting Green Golf Cart Rentals Green Fees under $ 20.00

Municipal Clubhouse

Albert & Sons Service Centre Hwy 17, White River Ontario P0M 3G0 Albert Bazzoni Phone 807-8222441 Fax 807-822-1517

Our newly constructed licensed clubhouse offers lights snacks, club storage lockers, and limited sale of golf merchandise.

An excellent view of the entire course can be seen from our balcony on the second floor. This facility is open from May to October for the golfers and doubles as our local cross country ski club facility in the winter months.

The clubhouse can be rented for private tournaments or functions. During the golfing season arrangements can be made for your event by calling (807) 826-4265.

of operation are 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Memberships and Fees

chased at the golf course. Call the golf course at (807)229-1392 for more information.

During the season, all items may be pur-

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The Golf Course is located on Peninsula Road and hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. to dusk, daily. Lounge hours of operation are 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Pro Shop hours

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Fort William Country Club Offers Beautiful Setting For Golf

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Golfing News The Fort William Country Club started in 1925 as a nine hole layout and then expanded to eighteen holes in the mid 60’s. Designed by the famed Stanley Thompson the course has gone through many changes over the years to provide one of the best golf experiences in Northern Ontario. “ As time progresses there are new requirements with golf courses say with watering needs which are much different than 40 or 50 years ago. Also we are using more carts than before which requires cart paths,” said Bill French, General Manager of the Fort William Country Club. “ We have also rebuilt numerous tee boxes and the greens were

done several years ago. We changed all the sand in the traps and corrected most of the drainage on them. In the clubhouse we have dressed up the locker rooms, the main floor and the upstairs decorating things to bring it up to today. Everything needs updating and up grading along the way.” “ There are different clubs and courses here now. Twenty five years ago people only saw the courses they played all year round. Today people are travelling more and seeing different things. Their demands are higher on how they want to see the course they play all the time.”said French.

The Fort William Country Club continues to be one of the most popular golf courses in the region. “ We have the strongest membership of any course in the city. Our membership doesn’t vary much.

We have members that have been here for 40 plus years. Our oldest members would

the FWCC has a beautiful setting.

It was fun playing golf with Bevy, Jerry and Scott! have close to 50 years here, in that category. ” said French. “ If you are not a member just call up to the pro shop and they will fit you in when they have a time open.”

What does Bill French enjoy about the FWCC? “ I play a fair amount and think the scenery here is spectacular. The granite wall of the mountain is where you will hit into and creates a spectacular back drop view.When we put people on the course for the first time they are awestruck by the mountain behind them on most holes. We have lots of deer running through the grounds. We are close to the city. I think it’s a super course. We have great restaurant service and a phenomenal banquet service.”

It was fun to play the FWCC again late last year after having been a member there for so many years. The course continues to impress me especially with the spectacular mountain back drop. In recent years I have got to play some of the very best golf courses in the world. The FWCC is a great place to play and it’s members should be very proud of their course.

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JUNE 2012