Join us this April as Golf, Fitness, Nutrition and Mental Performance professionals share their expertise for the first NSGA Junior Golf Education Workshop via online webinars.
The NSGA has partnered with the Canadian Sport Center Atlantic – Sport Science program to bring together leaders in sport development to discuss the pillars of performance, and how to take your game to the next level.
The 2021 NSGA Junior Golf Workshop is a great opportunity for juniors (14+ years of age) of all abilities to come together to learn from some of the top coaches in Atlantic Canada on how to succeed along the path to becoming the best possible golfer you can be.
All Webinars are free of charge!
***Must have a valid Golf Canada membership number.***
If you have any questions regarding the workshops, please contact Anne Balser.
Schedule
Session 1 – Thursday, April 1st (7-8pm AST): Nutrition and Strength & Conditioning Workshop – Get course ready.
Session 2 – Thursday, April 15th (7-8pm AST): Mental Coaching Session – Set your goals for the 2021 season.
Session 3 – Thursday, April 29th (7-8pm AST): Golf Specific Training – Practice with Purpose.
Meet Your Coaches!
Melissa Allen – Dietitian (CSCA)
Melissa joined the CSCA team in 2018. Originally from Alberta, Melissa has called Halifax home since 2010. Melissa’s area of expertise is Dietetics. Melissa focuses on Nutrition for the Women’s Canoe/Kayak, plus some nutrition work with IST.
Melissa has a professional interest in working with athletes to discover the increased mental, physical and performance potential proper nutrition can provide. Melissa also believes in working with coaches, parents, and athletes to remove the stigma of “good” and “bad” foods.
Melissa is passionate about working in sport because she has seen how it can increase confidence, bridge gaps, create passion, develop teamwork skills and improve our overall health.
When not at work, Melissa can be found either running in the woods, riding her bike or out on her skate skis.
Travis Dorsey – Strength & Conditioning (CSCA)
Travis, originally from Newport Beach, California, joined the CSCA team in 2019 as a Strength & Conditioning coach.
Travis is passionate about working in sport because the amount of work an individual puts in to better themselves will reflect their performance. Travis enjoys working with athletes because they are driven and have great work ethics.
Travis take a professional interest in performance analysis/monitoring aspect in high performance sport.
When not working with athletes, Travis can be found fitting in his own workout, outdoors, or spending time with family and friends.
Dr. Lori Dithurbide – Mental Performance Consultant (CSCA)
Lori started with CSCA in 2012. Her area of expertise is Mental Performance. Lori has always been fascinated with how people are able to perform their very best under pressure. She finds working with high performance athletes incredibly rewarding; Lori loves helping athletes work towards achieving their goals.
Dr. Lori is no stranger to the competitive golf world. A member of Ashburn GC, Lori is quite the competitor and plays in many local field days and provincial championships each summer.
When Lori is not at work, she can be found at a sporting venue. She enjoys golfing in the summer, curling in the winter, and spending time with family and friends.
Anne Balser – NSGA Technical Director PGA of Canada Member
From Digby, N.S, Anne started playing golf before she can remember. During her junior days, she spent her summers traveling across the province competing in numerous field days and NSGA events.
Anne attended the University of Victoria in BC and played on the women’s golf team. During her time there she captured 11 individual titles, including Golf Canada’s University College Championship. She also represented Team Canada four times, twice at the FISU Games and twice at the World University Golf Championships.
Now, back home and working with the NSGA, Anne strives to bring opportunities for all those interested to learn about and excel in the game golf.
More about the CSCA
Our Mission
We are a collaborative and magnetic organization that partners with coaches, athletes and organizations in the pursuit of excellence.
The CSCA has developed partnerships and implemented programs that have helped build Atlantic Canada’s high performance sport structure, and has led to sizeable Atlantic Canadian Olympic/Paralympic contingents at recent Games, notably in Beijing and London.
The CSCA is represented in the four Atlantic Provinces with offices in Fredericton, Charlottetown, St. John’s, and Halifax. Presently, hundreds of athletes in the region benefit from the services provided by the CSCA and its staff.
Golf Canada Annual Meeting concludes with Liz Hoffman elected as 116th President
Liz Hoffman
Captured at Hilton Airport Hotel on February, 29, 2020 by Tyler Costigan/ Golf Canada
Golf Canada’s 2021 Annual Meeting culminated on Thursday, March 4th with the election of Thornhill, Ont. native Liz Hoffman as the 116th President of the National Sport Federation.
Hoffman, a past President of Golf Ontario who spent 39 years with the University of Toronto including 16 as Director of Athletics and High-Performance, succeeds Charlie Beaulieu of Lorraine, Que. who served consecutive terms as President in 2019-20.
“It is an honour to represent our member clubs, and golfers from coast to coast as the 119th President of Golf Canada,” said Hoffman. “To follow in the path of friends, mentors, and colleagues who have empowered my journey with this storied organization. We have a really special opportunity in this current environment to advance the sport of golf, and together with the Board of Directors, our CEO Laurence Applebaum, our talented staff and volunteers and so many partners across the golf and sport community, I look forward to being a part of it.”
Click here for a detailed bio on Golf Canada’s 116th President, Liz Hoffman.
Hoffman is joined by Vice-President Dale Jackson of Victoria, B.C. in leading the 13-member Board of Directors who will work closely with Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. Based on the report of Golf Canada’s Nominating Committee, Hoffman and Jackson will be joined on the 2021 Board of Directors by David McCarthy of Toronto, Ont., Susan MacKinnon of Calgary, Alta., Adam Daifallah of Montreal, Que., Jean Stone-Séguin of Ottawa, Ont., Patrick Kelly of Victoria, B.C., Shawn Evans of Kitchener, Ont., Rai Sahi of Mississauga, Ont. and Alison Chisholm of Rothesay, N.B. New additions to the Board included Peter Major of Calgary, Alta., along with Diane Drury-Clarke and Jean-Sebastien Monty, both of Montreal, Que.
Outgoing Golf Canada President Charlie Beaulieu of Lorraine, Que. was recognized for his leadership of the association as an Honorary Life Governor.
Liz Hoffman and Charlie Beaulieu at Golf Canada’s 2020 Annual Meeting
Golf Canada’s 2021 Annual Meeting was conducted virtually over two days, March 3-4 with volunteers, staff, member clubs, and key industry stakeholders participating.
Annual Report & Financial Statements:
Click here to read Golf Canada’s 2020 Annual Report, which includes a recap of the past season, as well as the organization’s 2020 Financial Statements, which were released during Golf Canada’s Annual General Meeting.
Feature Presentations
In addition to the formal business of the Annual General Meeting, a number of feature presentations delivered on March 3 outlined key Golf Canada initiatives for 2021 including:
Overview of Golf Canada’s Diversity and Inclusion Alliance – presented by Alliance Chair & Team Canada Sport Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood. The session also includes a panel discussion with Sandy Cross (Chief People Officer, PGA of America) as well as Teri Dennis-Davies (Senior Vice-President Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Maple Leaf Sport and Entertainment).
Sport Overview – presented by Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer Kevin Blue
Tribute to Canadian Golf in 2020
To close its Annual Meeting, Golf Canada shared a video tribute to acknowledge the players, golf facilities and industry stakeholders across the Canadian golf community who supported the sport’s safe return and emergence in 2020 through the COVID-19 pandemic. The video acknowledges the entire Canadian Golf industry as the collective recipients of Golf Canada’s Distinguished Service Award.
Nancy Spineti Delle Donne selected as Bruce Mitchell Volunteer of the Year
Nancy Spineti Delle Donne of Montreal was named the 2020 recipient of the Bruce Mitchell Volunteer of the Year Award. For more than 20 years, Nancy has been a major contributor to Golf Quebec and Golf Canada as an expert in Handicapping and Course Rating. In 2014, Nancy was named Chair of the Golf Canada Course Rating and Handicap Committee, a position she held proudly until the end of 2020. During this time, she played an integral role in the national launch of the new World Handicap System which was rolled globally in 2020.
A tribute to Canadian golf ❤️
Golf Canada goes virtual for its 2021 Annual Meeting
Golf Canada’s 2021 Annual Meeting shifts to a two-day virtual experience this week, March 3-4 as the National Sport Federation looks ahead in preparation for the 2021 season.
The event will bring together Golf Canada’s Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers as well as representatives from Canada’s provincial golf associations and other stakeholders.
The opening day session runs from 1-4 p.m. ET on Wednesday March 3rd with a selection of feature presentations outlining key Golf Canada initiatives for 2021 including:
Golf Canada’s 2021 Outlook – presented by Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum
Golf Industry Advisory Council: National Golfer Retention Campaign – presented by Golf Canada Chief Marketing Officer Vanessa Morbi
Keynote Presentation: Fireside Chat on Global Golf –featuring R&A CEO Martin Slumbers and the USGA’s outgoing CEO Mike Davis, hosted by Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum.
Sport Overview – presented by Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer Kevin Blue
Overview of Golf Canada’s Diversity & Inclusion Alliance – presented by Alliance Chair & Team Canada Sport Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood. The session also includes a panel discussion with Sandy Cross (Chief People Officer, PGA of America) as well as Teri Dennis-Davies (Senior Vice-President Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Maple Leaf Sport and Entertainment).***each of the feature presentations will be available online at golfcanada.ca.
The event will continue on Thursday March 4th with a virtually conducted Annual General Meeting beginning at 1:00pm ET which will include the release of Golf Canada’s 2020 Annual Report and Financial Statements posted to www.golfcanada.ca.
Golf Canada will also introduce its 2021 Board of Directors including the appointment of Liz Hoffman of Thornhill, Ont. as the association’s 119th President. Hoffman will take over the role from Charlie Beaulieu of Lorraine, Que. who served consecutive terms as President in 2019-20.
In addition, Golf Canada will celebrate outstanding contributions to the game of golf including a presentation of the 2020 Bruce Mitchell Volunteer of the Year Award to Handicap and Course Rating expert, Nancy Spineti Delle Donne of Montreal.
Lohnes to Lead Next Chapter for the NSGA
HALIFAX, N.S. – The Nova Scotia Golf Association Board of Directors and staff are pleased to announce that Jason Lohnes has been selected as their new Executive Director.
No stranger to golf, Lohnes will bring his industry experience, business experience and his tremendous passion for the game to the Association as its next leader.
“I could not be more excited to return to the game and industry that I love,” says Lohnes. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have spent twenty plus years in the golf industry thus far and to have enjoyed some great experiences outside of golf. Now, to be returning as the Nova Scotia Golf Association as the new Executive Director, is a truly dream come true.”
Lohnes began playing the game at the age of eight, worked summers at Bluenose Golf Club and became a member of the PGA of Canada in 1999. He worked as a Golf Professional in Toronto (Ontario) for five seasons and dabbled with mini-tours in Florida during the off-seasons before returning to his home province as Director of Golf at Ashburn Golf Club (Halifax). He went on to become the General Manager at Oakfield Golf & Country Club and then worked with Taylormade – Adidas Golf Canada before taking a break from the industry.
Wendy Sentner, President of the NSGA, remarks on the appointment of Lohnes and the Association’s advancements over the last number of years.
“The Nova Scotia Golf Association has certainly evolved over the years and we are excited for Jason to lead its next chapter. Jason brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for the game, that the Association Membership, its Board of Directors and stakeholders will value and appreciate.”
Please join us in welcoming Jason, who starts officially on March 1, 2021.
The R&A and the USGA modernize Amateur Status Rules
The USGA and The R&A have announced proposals for significant changes to the Rules of Amateur Status that govern the game worldwide.
These proposals result from a modernization initiative that has identified a clear need to bring the Rules up to date to reflect today’s global amateur game and ensure that the Rules are easier to understand and apply.
The proposed Rules, along with explanations to key changes, have been posted on usga.org and randa.org and the organizations are now inviting feedback from golfers and stakeholders. Comments will be accepted through Friday, March 26, with the new Rules scheduled to be adopted on January 1, 2022.
A comprehensive review of the Rules of Amateur Status began in late 2017, focusing on three main goals: to ensure the Rules are in the best interests of the game, reflect the modern game, and are easily understood and applied.
This review reaffirmed amateur golf’s important position in the game and the value in maintaining amateur status Rules to safeguard all the ways golf is played and enjoyed.
The result is a set of Rules that redefine the distinction between amateur and professional golf and provide a condition of eligibility – amateur status – for amateurs who compete in golf competitions.
As part of the modernization effort, it is proposed that the new Rules will identify only three acts that will result in a golfer losing their amateur status:
Accepting a prize in excess of the prize limit
Accepting payment for giving instruction
Accepting employment as a golf club professional or membership of an association of professional golfers
To achieve this simplified approach, the following key changes are proposed:
Eliminating the distinction between cash prizes and other prizes.
Using the prize limit as the only way an amateur can lose amateur status through their play (meaning that entering or playing a competition as a professional would not, of itself, result in the loss of amateur status).
Removing restrictions from the Rules surrounding competitions such as long-drive events, putting competitions and skills competitions that are not played as part of a tee-to-hole competition; and
Eliminating all sponsorship restrictions.
“Golf is unique in its broad appeal to both recreational and competitive golfers,” said Craig Winter, USGA Senior Director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status. “We understand and value how important amateur status is, not only to those who compete at the highest level of the amateur game, but for the millions of golfers at every age and skill level who enjoy competitive events at their home courses. These updates should help simplify these Rules and ensure the health of the amateur game.”
Grant Moir, Director of Rules at The R&A, said, “The Rules of Amateur Status play an important role in protecting the integrity of our self-regulating sport but the code must continue to evolve. This is particularly so in relation to the modern elite amateur game, where many of the players need financial support to compete and develop to their full potential, and the proposed new Rules will give much greater scope for this.”
“Today marks another important step in the process to modernize the Rules of Amateur Status,” said Akash Patel, Rules and Competitions Manager at Golf Canada. “A great amount of work has gone into making the Rules easier to understand and apply for both the recreational and competitive golfer. We are confident that the proposed changes reflect the modern game and will help with our continued efforts to grow the game.”
The proposed new Rules are accompanied by an overview document and explanations that detail the rationale for why changes are being proposed and, in some instances, why they have stayed the same.
Golf Canada names 10 athletes to 2021 Team Canada Young Pro Squad
OAKVILLE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 10 athletes who have been selected to represent the 2021 Team Canada Young Pro Squad.
Comprising the 2021 Women’s Young Pro Squad will be returnees Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.), Jaclyn Lee (Calgary, Alta.), and Maddie Szeryk (London, Ont.). After becoming a first-time mom in July, Golf Canada is also pleased to welcome back Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City, Que.) to the Young Pro Squad as she makes her return to the LPGA Tour.
The 2021 Men’s Young Pro Squad features a six-pack of familiar athletes led by Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.). Other members of the Men’s Young Pro Squad for 2021 include Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.), Chris Crisologo (Richmond, B.C.), Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver, B.C.), Joey Savoie (La Prairie, Que.), and Hugo Bernard (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.).
For the bulk of the athletes returning to the Young Pro Squad, 2021 is an opportunity to build of off the adversity of 2020 and take a next step in their developing careers.
“This is a very exciting time for young professional golfers in Canada, and we are really looking forward to seeing their continued success in 2021,” said Golf Canada Chief Sport Officer Kevin Blue. “For most of the athletes returning to the Squad, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on scheduling, training, and competition in 2020. With the support of our key partners and the drive these athletes have to overcome adversity and succeed, I’m positive we’ll see even more great results from this talented group of athletes.”
Men’s and Women’s National Team coaches Derek Ingram and Tristan Mullally – both award-winning PGA of Canada members – will continue as head coaches for the Young Pro Squad.
Now in its eighth year, the Team Canada Young Pro Squad helps to bridge the gap for top-performing amateurs transitioning into professional golf.
Click here to read Team Canada Young Pro Squad player bios.
Emerging Player of the Year Award
The Golf Canada Foundation has also announced the creation of a new award – the Emerging Professional Player of the Year Award, presented by Andrew Cook. The inaugural recipients of the award are Young Pro athletes Taylor Pendrith and Maddie Szeryk who will each receive $10,000 towards their continued development in professional golf.
Andrew Cook, a proud Trustee of the Golf Canada Foundation and past President with Golf Canada, established a $20,000 fund to annually recognize a top male and female emerging Canadian professional golfer from the Young Pro Squad having success on golf’s developmental.
“I am very pleased to partner with Golf Canada and Golf Canada Foundation to launch the Emerging Pro Player of the Year Award, as an additional incentive to Canadian professionals around the globe,” said Cook. “As a long-time volunteer of the game, I appreciate the power our heroes have in inspiring the next generation of young players, and my wife (Anne) and I are excited to help continue the tremendous success of the Young Pro Program.”
“We are so excited to announce Taylor and Maddie as our first Emerging Professional Players of the Year,” said Martin Barnard, CEO of the Canada Foundation. “Thanks to the continued generosity of Andrew Cook, we are able to reward these two deserving young professionals with additional financial support that will have an important impact as they chase their dreams.”
Pendrith, a long-time part of Golf Canada’s National Team as an amateur and now a professional, had a breakout year on the Korn Ferry Tour. He currently sits second on the Korn Ferry Tour’s Season Long Points List thanks to five top-3 finishes in 2020. Pendrith also finished T23 at the U.S. Open (finishing as Low Canadian) and jumped from 399th to 128th in the Official World Golf Ranking – all of this just one year after he played on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
Szeryk notched her second win as a professional in 2020 in her second year as a pro. In 2020, she also recorded her career-low Symetra Tour finish (T11, FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship) and ended the year as Top Canadian on the Symetra Tour. There were only 10 events on the Symetra Tour last year and the gap between men’s and women’s professional golf opportunities widened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Current and former team members of the Young Pro Squad, which was established in 2014, have accounted for 43 wins across various professional golf tours including a record nine LPGA Tour wins by Brooke Henderson along with PGA TOUR wins from Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners.
Funding for this program, in large part, comes from the Golf Canada Foundation with generous contributions from founding partners RBC and Canadian Pacific, as well as supporting partners Citi Canada and Bear Mountain Resort – the Official Training Centre of Golf Canada’s National Team program.
“RBC is proud to support the next generation of Canadian golfers through the Young Pro program” said David Agnew, CEO, RBC Wealth Management Canada, “It’s exciting for us to watch golfers we supported as amateurs, like Corey Conners, Brooke Henderson and Mackenzie Hughes, succeed as professionals.”
“From the CP Women’s Open and our deep involvement with Team Canada to ambassador partnerships with Brooke Henderson and Lorie Kane, CP is proud to support these talented athletes representing Canada on the world stage,” added James Clements, Canadian Pacific. “As the best team in the railroading business knows, precision and excellence require a strong team. We are extremely proud to be part of the great team supporting these young professionals in their golf journey.”
The R&A and USGA announce golf equipment research topics and proposed equipment standards changes
TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 13: The Canadian Men's Amateur Championship played at Weston Golf Club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 13, 2015. (Photo by Graig Abel/Graig Abel Photography)
The R&A and the USGA have re-engaged with the golf industry on the Distance Insights project, which aims to help achieve a more sustainable long-term future for golf.
2 February 2021, St Andrews, Scotland and Liberty Corner, N.J., USA: The governing bodies are issuing specific Areas of Interest to help mitigate continuing distance increases and three proposed changes to the Equipment Rules to ensure their effectiveness in relation to distance limits.
The delivery of research topics related to hitting distances and golf’s sustainability was delayed in 2020 to allow the golf industry to focus on the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The Areas of Interest notice, sent yesterday to golf equipment manufacturers, follows the conclusions of the Distance Insights Report delivered last February. It is the first step of the established Equipment Rulemaking Procedures, which give the opportunity for golf’s stakeholders to provide research and perspectives on topics that might lead to equipment rules changes.
In addition, three proposals related to equipment standards were also sent to the manufacturers yesterday and have been published – two to modernise equipment testing protocols and the other to consider the adoption of a Model Local Rule that would provide flexibility for committees, if they so choose, to limit the maximum length for clubs other than putters from 48 to 46 inches. Notice and comment periods have begun immediately to invite feedback on each of the three proposals from golf industry stakeholders.
Research Topics/Areas of Interest Download Here (Research due by 2 November 2021)
The Areas of Interest notice addresses two specific Areas of Interest:
The potential use of a Local Rule that would specify the use of clubs and/or balls intended to result in shorter hitting distances. This would enable committees conducting competitions to stipulate whether such equipment should be used. It could be available at all levels of play and would also allow golfers playing outside of competition to choose for themselves.
A review of the overall conformance specifications for both clubs and balls, including specifications that both directly and indirectly affect hitting distances. This review would consider whether any existing specifications should be adjusted or any new specifications created to help mitigate continuing distance increases. It would not consider revising the overall specifications to produce substantial reductions in hitting distances at all levels of the sport. A list of club and ball specifications to be reviewed can be found in the official notice.
Stakeholders are invited to participate in the process by sharing any data or perspectives they might have on these topics by 2 November 2021.
The topics are purely areas for research. No solutions or decisions are being proposed at this stage. Any proposals for Rule changes that might result from this research will be communicated in accordance with the Equipment Rulemaking Procedures.
The R&A and the USGA are addressing the effectiveness of current equipment testing processes, protocols and standards with respect to distance limits. As a result, the governing bodies are seeking comment from equipment manufacturers on three proposed Equipment Standards changes, as follows:
Proposal 1: Club length – reduction to 46 inches available as Model Local Rule (MLR) (Original proposal delivered in 2016 and paused in 2017 due to the Distance Insights project). Comment period ends on 4 March 2021.
Proposal 2: Update on testing method for golf balls. Comment period ends on 2 August 2021.
Proposal 3: Change to testing tolerance – Characteristic Time. Comment period ends on 2 August 2021. The 2020 Annual Driving Distance Report
The R&A and the USGA also today released the 2020 Annual Driving Distance Report. The full report can be found here.
The R&A and USGA comments
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are now able to progress with the work on this critical topic and are beginning the next phase as expeditiously as possible. The research topics and the proposed changes we have announced will be the focus of our attention in the coming months and we look forward to gaining insights from the golf industry and fully understanding their perspectives on these key areas. We remain fully committed to conducting this hugely important exercise for the sport thoroughly, efficiently and collaboratively.”
Mike Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the USGA, said, “The research conducted through Distance Insights clearly shows that hitting distances have consistently increased through time and, if left unchecked, could threaten the long-term future of our game at every level and every golf course on which it is played. This is the first forward step in a journey and a responsibility the USGA and The R&A share with the worldwide golf community, to ensure that golf continues to thrive for the next hundred years and beyond.”
Updates Since February 2020
During the pause in distance-related research caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, The R&A and the USGA completed their regular review of equipment testing processes, protocols and standards to ensure their effectiveness in relation to distance limits. The proposals detailed above are the outcome of this regular review of equipment testing processes, protocols and standards to ensure their effectiveness.
As such, these proposals were not conceived and are not intended to be solutions to the distance issues identified in the Distance Insights Report.
All notices related to golf equipment follow the Equipment Rulemaking Procedures adopted in 2011 by The R&A, the USGA and golf equipment manufacturers, which provide an open process of dialogue for all involved. The procedures can be reviewed here.
The Distance Insights Report released last year highlighted the impact of long-term hitting distance increases on some of golf’s essential elements, including changing the strategic challenge of the game, altering the variety of skills needed to be successful and risking courses becoming less challenging or obsolete. Further, the report states that the overall trend of golf courses becoming longer has adverse consequences that ultimately affect golfers at all levels of the game. The governing bodies are working with the key stakeholders in golf to address these issues in a way that brings the game together and which ensures it continues to thrive for many years to come.
Work is also currently being conducted to develop industry-wide recommendations and best management practices on course design, set-up and course conditions related to distance for all golf courses and golfers, as detailed among next steps in the Distance Insights conclusions document delivered last year. The USGA is currently conducting field testing and research, with outcomes to be delivered throughout 2021.
For more information visit www.RandA.org and www.usga.org.
7 ways to feed your golf addiction this offseason
Novelist Paul Theroux once said: “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” He could never have imagined just how true those words would ring right now.
Not that we have much choice. Most of us, the sensible ones that is, are staying home because of the pandemic and the precautions imposed to prevent its spread. Kudos to us.
So what’s a golfer to do? We’re mired in a Canadian winter with travel south of the border restricted and limited opportunities to congregate at public golf simulators, ranges or other golf-related activities.
Don’t despair!
If you don’t have the space, budget or inclination to have a home simulator, there are myriad options to pass the time … “prepare” as Theroux suggested … until, hopefully, golf courses across Canada reopen in spring. Online instruction, social media, podcasts (what?) … even, dare I say, books and magazines … all not only can improve your game but boost your spirits as well.
READ
As an author myself, I may be biased but I enjoy turning the pages of a book or magazine. My special area of interest is course architecture so, after rereading the essentials yet again, I look for Canadian authors. Keith Cutten’s The Evolution of Golf Course Design is a fascinating deep dive into the broader question of not just how course design evolved but why. James Harris’s Stanley Thompson and Icons of Canada has no equal in its in-depth examination of Canada’s most iconic architect as a master of his craft and a man. Although not Canadian and actually intended for green committee members and club managers, many of whom (wrongly) think they are qualified for DIY projects on a multi-million-dollar course, Designs on a Better Golf Course (published by the American Society of Golf Course Architects) is a must-read for armchair architects as well as folks whose hobby is second-guessing their course’s superintendent. For pure “golf porn,” there are few better options than Catalogue 18, a luxurious magazine published in Toronto featuring awesome photography and text from around the world.
WATCH VIDEO TIPS
We were all thankful when the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour returned to TV in January but if you need more than entertainment and climate envy, there are hundreds of videos on social media, many from PGA of Canada instructors. Derek Ingram, Team Canada’s Men’s Head Coach, posts indoor tips on Instagram. Women’s Head Coach Tristan Mullally offers helpful hints on Twitter. (Just between you and me, Ingram and Mullally are collaborating on an upcoming project that distills their extensive experience into instruction for folks like you and me. Stay tuned.
Once you’ve looked at those videos, you’ll want to practice, so order a putting mat and/or chipping net online. My Golf Spy picked the BirdieBall 4×14 as its best putting mat but the company has a variety of customizable products. Lots of other companies make comparable mats at various price points and in a full range of sizes. A chipping net is a compact and convenient way to hone your short game at a reasonable price. My choice would be the GoSports Chipster. It’s about $60, includes three nets of various sizes and can be used indoors with foam balls or outside with real golf balls.
Fantasy pools, such as PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, can be a blast if you need some heated competition to warm you up during the winter. Or you can organize your own fantasy league using online resources and invite your friends and colleagues to participate.
VIDEO GAMES
You may not have access to that Golden Tee game down at the local pub but you can order the home edition if you’re addicted. More affordable options are video games such as the highly rated PGA TOUR 2K21. Golf nut Shawn Bell of Kelowna, B.C., has not only played the game since its first release several years ago but has actually designed a course for it. He says he enjoys the experience for many reasons including the fact that “it provides me with an outlet to spend time thinking about and playing the game I enjoy so much. There is also the ability to play with others live which is pretty cool. Played a round with an acquaintance in Ireland the other night. It was fun and a social interaction, playing golf, that would otherwise be impossible.”
PODCASTS
If, like me, you were late to the world of podcasts, a podcast is a conversation or discussion you can download to your personal device and listen to at your leisure. Makes for great company when you’re walking the dog or when you’re just hankering for the sound of someone else’s voice. (Although I do get some odd glances when I bark back at them when they don’t share my own—indisputably correct—opinion.) There are lots of terrific golf podcasts including some with great Canadian content that I subscribe to like Flagstick.com’s TeeTalk, Golf Talk Canada and Swing Thoughts with Tim O’Connor and “Humble” Howard Glassman.
And, remember, in the words of Ernest Hemingway,
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be the happiest.”
That won’t be a problem for us golfers!
From zero to full in 40 seconds, and other strange tales from the 2020 golf season
Just how busy were golf courses across Canada in 2020?
Early one morning at the beginning of the season, Stephen Jardeleza positioned himself in front of his computer at GreyHawk Golf Club. On his screen was a blank tee sheet for the Ottawa club where he is the Director of Operations.
In a few minutes, the computerized tee-times reservation system would open for members to begin booking tee times for the upcoming Saturday. Up for grabs were 130 tee times across the club’s 36 holes, which, if fully booked, would work out to 520 golfers.
At 7 a.m., the tee sheet came alive. “In 40 seconds, our tee sheet was fully booked,” Jardeleza said. “And this happened every day.”
The 2020 golf season—and the year—will go down in infamy as one of the strangest that most of us will ever experience.
Faced with a mysterious and deadly nemesis, golf provided a beacon of badly needed joy amid fear and frustration. We were smitten. We couldn’t get enough golf.
“It didn’t matter that there was a worldwide pandemic,” said Simon Bevan, General Manager of Riverbend Golf Club in London. “Golf was like a drug. We all wanted to hit the little white ball.”
Now that the season has ended, the golf club industry in Canada is celebrating a record year in which rounds skyrocketed to historic proportions. Thousands of people took up golf—some for the first time, and some came back to the game—and veteran golfers played more than they ever have.
But right out of the be-careful-what-you-wish-for playbook, the industry faced the challenge of how to mollify established golfers frustrated that they could no longer get to the first tee when they wanted.
Back in April, with cities around the world looking like ghost towns, and major league sports and the PGA TOUR shut down, golfers held on to a slender thread of hope that a golf season might be possible.
By early May, golfers in Ontario and Quebec had endured two months of a gruelling lockdown, made worse by a tantalizingly warm spring that screamed golf. Golfers ached for their game. A friend said, “Golfers can distance. I play golf with people. I don’t dance with them.”
After weeks of consultation with the golf industry on safety measures, the Ontario government said courses could open May 16. Quebec set May 20 as its opening day.
Golf clubs had only a few days to finish their preparations in order to keep golfers safe. Staff removed ball washers, water coolers, benches and outfitted flagsticks with doo-hickeys that allowed you to extricate your ball without having to touch the stick.
Held back from their usual start to the season, golfers were ravenous. On May 15—the first day that tee times could be booked—thousands of ClubLink Members went online to reserve their tee times at 7 a.m., causing the system to crash.
Many technology platforms serving the golf industry were overwhelmed. When Golf Ontario opened its online tournament registration on June 24, 17,000 people visited its site in a matter of minutes, causing it to crash for the first time in its history, according to executive director Mike Kelly.
On those first wonderful days of the 2020 golf season, golfers were over the moon to play and golf club personnel were cautiously nervous.
“We were hoping that members wouldn’t contract the virus just from touching things,” said Paul Carrothers, Director of Golf at Royal Ottawa Golf Club.
Thousands of golfers wanted to play the game—not just because they are an extremely obsessive bunch—but also to escape the same four walls at home. Without having to travel for work or commute, working from home also afforded many golfers the freedom to play when they wanted. More or less.
With offices and schools closed, and nearly every other option for having fun shut down, golf became the ‘it’ activity. Spouses, friends and kids who had not tried golf, and those who had given up the game, were playing.
“Almost all of the guys that I played slow-pitch with every Tuesday for 20 years were now playing golf,” said Kevin Thistle, CEO of the PGA of Canada. “The way we play golf, work, watch sports—it’s all changing, and forcing us to adapt.”
From the once-a-year golfer to the 100-rounds-plus player, everyone played more—and wanted more.
“Players who would normally play 30 to 40 rounds played 70 to 80 rounds,” said Adam Tobin, Director of Golf at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge.
Even with most corporate events cancelled at most clubs, tee times became a precious commodity.
By the end of June, Canadians had played more than 1.5 million rounds during the month, an increase of 17 per cent over June 2019. And that’s a monumental feat folks when you consider June is THE busiest and best month to play. For an industry that faced media reports a few years earlier that it was declining, business was booming.
But for avid golfers who routinely play three or more rounds a week and were used to convenient tee times, it was not all sunshine and rainbows.
“There was a lot of frustration,” said Jason Wyatt, Head Professional at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club in London, where demand shot up 52 percent over 2019 with the same number of members. “There were people who wanted an 8 a.m. time but had to settle for hours later.”
Even playing ‘executive’ or nine-hole courses was a challenge. “There were times that we had six groups lined up to play our nine-hole course,” said Dennis Firth, Head Professional at Royal Montreal which experienced a 30 percent increase in rounds over 2019. “It was unprecedented.”
As a golfer, and the fellow in charge of tracking golfers across the country for Golf Canada, Adam Helmer said he could no longer just head out to play. He had to become organized in scheduling his golf.
“A downside of golf being so popular was that not everyone was able to get the tee time they wanted,” said Helmer, senior director of Golf Services for Golf Canada.
The problem was simple. Demand for tee times appeared limitless, but every course has a finite number of holes and daylight. And to keep golfers from getting too close to one another, most clubs spaced out tee times, which meant fewer golfers on the course.
John Finlayson, Chief Operating Officer of ClubLink, says that—as a general rule of thumb—a private golf club with 18 holes carries about 400 full dues-paying members to sustain its business.
But even in June when the days are longest, there’s only enough room to accommodate about 225 golfers. “If 300 people want to play that course that day, you have a problem,” said Finlayson, whose ClubLink courses saw a 29 percent increase in rounds in 2020 compared with 2019.
Many private clubs responded by restricting the number of guests that members could bring, and restricted access for certain classes of memberships.
“To make room for our full members, we had to restrict our legacy and out-of-town members,” said Ian Leggatt, General Manager of Summit Golf Club in Richmond Hill. “We had to communicate to them that these are unusual times,” said Leggatt, who has since moved to the same position at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.
Initially, Leggatt and other senior club managers wondered if golfers would “drift from the game” because they couldn’t socialize in the clubhouse restaurant afterwards,
and the on-course experience was altered.
But with fewer golfers on the course, no need to rake bunkers, and single riders on carts, the speed of play improved dramatically.
“The measures were taken for safety, but it provided a better experience,” Finlayson said. “Most golfers expect to play 18 holes in 4 to 4.5 hours, but this year a 4-hour round was considered a bit slow.”
Nonetheless, many golfers were frustrated about access, and many golf clubs stepped up their communication efforts to help their members adapt.
“You couldn’t over-communicate,” Leggatt said. “This whole thing was shifting, and there was no template on how to make it work better.”
It affected everyone, including ClubLink Member and CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, Jeff Calderwood.
“I’d jump on the computer five days in advance at 7 a.m. this fall, and there were often no times at Eagle Creek (his Home Club in Ottawa),” he said. “It illustrated the dilemma we had.”
Industry leaders such as Calderwood are thankful golf provided a silver lining during a pandemic, but they are also mindful that the industry is challenged by how it satisfies core golfers while retaining new players.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers. You could restructure and find that, perhaps with a vaccine, demand doesn’t stay so high, and then you’re not sustainable if you got it wrong.”
Mike Kelly of Golf Ontario was among the industry leaders who consulted with the Ontario government to allow clubs to open this season, and he’s grateful golfers turned a possible disaster into a banner year for golf.
As a golf administrator who represents the sport in Ontario, as well as players who want to play and have fun, Kelly says he can’t lose focus on what’s truly important.
“Our job is to provide a safe environment. That’s our No. 1 priority during this pandemic. We can’t screw this up. The game has grown and the industry will evolve, but the priority must be safety.”
Tim O’Connor is a golf and performance coach, writer and author of four books, co-host of the Swing Thoughts podcast, and webinar presenter. He is the 2020 winner of the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award given by Golf Ontario. tim@oconnorgolf.ca
