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Opera lovers and golf enthusiasts joined forces on November 13 to support Sarasota Opera in the first Sarasota Opera Golf Tournament, sponsored by Nicklaus Manor. The day-long event was held at The Concession Golf Club and Residences, named by Golf Digest as America’s Best New Private Course for 2006. Tournament participants included Michael Nicklaus, president of Golden Bear Realty. Nicklaus, 34, is the youngest son of golf icon Jack Nicklaus. The 104 golfers enjoyed a spectacular day on the course while raising more than $40,000 for Sarasota Opera. Following the tournament, nearly 300 people toured the Nicklaus Manor homes and celebrated in style, courtesy of Zak’s Steakhouse, dining on rack of lamb, prime steak, exceptional wines and a full open bar. The event took place at The Muirfield and Barrington models, both multi-million dollar homes within Nicklaus Manor at The Concession Golf Club and Residences.

The Tournament Winners were announced during the awards ceremony and dinner. The First Place winning foursome was: Wayne McMullen, Chris Rainey, Tim Fannin and David White with a net score of 54; Second Place winners were: Brad Reid, Mike Farone, Jay Enstrom and Hal Dearing, with a net score of 58; Third Place was Gary Loer, Steven Loer, Scott Truitt and Marshall White, with a net score of 60. The Skills Event winners were: ladies long drive, Ellen Fedder; men’s long drive, Mike Farone; and men’s closest to the pin: Wayne McMullen.

Sarasota Opera is now in its 49th season. Under Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and Executive Director Susan Danis, the company has received local, national, and international acclaim for the high quality of its performances and for its commitment to the production of rarely heard repertoire. During its Winter Opera Festival in February and March, Sarasota Opera performs well-known works like Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La Bohème, as well as neglected works of high artistic merit.

The Golf Tournament Platinum Sponsor was Golden Bear Realty and Nicklaus Manor, a private, gated enclave of 33 home sites nestled within The Concession Golf Club and Residences.

The Gold Sponsors were The Concession Golf Club and Residences, Landmark Development Group, Sarasota Magazine, ZAK’s Steakhouse, and Southern Wine and Spirits. The Silver Sponsors were Golf USA, Robb & Stucky Interiors, Hilb Rogal & Hobbs of Florida Inc., The Ohlman-Dailey Group of Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Savannah’s Elite Concierge and Bennington Tobacco. Other sponsors included Mattison’s Restaurant, Signs Now, Andy’s Custom Carts, Travelers Insurance, Chebella Aveda Lifestyle Salon, Fifth Third Bank, Paetec, and Champs Sports. The Hole in One Sponsor was Venice Chrysler.

The Concession is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, designed in association with fellow golf legend Tony Jacklin. The Concession is one of 320 Nicklaus Design courses open for play around the world. This 18-hole, par-72 course plays 7,470 yards from the back tees and meanders across 520 total acres, lush with spectacular trees, wetlands, native vegetation, and expansive palmetto fields.

Guests of players attended an afternoon tea at Nicklaus Manor and toured four luxury model homes built and furnished by the multi-award winning Landmark Development Group, LLC of Naples and Sarasota, Florida, with the interiors designed by Lusia Shafran, head of Landmark Design.

Participants concluded the day sipping cocktails and enjoying a buffet dinner, silent auction and awards ceremony in The Muirfield, one of the beautiful Nicklaus Manor homes. Silent auction items included a Jack Nicklaus signed lithograph and a signed putter, A $1,000 Robb & Stucky gift certificate, a Callaway FT5 Driver, numerous concierge services from Savannah’s Elite Concierge, and a trip to Key West by private plane. The Concession donated a round of golf for two sets of foursomes.

Golf Tournament Committee members are: Bud Borax, David Chaifetz, Harvey Hinrichs, Jack Wright, and Karen Talbot.

“It has been our pleasure to work with the Sarasota Opera on this worthwhile cause,” said Karen Talbot, vice president sales and marketing for Golden Bear Realty. “Melissa Lane, director of development for the Opera, has worked tirelessly along with her talented and dedicated staff. The numerous Sarasota Opera volunteers and the committee were fantastic.”

Proceeds from the Golf Tournament will go towards funding Sarasota Opera’s continuing operations. In addition, the company is in the midst of Building on the Vision, a $60-million capital campaign. The campaign, which is the largest ever undertaken by the company, will support a renovation of the Opera House, strengthening of its endowment, and securing its long-term future through legacy gifts.

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For the top players on the LPGA Tour, the season officially ended Sunday after the final round of the exclusive ADT Championship.

No wonder Lorie Kane didn’t feel quite right. Her clubs had already started collecting dust. “This is the first time in my career since’97 that I have not played in our final ending tournament,” Kane said over the weekend from her home in Florida. “I will be honest - I’m very disappointed.”

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Failing to qualify for the season-ending event is one of a few unfortunate “firsts” Kane experienced in 2007.

The Charlottetown native also missed a major for the first time in more than a decade when she didn’t qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open and failed to be the top Canadian on the money list after Hamilton’s Alena Sharp finished ahead of her. Kane also missed seven cuts, which is more than any of her previous seasons on the LPGA Tour.

Despite all that, Kane doesn’t see 2007 as a complete write-off.

“I’m going to look at it as a building year because I learned a lot,” she said. “I learned where I needed to spend less time and less worry.

“And I also learned that I need to put more focus and time into me and what happens to my game rather than the game at large.”

The biggest thing she’ll be looking to address in the coming months is her short game.

Kane called her inability to get up-and-down during stretches of the season “inexcusable.” She’s also taking a cue from Mike Weir, who credited his resurgent year as much to an improvement in his short game as the recent swing changes he made.

It’s not uncommon for the two most recognizable faces in Canadian golf to compare notes.

“I don’t get an opportunity to speak to him very often but when I do I pick his brain,” Kane said of Weir. “I ask him things that only golfers understand. Mike is probably one of the hardest working people in the game.”

Kane is no slouch.

She’ll take a few days off around Christmas to be with family and friends on Prince Edward Island, but will otherwise be spending a lot of time in the gym and on the practice range. Kane, who turns 43 in December, has shown a strong commitment to fitness in recent years and feels she is as fit now as she’s been during her years in professional golf. Her swing is also as good as it’s been, which is why she is so determined to improve her chipping and putting.

Kane’s last LPGA victory came in 2001 but she certainly doesn’t think it will be her last.

“By no stretch am I anywhere near the end of my career,” said Kane. “I think I have lots of tournament wins left. I just have to work a little bit harder and keep grinding.”

There were times when this season felt like a grind.

One of the low points came at the CN Canadian Women’s Open in August, when Kane missed the cut after failing to make a birdie during two rounds at Edmonton’s Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club. It was during that event that Hall of Fame golf commentator Judy Rankin identified a problem in Kane’s game.

“She said to me, ‘Lorie, I think you’re working golf instead of playing golf,”‘ recalled Kane. “I have to agree with her. I think you get out sometimes and you get so caught up in trying to make it perfect that you forget that this isn’t a game of perfect. You just need to go out and play.”

One of the positives Kane was able to make of her struggles this year is that she had more time than normal to visit P.E.I. during the season. The time away was important.

“It gave me kind of perspective in that I am fortunate to do what I do,” said Kane.

The 2008 season will start in January at the Women’s World Cup in South Africa. She’ll represent Canada at that event along with Sharp and thinks that they’ll make a strong team.

From there, Kane hopes to prove that she can still compete with the best players on the LPGA Tour. She’s ready to put a tough year behind her.

“I’m very motivated to get myself back to where I can win golf tournaments,” said Kane. “That’s the bottom line.”

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Canada’s Toughest Golf Course - The results are in!

The Royal Canadian Golf Association asked Canadian golfers to vote on Canada’s toughest golf course and they’ve certainly made themselves heard loud and clear! Over the past few weeks, the RCGA has received over 300 votes for what Canadian golfers think is this country’s most difficult golf course.

1/09/2007

The Royal Canadian Golf Association asked Canadian golfers to vote on Canada’s toughest golf course and they’ve certainly made themselves heard loud and clear! Over the past few weeks, the RCGA has received over 300 votes for what Canadian golfers think is this country’s most difficult golf course.

Votes came in for courses right across the nation, from Victoria Golf Club on the west coast to Admiral’s Green in St. John’s, N.L. It’s obvious that Canadians are knowledgeable and passionate about the game of golf, as evidenced by the insightful comments that accompanied some votes.

The following are the top-3 most difficult courses as voted on by Canadians:

1. National Golf Club of Canada, Woodbridge, Ont.
One course was continually mentioned by voters and seems to have a firm hold in Canadian golf folklore as being the toughest track around. That course is the National Golf Club of Canada, located in Woodbridge, ON. The National received 21 percent of the votes, well ahead of any other contender. The National is famous for its fast, sloping greens and the demand it places on accurate and intelligent shot-making…nothing less than perfect will suffice.

2. Royal Montreal Golf Club (Blue Course), Ile Bizard, Que.
The Royal Montreal (Blue Course) received the second most votes at 10 percent. The Blue Course has recently undergone a renovation at the hands of golf architect Rees Jones in preparation for the 2007 President’s Cup. Mr. Jones is well known for his ‘doctoring’ of venues for the US Open so it should be no surprise that the Blue Course is perceived by voters as ‘tough as nails’.

3. Highlands Links, Cape Breton, N.S.
Receiving the third most votes (5 percent) was the venerable Highlands Links, located in beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Highlands Links is not particularly long but there is not a flat lie to be found on the wonderful, rolling terrain. Legendary Canadian golf architect Stanley Thompson is said to have buried huge boulders in the fairways when the course was built.

Readers who took part in the poll had a lot to say about Canada’s toughest golf courses. Read below for comments that came in on the voters-choice, top-10 most difficult courses:

(The) National Golf Club of Canada (Woodbridge, Ont.)
“The course penalizes every missed shot or poorly conceived shot…the course demands focus, commitment and precise execution on every shot…tough off the tee and tougher around the greens…tough but fair…brutal from the tips…extreme test from the back tees…I would find it hard to believe that anything could be harder than The National on a tournament day…breaking 80 is like breaking 70…just punishing on every hole…every time I play I leave battered and bruised…The National is the only course I’ve seen provincial champions make 9s and 10s on…green complexes are the most protected and difficult I’ve ever faced…holding the greens was hard enough, but even chipping to them was tough as nails…the course is just tough all around…narrow fairways, well bunkered and fast greens… if you make an error, it keeps on compounding until you finish the hole…game over, no course even sniffs the shot difficulty from tee to green…top college players are struggling to break 80…very punishing course, especially in tournament conditions…it’s probably top-5 in North America, right up there with US Open venues…you cannot let up for a second…its length, demanding iron shots and slick greens all combine for a most humbling golf experience…forces the golfer to work the ball and hit an assortment of golf shots…Lee Trevino was quoted as saying it’s the toughest course he’s played…nothing compares to it, it’s that simple…it’s very obvious, nothing else comes anywhere close…year in, year out, always the toughest…tough greens, long holes, numerous water hazards and well placed bunkering make the National Golf Club of Canada Canada’s toughest golf track….super-fast greens and very demanding of shots into the green…”

The Royal Montreal Golf Club – Blue Course (Ile Bizard, Que.)
“With the changes instituted for the President’s Cup, RMGC is the toughest course in the Quebec and Ontario region…precision, distance and course management are all a must to have any chance of success on this baby…greens are tough, par fours are long and tough…easy to make double bogey without losing your golf ball…traditional, old-fashioned course with small tricky greens…all the long holes seem to play into the wind…Kentucky Bluegrass rough it typically long and thick, even for regular member play…it’s tough, but it’s not manufactured toughness, it’s natural…not a course with too many penalty strokes, but you’ll always walk off thinking you should have been 4 or 5 strokes better…Blue course is by far the toughest in Canada with the new changes…no comparison…small, elevated greens make scoring extremely difficult…low scores are only achieved with superb iron play and exceptional putting…after modernizing the entire course, this has quickly become one of the most challenging courses I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing…testy bunkering makes this the ultimate golf challenge…insane course…combines the difficulty of length, speed of greens, undulations, water and general intimidation to provide the toughest challenge, both mentally and physically…the scenery is so breath taking that it’s hard to concentrate on the golf…

Highlands Links (Cape Breton, N.S.)
“There’s not a flat lie anywhere off the tee, the wind howls, there’s bush, water, elevation, spectacular scenery and every drive (including the one to get there) is memorable…I’m a 12 handicap and the last time I played there it took me 7 holes to make a par…miss the fairway and you’ve got a penalty…small greens…if you are anywhere near par after 2, count yourself lucky…you will use every club in your bag and never have a flat lie…tight fairways, uneven lies, a great Stanley Thompson layout…narrow fairways, undulating greens, dramatic changes in elevation, uneven lies…a true test of links golf…

Shaughnessy G & CC (Vancouver, B.C.)
This Vancouver course hosted the 2005 Canadian Open and more than held its own against the PGA Tour pros. “When they want to make it tough it’s as tough as any course around. Beauty and difficulty make it one of the best and most difficult courses in Canada…the tree-lined fairways and the ability to drastically change the course to challenge the best players in the world is a testament to its difficulty…was rated the 2nd toughest golf course on tour in 2005, behind the very difficult Pinehurst at the U.S. Open…during the Canadian Amateur it was the hardest I have ever played…

Bear Mountain G & CC (Victoria, B.C.)
What else to expect from a golf course designed by the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus? “From the tips, oh my god…has everything, length, hazards, tough greens…a long, difficult and undulating course with long rough…for first time players this is arguably the most difficult golf course in Canada…

The Links at Crowbush Cove (Morrell, P.E.I.)
Seaside location makes an already tough course even more difficult. “Exposure to the north shore gales…’nuf said…no easy holes…tough weather conditions often, tough carry to some fairways…

Wolf Creek Golf Resort (Ponoka, Alta.)
Wolf Creek is a frequent host of the Alberta Open and consistently has been a great test for the pros .“The Wolf” holds true to its predatorial name…the layout and yardage may appear benign; however when the wind howls on this links style course, the Wolf bears his fangs…

Eighteen Pastures GC (Mission, B.C.)
Back-to-basics, rustic golf course is a shot-makers delight. “Formerly known as Iron Mountain this course is built on a mountainside near Mission, BC. There are few level lies and most often the golfer is posed with a “downhill-sideways-uphill” spot to hit from…totally savage layout…narrow fairways, and lots of elevation changes making distance control difficult…

Devil’s Pulpit GC (Caledon Village, Ont.))
One half of a dynamic duo with Devil’s Paintbrush, ‘The Pulpit’ truly can give players nightmares. “The greens are very difficult to read accurately, what appears to be uphill may in fact be down hill or side hill or uphill…a truly challenging course with magnificent views of the Niagara Escarpment…long par 4s, fescue and very fast/tough to read greens…

Dakota Dunes Golf Links (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Dakota Dunes makes the most of its ideal terrain for golf…there are times when you’d swear you were in Ireland. “Really, really tough when the prairie winds blow…from the tips it’s one of the toughest longest courses in Saskatchewan, if not Western Canada…
WHAT THE EXPERTS HAD TO SAY…

So now that Canadian golfers have had their say, which courses in Canada really are the most difficult? Every RCGA member course is rated for Course Rating and Slope Rating by qualified raters using a very specific set of evaluations and calculations. You can be sure that the ratings are thorough and accurate as course raters are highly trained and devote countless hours to their work. (Contact your provincial golf association to learn more about becoming a course rater).

COURSE RATING
Course Rating is the core measurement of difficulty because it indicates the playing difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer under normal course and weather conditions. Course Rating is equal to the average of the better half of a scratch golfer’s scores. Here are the 10 highest (including ties, all from the longest set of tees) Course Ratings in Canada:

Course (City) Tee Rating
Woodington Lake Golf Club Inc. – West (Tottenham, Ont.) Green 76.9
The Club at Bond Head - South Course (Bond Head, Ont.) Black 76.8
Coppinwood (Uxbridge, Ont.) Champion 76.4
Lionhead Golf & Country Club – Legends Course (Brampton, Ont.) Black 76.3
(The) National Golf Club Of Canada (Woodbridge, Ont.) Gold 76.3
Royal Oaks Estates and Golf Club (Moncton, N.B.) Black 76.2
Royal Montreal Golf Club – Blue Course (Ile Bizard, Que.) Champion 76.2
Eagles Nest Golf Club Inc. (Maple, Ont.) Eagle 76.2
Muskoka Bay Club (Gravenhurst, Ont.) Black 76.1
Grand Niagara Resort (Niagara Falls, Ont.) Black 76.1
St. Andrew’s Valley Golf Club (Aurora, Ont.) Green 76.0
Lionhead Golf & Country Club – Masters Course (Brampton, Ont.) Black 75.8
Taboo Resort, Golf & Spa (Gravenhurst, Ont.) Black 75.6
Tangle Creek Golf Club (Thorton, Ont.) Platinum 75.6
Oviinbyrd Golf Club (Foots Bay, Ont.) Black 75.6
Northern Bear Golf Club (Edmonton, Alta.) Black 75.6
Club de Golf de l’Ile Montreal (Montreal, Que.) Or 75.6
Rattlesnake Point Golf Club (Milton, Ont.) Gold 75.6
Glen Abbey Golf Club (Oakville, Ont.) Black 75.5
SLOPE RATING
Slope Rating indicates the relative difficulty of a course for bogey golfers, as compared to the difficulty of the course for scratch golfers (Course Rating). Ten elements of the golf course, in addition to length are used to calculate the Slope Rating. Put simply, courses with a high Slope Rating tend to be very difficult for the bogey golfer. Here are the 10 highest (including ties, all from the longest set of tees) Slope Ratings in Canada:

Course (City) Tee Rating
Taboo Resort, Golf & Spa (Gravenhurst, Ont.) Black 153
Lionhead Golf & Country Club - Legends Course (Brampton, Ont.) Black 152
Bear Mountain Golf & Country Club (Victoria B.C.) Golden 152
(The) National Golf Club of Canada (Woodbridge, Ont.) Gold 152
Heritage Pointe Golf & Country Club (DeWinton, Alta.) Gold 150
Tangle Creek Golf Club (Thornton, Ont.) Platinum 149
Mad River Golf Club (Creemore, Ont.) Gold 149
Thundering Waters Golf Club (Niagara Falls, Ont.) Daly 149
Osprey Valley Resorts – Hoot (Caledon, Ont. ) Gold 149
Links at Crowbush Cove – Crowbush (Morell, P.E.I.) Black 148
The Club at Bond Head - North Course (Bond Head, Ont.) Black 148
Grandview Golf Club (Huntsville, Ont.) Gold 148
Lionhead Golf & Country Club - Masters Course (Brampton, Ont.) Black 147
OslerBrook Golf & Country Club Inc. (Collingwood, Ont.) Black 147
Beacon Hall Golf Club (Aurora, Ont. ) Black 147
Timber Ridge Golf Course (Brighton, Ont.) Gold 147
Woodington Lake Golf Club Inc. – West (Tottenham, Ont.) Green 146
The Club at Bond Head - South Course (Bond Head, Ont.) Black 146
Muskoka Bay Club (Gravenhurst, Ont.) Black 146
Oviinbyrd Golf Club (Foots Bay, Ont.) Black 146
Glen Abbey Golf Club (Oakville, Ont.) Black 146
Angus Glen Golf Club - South Course (Markham, Ont.) Gold 146
Predator Ridge Golf Resort – Peregrine (Vernon, B.C.) Black 146
Royal Ontario Golf Club (Hornby, Ont.) Black 146
National Pines Golf Club (Innisfil, Ont.) Black 146
The Golf Course at Silvertip (Canmore, Alta.) Professional 146
Heritage Pointe Golf & Country Club (DeWinton, Alta.) Gold 146
Granite Golf Club (Stouffville, Ont.) Black 145
Redtail Golf Course (Port Stanley, Ont.) Black 145
Eighteen Pastures Golf Club (Mission, B.C.) Gold 145
Royal Niagara Golf Club (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) Black 145
Coppinwood (Uxbridge, Ont.) Champion 144
Greywolf Golf Course (Panorama, B.C.) Grey 144
Seguin Valley Golf & Country Club Inc. (Parry Sound, Ont.) Black 144
Carnmoney Golf Club (DeWinton, Alta.) Gold 144
Royal Oaks Estates and Golf Club (Moncton, N.B.) Black 143
St. Andrew’s Valley Golf Club (Aurora, Ont.) Green 143
Angus Glen Golf Club - North Course (Markham, Ont.) Black 143
Wooden Sticks Golf Club (Uxbridge, Ont.) Black 143
Fox Creek Golf Club (Dieppe, N.B.) Black 143
Springbank Links Golf Course (Calgary, Alta.) Emerald 143
For a more detailed look at how the difficulty of a course is measured, click here

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SPEIRS ON PACE AT Q-SCHOOL, HNATIUK 17 OFF THE PACE

Adam Speirs is right on schedule.

Speirs, the touring golf professional from Winnipeg, followed up an opening round of 69 with an even-par 72 yesterday at Royal Dunes Golf Club near Phoenix, Ariz.

The St. Charles Country Club member was 3-over after two holes, but got things together to finish with one eagle, three birdies, 10 pars, three bogeys and one double bogey.

Speirs remains tied for 25th, seven shots off the lead and probably one stroke behind where he’ll need to be to advance to the third and final stage of Q-school.

Selkirk product Glen Hnatiuk shot a second consecutive 74 to leave him at 6-over 148 after two rounds at the Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla. Hnatiuk is tied for 48th, 17 strokes behind the leader

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And so it begins again for Adam Speirs.

Speirs, the touring golf professional who plays out of St. Charles, tees it up this morning in the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School at Lantana Golf Club near Dallas, Texas

The first step to earning full status on the PGA Tour comes during the next four days as Speirs needs to finish among the top-20 and ties over 72 holes to advance to the second of three gruelling stages.

A year ago, Speirs made it through the first stage by finishing in a tie for 16th spot, 12 shots behind Chris Parra.

After a strong season on the Canadian Tour which saw him set a new career high for Top-10 finishes (three), Speirs is feeling good going into the pressure cooker.

“I feel like there’s a lot more expectations on myself this time because I know that I’m good enough,” Speirs said yesterday from Texas. “Now I just have to perform to that level. It’s time to move on. That’s what I’m here for.”

Speirs’ confidence got a significant boost late last month as he earned his first professional victory, which saw him shoot 62-66 for a two-day total of 128 at the Ocotillo Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz. during a Pepsi Tour event.

“It was excellent,” said Speirs. “It wasn’t a Canadian Tour victory and it wasn’t a ton of cash (US$2,000), but nobody beat me and it was nice.”

The nicest part of that showing, other than the win itself, was firing a 9-under 62 in the opening round.

“That’s my best round ever,” said Speirs, who finished 24th on the Canadian Tour order of Merit money list this season with $21,686.

Winnipeg’s Adam Spiers is five shots behind the leaders after one round of the PGA Tour’s Q School at the Royal Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona.
He fired a three under 69 on

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A surprisingly warm November day sent Winnipeggers outdoors yesterday to soak up some rays before winter’s icy grip takes hold.

“It’s so beautiful it’s amazing,” Guido Cerasani said of the warm, sunny weather.

Cerasani runs Shooters Family Golf Centre on north Main Street, one of the few golf courses open around the Winnipeg area yesterday.

Daytime temperatures climbed to 12.8 C yesterday, which apparently tied a record high of 12.8 C set in 1981.

The normal high for this time of year is -1 C, while the normal low is -8 C.

Shooters opened at 10 a.m. yesterday and had been busy since the first group of golfers dusted off their clubs.

“Today has just been packed,” said Cerasani. “It’s unusual for November, that’s for sure.”

Shooters normally stays open until the first lasting snowfall hits, said Cerasani. Last year, the course closed Oct. 18.

“Before the snow flies, we wanted to get in another round,” said Eric Walker after finishing golfing with a few friends.

“We’re golf nuts,” said Walker, adding the greens and fairways were in good shape yesterday.

“This could be the last time we get out this year,” said his golf partner, Jim Marchant.

The busy crowd of golfers also spilled over to the course’s restaurant.

“We’ve had to call in extra staff,” said Thomas Parry, owner of Parry’s Off the Perimeter.

Cottonwood Golf Course near Ste. Anne was also open yesterday and, like Shooters, is open today as well

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2007/11/13/4651572-sun.html

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It’s going to cost a bit more green to hit the links at civic golf courses next season. The city’s alternate service delivery committee agreed today to a proposal by the Winnipeg Golf Services Special Operating Agency to up the fees by a dollar to $27 for adults to golf 18 holes at Kildonan Park and Windsor Park golf courses, while nine holes at Crescent Drive and Harbour View golf courses would go up by 50 cents to $13 for adults.

Green fees at John Blumberg, which is managed by an independent contractor, are also proposed to go up by $1 to $29 for adults to golf 18 holes.

The proposed fees still have to be accepted by city council.

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Brad Kirton captured the Labatt’s Manitoba amateur golfer of the year award last night at St. Boniface Golf Club, and it’s an honour he hopes he never wins again.

The 25-year-old Pine Ridge member won both the Manitoba men’s amateur and mid-amateur tournaments this year, and he is hoping to ride that momentum into the pro ranks next year.

“I definitely want to give it a shot,” Kirton said. “It’s something I think I have to do for my conscience, so I don’t always say, ‘What if?’

“I gotta give it a shot and say, ‘I did it. I gave it all I had.’ If that doesn’t turn out, then I’ll go back to school and work my ass off after that and go out in the so-called real world.”

The other award finalists were four-time winner Garth Collings of Breezy Bend, Matt Johnston of St. Charles and Kaitlin Troop of Brandon.

If things go according to plan, Kirton will attempt to qualify for the Canadian Tour at its annual spring qualifying school in May.

And if he plays as well in that pressure cooker as he did this past summer, he has a bright future. He had a two-shot win in the amateur and followed it up with a nine-shot triumph in the mid-amateur a week later.

Kirton was also the runner-up in the match play tournament, he guided Pine Ridge to the provincial interclub championship, he made to the second round of match play at the Canadian amateur, and he finished 15th in the national mid-amateur.

Could it have been any better?

“I could probably say yes and no,” Kirton said. “You can always wish for bigger and better things and playing a little bit better, but there’s also a lot of great things that happened that I never thought would have happened.”

Kirton’s acceptance speech last night was an emotional one, as his good friend Scotty Loewen’s father, Ernie, passed away last Thursday after a battle with a brain tumor.

Kirton vowed to take Ernie Loewen’s advice to heart as he embarks on a pro career.

“Ernie always said, ‘You got the tools, but you need the toolbox,’ ” Kirton said. “That maybe tweaked my perspective about it and made me realize you gotta be more mentally tough than you really think.

“So this award is dedicated to him. He was a good man, and he left a good legacy.”

http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/Golf/2007/10/23/4597741-sun.html

There was nothing Nick Weslock loved more than the game of golf.

The legendary amateur player and member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame stayed close to the game right up until the day he died. Health issues such as multiple hip replacements, a gall bladder ailment and hernia operation couldn’t keep him from the golf course.

“Golf was everything for him,” his daughter Sheri-Lee Weslock said Wednesday. “Nothing would hold him back - he’d get up in the morning, have his shower and then he’d be out at the course.”

Weslock died Saturday at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Ont., according to his daughter. He was 89.

He had been golfing just days before with a set of clubs that were about a month old.

The game got into Weslock’s blood as a young man after he took a caddie job at Essex Golf & Country Club in Windsor, Ont. The course lowered its flags to half-mast after learning of his death.

The Winnipeg-born Weslock won seven Ontario Opens, eight Ontario Amateurs and four Canadian Amateurs (1957, ‘63, ‘64, ‘66). He was low amateur 16 times at the Canadian Open.

An engineer by trade who ran a successful auto parts company, Weslock was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Royal Canadian Golf Association Hall of Fame in 1972.

Weslock represented Canada numerous times on World Cup, America’s Cup, and Commonwealth teams. He was invited to play The Masters four times.

He was known as “Nick the Wedge,” a nickname that dated back to the 1947 Canadian Open after a wedge shot that spun back toward the cup.

“I played with (American) Clayton Heafner,” Weslock told the Financial Post in a 1998 interview. “He wouldn’t sign my card because he thought it was an illegal wedge.”

But tournament officials ruled the club was kosher.

Weslock fired a final-round 69 to finish 12-under par at the Toronto-area tournament and fell three shots short of Bobby Locke’s winning score. Still, he had no interest in turning pro.

“I said Bobby Locke would only get $1,500 for first prize. I said I can make that in my business in one day. Forget it,” Locke told the Post. “And, there’s no home life, you’re travelling all the time. It’s a rough life.”

Before his death, Weslock told his daughter that he had lived a good life. That was no doubt helped by the fact that he never lost his noted short game.

As Weslock got older, he found enjoyment in following golf on television as well as playing a couple times a week.

He and Moe Norman were close for most of their adult lives and Weslock took his friend’s 2004 death hard. Norman and Weslock often ate breakfast together.

“They were very close and practically every day they would be together,” said Sheri-Lee Weslock. “I think he was a little lost when Moe passed.”

Sheri-Lee remembers going shopping with her mother as a young girl and being asked about her father. She never fell for the game like her dad, but he certainly tried to teach her about it over the years.

Weslock carried a “little black book” with him, to record advice he received on his golfing travels. He published his findings in 1985 in “Your Golf Bag Pro: Nick Weslock’s Little Black Book of Key Golf Secrets.”

He is said to have won more than 400 tournaments during his lifetime. But, above all, it is Weslock’s unrelenting love of the sport that will define him.

“I’m convinced you have to have an affinity for the game,” he once said. “That’s what made us winners, and that’s why we’ll never stop playing.”

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Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, who turned his hand to U.S. golf ventures after his Canadian business empire crumbled, is liquidating the company he once hoped to turn into a leading supplier of high-end clubs.

Mr. Pocklington, chairman and co-owner of GolfGear International Inc., made the voluntary filing in bankruptcy court earlier this month in Nevada, where the company is incorporated.

As a result of the filing, a lawsuit against Mr. Pocklington and other defendants has been temporarily placed on hold in the Superior Court of California, Orange County.

Mr. Pocklington, 65, left Edmonton seven years ago and moved to Indian Wells, Calif., near Palm Springs.

In an interview, he flatly rejected the lawsuit’s allegations of wrongdoing.

“GolfGear is basically just a shell company and there’s nothing in it,” Mr. Pocklington said from California. “Down here, the world is very, very litigious. This is crazy. I’ve been pouring money into the company for the last three years and got tired of it. I’m being blamed for taking things out. Hell, all I’ve done is put in.”

In court documents filed last month, a group of private GolfGear shareholders allege that it was mainly Mr. Pocklington, with four other men in minor roles, who “virtually destroyed GolfGear International (GGI) as a viable operating company and misappropriated for themselves essentially all of GGI’s assets.”

The plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that “defendant Pocklington concocted and implemented a scheme to strip GGI of its income-generating assets and misappropriate those assets in further violation of his fiduciary duties owing to GGI.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The suit alleges that Mr. Pocklington orchestrated a transfer of patents “worth millions of dollars” to his newly created private firm, Sonartec International LLC, shifting exclusive rights to names such as the bestselling golf club at GolfGear, the Tsunami driver.

Sonartec recently acquired the assets of a seven-year-old firm called Sonartec Golf, formerly headed by entrepreneur Toru Kamatari.

“Sonartec is a great little company,” Mr. Pocklington said of the golf club specialist, whose premium fairway metals and hybrids - a cross between woods and irons - have gained acceptance among a growing number of professional golfers.

Mr. Pocklington said he has had to pay $100,000 so far in legal fees to defend himself.

“Not everything succeeds. I tried to straighten out GolfGear but found that it’s much easier, when people sue you, to start anew,” he said.

“It’s nuts. The allegations are garbage.”

GolfGear’s filing under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is aimed at liquidation, in contrast to the better-known Chapter 11, which allows for companies to continue operating while they restructure under court protection from creditors.

An avid golfer, Mr. Pocklington said it’s easy to hit the ball farther with Tsunami drivers, knocking several strokes off golf scores.

“They look good, and they feel good,” he wrote in his promotional material.

The Canadian entrepreneur, born and raised in London, Ont., proclaimed his allegiance to his new country.

“I love the United States, and I fully intend to become a United States citizen,” he wrote.

“I like the wide-open attitude of Americans. Americans generally praise success. They admire people who get out of bed early and make it happen!”

Mr. Pocklington first invested in GolfGear in 2002 and became chairman in April of that year.

A golf industry executive named Donald Anderson founded GolfGear in 1989, designing, developing and marketing golf equipment. He resigned from the firm in 2003.

Yvette Weinstein of Las Vegas has been appointed the bankruptcy trustee in the GolfGear filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada.

Among 120 creditors listed in bankruptcy court are individual U.S. investors, the Toshiba Classic golf tournament, Corporategolf.com, Executive Car Leasing Co., Verizon California, Office Depot, the Professional Golf Association Fall Expo, the PGA Merchandise Show and PGA Magazine.

California lawyer Ira Rivin originally filed a lawsuit on behalf of GolfGear investors in November, 2006, but updated it last month in a “first amended derivative complaint,” seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

The complaint filed last month is based on allegations of “breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, fraudulent transfers and violation of California business and professions code.”

The plaintiffs are investors holding GolfGear shares and/or debentures: Roger Branham, Michael Cohen, Barbara Hansen, Lyle Williamson and Nevada-based National Services Inc.

The defendants are: Mr. Pocklington, Michael Gobuty, Daniel Wright, Donald Berry, Naoya Kinoshita and four of Mr. Pocklington’s holding companies - Nevada-based Sonartec, Wyngate Ltd. of Jersey in the Channel Islands, and Bahamas-based firms Quincy Investments Corp. and Dempsey Investments Corp.

Lawyers for the defendants have said in court documents that their clients “specifically deny any malfeasance and/or breaches of fiduciary or other duties owing to GolfGear International Inc.”

Mr. Gobuty, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Berry are GolfGear directors, while Mr. Kinoshita is a former director, according to Mr. Rivin’s filing. Mr. Gobuty is a former co-owner of the now-defunct Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.

Mr. Rivin said in an interview that his clients plan to challenge the Chapter 7 filing, questioning whether that is the appropriate route to go.

He noted that a written consent submitted in bankruptcy court by Mr. Pocklington referred to a Chapter 11 scenario, too.

Mr. Pocklington was the flamboyant owner of the Oilers for two decades, and was criticized as the man who sold Edmonton superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.

In 1998, Alberta Treasury Branches - owed $100-million - forced Mr. Pocklington to sell the NHL club to a group of Edmonton investors.

The rest of his business empire in Canada crumbled in 1999, after government-owned ATB seized other assets, including a margarine factory, a corporate jet, a $750,000 wine collection and dozens of paintings, including several Group of Seven works.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071029.RPOCKLINGTON29/TPStory/Business

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Team Canada set to challenge for title

Four members of the Royal Canadian Golf Association’s (RCGA) high performance program will represent Team Canada today through Saturday at the 2007 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Texas.

Representing Team Canada on the men’s side is 2007 Canadian Amateur champion Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., as well as 2007 Canadian Amateur runner-up Michael Knight of Calgary. Taylor, a former Canadian junior boys champion, had a stellar run at this year’s U.S. Amateur where he advanced to the quarter-finals while Knight claimed victory in 2007 at the Pacific Coast Amateur.

Joining Taylor and Knight are 2007 national junior girls team members Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont. The 16-year-old Kim finished runner-up at the 2007 Royale Cup National Women’s Amateur, while Lee-Bentham, 15, won the 2007 Ontario Women’s Amateur.

Accompanying Team Canada in Texas are national amateur team head coaches Dean Spriddle and Henry Brunton.

The biennial championship, which bills itself as the Olympics of golf, was created in 2001 and features four-player teams competing in both a team and individual format. In all, 96 players from 24 countries are expected to compete in this 72-hole Four Ball Stroke Play event featuring many of the best female and male amateur players in the world.

Team Canada will be looking to improve upon its 10th-place overall showing from the 2005 event that saw the men’s team finish third and women’s team finish 18th.http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/canucks/story.html?id=8b4435f5-b262-46e4-bea4-2136b7e22aac&k=34444

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Sunghoon Kang of Lewisville held a one-stroke lead over Stuart Deane of Arlington at the midway point of the PGA Tour first-stage qualifying tournament at Lantana Golf Club.

Kang was 4-under-par through 36 holes after matching par on a windy Tuesday that sent scores soaring. Only two players in the 77-man field broke par. Adam Speirs of Winnipeg and Chris James of Frisco both shot one-under 71 and are tied for fifth.

Play continues through Friday, with the top 26 finishers plus ties advancing to the second stage of the three-stage Tour qualifying process next month

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