Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
2008 CA Championship Grabs Global Golf Spotlight
The CA Championship is one of three World Golf Championships sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian …
This week’s golf tournaments The Canadian Press
One-hit wonders Winnipeg Sun
US Kids Golf and the LPGA Tour team to supply kids with clubs WorldGolf.com
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Developers have faces. We think of face-less corporations headquartered elsewhere being behind insensitive development, but even they have real people, somewhere, responsible for their decisions. Sometimes the faces are more readily recognizeable. This is a story about how one influential Winnipeg family, with an honourable business history and deserved reputation as civic philanthropists, seems to have begun to distort the city’s planning process for its own business interests.
Since 1926, the Richardsons have been the quintessential Winnipeggers, the city’s acknowledged social, arts and business leaders. The firm of James Richardson and Sons, founded in 1912 by James Richardson, an Irish-born Kingston, Ontario grain merchant, transported the first western Canadian wheat to Europe in 1883 in the first company-owned grain ship, and by 1923 had become the largest grain firm in the British Commonwealth.
James’s sons George and Henry Richardson built and diversified the company from Kingston. In 1923 head office was established in Winnipeg by the third generation of Richardsons, led by George’s son James Armstrong Richardson, Sr., who founded Western Canada Airways in 1926. The Richardson family probably could be counted now as a transnational corporation, with Richardson offices in Canada, the U.S.A, Cayman Islands, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong, and interests in grain, grain elevators, feeds and fertilizers, ships and shipping, financial services, pipeline construction, oil and gas and real estate. They are one of Canada’s wealthiest families.
In what may now be an old fashioned spirit of noblesse oblige, the third generation of Richardsons especially demonstrated an appreciation for the community in which they were able to so brilliantly expand their success. True to the tenor of the times, while the men made the money, the women dispensed the largesse. The Muriel Richardson Auditorium at the Winnipeg Art Gallery was named for James A. Sr.’s wife and is on a large list of benevolences for which the Richardsons have been responsible. A social conscience was demonstrated with a founding grant of $1 million for The Winnipeg Foundation, with an arts and family service support mandate. Much of the family’s downtown home-site was donated to the city as a riverbank park. The Western Canada Aviation museum owes much of its quality to Richardson assistance.
Richardson charity in Winnipeg continued in the fourth generation in arts and social affairs. Muriel’s daughter Kathleen took up the matriarchal role of benefactress. The distaff charities of the Richardson fourth generation were paralleled in public service. James Armstrong Richardson, Jr., with a war record as a bomber pilot and the subsequent chairmanship of James Richardson and Sons Ltd. behind him, moved in the late 60’s into politics as the neophyte federal MP for Winnipeg South. Within three months he was appointed to Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet. Sadly, it is also with this same James A. Richardson that a turn in Richardson fortunes and civic style may have begun.
In June of 1990, he was associated with accusations of insider trading by a Richardson firm. A Richardson company, The Grandsons Energy Corporation, made a four-fold profit of $230,000 trading in shares of a company that went bankrupt. No formal charges resulted from the investigation by the Manitoba and Ontario securities commissions, but Richardson’s trading privileges were suspended for three years, and he was ordered to pay a $550,000 settlement to halt the investigation. Richardson also made a “donation” of $100,000 each to the finance departments of Ontario and Manitoba, and $50,000 to the security commissions to defray investigation costs. James A. Richardson, Jr. seems to have faded then from public prominence.
It was shortly thereafter that Richardson land on the banks of the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg’s western suburb of Charleswood was suddenly slated for “residential development.” The land contained the last remnant of a riverbottom forest over a thousand years old, that had been admired and enjoyed by the public and by naturalists for years. Prairie river bottom forest is a more endangered habitat even than tallgrass prairie. Environmentalists moved to block the development. The Richardsons moved quicker. Bulldozers destroyed the centre of the forest. Enough damage was done in a single day to permanently cripple the fragile ecosystem. Provincial laws require an environmental licence before such an action. The environmentalists could have charged the Richardson’s with that contravention, but the damage had already been done. The heart of the forest had been ripped out, and also the heart of any environmentalist’s reasons for taking court action. The Province of Manitoba laid no charges.
An ecologically unsustainable strip of the ancient forest was left. The Richardson’s donated that to the city for a tax receipt many times the assessed value of the land. Three species of butterfly had been destroyed along with their unique and ancient habitat. Those who knew the family personally said at the time that grandmother Muriel would be turning in her grave. This sad event seems to have signalled “payback time” for the once generous Richardson family, and may have marked the dynastic reins being taken up by the fifth generation, led by Hartley T. Richardson.
The second incident in which the Richardson name was linked to extraordinary dealings with the city over land again involved riverbank property. It was along the La Salle River near where Louis Riel stopped MacDonald’s surveyors and set into motion the events which led to the entry of Manitoba into Canada as a province and not a territory.
In September of 1992, Genstar Development Company Central Ltd., who had purchased the Trappist Monastery property along the La Salle in St. Norbert, authorized Sky Investments Ltd. to proceed with environmental assessment of the property. They wished to clear it for a golf course. In October, McGowan Design Group on behalf of Sky Investments wrote to Manitoba Environment and sent a preliminary submission for “Forest Point Golf and Country Club,” with construction to begin in January of 1993.
Also in October, the Coalition To Save The Elms, led by Christine Singh, requested an evaluation of the property under the Environmental Stewardship section of Plan Winnipeg. A preliminary assessment of the land noted that its size, diversity, degree of isolation, general habitat quality, the patches of rare plant species and the degree of disturbance all rated high for preservation. The City Forester found the forest resources of high value. The Coalition drew together a group to oppose the golf course project and requested provincial Clean Environment Commission hearings and a Federal environmental assessment.
In November, McGowan, on behalf of Sky, sent an application to Manitoba Environment for permission to proceed on the golf course proposal. In January, the Coalition heard that one of the partners in Sky Investments was an employee of the planning department of the City of Winnipeg, and so notified the City on a Friday night. By Monday, Sky Investments had vanished, and the McGowan application to Manitoba Environment was withdrawn.
In early spring of 1993, City Councillor John Angus called a community meeting in St. Norbert to discuss the future of the riverbank lands, still owned by Genstar, assuring the meeting that the golf course proposal was dead, the slate was clean, and any new proposals would be done with public input. That summer, the McGowan group circulated a poll in St. Norbert asking the residents if they preferred a golf course or a subdivision development. Wanting greenspace, 90% of those questioned opted for a golf course. The poll did not offer the third possibility - that the land be preserved as forest under Plan Winnipeg’s stewardship provisions. In the fall, armed with a 90% public “preference” for a golf course, McGowan and Genstar started action again “on behalf of a consortium of businessmen” who would buy the land from Genstar, pursuant to a licence for development being issued by Manitoba Environment. The application this time was made by Genstar, shielding the identity of those in “the consortium.” The Coalition To Save The Elms repeated and strengthened its opposition.
In November and December, Councillor John Angus, sitting on the Finance and Administration committee which does the city’s land acquisitions “in camera,” assumed the role of champion of the environment and proposed that the City buy the land for preservation. But buried in the fine print of the proposal was a clause that required that a permit from Manitoba Environment to develop a golf course on the land be a prerequisite to the purchase being made. Another clause permitted Genstar to buy the land back if the city did proceed to develop a golf course instead of a park. City Council passed the flawed proposal in the rush of work just before Christmas break.
The Coalition to Save The Elms took legal proceedings to have the clause which they thought guaranteed the failure of the City’s purchase bid removed because it was “a self-limitation on itself by the City, contrary to the purpose and intent of the purchasing agreement.” Ironically, John Angus as council speaker had to introduce the amendments that removed from the proposal the poisoned pill that would have embedded prior approval to develop a golf course.
Genstar would never release the names of the consortium that would have owned the “Forest Point” golf club, club house, banquet hall, etc. When questioned, they said only that “they are too important - we can’t reveal their names.” Several sources later told our informants that the Richardsons were prominent among them. The Richardsons have a country home and farm south of Winnipeg, just a few minutes drive from the proposed golf course. Hartley Richardson’s helicopter was frequently observed during this time hovering over the land in question.
The third extraordinary incident was the hijacking of proposals for a new major sports facility, by a group in which Hartley Richardson is publicly prominent. A vigorous public debate arose in 1994 over a new arena to house the Winnipeg Jets, an NHL franchise team teetering for years on the brink of moving out of Winnipeg. Several developers offered arena and multi-plex proposals. Several public interest groups - Cho!ces, Thin Ice and several Residents’ Associations - joined to oppose the commitment of public resources to a new arena. Greening The Forks, The Coalition to Save the Elms and the Sierra Club opposed an arena at the Forks. But the debate over whether an arena should be built, its size, cost, the degree of public involvement, whether single or multiple use facilities should be built, who should build it, or whether anything should be built at all in this era of public restraint, was appropriated gradually by a single group - The Manitoba Entertainment Complex.
M.E.C. was established by a “group of 40″ downtown businessmen. Prominent among them was Hartley Richardson. Most had also supported Susan Thompson’s mayoralty campaign. With an announced public spirited intent to “save the Jets,” M.E.C. tied a single-purpose arena proposal to a proposal to buy, by May 1, 1995, and therefore save, the Jets N.H.L. franchise - mobilizing and exploiting public panic over “losing the Jets.” City councillors had been under fierce pressure to approve building a new arena to make the Jets more profitable. The Province and the City of Winnipeg 1/3 of the Jets stock, and the city and the province are jointly responsible for Jets losses until January, 1977 - possibly $35 or $40 million, a “blank cheque” deal which both levels of government were anxious to get out of (See City Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 4, Fall, 1995).
M.E.C. also applied incredible private pressure within the Winnipeg business community for downtown businesses to “get on side” with them by pre-buying luxury boxes and premium seats so as to create at least the necessary appearance of sufficient financial backing for the project which the city required of them. With a self-imposed panic deadline for gaining financial backing, with the Liberal federal government promising money to be delivered through Lloyd Axworthy’s civic infrastructure program, with the majority of city councillors onside and with $10 million promised from the Province of Manitoba, M.E.C. gradually forced the other proposals that might have saved the Jets out of effective contention.
M.E.C. also headed off any consideration of any other site but land adjacent to Richardson properties by means of small print in the set of guidelines that council imposed on them for preparing a business plan. The Winnipeg Free Press pointed out in September, 1994 that the new arena would immensely improve the profitability of any adjacent property through the increased traffic of 1.5 million people annually. As time wore on it gradually became “impossible within the available time lines” for M.E.C. to switch their Jets-saving proposal to any site other than the publicly-owned land at The Forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers which is adjacent to Richardson hotel and office properties, and which M.E.C. was willing to accept as a free gift from the city, not asking for any grants of money.
M.E.C. eventually claimed that the council’s guidelines tied them to that specific site, even though there had been no public discussion on site choice, and an arena there would incur millions of dollars more in public costs for new infrastructure of roads and services than would have been incurred at another, and more appropriate, site near the already established, city owned Winnipeg Convention Centre. There, infrastructure is already in place and the land is already privately owned - but not by the Richardsons!
Despite continuing evidence advanced by Thin Ice that a majority of the public does not want a new arena, does not want it to absorb public resources and does not want it at The Forks, formal hearings by the city were curtailed or postponed. Thorough examination of the details of the M.E.C. proposal - the “whether” issue, the size, the composition, the dedication of public money, land and required infrastructure, and the site for the facility - was short-circuited.
The Manitoba election pre-empted consideration of the MEC’s business plan by city council and the Winnipeg public until it could be presented to the “new” provincial government on April 26, after which it had to be approved by council by April 28th in order to meet the option deadline for purchase of the Jets by the end of April 30. But the M.E.C. arena deal actually became a critical non-issue election issue. None of the politicians talked about it publicly, the press speculating that it was a “no win” issue which could lose a candidate votes, but not gain them. In fact, as The Winnipeg Sun reported on the Saturday after the election, Tory campaigners said on the doorsteps that only the Filmon Conservatives would put up money for the Jets. The Sun claimed that the Liberals and NDP could have won three more seats each in Winnipeg, holding the Conservatives to a minority government, except that Jets fans - even leftists - voted Tory to “Save The Jets.” Now the provincial government as well as Mayor Thompson “owed” the M.E.C.
Winnipeg city council, already fast-tracking their consideration of M.E.C.’s proposal, began during the election campaign to by-pass promised and statutory public processes and their own regulations to accomodate the M.E.C. bid - to the extent that their decisions are legally challengeable. Thin Ice prepared to make those challenges, and The Sierra Club to demand a Federal environmental assessment, either of which would have compromised the May 1 “deadline” for exercising the Jets purchase option, when the entire issue was moved into the area of high drama - or perhaps, low farce.
City council dutifully set up the necessary committee and council meetings for April 27 and 28 to hear - and pass - the business plan quickly after the April 25 election. How it was reasonable to expect the public and the objectors to react to a complex business plan only hours after seeing it was never explained. Then, in what was billed as a “last minute letter,” the N.H.L. appeared to scupper the deal by imposing “new, surprise” financial conditions on any new Jets owners, conditions that made the M.E.C. business proposal financially unsound. At the April 27 public meeting of council’s Executive Policy Committee to hear M.E.C.’s business plan and (immediate!) citizen comment on it, the M.E.C., Mayor Susan Thompson, and provincial finance minister Eric Steffanson opened the meeting by announcing that they had just learned that all their hard work to save the Jets had been brought to nought by the villainous N.H.L., which has sold out most of Canada’s major league hockey cities by preferring wealthy American franchises, as evidenced by their unreasonable demands on the M.E.C. purchase of the Jets.
But the meeting to hear the (now old) business plan and comments on it was carried on, even though the deal seemed to be dead! Leading spokesman for Thin Ice, Jim Silver, was told by Chief Commissioner Rick Frost that they wanted to get the public hearing of opposition to the business plan over with so as to be ready to approve the plan in emergency sessions over the weekend or on Monday, in case the N.H.L. could be persuaded to re-consider its conditions. Most presenters scheduled for the E.P.C. meeting carried through with the charade, although it was apparent from the dramatic manner of the announcement to a packed public meeting, followed by the continuation of the meeting as though nothing had happened, that another pressure play was on - this time against the N.H.L.
M.E.C. had actually been told on April 13, according to the N.H.L., of those “surprise” N.H.L. conditions, and they had warned M.E.C. for months before that that its business plan was not rich enough. Consideration of the business plan was held up not by the election, but because M.E.C. had no viable plan to present! Nevertheless, “spontaneous” emergency “Save the Jets” demonstrations were quickly orchestrated for Friday morning rush-hour, using young cadres that M.E.C. had begun to organize and equip with “Blue Ribbon Campaign” stickers and picket signs about mid-April. The demonstrations were to support demands that N.H.L commissioner Gary Bettman come to Winnipeg and bargain.
About a thousand M.E.C./Jets supporters blocked traffic at Portage and Main on Friday morning, April 28. Thin Ice was quick to point out that a thousand orchestrated demonstrators was insignificant compared to the 60% - 70% of Winnipeggers who oppose public funds to support a new arena, especially now that the extent of the public pledge had risen from some $42 million to $88 million, with the addition of a $28 million loan from the province and a free gift of the city’s 1/3 shares in the Jets. But both civic and provincial politicians in passionate and inflamed speeches, helped crowds, made up mostly of “young testerical white male hockey fans with muscles and tory-blue ribbons,” to create an anti-N.H.L. and anti-American chorus that promoted the M.E.C. campaign into a national issue about “losing” our game of hockey to wealthy Americans. By Saturday, Gary Bettman had arrived in Winnipeg!
The M.E.C. conducted a brilliant campaign to set and manipulate the public and political agendas. It was a prime example of what Engin Isin describes in this issue, concerning the new information elite, in his feature article “Who Is The New Citizen?” No private citizen or un-monied group could ever hope to match M.E.C.’s combination of inside knowledge, capacity to rack up political debt, and ability to secure main-stream media support.
Following this story has had all the fascinating inevitability of watching a large snake swallow a live rabbit, but at this point we must leave off and give in to publication deadlines. M.E.C., with its “loss of the Jets means loss of the N.H.L.” panic over the future of small market teams succeeded in mobilizing the support of not only Winnipeg’s Mayor and development-oriented council majority and Gary Filmon’s Conservative Manitoba government, but, through Filmon, that of Alberta and Quebec too, as well as the Federal Liberal caucus. Quite a distance to go for a building permit!
But the federal government balked, and M.E.C. failed in their bid to keep the Jets, so they lost, right? Wrong! It was never really about the Jets. It has always really been about having a major sports entertainment complex constructed next to the Richardson properties. In Winnipeg, even as the Jets purchase deadline slipped away, M.E.C. and local politicians began talking publicly about having identified the will for a new sports entertainment complex and the private money to float one, even without the Jets. An arena might yet rise up to dominate The Forks, and add value to the Richardson properties.
With the Jets panic out of the way, perhaps Winnipeg politicians might be persuaded to entertain orderly and democratic public discussion about whether and where such a new sports complex might be built. But this is not a story about the Jets and the N.H.L., nor even about an arena in Winnipeg. It is about attacks on the planning process. Whether or not an arena is ever built, fast-tracking demands by a powerful private-interest group may have permanently short-circuited the orderly and democratic processes of public representation in civic planning in Winnipeg.
The distortions of both Plan Winnipeg, the city’s over-all planning document, and Centreplan, its projections for downtown, - including a willingness to re-zone the entire downtown area to permit the building of an arena by anyone, anywhere without requiring zoning variation or public hearings - may have created irreversible legal precedents. It may even be that short-changing public representation is seen by leading elements in both the administration and Winnipeg council as an improvement in planning “efficiency.”
Whatever happens to the Jets, the undemocratic fast-track may become the norm for development applications in Winnipeg unless those precedents are successfully challenged in the courts by public spirited groups, which - if the arena itself is no longer a likelihood - may not care to proceed on only the abstract issue of protecting democratic process from the rich, the powerful and the bureaucratic.
There are several laments in this story. One is the generational sea-change that leaner and meaner times may have wrought in a once philanthropic family. Much more important has been the silence of the professional planners. Only concerned citizens have presumed to speak up to protect the public interest. To what degree are planners ethically bound to protect democratic process from those near and far who view our communities as profitable hunting grounds?
But they all have faces, and they can be known. The twenty year mandate of City Magazine continues, unabated and with fresh vigour.
Faces of development: more equal than others.
Ross Dobson
New City Magazine, spring 1995 p14-17
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Al Hastings of Deal Agencies has agreed to represent Pin High Canada exclusively in the province of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Lakehead. Deal Agencies will sell the brand to local pro shops as well as corporate clients. Deal agencies has a long and successful relationship with many of the green grass pro shops in the region, through its sales of “Sun Mountain” bags and carts. Al Hastings hopes to leverage these relationships to help him build the Pin High brand in central Canada.
Deal Agencies will represent Pin High Canada for five years starting on January 15th 2007 and with an option to renew this agreement for an another five years at the end of the first term.
With Deal Agencies on board now Pin High is officially a national brand, with agents for Vancouver Island to P E I. This new and exiting brand of mens golf wear has already seen some growth within Canada. In the very first year Pin High will be available nationally, a great achievement for a small company.
Pin High Golf Ltd. is a new and exciting name in high quality golf apparel market. With over 16 years experience in apparel production, Pin High is turning their attention to the retail apparel market with a focus on high quality golf products. Available through select retailers across Asia & Australia, the Pin High brand is the ultimate in quality golf apparel.
At Pin High the clothing is designed by golfers with golf use in mind, using quality fabrics and functional design makes even the weekend duffer up to the everyday low-handicapper look and feel”.
Pin High is now the official clothing supplier to the Asian PGA Tour, a great achievement for a brand only 2 ½ years old. This is outstanding recognition of Pin High’s quality and an exciting indication of its successful future in worldwide golf!
With the game of golf growing in Canada and more people getting involved in the game, there has been a need for new high quality apparel brand and Pin High has been able to provide this to the consumer with its stylish designs and colorful line of golf clothing. Made of fabrics like the rich Pima cottons and technical fabrics like CoolDry, Pin High has seen tremendous growth in the Australian and Asian markets, Pin High Canada hopes to translate this success into the North American market by selling their products through established companies like Deal Agencies.
Monday, April 28th, 2008
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Golf Manitoba Manitobans love the game of golf and it shows in our more than 120 golf courses that showcase the scenery as well as the sport itself. Courses incorporate parks, rivers, lakes and prairie grasslands as they challenge golfers to achieve their personal best. Urban hotels, country resorts and guest ranches provide ideal settings for a golf getaway, with many courses located in and around major centres. |
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Monday, April 28th, 2008
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Our Winnipeg business directory lists every type of store and service available in Winnipeg. Whether you’re looking for a doctor, a dog groomer or a pair of dancing shoes, our business directory can help you find exactly what you need. From Winnipeg restaurants to the many stores and services our directory will help you. Winnipeg business owners: Find out more about our Winnipeg advertising packages, and place your business in the directory today. |
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| There are plenty of golf courses to be found in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg golf course guide lists many scenic golf clubs throughout the city. |
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Monday, April 28th, 2008
Though the University of Manitoba just bought a private golf course north of its campus to provide it with extra lands to satisfy its developer ambitions it seems that Bob Silver and Alan Simms, his right hand man, want to build an on-campus hotel on the U of M Smartpark site. The millions of your federal and provincial dollars that were spent on roads and sewers to build high-tech nutriceutical business incubators will instead be used to build a hotel with a hotelier like Lakeview or Delta. I admit that my wife and I spent an enjoyable few days at the hotel on the downtown campus of another U of M, the University of Minnesota. I enjoyed the late evening walk through the leafy campus to see Norah Jones at the Northrop Auditorium. Still, is this kosher? The U of M already owns a vast portion of Waverley West. (Ladco would have you believe otherwise.) Our U of M now owns the adjoining Southwood Golf Course. Does Bob Silver really need to build a hotel on land that could very well provide our next growth industry? Hotels we already have in abundance in Winnipeg. Any news of this in the WFP? (SFX: Crickets chirping.)
Smartpark Issues Request for Expressions of Interest
Closing date: February 15, 2008 2 p.m. CDT
Re: Development and operation of a hotel at Smartpark Research and Technology Park, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Smartpark Development Corporation requests Expressions of Interest (EOI) regarding development of a 70 - 125 room (or such other number as the Proponent suggests) hotel on a 3 acre site located within Smartpark Research and Technology Park at the University of Manitoba.
http://www.umanitoba.ca/research/smartpark/media/Hotel
Sphere: Related ContentMonday, April 28th, 2008
PA SportsTicker, America's leading real-time
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Under a wide-reaching agreement, PA SportsTicker will provide sports news
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The content agreement encompasses game stories for all major U.S. and
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Sphere: Related ContentSunday, April 27th, 2008
The idea, according to CBC colleague Scott Oake, came from “Witt’s” buddy, Keystone Ford dealer Bob Kozminski.
Meanwhile, I understand that, as of last week, “Witt” has received more than 300 e-mails from well-wishers.
I’ve received a few e-mails about “Witt,” too.
Including this one:
“Dear Mr. Sinclair,
“Thank you for the wonderful review of Mr. Wittman’s recent induction into the CBC Sports Hall of Fame. “Although I wouldn’t call Mr. Wittman an acquaintance of mine, I was in fact lucky enough to have a few conversations with him during my days as a locker-room steward at St. Charles Golf & Country Club.
“I can remember one of my first days of work at St. Charles when I was 16. This was more than 10 years ago, but my memory is still clear on the event.
“One of my responsibilities was to make sure that the members’ shoes were washed, dried, polished, buffed and placed back in their lockers before they got back from their round.
“I can remember getting to locker No. 249 and picking up a pair of shoes. From a nearby washroom, I heard a ‘Thank you, son. Could you please make sure that those are done by the end of my round? I’m heading out later tonight to cover a sporting event.’ I didn’t see the face, but I guaranteed this ‘oddly familiar’ voice that his shoes would be done and back in his possession by the time he finished playing.
“A few hours went by, and I had cleaned and polished this man’s shoes and placed them back in his locker. I continued working, but I remembered a gentleman knocking on our workroom door and saying thanks for a job well done on his shoes.
“I thought it was a kind gesture, and now had a face to put to the voice. He introduced himself as Don Wittman, and then he asked me a little about myself.
“From time to time, it was fun seeing him announcing one day, and then the next day heading out for 18 holes.
“Though most of our exchanges were brief, Mr. Wittman was always friendly toward me. He definitely made an impression on me and I’d like to say that I try to carry on some of this friendliness on a day-to-day basis.”
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/columnists/top3/story/4107047p-4704893c.html
Sphere: Related ContentSaturday, April 26th, 2008
From a recap of yesterday’s action at the prestigious Masters 2008 golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia:
PAINFUL ROAR: Par-3 Contest winner Rory Sabbatini fell to 3-over par after a double bogey on No. 8. His ninth hole was even more painful, but not for him — Sabbatini’s approach shot struck a patron on the forehead.
Dr. Daya Gupta, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the unlucky recipient of the wayward shot.
Gupta received medical attention and an ice bag immediately, and Sabbatini’s wife, Amy , tracked the patron down to apologize. She asked for the visitor’s name and address and promised a souvenir from Sabbatini after the tournament.
Sabbatini chipped out of the gallery and managed to save par on the hole. He finished with 75.
Gives a new meaning to “handicap.”
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Dr Gupta (right), according to a short bio from his Gupta Eye Centre surgical clinic in Winnipeg, “is an avid golfer. This passionate golf fanatic sponsors two annual tournaments at Niakwa Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg and participates in numerous local, national and international pro-am tournaments.”
Luckily for his clinical practice, the ball missed his eye. Going in for a consult with an eye surgeon who’s wearing an eye patch is the equivalent of sharing a smoke with a pulmonologist or catching a cardiologist in the drive-through line at Burger King. Awkward.
http://canadianmedicine.blogspot.com/2008/04/welt-size-of-golf-ball.html
Winnipeg Asian Theme Hotels Rooms
Sphere: Related ContentFriday, April 25th, 2008
he Masters that is best-known and much-loved — the one of eagles and rallies and noisy roars that resonate through Augusta Natonal Golf Club — may be a thing of the past.The opening round of the 72nd edition was a happy medium marked by warm and sunny conditions but much dullness.
There were only two real exceptions.
At mid-day, Englishman Ian Poulter, the man of sartorial statements, flew a 169-yard 8-iron onto the green at the par-3 16th and watched it roll 25 feet back down the hill for an ace. It set off a wild celebration at that end of the course and helped Poulter to a fine opening day of 70, just two behind leaders Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman.
The other eruption came from Tiger Woods, who had his struggles on the greens and his biggest success when he didn’t require a putter.
At the par-5 15th, just over the green in two swings, Woods chipped back 30 feet and it barely fell in for an eagle that brought him back to even par. His birdie-free round yielded just an even-par 72, a mediocre day that certainly didn’t blow his chances to win the Grand Slam.
Worth noting is that the Slam can’t be won in a day but it must begin at the year’s first major.
“I didn’t really get anything going my way today,” said Woods, who’s won four of five starts this year. “I played a lot better than what my score indicates.”
Woods said it’s unrealistic to hope for famous fireworks at Augusta anymore. There were just three eagles all of Thursday as the course played to an average of more than 74.
“The way the golf course plays now, you don’t really shoot low rounds here anymore,” said Woods, who has never been lower than 70 on opening day at Augusta. “You’ve just got to plod along. It’s playing more of a U.S. Open than it is a Masters.”
In his three previous Masters, Rose has popped to the top of the leaderboard at least three times, but never at the right time.
He was in the thick of it until a double at the 71st hole of last year’s event was his undoing, leaving the door wide open for Zach Johnson.
“You never get tired of seeing your name up there,” Rose said.
He said he wasn’t surprised at the very measured fan reaction to almost everything.
“I think the golf course is right where they want it,” he said. “They can take it whichever direction they would like. If they want to create some more birdies, they can do that and if they want to make par a good score, that could be done.”
England’s Lee Westwood and Americans Brian Batemen and Brandt Snedeker rumbled into a tie for third spot with 69s, while Poulter, Swede Robert Karlsson, Johnson, Canadian open champ Jim Furyk and Canada’s Stephen Ames were out of the gate well with two-under 70s. Phil Mickelson shot 71.
Ames had two birdies and not a bogey over the 7,445-yard course.
“There were some holes that didn’t quite suit my eye, 10 is one of the, hence the reason we put so much work into the short game,” Ames said. “My iron play was very good, driver at times was excellent.”
One of his two birdies was at the tight par-4 seventh, the hole Ames earlier in the week called Augusta’s “only bad hole.”
“Your favourite hole now?” he was asked.
“No, not really,” he said.
Did Ames thing three more 70’s would get him a green jacket?
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4157534p-4745475c.html
Sphere: Related ContentFriday, April 25th, 2008
Winnipeg Golf Services’ Professional Golf Staff invite you to take a slice out of the winter blues. We are once again offering WINTER GOLF LESSONS.
Sessions begin the week of February 4th at three convenient locations:
The program consists of four hours of golf instruction, one hour per week for four consecutive weeks. Afternoon and evening sessions are available. All instructors are members of the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association (CPGA).
In addition to the four hours of golf instruction, all participants will receive a rules booklet, a golf instruction booklet, and a pass for a round of golf at one of the City’s Municipal Golf Courses – Harbour View, Crescent Drive, Windsor Park or Kildonan Park.
All levels of ability are invited to participate. If you’ve never played, come out and learn the basics of the game. If you’re an experienced player, why not sharpen your skills during the off-season? Fees (including GST) are $50 for adults and seniors, $45 for children and youth.
For further information or to register, please call the Harbour View Pro Shop at 222-2751 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
http://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/
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Sphere: Related ContentFriday, April 25th, 2008
Manitobans are not lagging behind when it comes to involvement in sports, despite a Statistics Canada Survey that states national trend indicates participation in sport has declined in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.
Jeff Hnatiuk, President and CEO of Sport Manitoba says Manitoba is holding its own against the rest of the country..
“The national numbers are a concern but we are not about to start sounding alarm bells in Manitoba”, said Hnatiuk,” Our own tracking is consistent with the Stats Can survey that indicates Manitoba is third in the country in participation and along with Nova Scotia showed virtually no change between survey cycles.”
There have been movement up and down in individual sport choices, said Hnatiuk, but generally Manitoba’s participation rate remained at about 29 per cent, which is less than one percentage point in 2005 from 1998. He says Sport Manitoba is aware of the challenges and has implemented a number of programs to address the issues.
“Changing demographics, household income, gender and lack of time have all been identified as barriers to one’s participation in sport,” said Hnatiuk. ” While there may be some societal choices beyond our control, our programs have had an impact in opening the doors to participation.”
Some of Sport Manitoba’s initiatives include KidSport, a charity that provides funds to offset registration fees and equipment for lower level income families; the Canada-Manitoba Sport Development Program aimed at inner city, northern and remote communities and increased aboriginal and immigrant populations; Directed Funding initiatives aimed specifically at increasing levels of participation for Provincial Sport Organizations; Women to Watch awareness and funding; and Canadian Sport for Life Long Term Athlete Development initiatives that focus on life-long participation in sport through an appropriate level of activity for an individual’s personal development as opposed to being categorized by age.
Similar to the national survey, the most popular sports in Manitoba are curling, hockey, soccer, softball, golf and basketball.
Sphere: Related ContentFriday, April 25th, 2008
Only one Canadian has won two consecutive PGA Tour events, based on available evidence. That was George Knudson, who won the Phoenix and Tucson Opens 40 years ago this month.
It’s worth taking a look at Knudson’s accomplishment, given the anniversary and the PGA Tour heading to Tucson for the Accenture Match Play Championship next week.
Knudson was 30 when he pulled off his feat, and he was one tough customer by then. He’d been working on a rigorous fitness program since the fall of 1966 with Lloyd Percival, an innovator who came up with regimens for a variety of sports, including golf, track and field and hockey.
Knudson got together with Percival at the famous Fitness Institute in Toronto, which Percival founded. His program boosted Knudson from 135 to 172 pounds. He was a lean, mean golfing machine, all muscle, his mind fixated on ball control and his eyes fixed on the target.
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The Globe and Mail
Knudson had been playing well all winter. He was never much of a putter, and that was the only reason he hadn’t won before Phoenix. His control was so refined that, after he hit a shot eight feet to the left and 12 feet short of the cup on the 13th hole - his fourth of the day in the first round - Dave Marr, with whom he was playing, was startled.
“Where did that come from?” Marr, who had won the 1965 PGA Championship and knew a thing or two about ball control, asked Knudson. He’d been hitting the ball so close that the shot seemed absurdly poor by comparison.
“I was absolutely knocking the flag down, stuffing it down the throat every hole,” Knudson said in his book The Natural Golf Swing (I helped him write the book). “The game was very easy, and it stayed easy.”
Knudson took a one-stroke lead into the final round and won. He was four strokes out of the lead starting the final round the next week in Tucson. Starting the back nine, he told his caddy, Henry (Gado) Rice that 32 would get him into a playoff. His shot to the 17th green finished a foot from the hole. He killed his drive on the 465-yard final hole, carrying the ball 280 yards when that was really long, and hit a 6-iron in. Other golfers were hitting long irons and 4-woods. Knudson two-putted and won. He’d shot 31.
The city of Toronto held a reception for Knudson when he returned home. He’d long ago moved to Toronto from Winnipeg, where he was born. As strong as he’d become, he was still exhausted. Knudson had played seven consecutive weeks and had nothing left mentally, emotionally or physically. He missed the cut when he returned to the tour at the Doral Open in Miami and played infrequently the rest of the year. Knudson finished second in the 1969 Masters, a stroke behind George Archer. He won a couple of more times in his career, but he’d hit his peak in Arizona.
Many people in and out of Canada remember Knudson - his ability, his artistry and his drive. Gord Carpenter grew up near Knudson in Winnipeg. They both caddied at the St. Charles Golf and Country Club after setting pins at a local bowling alley during the winter. Meanwhile, Knudson also shot pool and was good enough to salt away a few bucks that way.
Knudson headed out to the professional tour in the winter of 1958-1959 with Carpenter caddying for him. Carpenter remembered this week from his home in Rochester, Minn., that some folks in Winnipeg had provided Knudson a stake of $10,000 to play the winter tour, and a new Plymouth to hit the road.
“George was a quiet, quiet kid,” Carpenter recalled. “We’d room together. He was paying me five bucks to caddy, but in those days the caddy could play practice rounds. We carried our own bags. I played Pebble Beach and Cypress Point and the Monterey Peninsula course before the Crosby [now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am]. George didn’t make a penny that winter.”
Knudson hardly made a penny for a few years. But he worked to find the game he believed he had in him. Carpenter remembers shagging balls for him by catching them in a baseball mitt. He remembers a young man who gave himself to the game.
“He was good all right, he was a perfectionist,” Carpenter said. “He got angry at bad shots.”
Knudson, who was 51 when he died in January of 1989, hit very few bad shots 40 years ago in Phoenix and Tucson. He could golf his ball. He is missed.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080216.RUBE16/TPStory/Sports/columnists
Sphere: Related ContentWednesday, April 23rd, 2008
John Blumberg Golf Course Set to Open
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The City of Winnipeg’s municipal golf courses welcome golfers of all ages and skill levels as they begin their 2008 golf season. John Blumberg Golf will open for the season on Saturday, April 12, 2008. |
WINNIPEG - April 11, 2008 - The City of Winnipeg’s municipal golf courses welcome golfers of all ages and skill levels as they begin their 2008 golf season. John Blumberg Golf will open for the season on Saturday, April 12, 2008.
The four remaining municipal golf courses will open as conditions allow. More details will follow as course openings are confirmed.
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Phone: 986-5679 |
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Phone: 222-2751 |
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Phone: 986-5911 |
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Phone: 986-3006 |
With daytime highs predicted to be up to 11 degrees Celsius it should be a perfect weekend to get outside and celebrate spring on the golf course!
Note to players: The earliest tee times will vary each day according to overnight temperatures. To avoid frost damage, daily play will not be permitted until conditions are favourable.
Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Gary Player, who has re-assessed Augusta National to a personal par 80 and opened with a round of three over to finish rank last, is turning into a prophet of doom. Asked about the future of golf he said the end was nigh because of ever longer golf courses.
“Water is a rarity,” ranted the three-time Masters champion, referring to the US and not Scotland. “You’ve got to pay a lot of money for water and there’s going to be no water.
“We’re running out of it. That is a fact, not a maybe. Places like California and Arizona are not going to have water. Florida is already on water rations and that’s a water state. You’re going to have to do a lot of thinking.”
Meanwhile, the Black Knight has no intention of stopping playing in the Masters, even though he will be 74 next year. One thing that is not running out is his desire to use his lifetime exemption to create records as he has just done by playing in his 51st Masters. His 10th missed cut in a row yesterday must also be right up there.
# As the late, great Walter Hagen used to say: “I don’t want to be a millionaire, I just want to live like one.”
In that spirit it was into the Augusta National clubhouse for waiter-service breakfast on the verandah looking down on the ordinary people below as the eggs arrived with sides of bacon, hash browns and toast all washed down with an endless supply of fine coffee. This, indeed, is how the other half live.
Suitably replete, it was a case of back down the spiral stairway and stepping aside as the chosen one, Tiger Woods, arrived at the front door. Even a millionaire knows his place.
# Rory Sabbatini failed to continue his par-3 winning form into the tournament proper. At the eighth his wayward shot struck a spectator on the head and he needed medical attention.
Sabbatini’s wife Amy tracked down the victim and promised a souvenir would be sent. Unless there is a dramatic upturn in form, Dr Daya Gupta of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is unlikely to be receiving a green jacket.
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, April 22nd, 2008
The Canadian Tour again has touched down in Modesto this week, and we pause to honor all wonderful things from the Great White North.
Avril Lavigne. Jim Carrey. Neil Young. Pamela Anderson. Tommy Chong. Donovan Bailey. Shania Twain. Celine Dion. Howie Mandel.
We’re not sure if Canada still claims Tommy Chong but, regardless, we’ll welcome back our neighbor’s first-class satellite golf tour that makes its second local appearance in the last three years.
Such was Del Rio Country Club’s affection for the CanTour stop in 2005, it again opens its gate Thursday for the Spring International, the first of the circuit’s 16-tournament schedule in 2008.
Why is it worthy of our interest, you ask? Here are 13 reasons, one for each of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories:
1 CHAMPS — Watching young pros learning their trade doesn’t seem inspiring at first glance, until you remember who they eventually become: 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, 2005 U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell and 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton, along with Steve Stricker, Stuart Anderson, Chris DiMarco, Nick Watney, Arron Oberholser and more than 50 graduates who’ve won on the PGA Tour.
2 LOCALS — Six players with local ties spice the field: Matt Bettencourt, while the Nationwide Tour takes a week off; Marc Peterson and Ryan Thornberry, who both plan a full Canadian Tour schedule; former Cal State Stanislaus star Marc Lawless; and Del Rio qualifiers Patrick Burda (beat his father, Jeff, for the club’s match-play title) and Jeff Mullen (73 last weekend and defeated Gil Wymond in a playoff).
3 OUTREACH — Because they haven’t yet climbed into Tiger Woods’ tax bracket, Thornberry and Peterson needed some help with expenses this year. The result: The “PeterBerry Open,” a fund-raiser that drew 124 friends last month at Del Rio. “Our goal was 100,” Peterson said. “The way the economy is right now, we couldn’t have asked for more. We had a lot of volunteers and everything was donated. The community really stepped up.”
4 SPONSORS AND MORE OUTREACH — Half of every admission ticket purchase goes to the United Way of Stanislaus County, which probably will do better than the $10,000 check given to The First Tee of Modesto after the 2005 tournament. Foster Farms, the title sponsor in ‘05, again jumped aboard to join The United Way.
5 QUALIFIERS — Four players took the scenic route into the 159-man field via a wind-blasted 55-man qualifying free-for-all Monday. The survivors were West Virginia resident David Bradshaw (70), Josh Williams of San Ramon (70), Patrick Kucich of Stockton (71) and Nick Obie of Bermuda Dunes (72, topped two others in a playoff).
6 BYRON SMITH — The tour’s 2007 leader on the Order of Merit doesn’t belong next to El Tigre on the marquee, but Golf World magazine said Smith — during one three-week blitz last year — was “probably the best player on the planet.” Smith, from Rancho Mirage, ended the year’s final three events with Sunday scores of 63, 63 and 62, yet won only one of the trio.
7 SPENCER LEVIN — The intense warrior from Elk Grove is best known for his tie for 13th at the 2004 U.S. Open followed later that summer by his State Amateur title. Last year, he placed second behind Smith on the Canadian Tour money list. This week, he leads a group entry from the Nationwide.
8 STRETCHED OUT — Del Rio finally bowed to golf’s technology boom by lengthening the Oak and Bluff nines from 6,837 to 6,919 yards. New teeing areas were built at the third, seventh and 16th tees, and No. 3 — already the club’s strongest par-4 — has grown into a 488-yard into-the-wind beast. Nevertheless, the younger generation still likes Del Rio’s old-school charm. “What’s not to like about Del Rio?” Tour Commissioner Richard Janes said. “It’s a classic.”
9 GRASS — The dormant Bermuda fairways, an ongoing project after the club switched from ryegrass in 2006, remain brown and scratchy. They’re contrasted, however, by nearly perfect greens. Warmer temperatures are expected for the weekend, which should speed up the entire track. “You’ll almost hear the Bermuda grow,” tour rules official Randy Korn said.
10 RETURN TRIP — Edmonton’s Stuart Anderson, who won at Del Rio in 2005 at 17-under-par 271, will come back as the unofficial “defending champion.” The official defender is Australia’s Adam Bland, who won last year at Boulder Ridge in San Jose. Lee Williamson of Indiana captured the 2006 title at Diablo Grande. While the tournament boomerangs back to Del Rio, its companion event — next week’s Stockton Sports Commission Classic at Brookside CC — has found a steady home.
11 MANITOBA DAN — Dan Halldorson, the tour’s deputy commissioner, earned his bona fides via a stellar international career featuring PGA Tour victories in 1980 and ‘86. “I don’t know if they had videotape back then,” he joked. “The Nationwide has more depth than we do. I do think our top third is probably as good as theirs. Today there are just more good players who’ve been coached since they were 8 or 9. Most guys in my age group just went out and played.”
12 EXPANSION — Since Janes and Halldorson took over in 2005, the Canadian Tour has jumped from 11 tournaments to 16. The California presence has proven attractive, but the circuit still relies on its core of competitions north of the border. “We’d like to start a Fall Series to cover the four-week gap between our last tournament and the PGA Tour School,” James said. “We’re also looking at a possible event next year in San Diego.”
13 TV — Sorry, coach potatoes, no live coverage from Del Rio. Instead, the tournament will be featured in a one-hour Canadian Tour magazine show to begin airing on The Golf Channel on May 12. The show will be accented by Modesto scenes from the McHenry Museum, the McHenry Mansion, the Arch, the Flower Clock, the State Theater, the Gallo Center for the Arts and, of course, classic cars at the A&W Drive-In.
Let Celine Dion top that.
HOLES-IN-ONE — Marc Peterson, Modesto, 235-yard eighth at Del Rio CC (Bluff), hybrid. … Sal Rodriguez Sr., Riverbank, 159-yard 15th at Creekside, 5-wood. … Lindsey Lasiter, Modesto, 103-yard seventh at River Oaks, Ceres, 8-iron. … Carlos Herrera, Manteca, 111-yard ninth at River Oaks, pitching wedge. … Sam Camarillo, Modesto, 136-yard fourth at River Oaks, driver. … Dennis Culbertson, 125-yard second at Del Rio CC (Bluff), 7-iron. … Tina Phillips, Modesto, 131-yard eighth at Del Rio CC (Bluff), 7-wood. … Brian Benedictson, Comox, British Columbia., 185-yard eighth at Del Rio CC (Oak), 7-iron.
http://www.modbee.com/columnists/agostini/golf/story/263989.html
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Hillcrest Sports Centre
The place where the Saskatchewan Roughriders play isn’t the only place where green is the colour.
Moose Jaw’s Hillcrest is opening Friday at noon — one of the earliest times yet — on their full greens, and are the first Moose Jaw golf course to tee off this season. While the first outdoor swings of the year are often done with mittens, it looks like this week’s weather is going to include snow in the forecast.
“I always say weather permitting, but it looks okay,” said club pro Al Cotter, understating the overall balminess of the season. The relatively nice spring has led to the course being officially ready to go in very good time.
“I think it was a good weather winter in terms of lots of snow cover,” said Cotter. “And I’m not the technical guy, but the greens just wintered well. Some of the older greens here, like 7, 11, 9, really wintered nicely.”
The greens are only one of the reasons the course opens early.
“Our superintendent is pro-active, and understanding when the weather’s reasonable and the course is dry enough to play,” Cotter said. “He wants people out here, and he wants to get going.”
Lynbrook Golf Course
Shawn Abramsen is trying to make sure people get an early start on the fun at the Lynbrook Golf Course.
Abramsen, the new club manager at the Lynbrook, is hoping golfers can tee off April 15 on full greens. He said those greens have completely recovered from two years ago.
The course may not have changed any of its layout this season, but it has brought in a different kind of atmosphere. There’s a new kitchen staff, and a new focus on the different aspects of a golf day out.
“We’re an entry-level golf course for beginners,” said Abramsen. “It’s a fun atmosphere and so forth, where the Hillcrest is . . . not catering to that market and we are. They’re catering to a more upscale-type atmosphere, and that’s not what we’re targeting.”
The only thing they want to compete with against every other golf course, is being what Abramsen calls a “prime choice for golfing entertainment in Saskatchewan.”
Deer Ridge Golf and Country Club
Players who love the unique challenge of Moose Jaw’s par-three golf course won’t be disappointed this year.
There are no major changes to this year’s schedule at Deer Ridge, located on the Manitoba Expressway. And chances are they’ll be able to see that for themselves very soon
“We’re hoping for the middle of next week,” said Deer Ridge manager Doug Corrin. “The range is open noon to seven (p.m.) and we’re hoping to open nine holes Wednesday or Thursday next week and then the other nine will follow pretty quick after that.”
With plenty of foliage, a river and not-too-large greens, Deer Ridge is a real test for peoples’ short games without being too demanding on length off the tee. As such, Deer Ridge has become a popular place for tournaments and family gatherings.
This year, as in years past, will have the CNIB tournament in August, the Valleyview tournament at the end of June and a fair amount of the rest of the summer will have various tournaments.
http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=125134&sc=9
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Will the only golf course that sits on both sides of the Canada-United States border fall victim to enhanced border security? The future of the Aroostook Valley Country Club – which has served both Americans and Canadians for 81 years – is in doubt if United States Customs border patrol officers enforce entry regulations at the club.
For more than eight decades, Aroostook Valley has been a unique location. Hugging the U.S. - Canada border, both Canadians and Americans have used Brown Road, a small country lane on the American side, to travel to the club. Once their vehicles are parked, golfers from both Canada and the United States walked back across the border to play golf in Canada before returning to their vehicles in the United States.
All that may have changed two weeks ago. Nicholai Pedersen, a Canadian whose farm is accessed via the Brown Road, was informed that enhanced security on the road meant he had to report to Fort Fairfield U.S Customs before he could drive to his house. Since 1947 Pedersen, his family, neighbours and visitors travelled back and forth without interruption or concern to the family farm.
While Canadian customs and excise officials described the blockade as a temporary measure to combat smuggling, the Americans apparently see the operation differently.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection special operations supervisor Ben Moreno described the blockade as part of a “long-term, enhanced” operation.
“We are doing enhanced border security operations which mean we have additional staffing in the area, and we are addressing certain areas on the Maine border that require extra enforcement operations. The location at Four Falls is one of the locations that we have determined need more enhanced enforcement,” Moreno stated in a recent interview. “It’s kind of a unique situation with the road on the United States border and Mr. Pedersen’s residence is on the Canadian side border, and the only immediate access to Canada is on the US side of the border.”
Moreno also stated that anyone who does not enter the United States through an approved customs port is breaking the law – and that includes golfers at AVCC.
“Anyone entering the United States is legally bound to present themselves at lawful port of entry. If an individual leaves the United States there is only legal option, to come through a United States port of entry… Any situation that involved someone crossing at other than a designated port of entry would have to be investigated. Of course the border patrol is there to investigate the situation.”
Moreno said Canadians going to play golf at AVCC will have to go to Fort Fairfield to enter the United States before returning to Canada for the round of golf. But once they walk back across the border to the U.S. to get their vehicles, they are breaking American law.
“Technically if they leave the United States to go into Canada and then they return to the United States they have to go through a U.S. port of entry. That’s the troubling situation that the golf course is in right now because if you do park your vehicle in the parking lot, that half of it is in the United States. However if you walk into the golf course area you are making an entry into Canada and you are supposed to present yourself to a Canadian port of entry. That’s the troubling situation, because of the events of 9-11, will have to be resolved at a higher level than we are at. We are in charge of protecting the border, monitoring the entries into the United States and investigating illegal entries.”
Moreno said American golfers face the same dilemma – if they leave their vehicle in the U.S. to play golf in Canada, they are breaking the law.
The border patrol officer said both American and Canadian officials have done a good job informing border residents about passport and entry requirements, and he wants to ensure that residents understand the implications of crossing the border without going through a border port.
While American border patrol officers seem intent on following the letter of the law, the Canada Border Services Agency have no plans to change their policy of ignoring “illegal” entries into Canada to play golf.
“Anyone who enters into Canada has to report themselves to the CBSA and if they fail to do so it is a violation of the Customs Act, including penalties under the act. As far as changes taking place we are working with our partners and discussing options,” Laurie Gillmore, CBSA spokesperson, commented.
CBSA will reopen their port at Four Falls, which is located where Brown Road turns back into Canada, from mid-April to mid-October. The border protection agency also has surveillance cameras located at the port which are monitored year-round.
“Canadians will be able to report at (Four Falls) customs legally just like any other port,” she stated. “We work with the American authorities, they are our partners. We have no authority over any restrictions they might impose, but we are always discussing these issues with them and any options.”
Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen said he called Maine State Senator Olympia Snowe’s office to discuss the implications of these new restrictions.
“I don’t think the American Border Services realize the challenge they are really creating … that road has been there since Prohibition! I don’t think they realize the implications on the American golfers as well … Since 9-11, some laws have changed. It’s hard to believe that basically everybody who has been going in and out of that road in the last 20 or 50 years has been breaking the law. The RCMP and the Border Enforcement Team have challenges on this as well.”
Allen pledged to speak to Greg Thompson – New Brunswick’s representative in cabinet as the federal Veteran Affairs Minister (Pedersen is a Second World War veteran) – but he hopes common sense will be the basis of any decision.
“I am hoping that common sense will prevail… that we can step back and look at the lessons learned and realize the challenges…. There are towns in Quebec, Manitoba and even Campobello Island where you have to go through the U.S. to get there. I want to work with the senator’s office, tell her what my perception of what is happening, as well as with Greg Thompson’s office. I have already communicated with Stockwell Day’s office on this.
The MP said he understands the need for safe borders.
“I think everybody agrees with that and we all want that to happen but we have to realize the uniqueness of the situation. There are other cases like this in Canada. Let’s step back before we implement something that’s draconian. Let’s be smart. So, we are going to do our lobbying and hopefully, we will arrive at a good resolution.”
Right now the Aroostook Valley Country Club is dormant under the winter’s heavy snowfall, but a letter of the law interpretation of the border rules when golf season finally arrives is worrying members. David Garnett of Rowena, who is the Canadian vice president of the board of directors – David Ricker of Fort Fairfield is the American president – said the traditional unwritten agreement with the border patrol has worked well as long as the course has existed.
“We were expecting a continuation of this unwritten agreement. There was a marked increase in activity by the border patrol last year, but as long as we came through the Canadian customs and drove directly into the Canadian parking lot, that was accepted. That was the position we were taking this year… we had no inkling that there was any change.”
Garnett said a sudden shift requiring Canadian traffic to enter through Fort Fairfield would “really upset the apple cart” because all of the club’s tourism promotion on the Canadian side tells visitors to enter through Brown Road.
“Most of the Canadian business comes through the Brown Road entrance. All of the information indicates that is the best way to go. It would put a monkey wrench into how the Canadian traffic would get there.
Garnett said Canadian golfers might be confused and inconvenienced, but he was more worried about how American golfers would be treated.
“There was talk about the U.S. putting a customs trailer just across the corner on the Brown Road where it turns into Russell Road… We do not have property in Canada that would allow us to construct our own road to the golf course. We would have to make arrangements with two Canadian families and build an access road all the way to the golf course.”
Garnett said AVCC is a not-for-profit organization and does not have the resources for highway construction. Plus, the farthest any access road could reach would be the golf club maintenance shed.
“We very much want to work with the Canadian customs and the U.S. customs. Until that magical date when Canadian customs opens on the Brown Road, all our seasonal (Canadian) workers travel through Fort Fairfield to declare at U.S. and Canada ports.”
Garnett said American golfers are used to parking in the U.S. and walking across the border to play golf, and he is worried that 200 members, roughly half of AVCC’s current membership would suddenly find themselves in trouble with border patrol agents.
The golf club also enjoys a large number of visiting players, and most of these people come from the United States.
“Aroostook Valley is a major tourist draw in the State of Maine, which is ironic since it is in Canada. We get more American tourists than Canadian tourists. We have several tournaments a year that draw the best players from Maine.”
If the US golfers disappear, it would seriously affect club operations. Garnett said he has sent emails to several American directors, and he is hopeful that a solution can be found.
“We need some common sense. This golf course has survived for decades and can continue to provide a great experience for both Canadians and Americans.”
http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/news/article/264694#
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, April 22nd, 2008
THE biting wind this morning didn’t take much of a bite out of business at the Kingswood Golf and Country Club.In fact, Tony Chang, Hyun Tae Shin, Ben Kwon, H.M. Jung and other South Korea-born small businessmen — some retired, some not, three foursomes strong — were out taking practice swings long before their 10:10 a.m. tee-off time to launch the golf season and, perhaps on behalf of thousands of duffers, finally shed themselves of Manitoba’s cold, long, hard winter.
Kingswood, about a 10-minute drive south of the Perimeter Highway near La Salle, became the province’s first full 18-hole course to open for the season today, a day after Fantasy Lake, an 18-hole par 3 course east of Winnipeg, got its layout up and running. More courses are expected to open in the coming days and week.
“It’s a long winter,” chuckled Chang in between practice swings, decked out in a baseball hat and a jacket, as a nippy wind made it seem colder than the 2C the pro shop declared it was. Snow lined the rough and the trees, but the fairways and greens were clear. “Six months, we’ve been waiting for this. So I’m very happy now.
“It’s nice and fresh — we still have snow here — but we’ll be hitting the ball and walking, it’s so nice,” said the 67-year-old, who came to Canada 27 years ago and took up golf a decade ago. “I feel fantastic. This weather’s OK, as long as we can walk. I’ve been all the time sitting at my desk and watching the TV screen and the computer. You don’t get too much exercise doing that.
“So I’m happy. Golf’s become a habit, and makes me feel younger.”
H.M. Jung was the first to tee off at Kingswood, followed by his friends including Shin.
“It’s some cold,” Shin said, “but I’ve been waiting a long time — six months — for this. It’s no problem. This weather is very good to play in. After two or three holes, it should be no problem.”
Like many of those in the initial groupings, he’s a member at Kingswood, which usually is the first full course to open in the province because it uses a huge snowblower to remove snow from the fairways down to six inches, usually in the first week of March. When the weather warms up enough, that snow melts and golf can begin.
“I’m so happy to be here on opening day,” said Shin. “I’ve been preparing to play for two days. I cleaned my clubs and I asked my wife if I’d be allowed to go because it’s been six months since I played. So my wife allowed me to play, I have her permission.”
Kingswood pro Brad Keats said his phone was ringing off the hook with bookings, the pro shop’s open and as with every spring, the excitement mounted right up to the first drive down the fairway. The earliest he remembers opening before was March 28 in 2000. Today’s opening coincided with the first round of the Masters.
“We’re just getting set up and golf season is under way,” he said. “The golfers are anxious. It’s a little on the cooler side today but it’s not stopping anybody. People aren’t really talking about that, it’s the first game and a chance to get out there and hit the ball around and enjoy the day.
“It’s good to be back. I’ve been out taking a look around and it’s as good as can be expected this time of year. People are going to be using all our tees, all our greens. There are some damp spots out there but for the most part, fairways are blown off, you’ll see a little bit of snow in the rough and stuff like that, in the trees, but we’re golfin’.”
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