Glendale Golfs – Winnipeg

Entertainer Tom Jackson swings into town tomorrow to host Swinging for Supper, a fundraiser for the Mobile One soup kitchen.

Born on the One Arrow reserve in Saskatchewan and raised in Winnipeg, Tom left school at the age of 15 and spent seven years living on the back streets of Winnipeg. He credits this experience for the foundation of his character; tenacity, leadership, a determination to succeed and an altruistic capacity to care for others.

“We had worked with Tom Jackson in a series called Singing for Supper,” says Sean Tobin, executive director of Mobile One. “They were a series of Christmas concerts that he did for us.

“Tom has been long involved in helping food banks and food kitchens in the western provinces, but we convinced him to come out here, and this is the only food bank in the province of New Brunswick that benefits from this event.”

This is the fourth season of Swinging for Supper. This golf tour raises funds and awareness for food banks and agencies serving at-risk youth in five centres across Canada; Moncton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary.

Just as the perfect golf swing requires form, rhythm and follow-through, these tournaments strive for the same excellence. Revenue from the 2008 tour exceeded $127,000.

“Tom Jackson has one of the most remarkable stories of any person I know,” says Steve Berube, who golfed with Tom in last year’s fundraiser. “He was down and out on the street, sleeping in the gutter, and one day some guy came along and reached out to him in concern.

“When you look at someone whose story involves living on the street in absolute poverty and now being the humanitarian he is, it is an incredible thing to be in the presence of someone who is an actual hero.”

Swinging for Supper combines music and golf to brand this unique fundraising event. Each community hosts a casual “kitchen party” the evening before the tournament featuring regional cuisine and entertainment by Tom Jackson with fellow musicians Tom McKillip and Craig Bignell.

This invitation-only party for sponsors and special guests of the host committee serves as the perfect lead in to the next days’ golf, camaraderie and hospitality. The intent is to solidify relationships between supporters and the charity long after the golf season has slipped away.

“Mobile One is struggling towards financial self-sufficiency,” says Sean. “We have no federal money, and only seven per cent of the budget comes from the province and 13 per cent from the municipality. The city pays for the $8,000 worth of fuel we use a year.”

But, all told, only 20 per cent of Mobile One’s funding comes from government agencies, the rest is made up through fundraisers and individual gifts.

Last year Swinging for Supper raised $14,000.

“We don’t expect to make that much this year,” says Sean. “We are looking at more like $10,000 because of the recession; many people have come to realize that they are very close to financial disaster, and to ask them for more on top of that is a little much.”
At the same time, the needs are becoming greater.
“At a time where every agency serving the needs of Canadians is expanding, there is a need to engage and ensure previous and new supporters stay on track with their community giving,” Tom Jackson said.

“Swinging for Supper draws corporate support both nationally and locally with gifting at the forefront. This event is the perfect way to encourage social responsibility by pairing Canada’s corporate elite with Canada’s caregivers in an atmosphere of music and golf.”

At last year’s event Tom auctioned himself off as a golf partner for 18 holes of golf, playing the front nine with one group, and the back nine with another.

“I was fortunate to be in the group that won the bid,” says Steve. “He came in, joined us, and he was just an ordinary guy, except very gracious.

“He engaged us in conversation, knew our names, and was a fun person to be around. He has probably been in the presence of some pretty important people in his day but he was out there with us hackers and making us feel like his friends.”
Tom Jackson is a big guy, well over six feet tall, and there is something about him that make him seem even bigger, says Steve.

“When he swoops down over the top of you to give you a hug, you feel you are being embraced by a gentle giant of a person,” Steve remembers. “He is incredibly loving, he took the time to go around at the tournament and literally said hello to every single person who was there; he was very gracious that way.

“The opportunity to support Mobile One is one thing, and a lot of people will turn out for that; but it was a really great day. The food was fabulous, the company was good, and it was very low stress.”
Last year Tom went for a ride on the bus he was helping to support, and commented that they could really use five of them in Calgary. In conversation afterward, Sean remembers that Tom really understood that it takes quite an organization to keep the bus operational.

Mobile One operates with only two part-time staff members, and over 200 volunteers but, last year, served over 36,000 meals.

And it’s the community of Metro Moncton that makes this possible, Sean says. “If we can give people something for the money they are giving, so much the better.”

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/lifetimes/article/719817

Glendale Golfs Winnipeg , Manitoba

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THE seventh annual induction ceremony of the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum will include two athletes, an athlete/builder and a builder at the event on Oct. 5 at McPhillips Street Station Casino.

Lynda Palahniuk and Dr. William (Billy) Parker will be inducted as athletes with Cathy Burton inducted as an athlete/builder and J. A. (Jack) Swanson as a builder.

In addition to its annual inductions, future plans of the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. include enhancing the ability of the public to access information about members of the Golf Hall of Fame and Manitoba’s golfing history, as well as assisting golf clubs in preserving their heritage.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/golf/palahniuk-parker-swinging-into-manitoba-golf-hall-50118137.html

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They battled fierce winds and splashed around the fairways but Manitoba’s golfers of tomorrow still managed to prove they can perform in adverse conditions.

Rossmere’s Dakota Meyer scored a 6-over par 78 at the Teulon Golf and Country Club to win Golf Manitoba’s provincial junior bantam championship Sunday.

“The course was full of water and it was really windy, too,” Meyer said yesterday. “It was pretty tough and you really had to take the wind into consideration. I was soaked afterwards.”

But it was a happy soak after Meyer won his first tournament in three tries.

“It was good and lots of fun,” said Meyer, 14. “That tied my best score ever.”

The two-round tournament had actually been reduced to 18 holes because of the inclement weather.

“That wasn’t ideal but at least we got it in,” said Golf Manitoba executive director Dave Comaskey.

Meyer has been golfing “since he learned how to walk,” related his mother, Tammy. His grandfather, Jim Meyer, has worked as a golf pro at both Hecla Island and Gilbert Plains.

Southwood’s Winnie Hyun scored a 20-over 92 to win the junior bantam women’s side, which was also her first tournament victory.

“Oh, it was good but I want to do so much better next time because my score wasn’t so good,” said Hyun, 14. “It was too much wind and it was wet. I didn’t like it.”

Hyun, who moved here from Seoul eight months ago, said 82 was her best score in tournament play. Although she swung her first club in Korea, Hyun has started to get serious about the game. That only makes sense because her father teaches and coaches golf here.

Teulon’s Darren Kelpin was the boys runner-up in the junior bantam group at 8-over 80.

Sam Diamond of St. Charles turned in a 29-over 101 to win the boys 12-and-under category.

“I was happy to win but I wasn’t that happy with how I played in the tough conditions,” said Diamond, 10. “It was pretty tough. It was really wet and windy.”

Diamond, who also won his first tournament, said he usually scores around 85. He will compete in a junior inter-club championship against Southwood today.

ON HOLD: While the junior bantams were reduced to one round, the women’s city and district championship in Carman was postponed outright. Golf Manitoba is hoping to re-schedule at Carman come August.

“I’d really hate to cancel the event for the year because there is a lot of history connected to it,” Comaskey said.

GOLFING BACK TO SASKATOON: Golf Manitoba will be keeping a close eye on the CN Prairie Links event in Saskatoon this weekend as 16 junior boys and two junior girls will be competing there. Should any of the boys finish in the top six, Manitoba will get any extra spot in the national junior championship beyond the four now allotted. One of the girls, however, would have to win it outright to get an added spot due to the fact there are fewer girls involved.

DIVOTS: The Manitoba PGA’s Calloway Open will be held at Kingswood this Friday … The Manitoba PGA Assistants Tournament will be played at Clear Lake next Monday … Today is the deadline for entries into the Manitoba senior women’s amateur and junior championships. Contact Golf Manitoba.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/golf/2009/06/30/9977516-sun.html

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THE bar has been set high but the 2009 Players Cup figures to feature the Canadian Tour’s cream of the crop yet again.

The $200,000 event at Pine Ridge July 16-19 is a case of show them the money and the players will show you their game.
The purse is the second-highest on the entire Canadian Tour. Only the $250,000 Canadian Tour’s Players Championship to be played in late August in St. Catharines, Ont., exceeds the Players Cup in prize money.

In 2008, the tour’s top players put their stamp of approval on that kind of dough. Thirty of the top 31 money-winners entered, and the one among that group that didn’t thought he did and was in Winnipeg to play.

That kind of elite field is expected again
.
Not only is the top prize of $32,000 on the line, but the winner, if he’s not already eligible, will be granted a spot in the RBC Canadian Open — a PGA Tour event — the following week at Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ont.

This is the 10th straight year the Canadian Tour has stopped at Pine Ridge and it also marks the continuation of the relationship between the Tour and the Free Press, which promotes and markets the province’s top annual golf competition.
“It’s instrumental,” said tournament director Mitch Zalnasky. “The event wouldn’t still exist without Free Press involvement and this partnership has been very beneficial for the community and the game here.”

The defending champion is Calgary’s Wes Heffernan, who’s expected to defend the title. Heffernan, the second straight Canadian to win the Manitoba event, was No. 2 on the 2008 money list.

The Tour has also extended an invitation to former PGA Tour member Glen Hnatiuk for the 2009 tournament. Hnatiuk competed here last summer but missed the cut.

The Manitoba contingent of the Tour is also expected out in force, with likely entries from former champ Rob McMillan, Adam Speirs, Ryan Horn, Matt Johnston and Jordan Krantz.

Exemptions for local players haven’t been finalized but it’s a good bet that 2008 Manitoba PGA player of the year Derek Ingram and host pro Shane Dick will be teeing it up, while defending amateur champ Brad Kirton and runnerup Garth Collings are the best bets for the two amateur exemptions available.

This year, the Tour has moved the qualifying round to Pine Ridge on Monday, July 13. Details regarding qualifying entry, including the July 10 deadline, are available at www.cantour.com; click, on the tournaments link to find the Players Cup. Four tournament spots will be available through the Monday qualifier.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/golf/players-cup-to-boast-top-guns-48864432.html

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Money needed to develop local talent

If Rob McMillan is ever able to reach his ultimate goal of playing on the PGA Tour, he intends to give something back to the Manitoba golf community.

Thanks to the venture introduced at the 2006 Golf Expo at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, he should get his chance.
Organizers of the Expo announced the creation of the Manitoba Golfers Fund, a program which will allow local corporations and individuals to throw financial support behind aspiring golfers.

‘THE ULTIMATE’

“What I would love to see is, if we can have enough successful players that have used this fund, then it will be time for them to give back to the fund too,” said McMillan, a 30-year-old Winnipegger and veteran of the Canadian Tour.

“That would be the ultimate. If I get to that point, I want to make sure that future generations have the same opportunity.”
George Sigurdson of the Sigurdson Financial Group, a longtime supporter of Manitoba golf, established the fund and donated the first $1,000. The goal for the first year is to raise $100,000 through private donations of any amount and a couple of auctions run through the Golf Expo.

A board of directors will be established to review applications for funding from young golfers, most likely players who are trying to establish themselves in the professional ranks.

“I’ve been one of the rare exceptions where I’ve had such good support,” said McMillan.

“Even I’ve had years where I haven’t had as much support as I needed. In Manitoba there are so many guys that have the talent but we unfortunately don’t have the resources for them to go ahead and chase their dreams.”

McMillan said there have always been a few people who have been loyal contributors to Manitoba golf, and it’s those same people who are likely to have the biggest impact on the fund.

“We want to take what they’ve done, put it in one direction and build around it,” said McMillan, who is joined in the professional ranks by Selkirk’s Glen Hnatiuk (Nationwide Tour) and Winnipeg’s Adam Speirs (Canadian Tour).

“Obviously, the financial part of it is big, but the second part of it, which is just as important, is for these players to have a group of people around them that they can go to, to get a push in the right direction. That’s crucial for young players.”

The big issue faced by golfers is expenses. They must travel around North America, paying for their own meals, hotels and entry fees all the way. Without sponsorship, they would get nowhere.

“If you are a hockey player and you are talented enough, usually you get picked up by a team and they pick up your costs and your training,” said McMillan.

“In golf, you are on your own. It’s very difficult. When you are starting out, you really aren’t playing for enough money that you can make a half-decent living.

“People out there will hear that the fund is giving out $100,000 and think that’s a ton of money, but really that’s barely enough for two guys to play for a year.

“We’re talking about driving all over the place and staying in the Super 8. We’re not talking about a lavish lifestyle.”

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Golf/Canadian/2006/02/19/pf-1451424.html

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Canuck icon Knudson a big influence

Gary Player has seen one or two players who left indelible footprints on a game in which he has been renowned for the past 50-plus years, so it’s wise to listen to the wisdom of the ages.

“Nobody can compare a man like Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan because they all played in different eras and they all played with better equipment than the other person,” the Black Knight said. “You’ve got to compare apples with apples.”
It’s the nature of the beast to declare supremacy, which would likely go to Woods in the minds of those who haven’t spent the last 48 hours in a pub, but Player’s point is a good one. Golf has a rich history with the aforementioned names setting the bar higher for future generations.

Names such as Hogan, Nicklaus and Bobby Jones are still celebrated in the United States, just as George Knudson, Moe Norman, Stan Leonard and Al Balding, many of whom we have lost recently, should remain a big part of the game’s lore in Canada.
Knudson, who would have turned 70 this year, has been gone the longest, but his eight PGA Tour wins before his death in 1989, has been mentioned frequently after Mike Weir’s win at the Fry’s Electronics Open a week ago in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Weir tied Knudson’s record for wins by a Canadian on tour and appears certain to surpass it just as he did with his win at the 2003 Masters — a tournament where Knudson tied for second in 1969.

“George obviously set the benchmark for Canadian male players for number of wins he had on the tour. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to spend much time around George,” said Weir, adding that his caddie Brennan Little and other friends took clinics with Knudson.

“They told me what a nice man he was and how great he was with the juniors and all the little tidbits of information he passed along. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to get in on all that.”

Knudson’s wife Shirley says she met Weir briefly years ago at a tournament held in her late husband’s honour. Members/guests of Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club hold a fundraising event each September to help doctors train in the battle against cancer through the George Knudson Fellowship.

Shirley says she pays more attention to the Champions Tour, where several friends still play, but adds she does follow the careers of Weir and other Canadians and is happy that he broke her husband’s record.
“It’s been standing for a long, long time. He’s a very nice young man. He’s a gentle soul,” said Shirley, adding that Weir and Knudson were different in personality. They do appear to have one thing in common, considering Weir’s devotion to recent swing changes.

STRONG WORK ETHIC

“(Knudson) was determined,” Shirley recalled. “He worked so hard with his game. He loved to practice and his hands would bleed by the end of the day up at Oakdale.”
It’s little wonder then that Knudson’s sweet swing drew that admiration of someone such as legendary coach Harvey Penick.
“Obviously, to have someone like George to look up to has been great. It’s great for the history of the game in our country,” Weir said.

Jon Mills, who will be back on the PGA Tour next year, agrees. In Mills case, he recalls seeing another sweet-swinging Canadian as he was growing up.

“I had more experience seeing Moe Norman. It seemed like any kind of Canadian junior camp or anything like that, Moe would be there and he talked to us and I probably saw three or four of his little clinics,” said Mills, who could possibly be the next Canadian to set the benchmarks for future players.

Being called the greatest Canadian or the greatest ever is an honour, but it’s really a facade that is worn down by time before another person comes along and sets the standard.

Whatever Weir does now is a foundation for the future, when another Canadian comes along and sets the bar even higher.
Despite this new standard by the newcomer, Weir should not be forgotten then, just as Knudson should be remembered today.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Golf/PGA/2007/10/29/4614642-sun.html

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Bieber delays career in finance for shot at pro dream

The former Manitoba amateur women’s champ tried to juggle her time between a real job and working towards her dream of becoming a top-level pro golfer.

But Winnipeg’s Stacey Bieber just couldn’t swing it.

“I was working (in finances) for a while,” Bieber said recently from Fort Worth, Tex., where she now resides. “They would let me go practise for half a day every day but that just wasn’t working. It was totally different than college and I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.

“So, in the fall, I decided it was all or nothing. Either golf or work, not both, and I chose golf because now’s the time to do it, not later in life. And I still believed in myself.”

So, Bieber turned pro but got off to a rather slow start.

“I went to the Futures Qualifying School but I didn’t play that great,” she said. “But January to April, I played in the SunCoast Series in Florida, which is a developmental tour.

“Then the Duramed Futures Tour started and I got into the third and fourth events. I finished in the top 10 (tied for ninth) in the first one and I made the cut in the second. So, I got re-ranked and got into more events without having to qualify for them.”

Bieber, 24, will be heading to Vancouver for a Canadian women’s tour event this weekend, then plans to play in a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier (first stage) in Minneapolis on June 1.

SWINE ADJUSTING: Manitoba’s Matt Johnston has adjusted both his schedule and his outlook.

After the H1N1 flu outbreak resulted in three Canadian Tour events in Mexico being cancelled, or at least postponed, Johnston has soldiered on.

“Obviously, it’s not the ideal situation,” admitted Johnston from Orlando, Fla., where he was preparing to play in a U.S. Open qualifier (first stage). “Your schedule had already been set, you’ve paid for flights and arranged accommodations and that. But the name of the game is to be pretty flexible with your schedule.

“No one on the Canadian Tour was sick or has gotten sick since then. And they’re going to re-scheduled those events in September and early October. They’re doing everything they can to get that going.”

The Canadian Tour has also done everything it can to accommodate the golfers affected by the cancellations.

“I can’t say enough about the Canadian Tour,” said Johnston, 24. “They made arrangements for us to get exemptions on the Hooters Tour.”

Johnston recently failed to make it at a qualifying school in Texas and will try to qualify for the Nationwide Tour in North Carolina next week.

DAKOTA-BOUND: Winnipeg’s Brad Kirton failed twice to make it at PGA Qualifying school since being named Manitoba Golfer of the Year last season. But he is not about to give up.

“You can’t be dismayed because you lose more than you win in golf and I’ve just got to learn from that,” said Kirton, who returned home last month.

Kirton also failed to make it at a U.S. Open qualifier in Minnesota recently.

“It was really windy and I had some big numbers but that just tells you what you need to work on,” he said.

Kirton plans to spend the summer on the Dakota Tour, a developmental tour that starts this July.

“You get good competition, you learn to play professional golf and it’s more cost effective,” he said.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/golf/2009/05/19/9495726-sun.html

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The best-known name in Canadian-made golf equipment has been acquired by Toronto-based Goliath Golf in an assets-only deal for Winnipeg-based Jazz Golf.Mike James, chief executive officer of Goliath, said his company’s emphasis would be on selling inventory, with future plans for Jazz to be announced later this year.

Goliath acquires Jazz Golf

“We have a strategy. We’re hoping to make an announcement around June 1 on that,” said James. “The golf retail landscape is changing monthly, if not weekly. We want to see what the landscape is going to look like exactly once we’re through the spring and soundly into the golf season,” he added.

According to James, the deal to acquire Jazz began last fall when the Ensis Growth Fund, which owned Jazz, merged with the GrowthWorks Canadian Fund and the struggling golf company didn’t appear to be a fit anymore. He added one of the first priorities is establishing a solid distribution network.

“This is not a criticism, it’s an observation,” said James, who says he began talking to Jazz CEO Mark Breslauer shortly afterwards.

“The trade never knew where Jazz sat. At one point, they were green grass only and then, all of a sudden, they were wide open. There was no secret that Golf Town was a great partner over the years,” said James, adding that many independent retailers thought Jazz was a Golf Town-only product.

Over the years, Jazz earned a reputation for quality product. In recent years, it was renowned for a line of women’s clubs bearing the name of former LPGA Tour player Sandra Post of Oakville, Ont. Jazz also had a working relationship with Winnipeg’s Dan Halldorson, a former PGA Tour player.

At this point, Post is not involved with Goliath, but James said he wouldn’t close the door completely on the possibility of having the winner of the 1968 LPGA Championship having a future role.

Goliath distributes a number of products in Canada including Nicklaus Golf, Golden Bear Enterprises, Clicgear Carts, Club Globe and Rife putters.

As it is with other products, James says the company will offer lifetime warranties with Jazz products and that the strengths of the two companies make the deal a good marriage.

“The main reason I was interested in it was that, to the consumer, Jazz was a better-known brand than Goliath was, but to the vendors in Canada, Goliath was better known,” he said.

http://www.golfnewsnow.ca/2009/04/08/goliath-acquires-jazz-golf/

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The Canadian Professional Golf Tour makes its annual stop in Winnipeg for the Manitoba Classic from July 12-15 and it’s an event that continues to grow.

The event has one of the biggest purses on the tour and is seeing golfers from around the world flock to Winnipeg each summer for a July visit.

“The corporate community has always been very good to us,” local tournament organizer Mitch Zalnasky said during a press conference at Pine Ridge yesterday.

“I remember in the ’70s when the tournament looked like it might fold. I got three sponsors at $5,000 so that we could have a $15,000 purse.”

Now the purse is $150,000 and a $24,000 first prize is attracting all kinds of talent.

Over 140 golfers from the Canadian Tour have committed to come to Pine Ridge, although Zalnasky doesn’t expect them all to attend.

Order of Merit leader Spencer Levin has qualified for the British Open, which runs from July 19-22, and is not expected to be in the field.

But, the bottom line is that the Manitoba Classic is a key event for the players on the Canadian Tour.

“Players want to come here to play,” Zalnasky said. “They love the course and they love the event. It’s one of the best stops on the tour.

“I have guys calling me all the time wanting to get a sponsor exemption so they can play here.”

Speaking of exemptions, eight local players and four qualifiers will get a pass into the event. Golf Manitoba amateurs Garth Collings, Brad Kirton, Peter More and defending Manitoba Men’s Amateur champion Matt Johnson will all tee off on Thursday morning. Four local club pro’s have also been given a spot, including Dean North, Geoff Kehler, Glen Mills and Mike Coghill.

The one-round qualifier that has four spots up for grabs will be played just across the street from Pine Ridge on Monday at the Elmhurst Golf and Country Club. After the low four players, six alternates will be chosen to fill-in any open spots come Thursday morning.

Manitobans will be able to cheer on local tour players throughout the week, as Dauphin’s Ryan Horn and Winnipegger Adam Speirs are in the event. Speirs is currently 22nd on the tour money list and Horn is sits at 107th.

Former Manitoba Classic champion Rob McMillan is in the field because he has Tour status from last season.

A full weekend pass is $20 and all members of the Canadian Armed Forces will be admitted free to the event.

“They love the course and they love the event.”

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Golf/News/2007/07/06/pf-4318368.html

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