TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - ANOTHER TIGER-LIKE PRODIGY, AND RCGA COACH STEPS DOWN

I was sent the following link of a two-year-old golf prodigy. While it appears the holes are cut like a mini-putt (where every close putt trickles in) this kid is still remarkable:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/cspanjunkie/amazing-2-year-old-golf-prodigy

SPRIDDLE STEPS DOWN
The Royal Canadian Golf Association has just announced that Dean Spriddle has stepped down as head coach of the women’s national amateur golf team. Spriddle, a native of Scotland who currently resides in Lethbridge, Alta., is said to be parting ways to focus on family commitments and pursue personal business and coaching ventures. He’d spent 10 years with both the RCGA and former Canadian Ladies Golf Association High Performance programs. During his tenure, Spriddle helped guide Team Canada to both second- and fourth-place finishes at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - IMAGES OF SAGEBRUSH AND A GOOD WEEKEND FOR FOLEY

Architect Jeff Mingay sent the following images of Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club in Merritt, B.C., taken by a friend of his, Duncan Ridley. The course, which was designed by Rod Whitman and Mingay and constructed in collaboration with Richard Zokol, was named Best New Course for 2009 by SCOREGolf magazine earlier this year. Zokol hopes Sagebrush will become Canada’s version of Bandon Dunes or Kingsbarns—a pure, unadulterated golf destination.

GOOD WEEKEND FOR FOLEY
The only students Canadian golf instruction guru Sean Foley of the Core Golf Academy in Orlando had in action on the PGA and Nationwide Tours this past weekend had solid performances. Chris Baryla assured his position among the Nationwide Tour’s Top 25 (thereby earning passage to the PGA Tour in 2010) by following up his recent victory with a tie for seventh at the Tour Championship on Daniel Island, near Charleston, S.C. At the PGA Tour’s Frys.com Open in Scottsdale, all four of Foley’s crew made the cut: with Chris Stroud placing eighth, Stephen Ames finishing T23rd, Greg Owen grabbing T29th and Parker McLaughlin cashing in after a 71st-place effort.

Foley’s gonna need a clone next year to handle all his guys.

Baryla accepts the award as Low Canadian at the 2009 RBC Canadian Open. (Photos by Doug Angus-Lee)

SUNICE BRANCHES OUT
Sunice, part of the Montreal-based Fletcher Group, has announced the hiring of 27 veteran golf sales representatives to help cover the United States. “We are very proud to bring this select group of experienced individuals aboard the Sunice sales team,” says Mark Fletcher, President of Sunice, the leading brand in performance outerwear. “This sales team is the most well-versed in the business in terms of their complete knowledge of all aspects of technical outerwear, which is, of course, what Sunice is all about.”

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - THE ULTIMATE GOLF TOURNAMENT

The first green at the Old Course features The Swilken Burn,
which enters the hole on the right—some 250 yards from the
tee—and curves around in front of the putting surface.

Here it is: the ultimate Father’s Day gift…or birthday gift…or vacation. The Old Course Experience, the exclusive provider of guaranteed tee times at the Old Course at St. Andrews, has announced its Ninth Annual Father & Son Golf Tournament, taking place April 17-22, 2010. The 72-hole, two-man team competition will be held on St. Andrews’ New Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Crail Balcomie Links , before culminating with the final round on the famous Old Course.

Competitors from more than 20 countries have participated in the tournament,, which is held in honour of Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tom, who, between them, won The British Open Championship eight times. Louis and Holger Peens from South Africa have won The Father & Son Golf Tournament the past two years and are returning to defend their title in 2010.

The cost begins at $3,900 US per person and includes the four tournament rounds, five nights’ accommodations at the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, a full daily Scottish breakfast, lunch, welcome drinks and three-course dinner. There’s also whisky tasting, kilt-fitting, a gala banquet (in full Scottish attire) at Charleton House, a stunning Georgian house built in the 1740s by William Adam, as well as special entertainment throughout the week, featuring traditional piper’s welcome, souvenir photography, daily prizes, official souvenir merchandise, daily transfers from hotel to golf course and a dedicated Old Course Experience representative to coordinate your itinerary prior to arrival and assist throughout the tournament.

For further info, call (888) 562-5632 or e-mail jan@oldcourse-experience.com.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - GATOR TAKES GOLFER’S ARM, ATOM-SMASHING SCIENTIST ARRESTED, AND FRY’S FIELD SUCKS

South Carolina’s GatorChow Golf C…er, that is Ocean Creek Golf Course.

In case you missed the news, the Associated Press is reporting that an alligator bit off part of a golfer’s arm as he leaned over to pick up his ball at a private South Carolina course.

The man, who is 77, was retrieving his ball from a pond when the 10-foot alligator bit him at the Davis Love III-designed Ocean Creek Golf Course in Beaufort County. The gator pulled the golfer into the pond and ripped off his arm in the struggle. His golf partners were able to free him. Wildlife workers killed the alligator and retrieved the arm in the hopes it might be reattached.

This is not the accused alligator. Any resemblance to the future purse and pair of shoes in question is purely coincidental.

ATOM-SMASHER ARRESTED
In the same newspaper as the above, I noticed a small story about the arrest of a nuclear physicist who worked on the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest atom-smasher, since 2003. The scientist and his brother were hauled in under suspicion of links to the Algerian branch of al-Queda. Fortunately, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (known as CERN), which oversees the project, assured that the scientist had no contact with anything that could be used for terrorism.

When contacted by OG, al-Queda countered, “Actually, everything he came in contact with could theoretically be used for terrorism! That’s the entire reason he was working for us, you doorknob!”

The Large Hadron Collider: Thankfully, nothing a terrorist would be interested in.

FRY’S FIELD SUCKS
How bad is the field at this week’s Frys.com Open in Scottsdale? Rory Sabbatini, at 18th on the money list, is the highest ranked player participating. John Rollins (27) and Mike Weir (28) are the only other players in the Top 30.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - EXPLORING LOW-INCOME GOLF, AND CANADIAN TEENS RULE THE WORLD

News bulletin: Golf is expensive. It used to be elitist. Now it’s just friggin expensive, not to mention inconvenient and time-consuming. It’s the latter two issues that are holding the game back right now. We’re losing players who used to be loyal because golf is becoming like kids’ rep hockey—you can’t do it quickly or cheaply. Further, today’s microwave society requires instant gratification, so getting your youth into the game when most of their attention spans have kept Ritalin manufacturers in business for years is a daunting task.

If we could build golf courses closer to major population bases and charge a fraction of what economic models demand for that high-priced land and its development, we could get around the time issue. But that’s not gonna happen.

Which leads me to an email I received yesterday noting the impending opening of the First Links Across America project next summer. Making golf accessible for non-traditional players is the primary goal of the program, which promotes the construction of universally accessible short courses (from 3 to 9 holes) and practice facilities to provide golfing opportunities to young people, families and adult beginners of all ethnic backgrounds, in addition to individuals with disabilities or injuries.

It’s a noble concept. The Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Wadsworth Golf Construction, funded development of The Links Learning Center at Randall Oaks in Illinois. Lohmann Golf Designs (LGD) was the course designer. Following the Links Across America model, both donated large portions of their services toward the project’s realization. Construction is now complete and grow-in will continue through until the summer 2010 grand opening.

Tom Mammoser, executive director of the local township’s parks commission, sees huge potential for the new facility. For example, he says about 70 percent of the children in Dundee play soccer and a majority play basketball and baseball. Only 14 percent play golf.

Well, duh. Soccer and basketball require a group to share one ball, and little more than a side street or open field to play the respective sports. Golf—even a pitch-and-putt course—requires a big supply of balls, not to mention golf clubs, and a bag, and typically A LOT of land, which usually isn’t anywhere close to where you live.

Again, the cause is noble. If the point of these facilities is to provide opportunities for those who might not otherwise have a chance to play, then kudos to them. But this isn’t going to solve golf’s pressing economic problem by pouring tens of millions of dollars in greens fees and new equipment sales into the game. We have a saturation of facilities and not enough people willing to pay the fare for a round or purchase a new set of irons. What we need are affordable municipal layouts and short, accessible courses for those who already play the game (or used to play it) so that they’ll play more golf. We also need to entice those who could afford to make it a lifetime activity but don’t because it’s too inconvenient and time-consuming a pursuit.

I’m not saying we should ignore projects like Links Across America—this is no “Let them eat cake” address—I’m just saying we should also be spending time and money into coming up with ways to lure back those who helped foster golf’s prosperity to begin with, because those are the players in the best position to restore vitality to this game.

The Links Learning Center at Randall Oaks in Illinois will be ready for play next summer.

CANADIAN TEENS ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Quebec teenagers Marilyne Cadieux and Saby Dagenais became the first women to win the International Pairs World Final by knocking off 27 other teams (25 of which were male twosomes) at the 2009 championship at Scotland’s famed Carnoustie course. Marilyne, 19, and Saby, 17, were tied for second place after the first round of the 36-hole tournament with 43 Stableford points, but stormed back on Day Two, clinching victory with a birdie from Dagenais on the 18th hole to edge the Netherlands by three points.

The girls, who played from 6,127 yards, with the men teeing off from 6,941 yards, were one of three teams who represented Canada at the world event. Jason Groshak and Johan de la Rey, who qualified by winning the Western Canada Regional Final at Crown Isle Resort, scored a very competitive 74 Stableford points. John Dicasmirro and Don Dowswell, who qualifed by winning the Ontario Regional Final at The Raven at Lora Bay, notched 71 points.

The 10-year-old International Pairs event has grown to become the world’s largest grassroots amateur golf tournament for club golfers, due in large part to its simplicity. Local clubs run a qualifying event, with the winners moving on to a regional final. The regional winners then represent their country at the world final. Over 100 golf clubs across Canada ran qualifying events in 2009.

For information on how to qualify, contact Sonia McKeon at: sonia@internationalpairs.ca or 1-866-299-8886.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - NEW CALLAWAY AD, HUMBER WINS AGAIN AND A PGA SHOW BOYCOTT

Check out this new Callaway ad. I don’t expect it to be on mainstream TV anytime soon, but it’s worth watching.

HUMBER WINS…AGAIN
When the 2009 PING Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Golf Championship came to an end last Friday after three rounds in harsh, unseasonal weather, at Ambassador GC in Windsor, the usual suspects were departing with the most hardware.

Humber College’s men’s squad captured another gold medal, with the women’s gang taking home a bronze, led by Danielle Greene’s third-place overall effort in individual play. (Cégep Champlain St. Lawrence took first spot on the ladies’ side.)

In individual men’s action, Chris Hargest from Niagara College finished with an even-par total of 213, just one shot ahead of Humber’s Ryan Willoughby, whose squad came from behind to post a six-shot triumph over Cégep Champlain’s men’s squad.

“Our team is very tight and I think that helped us come back. It was probably our toughest win since I have been here but it feels great to come back and win,” said Willoughby, who was impressed with the quality of the event. “This tournament was by far the best national championships I have taken part in. The little things that were part of the tournament made a huge difference; having our own locker for the week and having starters on each tee announce your name and college.”

“It was a grind and a very satisfying team win” added teammate Mike Zizek. “We were behind after day one but fought our way back. I can only think of one word to discuss the tournament and the golf course: awesome!”

YOU WANT A PIECE OF TAIL?
I expect to see more of this in the coming years: Tail Activewear is not attending the Ontario PGA Merchandise Show this year at the International Centre on Airport Road, but is showcasing their new gear about a 10-minute drive away, on Evans Avenue (promising a cocktail party atmosphere and a $250 dinner at Toronto’s Harbour Sixty steakhouse. Many companies who have purchased booths at recent shows have begun to complain about the high prices charged by Reed Exhibitions. We’ve seen this trend before at Reed-run events, namely the granddaddy of golf shows, the annual PGA Show in Orlando, where some companies started renting hotel rooms years ago and inviting media up to grab a beer or wine and munchies while they get to see new merchandise up close and personal.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’S GOLF BOOK IS A WINNER

I’ll have more to say about this in GolfStyle Magazine’s spring 2010 edition, but before that day comes along, MAN! You gotta check this book out. A no-brainer Christmas gift for any golf fan, the new SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: THE GOLF BOOK is bound to be a best-seller. What began five years ago with SI’s 50th anniversary book (a New York Times bestseller) and followed with The Baseball Book, The Football Book, The Basketball Book and The College Football Book, now arrives with The Golf Book—an astute and visually stunning treatment of a sport that lends itself to colourful, descriptive story-telling.

Dating back more than 500 years, no other sport has such a long and illustrious history as golf, which has been played by royalty and common folk, men and women, and young and old. This work takes advantage of that heritage. Tracing the game from its roots in the 15th century to the 21st century exploits of Tiger Woods, the coffee-table-sized Golf Book is 296 pages of captivating stuff—three parts brilliant photography; one part classic story-telling passages from SI’s vault.

Divided by eras and showcasing the game’s greatest players, performances and vistas, the book features more than 300 black-and-white and full-color photographs, including W.C. Fields using his driver as a fishing rod; Fidel Castro watching Che Guevara line up a putt shortly after the two revolutionaries conquered Cuba in 1959; President Richard Nixon proudly displaying the ball he used to ace Bel-Air Country Club’s third hole; or a spectacular shot of Tiger and caddie Steve Williams “crossing swords” as they flip clubs to each other (below). There are also sidebars that highlight fascinating facts and shining milestones from each time period and a special gatefold that assembles the 20 Greatest Golfers of All Time, a ranked list that SI commissioned from a panel of experts.

This is a seriously hard book to put down.

$29.95 (US) hardcover

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - BARYLA, KING END MAJOR DROUGHTS

Two major doughts ended this past weekend, the biggest being Chris Baryla’s first win on the Nationwide Tour. The Vernon, B.C. native, who fellow golf scribe Rob Thompson predicted a few years ago would be Canada’s next hope on the PGA Tour, is likely headed to the PGA Tour for the 2010 season. Baryla fired a 2-under-par 70 in the final round of the Chattanooga Classic to finish at 19 under for the week and a one-shot win to break his dry spell on the PGA Tour’s feeder circuit.

The $90,000 paycheque moved him from 57th to 20th on the money list with cumulative earnings of $184,055 for the season. With two events remaining, it puts him in good position to finish in the top 25 leading money winners that earn PGA Tour cards for 2010.

The victory caps a tremendous comeback for the 26-year-old out of the University of Texas at El Paso, who made his first start of the season in May after recovering from a back injury that kept him off the golf course for nearly a year. He open qualified for the Rex Hospital Open, finished tied for fourth and has kept the momentum going ever since, having missed only one cut in 12 starts and with three other top-10s to his credit.

The Nationwide Tour travels to Miami, Fla. next week for the Miccosukee Championship, the second-to-last event of the season. The top 60 players on the money list are eligible for the season-ending $1 million Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island from October 19-25.

ALL HAIL THE KING
Magna GC teaching pro Danny King, potentially Canada’s other next great hope, is heading to PGA Tour Qualifying School this fall (it looks like fellow Magna employee and former GM at Muskoka Bay, Jeff Boismier, will be caddying for him). King is red-hot right now, with more Canadian and Ontario PGA titles that you can shake a two-iron at over the past couple seasons. The latest was an impressive final-day thumping of former Canadian PGA champion Jean Louis Lamarre 5 & 4 at the 2009 Titleist Cup at Mississaugua G&CC to help Ontario end a 15-year winless streak against Quebec’s finest professionals. Billy Walsh won the second match of the day 3 & 2 over Ben Boudreau while Gary Jeffrey pulled out a halve in a up-and-down battle with one of Quebec’s finest in Serge Thivierge. Ken Tarling sunk a four-foot putt on the 18th hole to halve his match and clinch the 2009 Titleist Cup for team Ontario by a score of 12.5-11.5.

“It’s a win that will remain close to my heart ,” King told me last night. “We changed history. It was about time! I’m very excited about the next two months.”

The Titleist Cup (or Ontario/Quebec Matches) have been played consecutively since 1977. Prior to 1977 the matches were played intermittently from 1961 until the mid-1970s. In total, the Quebec PGA has won 21 times while the Ontario PGA has now won it 11 times. Teams are comprised of the top 12 Ontario and Quebec Canadian PGA professionals.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - GOLF APPROVED FOR 2016 OLYMPICS

After an absence of more than a century, golf will return as an Olympic sport in 2016 along with rugby sevens following their approval by the International Olympic Committee membership.

Golf was approved 63-27 with two abstentions. Rugby was voted in 81-8 with one abstention. Both sports will be part of the Olympic program in Rio de Janeiro, which last week was selected as the host city for 2016 Games by the IOC, and which better start building a really good golf course since there’s only two in the area, the best of which is Itanhanga, a private course that measures a paltry 6,618 yards.

Golf was last an Olympic sport at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, when the U.S. and Canada were the only two competing countries. Canadian George S. Lyon, incidentally, is the defending champion, although he’s not expected to participate, having passed away 71 years ago. Lyon didn’t even take up the game until he was 38 years old, but won the gold medal eight years later, celebrating his victory by walking through the clubhouse on his hands. He captured eight Canadian Amateur Championships and was runner-up in both the U.S. Amateur and Canadian Open.

Toronto’s George S. Lyon is the defending Olympic golf gold medalist.

Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation Olympic Golf Committee, and Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A and joint secretary of the International Golf Federation, were accompanied by professionals Padraig Harrington, Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen, as well as 16-year-old British Amateur Champion Matteo Manassero of Italy for a final presentation to the IOC prior to the vote.

Based on player feedback, the IGF has proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. In case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winner(s). The IGF also recommended a field of 60 players for each of the men’s and women’s competitions, using the Official World Golf Rankings as a method of determining eligibility. The top-15 world-ranked players are automatically eligible. Beyond that, players would be eligible based on the world rankings, but with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15. In other words, if your country doesn’t have three or more players among the top 15, the max you’re gonna get is two. Which I also take to mean if you’re an American, you probably better be among the top 15 to have any shot at making the Olympic team, because there’s bound to be a gaggle of them within that elite bunch.

Current world rankings from both the men’s and women’s games show that at least 30 countries would be represented in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - SUNDOG AT THE RYDER CUP, COVERING THE OLYMPICS AND NEW GEAR FROM TITLEIST

Sundog Eyewear’s tradition at big events continues this week at the Presidents Cup at Harding Park GC in San Francisco. Just as Paula Creamer has made it her special gesture to present her Solheim Cup teammates with specially designed Sundog Eyewear, Hunter Mahan and Mike Weir have unique eyewear for their American and International Teams at the 2009 Presidents Cup.

For captain Fred Couple’s American Team, Sundog created the H LTD model featuring Mela-Lens technology and a stylized U.S. flag on the frames. For the International team led by captain Greg Norman, Mike Weir has Weir Signature Series Grinder models featuring the CRISTEC Premium Polarized lens.

The American caddies, meanwhile, have received a special edition H Drive “Old Glory” while the International caddies also got the Weir Golf Signature Series Grinder.

You can log on to www.sundogeyewear.com to enter to win a pair of H LTD or Weir Signature Series Grinders.

FITS LIKE A GLOVE
FootJoy, maker of the No. 1 glove for 25 years (43% of PGA Tour play, with the nearest competitor sitting at 22%—and that’s sister company Titleist!) introduced the Pure Touch Limited in the spring, but I finally got a chance to wear it last Friday during a product unveiling by Titleist/FootJoy/Cobra/Pinnacle at Eagles Nest GC. It’s aptly named considering it is, in fact, very limited since there are just 100 accounts in Canada and only six PGA Tour staff players (Steve Stricker, Nick Watney, Padraig Harrington, Chad Campbell, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy) being provided the new model. Retailing at $30, the feel, fit and performance is targeted at the better player—the club champ or professional. Employing the thinnest specification leather on the market today (and company’s best staff from their glove-making factory), but promising the same durability, the new model is hand-sewn and uses a different stitching construction for a superior fit.

CHEAP TRICK
The Globe & Mail is running a contest for budding journalists to get the experience of covering the Olympic Games in Vancouver. If you’re interested in signing up, log on to http://journalismdream.theglobeandmail.com. Ontario Golf is also running a similar contest. We’ll pay for gas for you to go to next year’s Ontario Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships and take lots of pictures and blog non-stop about the event. In each case, I figure, it’s free material for the publisher.