TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - HAWAIIAN ISLAND GETS CLOSER FOR CANADIANS
The Kiele Course at Jack Nicklaus’ Kauai Lagoons.
One of the planet’s most spectacular locations and my personal favourite international destination so far (OK, well Canouan Island off the coast of South America might still be first) has become more convenient for Canadians. Kauai, the northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain, is now accessible via twice-weekly flights on WestJet Airlines from Vancouver to Kauai’s Lihue Airport, with kick-ass introductory fares starting at $349. WestJet also has a dozen flights weekly from Vancouver to Honolulu, with inter-island flights available to the garden isle, where only four percent of the land has been developed. Jack Nicklaus and Robert Trent Jones Jr. are among the lucky course designers at such memorable layouts as Puakea, Poipu Bay, Kaua‘i Lagoons and Princeville.
If you go, don’t miss out on the helicopter tours (most of which are conducted to music, courtesy a great soundtrack on your headphones.) I promise you will never forget the experience as long as you live. The geological and geographical wonders of this tiny but mind-bogglingly spectacular island have to be seen from the air to be truly appreciated.
Click here for further golfing info on Kauai. (800) 262-1400.
The helicopter tours, such as Jack Harter’s service, above, are not to be missed when visiting Kauai.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TIGER GETS SOME PRIVACY ON THE OPEN SEAS; AND TIGER RADIO
Tiger’s made a break for it. His 155-foot luxury yacht, Privacy—all $20 million US worth of it—has left Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach, reportedly well stocked and with a few golfer types.
TIGER WOODS 24/7
Listening to Star 102.5 FM out of Buffalo these past few weeks—the station has switched over to an all-Christmas music format until Dec. 26th—has brought to mind the potential windfall of ads that might have been available to a radio station choosing to cover nothing but Tiger Woods since his little run-in with that fire hydrant—I mean, not including Accenture, Gillette and maybe Tag Heuer, that it. (I wonder if Nike would have advertised?)
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - GOLF PUTTER GETS SCREEN TIME IN AVATAR
Louisville Golf just sent the following email:
If you have seen “Avatar,” about 30 minutes into the movie you will notice our Louisville Golf wood mallet putter prominently used by actor Giovanni Ribisi. On Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night show the actor was interviewed about the movie; in this video you can see a flash of the wood mallet putter as it is taken away from the actor in the scene. It is in the 4th segment, and Jimmy Fallon and Giovanni Ribisi talk about his action figure that includes said golf club.
Several years ago the production team called Louisville Golf and placed an order: “I thought that some production assistant was using the expense account to get wholesale prices, but when the movie came out Andy Just (Louisville Golf founder Elmore Just’s oldest son) called me and excitedly told me that our putter was in the movie,” said Josh Fischer, marketing director for Louisville Golf. “When I finally saw the movie over opening weekend I was thrilled to see the putter get some solid screen time.
“The actor wielding the putter, unfortunately, is one of the villains, but we aren’t complaining. In the movie he says twice: `I love this putter!’ as he is putting on a practice mat. And the movie is in brilliant 3D, so to see our wood mallet putter in 3D, on one of the most anticipated movies ever, was extremely exciting.”
If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure that you do - it is more than a movie, it’s an experience.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - THOUGHTS ON TIGER WOODS; AND A CANADIAN DUO IS RIPPED OFF
One of the reasons the mainstream media have been so quick to jump on Tiger Woods has been the fact that he gave us so little to work with—no one-on-ones, precious few autographs for fans, no inside looks. When you build a wall around you and then post a big sign reading “Keep Out,” you’ll get no sympathy from media when the secrets finally slip out. Conversely, when athletes, coaches and administrators have regularly shared “off the record” inside stuff with me, I’ve been inclined to protect them when rumours broke, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. Tiger and his management team of IMG haven’t earned that right from the general media.
And by the way, I hope Steve Williams is not paid by salary and instead gets 10% of Tiger’s winnings. Arguably the Tour’s most abrasive, least likable caddie, he deserves a few months of UIC after no doubt facilitating Tiger’s philandering ways. In his defence, Williams claims to have no knowledge about the affairs and fired back at those who think differently. “To have been labelled a liar in the media is very disappointing to me,” Williams said, adding that it “really made me sick.”
Still, it’s inconceivable that Williams wasn’t aware of what was going on. Caddies, in my experience, know everything about the lives of their pros. And what they don’t know, other caddies share with them the next day. Either way, it’s safe to say this is one bag toter Jesper Parnevik won’t be hiring anytime soon. But then, Williams probably has nothing to worry about. Given the magnitude of book deals a jilted Williams might be offered—even after his PGA Tour caddying days are long gone—Tiger will want to keep him close, as Woods will with all his closest handlers who have knowledge of his closest secrets.
AGENT X
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, meanwhile, is keeping basically quiet, other than to say a New York Times report suggesting IMG put Tiger together with (newly arrested) Toronto doctor Anthony Galea, is completely false. In an e-mail to the Associated Press, Steinberg said, “No one at IMG has ever met or recommended Dr. Galea, nor were we worried about the progress of Tiger’s recovery, as the Times falsely reported. The treatment Tiger received is a widely accepted therapy and to suggest some connection with illegality is recklessly irresponsible.”
Which begs the question: Why would Dr. Galea make that up? Either Galea’s trying to protect Woods, which suggests something more sinister, or IMG is lying and trying to protect itself.
Ironically, two years ago, when he was interviewed for SportsAgentBlog.com, Steinberg answered “honesty and integrity” when asked what the most important aspects of being a sports agent are. “Athletes in general sometimes feel that people are out there to take advantage of them, since [the athletes] are high-profile people who are making a lot of money,” Steinberg said. “Athletes are very wary about who is a part of their inner circle. What I’ve learned in the past 15 years is to be honest and tell the truth. What I mean by that is not just to be a yes man or a yes woman, but to tell the truth, speak your opinion, and be a straight shooter. You need to be fair and not take advantage of your clients.”
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of some of those recent discussions.
SOMETHING TO WATCH WITH TIGER
It’ll be very interesting after Tiger returns to see if he holds a grudge with Accenture (the first major sponsor to clearly drop Tiger for reasons of integrity) and doesn’t attend any of the Accenture World Golf Championships, which would undeniably be a blow to the four WGC host cities of Tucson, Miami, Akron and Shanghai.
CHARITY SUFFERS
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem says the Tour’s charitable donations fell to $109 million in 2009, but predicts an increase to $115 million. With the Tour’s brightest star taking an unspecified sabbatical and being dragged through the mud? Not likely, buddy.
WILL TV SPONSORS PULL BACK?
The PGA Tour boasts a valuable audience for corporate advertising. The average weekly viewership in 2007 and 2008 was 26 million viewers. This past year it jumped to 29 million. The longer Woods stays away, though, the more it hurts in multiple ways. The Tour has spent a lot of time and money marketing Woods and a a chosen few other stars, but TV time has always been dominated by Tiger, even when he was out of the running of a particular tournament. Networks are getting better than they used to be in sharing coverage, but they’re victims of their own marketing campaigns. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. No Tiger = a lot fewer viewers. (which, of course, may be offset by the record numbers when Tiger returns. Tolkien’s Return of the King will seem lame by comparison.)
CANADIAN GOLFERS RIPPED OFF Bright’s Grove, Ontario’s Matt Hill (left) and B.C.’s Nick Taylor were
both left off the final ballot for the Lou Marsh Trophy this past week.
Kudos to the Toronto Star’s Dave Perkins, who, word has it, fought for Nick Taylor and Matt Hill to make the finalists of the Lou Marsh award as Canada’s top athlete for 2009. Alas, it appears that the panel’s inability to pick one of the two dominant amateurs—arguably the world’s two best in that category last season—resulted in neither making the final fivesome, from which NHL star Sydney Crosby was selected. What a joke–both make Canadian golf history (Taylor the first Canadian to be ranked No. 1 in the world as an amateur, while tying an all-time opening round record for an amateur at the U.S. Open; and Hill posting the greatest season in U.S. College history, with eight wins, including the six in a row and the NCAA Championship and Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year honours, not to mention the Ontario Amateur title) and neither even makes the final five.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TIGER STORY TAKES A NEW TWIST; WEAR IN THE WORLD IS LINDSAY KNOWLTON TODAY? AND A WORLD-CLASS GOLF VACATION
A Toronto doctor who is suspected of providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs—and who has ties to Tiger Woods—is under FBI investigation. Sports medicine specialist Tony Galea, who has treated several NFL players as well as Olympic medalists such as Donovan Bailey, was arrested on Oct. 15 in Toronto by Canadian police. Human growth hormones and Actovegin, a drug extracted from calf’s blood, were found in his medical bag at the U.S.-Canada border in late September. Using, selling or importing Actovegin is illegal in the U.S. Galea is also being investigated by the RCMP for smuggling and selling unapproved drugs as well as criminal conspiracy. He is tentatively scheduled to appear in a Canadian courtroom on Friday.
Elite athletes have recruited Galea for some time to help accelerate their post-surgical recovery—perhaps even avoid it altogether via “a blood-spinning technique known as platelet-rich plasma therapy, as well as other pioneering procedures on knees, elbows and Achilles’ tendons,” reports the Star.
Woods was referred to Galea by the golfer’s agents at Cleveland-based International Management Group, when Tiger’s rehab began dragging out following his June 2008 knee surgery.
Responding to media inquiries, IMG’s Mark Steinberg emailed, “I would really ask that you guys don’t write this? If Tiger is NOT implicated, and won’t be, let’s please give the kid a break.”
Court documents show that Galea faces three charges in this country: one under Canada’s food and drugs act, one under the customs act and a conspiracy charge under the criminal code. Prescribing human growth hormone is legal in Canada but approved in the U.S. for just a few specific uses, none of which include hastening recovery from surgery or injury. Actovegin, however, is not approved for sale in Canada and is being closely monitored by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Produced in Austria, it’s essentially strained and purified calves’ blood. Actovegin first came to the attention of antidoping authorities in the late 1990s when elite cyclists were found to be using it.
“We’re all surprised by this — we believe it’s going to go away and it’s a misunderstanding,” David Cynamon, co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts, told the Star. “He might be one of the elite sports medicine doctors anywhere, and that’s why the likes of Tiger locate him.”
Two days after Galea’s first treatment of Tiger at his Windemere, Orlando home, Woods texted him. “He said he couldn’t believe how good he feels,” Galea relates. “He’d joke and say, ‘I can jump up on the kitchen table,’ and I said, ‘Please don’t.’”
The Star feature goes on to say that Woods stayed in touch with Galea afterward, texting him after the British Open in July that his left knee had begun bothering him again. Galea said he flew to Orlando in early August and gave him Platelet-rich plasma therapy for a final time. In October, he apparently heard again from Woods that his knee was still bothering him, “but all this stuff started with the investigation, and I couldn’t go see him.”
My thinking is that Tiger did not knowingly take illegal substances, although he probably had no intention of informing the Tour (and the administrators of its year-old drug policy) what exactly he was doing with Galea. There have long been rumours about Tiger and his well-sculpted physique, but I truly believe his outer appearance is man-made (he’s a notorious gym rat)…even if he was getting a little help healing beneath the skin.
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Meanwhile, on another front, the Cleveland Leader has picked up on a radaronline story that the Florida Department of Children and Families has an open investigation into possible domestic violence between Tiger and his wife, that may involve a weapon (likely a golf club) and possibly have occurred in front of the children. While I expect nothing to come of this, it does lend further evidence to a cover-up by the Florida Highway Patrol, who quickly closed this case soon after it opened, claiming no evidence of impaired driving, domestic violence, yadda yadda yadda.
WAS ELIN REALLY IGNORANT?
Does anyone really believe that Tiger was carrying on with multiple women on multiple occasions over a period of at least a few years without his wife Elin knowing anything about it? Who knows—maybe it’s why she started negotiating to buy that house near Stockholm, Sweden this past summer.
WEAR IN THE WORLD IS LINDSAY KNOWLTON?
Toronto’s Lindsay Knowlton is nearing the end of her golfing odyssey. The TaylorMade-adidas-sponsored adventure to the world’s most extreme golf courses is now in Australia. Linds and American TaylorMade staffer Josh Sullivan played the mature layout of Newcastle GC yesterday, a couple hours outside Sydney, Australia. They’re on their way to Alice Springs, site of the hottest course in the world, which is the one I’ve been looking forward to them playing the most. Below is a video from the twosome at Newcastle with RBC Canadian Open champion Nathan Green.
GTA TOUR HAS A WORLD-CLASS GOLF GETAWAY
From president Mark Young and the operators of the GTA Amateur Golf Tour comes an all-star golf tournament and vacation package. Whether you’re a scratch golfer or a 25 handicap, this four-round tourney has all the perks and nuances of a PGA Tour event. The tournament runs from January 21-25, with your all-inclusive package including four rounds at Doral Resort and Spa, all food and drinks during the main sponsored activities, a 90-minute lesson with Tiger’s coach, Hank Haney, a complimentary 60-minute coaching session at the Jim McLean Golf Academy, your own personal caddie and, finally, lower bowl seats at the Leafs-Panthers game.
The price ($2,899 per person + tax) also includes round-trip airfare from Toronto, accommodations, a forecaddie, instruction, daily prizes and more. For information, call 1-877-543-3125, or email the GTA Tour’s Peter Norrie at.
peter@gtaamateurtour.com. www.gtaamateurtour.com.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - BIG TOURS HAVE NEWS SPONSORS, AND THE 911 CALL OF TIGER’S WIFE
I hear that Waste Management Inc., the largest environmental services provider in North America, will be the sole title sponsor of the former FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale. “Waste Management Phoenix Open”—doesn’t that just roll off the tongue?
The event, they say, will be a major platform for showcasing Waste Management’s “Think Green” solutions. If that were their main focus, why not call it the Think Green Phoenix Open—wouldn’t that have made a much bigger mental imprint on the public?
LPGA TOUR GETS A NEW TOURNEY, SORT OF
Meanwhile over at the LPGA Tour, which has undoubtedly gotten a much-needed injection after dumbbell Michelle Wie finally broke into the winner’s column, there’s an addition by subtraction with the new LPGA Classic Presented by J Golf. The $1.7 million event, which replaces the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International Presented by Mirassou Winery, will be held March 22-28 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
2010 will be a season where you definitely don’t want to be hanging out near the phone as a tournament alternate, since there are so few events scheduled that every eligible player will likely play every one of the LPGA Tour’s 24 events (which includes a couple that currently don’t have sponsors or venues). That’s down from 27 tournaments played in 2009 and 34 in 2008. The total 2010 purse will be $40 million, down from $60 million in 2008. (To give you a point of comparison, this year’s total purse on the PGA Tour was approximately $277.3 million.)
La Costa, though, might still be the first full-field event of the 2010 campaign since it follows season-opening tournaments in Thailand and Singapore.
ELIN NORDEGREN’S 911 CALL
For those who haven’t heard it, here’s the 911 call the other day from Tiger’s wife, Elin Nordegren, after her mother (Barbro Holmberg) collapsed in the bathroom of the Woods home in Windemere, Florida. (Holmberg was quickly released from hospital.)
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - OBAMA AND TIGER ON NEW GOLF DIGEST COVER
While Gatorade had discontinued its Tiger Focus drink, the company says it decided several months ago to can the beverage along with some other products to make room for a planned series of innovative products in 2010. I think they’re being honest, since industry trade “Beverage Digest” actually reported the discontinuation of the Gatorade Tiger Focus line on Nov. 25, two days before the accident occurred. Gatorade has also issued a statement saying they’re standing behind Tiger as a sponsor. Still, it marks a trend since Tigergate of NO Tiger Woods advertisements airing. Marketing departments the world over are being very careful to let things subside before they choose how to re-enter the market.
I still say Tiger would be smart to tell the world, “I am stepping away from professional golf for a period of time. I have some personal demons I need to address and conquer and a family I need to take care of.” Then he gets to return the week before the U.S. Open at the St. Jude Classic—helping raise huge funds for the local children’s hospital before a gargantuan throng of media and a record-setting TV audience, with sponsors clamoring for a piece of the action— then he wins the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, plays his AT&T National event and then wins the British Open at St. Andrews and is once again the god of world sports—with a new $50 million sponsor deal from Coors Light, who are in love with their new “common man” marketing campaign.
PEI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
I just got an email from Golf PEI, who. having recently returned from the International Golf Tourism Marketplace in Spain, were touting that they’d been selected one of the six finalists for “Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year” (as determined by votes from international Golf Tour Operators and Golf Writers).
Now, I’ve always loved PEI as a golf destination, but one has to question the title of this particular awards category. I mean, were you undiscovered because you’ve done a bad job of marketing the place, or were there simply more popular getaway options in the neighbourhood than yours? So what’s the new slogan? “Vacation PEI—Who Knew?”
BAGGING A MAPLE LEAF
As long as I’m in that weird mood today, Golf Town is introducing a TaylorMade Toronto Maple Leafs Golf Bag for $139.99. When asked about it, staff will say things like “They’re very popular in May—all of the Toronto Maple Leafs are golfing then.”
Asked where they’ll be located in the store, staff will say “Last place you’d look.”
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - OBAMA AND TIGER ON NEW GOLF DIGEST COVER
Two weeks before the Tiger incident broke, Golf Digest’s January issue went to press. Needless to say, this wouldn’t have been their first choice for a cover, with Tiger offering advice to the U.S. President.
This morning’s report of another 911 call relating to the Woods’ household, and of Elin’s mother, Barbro Holmberg, being taken to hospital (she’s in stable condition) follows reports Monday that Woods was admitted to hospital on Nov. 27th as the possible victim of an overdose. A police report that was leaked yesterday reveals that Nordegren told a police officer who arrived after Woods’s crash that her husband had been drinking and held prescriptions for Ambien (a sedative), and Vicodin, a painkiller: “(Nordegren) stated that the driver was prescribed medication (Ambien and Vicatin). Impairment of the driver is also suspected due to the careless driving that resulted in the traffic crash,” Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joshua Evans wrote in his report.
Apparently, when neighbours heard the accident and came out to help, they found Woods “snoring” beside his Cadillac Escalade, and brought him a blanket and pillow while waiting for police to arrive.
TMZ.com reported that Woods was then moved to a nearby hospital under a pseudonym and an entire floor of the hospital was locked down while he was there. An admissions chart reportedly listed his condition as a possible OD, but he was released within a few hours.
Q-SCHOOL THOUGHTS
Great to see Saskatchewan’s Graham Delaet make the cut for the 2010 PGA Tour, but it was hard to see the collapse of Peterborough’s Ted Brown, who needed to just shoot even par to earn his card, but fired a four-over 76–including a double-bogey-bogey-bogey run from the 14th to 16th holes. At least he’ll be playing on the Nationwide Tour next year.
PLEASE SIGN HERE
The one slice of reality that came from Tiger Woods’ official statement on his website was that we now have a perfect copy of his autograph. I wonder how much this is going to be abused? (I notice the web page for that official statement now just has his head shot, though.)
DOUG LAWRIE MOVES TO WHISTLE BEAR
After 10 years with the City of Mississauga, both at Lakeview and BraeBen Golf Courses, Doug Lawrie is leaving to pursue the role of Director of Operations (GM) at Whistle Bear GC just outside Cambridge. “My decision to move forward was not done with anything but a motivation to be constantly improving,” writes Lawrie. “The time spent at the City as taught me a wide range of abilities while allowing me to experience opportunities most golf professionals do not get a chance to do in their careers. I know that I can leave with my head held high as BraeBen has become a fantastic place to be.”
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TIGER’S NEW SONG; AND CANADIANS LOOKING GREAT AT Q-SCHOOL
Kudos to Jesper Parnevik for being the only PGA Tour player thus far to come out of the closet and have the nerve to rip Tiger. “I have lost all respect for him, primarily as a man and a father,” Parnevik told Aftonbladet in an interview from the PGA Tour qualifying tournament in West Palm Beach, Fla. “It doesn’t even feel like it matters what he has done on the golf course. My respect for him as a person is gone. We have been nice to Tiger before, but now he only has himself to blame. We thought better of him, but he is not the one we thought he was.”
I also like Jesper’s line about how Elin “should have used a driver, not a three-iron.”
Meanwhile, in case you haven’t seen/heard the new Tiger Woods Jam yet, it’s pretty funny. Amazing how fast stuff gets produced and makes its way around the web these days.
CANADIANS LOOKING GREAT AT PGA TOUR Q-SCHOOL
I’m now taking a break from Tigergate to make a quick shout out to Team Canada at the PGA Tour’s Q-School in West Palm Beach, Fla. Three Canadians are presently among the top 25 and ties who will earn their 2010 PGA Tour cards: Weyburn, Saskatchewan’s Graham Delaet, who went low today with a 64 to sit at -11 overall (one stroke back of the lead as of 4:15 p.m. EST); Edmonton’s Barrett Jarosch (tied for ninth, three strokes behind) and Peterborough’s Ted Brown (tied for 15th at -7). Julien Trudeau of Quebec is one shot outside the present cutline, while David Mackenzie, Dustin Risdon, Jon Mills, Kevin Fortin-Simard and David Hearn have some work to do. Chris Baryla, of course, has already qualified for 2010 PGA Tour play by virtue of his Nationwide Tour efforts. If things ended right now, Canada would have SIX players on Tour next season! Orlando-based Canadian instructor Sean Foley has two of the three players already assured of their 2010 cards: Baryla and Stephen Ames. Saskatchwan’s Graham Delaet is on a mission this season.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TIGER WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS; AND CLUBLINK PAIRS UP WITH THE RCGA
(To those of you tuning in to see the rant against Tiger I posted this morning, sorry–it’s disappeared. I’d like to say it was a conspiracy, but truth be told, I inadvertently copied over it. Too bad—it was brilliant. Along similar lines, though, I received an email this morning from someone called PivotPro at supporttigerwoods@gmail.com, asking for a sympathetic line about Tiger. Here was my response:
You’re kidding, right? He makes $110 million a year based upon his carefully sculpted image, and yet when he lies to his public, his wife, the media, etc etc., has multiple affairs of varying lengths, and apparently withholds evidence from the police, we’re supposed to accept a backhanded apology (in a prepared statement form) and leave him to work things out alone? And you say “he has carried himself well?” Uh..duh…not quite. Apart from the minor aspects of never having been able to totally shake one of the PGA Tour’s nastier tempers, or that he often blows off the media after a bad round, you may have heard that he’s been having extramarital affairs for at least two and a half years while pretending to be the perfect family man. Woods broke millions of hearts and disillusioned tens of millions more, and had no inkling of telling the truth until he had no choice…and even then he admitted nothing directly and instead went on a little “Woe is me” tirade against the media.
Sorry–no sympathy in this corner
GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN
I’m looking at the taglines of the companies that sponsor Tiger and am starting to think it’s not his fault—that he was just being a good corporate shill: EA Sports: “It’s in the Game.” Nike: “Just Do It” Gillette: “Closest Shave Yet” Accenture: High Performance. Delivered AT&T: Your world delivered” Gatorade: Is it in You?
CLUBLINK, RCGA PAIR UP
The RCGA and ClubLink have announced a comprehensive 10-year partnership agreement that will see Canada’s largest owner and operator of golf courses support a number of the RCGA’s golf programs and services. ClubLink will invest close to $4 million, including in-kind services, into several of the RCGA’s initiatives over the course of the agreement, including the National Golf in Schools Program, Team Canada, CN Future Links, the RCGA Foundation, the Canadian University Colleges Championship and the RBC Canadian Open.
Support of golf programs aside, the latter would seem to be the key ingredient for Clublink, who must be looking for something back for their investment. We can probably expect negotiations for future Canadian Open sites to go well for ClubLink, particularly where a Glen Abbey Golf Club is concerned. I’ve always said it’s by far the best course in the country when it comes to accommodating spectators and supporting the infrastructure of the event, such as corporate tents, nearby and on-site parking, washrooms, etc etc.—that and the fact that the RCGA headquarters is on the grounds.
The relationship between the RCGA and ClubLink dates back to the RCGA’s sale of the Abbey to ClubLink in 1999. Glen Abbey and the Canadian Open share a long history as the Nicklaus-designed Oakville layout has played host to Canada’s national Open championship 25 times including both 2008 and 2009.
Through their involvement with the National Golf in Schools Program, ClubLink will be sponsoring a minimum of 11 schools per year as part of the program’s ‘Adopt a School’ initiative. (To date, it’s been integrated into the phys. ed. curriculum of more than 400 elementary schools across Canada.)
Through its support of the RCGA Foundation, the ClubLink Scholarship of Excellence program will grant two $5,000 scholarships per year to students attending a Canadian University. ClubLink will also become presenting sponsor of the RCGA’s University College Golf Championship.
The corporation will also continue to contribute to the RBC Canadian Open’s philanthropic efforts in support of the Mike Weir Foundation, the event’s national charity partner.
TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - HAWAIIAN ISLAND GETS CLOSER FOR CANADIANS
