TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TEEING IT UP AT THE NATIONAL, AND CANADIAN WOMEN IMPRESSING DOWN UNDER

The view from the terrace of The National’s new clubhouse.

I played The National yesterday with a truly entertaining foursome of head pro Adam Brown, assistant pro Justin O’Leary and fellow OG Top 100 panel member Steve Waxman. I love the stately—albeit comfortable—new clubhouse. The men’s locker room (actually, it’s the only locker room since women still aren’t allowed to be members) is the biggest and probably the most impressive I’ve seen. I’m pretty sure it has more square footage than my house. O’Leary and I almost got lost as he guided me down to look for the guest locker area.

Although it was somewhat moist due to heavy rains the night before and yesterday morning—which forced a delay of play—the course still managed to beat us all up pretty badly. I didn’t miss a lot of shots on the day, but still managed to shoot something like 92, I think. Ouch.
Still a fantastic test of golf, although a mentally draining one at that.

I love the pool table area with its big screen TV—the sort of place I might never leave if
I were a member there.

Prior to its redesign, No. 10 was one of most uninspiring of The National’s par-3s.
Now, by bringing the water more into play, it might be the best.

CANADIAN WOMEN ROCKING DOWN UNDER
Richmond Hill’s Rebecca-Lee Bentham has advanced to the semifinals at the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship in Yorkshire, England.

Bentham defeated Australian native Stacy Keating 2 UP in the quarterfinalsto move on to the semis tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Ganton G&CC. She was nearly joined by two teammates, with Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. rolling into the quarters before stumbling in a 3&2 loss to two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Stasi. Kirby’s teammate, Sara-Maude Juneau of Fossambault, Que., was also unable to advance to the final four, going out against Kelly Tidy of England 3&2.

Post-round results for the 2010 Ladies’ British Open Amateur can be found at www.lgu.org.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - SEGUIN VALLEY’S BACK ON LINE

One of my favourite courses in Ontario, and arguably the most photogenic, is reopening tomorrow. And it’s doing it to shockingly little fanfare. Which seems only appropriate for Seguin Valley considering how mismanaged it’s been from the outset.

While the Parry Sound course remains up for sale for a rumoured $10 million, you’ve got to believe owners Ron Dennis, Marie McCulloch and the estate of the late co-founder Robert McRae would be quite happy to part with 2,300-acre property for any reasonable offer. The trick has always been finding a party that wants the whole kit and caboodle—the 300-acre course and the remaining 2,000 acres of prime real estate development land.

The course itself was closed all of last year, while five staff tried to keep the place in as good condition as possible, but with the possibility of Seguin falling into a state of disrepair, which would make the golf course aspect of the property unsalable, it was decided late this spring to reopen the course—which has been keeping golf superintendent Chris Hudswell and his crew rather busy, digging out bunkers and grooming the course in time for tomorrow’s opening.

“It’s playable, but I’m not happy with the conditioning,” admits Hudswell, who’s been at Seguin from the beginning—well, its second beginning anyway. When the original superintendent was removed from his post during the build-in phase around nine years ago, Hudswell arrived to discover foot-long rough, four-foot weeds in the fairways, rocks popping through tee decks and the usual platform of 12-14 inches of mix beneath many greens actually ranging from three inches on one side to 30 inches on the other.

“The owner (the late Robert McRae) thought we were three weeks from opening when I came here,” says Hudswell. “But we were a year away. We had to hire Evans Construction and do a total rebuild of all the greens and tees, add more drainage, re-rout some holes, build the cartpaths… We also added the floating bridge at the par-3 seventh.”

Consequently, the original quirky Dave Moote construction became a hybrid design that included input from co-owner Ron Dennis, Evans’ Ted George and even Hudswell. The finished product is, well…OK, there isn’t really a finished product. The sign says Seguin Valley Golf & Country Club, but there’s no country club experience here—just golf. Golf that’s in need of ownership that understands and appreciates golf—that will pour the money needed to make this course a Top-25 experience in Ontario, something it’s quite capable of being given it’s multiple photo-op layout.

“It’s the most spectacular piece of property for golf in Ontario,” says Hudswell. “I don’t know how you get any better.”

Having played there twice, there’s no argument here. Only Bigwin island rivals it for sheer jaw-dropping beauty.

Seguin Valley, which has never achieved its potential, is in need of new money…and maybe a new logo while they’re at it.

In the meantime, the new green fee is $75 plus taxes, which includes your cart—much more reasonable that the $100 that they were charging two seasons ago. It’s probably still a little high for the Parry Sound area, but with walking almost impossible on that layout, ownership needs to cover the expense of their power carts somehow.

By the way, the website STILL has those $100 greens fees listed. It hasn’t been updated since early in 2008…even though they’re hoping for public players tomorrow. That doesn’t bode well for Seguin’s latest incarnation, which breaks my heart.

BURIED ELEPHANT - YOU COULD BE WEARING QUAGMIRE ON TOUR

Canadian golf fashion company Quagmire Golf has been on a roll since Geoff Tait and Bobby Pasternak first launched the company becuase they were “tired of our boring golf duds and decided to create chilled, lifestyle wear”. 

Geoff and Bobby have been very successful at using promotinos and PR to establish a name for themselves very quickly.  They also have PGA touring pros wearing their gear including Aron Price, Matt Weibring and LPGA player Stephanie Louden.  Their newest player on tour is YOU!

The new release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 by EA Sports, in stores now, includes Quagmire duds that you can dress your player in.  If you have never played Tiger Woods PGA Tour you should.  This is by far the best console golf game and it just gets better with each new release.  Whether you are playing against your friends online or against PGA players with real time scoring from live tour events or just out for a fun round of golf at the world’s best courses you can now be decked out in cool Quagmire duds.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 allows you to not only create your own character any way you like but you can also add gear and dress any way you like.  As you can see below some great new choices are available from the Quagmire collection.

 If you want to actually look this good in person while you are really playing golf you can buy Quagmire online or you visit one of the many retailers who carry thier product.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - REMEMBERING CHRIS HANEY

PHOTO: Bill Ironside, London Free Press

Doug Ball has more great stories than any man I know. One of the treasure trove includes the 1975 photo above, which shows (at left) Trivial Pursuit and Devil’s Pulpit Golf Association co-founder Chris Haney, who passed away Monday after a long illness at age 59. Joining Haney in the image above is George Hutchison of the London Free Press, Prince Charles and Mr. Ball, himself (on the phone at right).

“It was in a hotel in Yellowknife, NWT, in the spring of 1975,” Ball recalls. “The last stop on an arctic tour by Prince Charles. Before the gala dinner, His Royal Highness came through the press room and the photo room. The media made a collection from all members and bought a mounted narwhal tusk and presented it to Charles in the media room, but Chris and I refused to donate. Chris was our advance photo guy and would set up the darkrooms for our arrival and would then go on ahead, so he had not yet had the chance to meet Charles during the tour. As Charles came into the photo room, the phone rang and Chris answered it. Charles looked at some our our photos as I pointed them out for him. Then the second phone rang and I answered it. They wanted to speak to Chris, so he ended up with both phones….and then Charles left the room for dinner…. So Chris missed meeting him, but ended up with a great story.”