A beginner golf program launched by New York Professional Kate Tempesta has flown north of the border to Estevan’s S&M Woodlawn Golf Club.

No one actually travelled to the south Saskatchewan city this past weekend, but Woodlawn Pro Amanda Minchin conducted her own “Birdie Basics” Camp over the weekend.

“It’s geared towards just play, fun, and storytelling, there’s a mascot name Birdie,” Minchin explained. “It’s just geared towards that. We still do golf stuff but it’s almost like we’re teaching them about golf skills without really talking to them about golf if that makes sense.”

The program focuses on kids aged 3 to 6. The kids are given a “playbook” that involves various activities including colouring. Everything is geared towards birdies and their safety. Minchin said keeping younger kids needs to be fin and engageable.

“It’s a young, young age, at first there is a few kids that didn’t want mom and dad to leave, others were like, ‘I’m fine’ and took off their jacket and shoes and ran were like ‘hi Amanda.’ By the end of the first 35 minutes the few in tears didn’t even notice if mom and dad were there.”

On the ‘Birdie Basic’ website they state their goal is to “empower children as young as three, via golf-and, by extension, grow the game.” Minchin said growth of the game at the local level is important but not her end goal.

“If a kid leaves with a great memory, maybe they never come back to the golf course, of course we want them to. If they don’t at least we want them to say that was fun and just a super positive environment,” she said.

Long-time Estevan resident and former Woodlawn junior Anthony Melle has two boys, age 3 and 2. His kids both participated and had a great time.

“It was awesome,” Melle said. “I think kids at this age need structure and just to get out of the house. It killed some time of the day on the weekend to just run around. Once they were home they were pooped and ready for naptime. It was great.”

Melle has had his boys at the clubhouse and course regularly so they aren’t strangers to the sport, but he was pleasantly surprised they way they took up Minchin’s instruction.

“I was really impressed with my oldest, I still think he’s in troubles twos a little bit with listening, but we stressed you have to listen to your teacher. He sat there and listened. It was awesome, it was greatly run,” Melle added.

Still too young for other organized sports and COVID-19 creating some other sport restrictions Melle also said it was important for his kids to have a chance to interact with other kids while in a safe environment.

“I made great relationships at the golf course, I take my kids there every Saturday and we go for breakfast. I will be on the putting green and for the most part they are playing with their tractors or fetching my ball out of the hole. I just can’t wait for my kids to get a little bit older and get involved in the game,” he said.

Minchin has another weekend of the “Birdie Basics” planned for the upcoming weekend.

The Eddy Golf Club may be a small town, nine-hole sand green course but the local volunteers and over 200 members have big dreams.

Opened in the 1960’s as a six-hole course near Earl Grey, the 2,000-yard long club is now nine holes and very busy. Decade long board member Cam Fischer, who retired in the Earl Grey area after a career in Saskatoon said the course is a summer hub for golfers from as far as Assiniboia and Regina.

“People come from a long way away,” Fischer told Golf Saskatchewan. “Last year COVID-19 created a spike for us because people who had courses closed came here to just whack the ball around in a safe manner. It was surprising how many of them took out memberships because they realized it was a fun place to be.”

The club has expanded their cart shed from eight stalls to 32 to accommodate their growing membership over the recent years, the club has also built a covered community centre, firepit area and clubhouse over the last several years. Now the volunteers and board of directors are focusing on an irrigation project that will cost an estimated $70,000. Fischer said despite doing well for the area upgrades need to be done.

“If we have drought years like we’ve had for the last three or four years the grass is green in May but brown in June. We had enough money last year and put in a well. We have a pond that now holds 2.7 million gallons so it’s enough to act as our irrigation pond. Due to lack of water we needed a well and thankfully we hit a goldmine that produces 65 gallons a minute,” Fischer said.

The club, that sees upwards of 80 players a week for their men’s league in the summer said improving conditions will make a round of golf more enjoyable, especially at $10 a day on the honour system.

“We have brown grass, it would be nice to have a striped, 150 yards wide fairway that is actually green. That’s what we are trying to accomplish,” he said.

The club has raised about $7,500 of their goal for the upgrades. Work will start in the spring. They’ve already constructed a pumphouse and will finalize the well work. Fischer said the renovations have already showed progress in the conditions of the course.

“We have about eight water hazards, four of them have been dry for the last three years but we’re going to fill all those and part of our irrigation system is keeping them full all year,” Fischer added.

The club is establishing a donor Wall of Fame for anyone willing to assist in the fundraising initiative. For anyone interested in helping out, they can contact Fischer at 306-230-0548 or via email at eddygolfcourse@gmail.com.

After a busy season of golf on the course the need for more indoor facilities was apparent across Saskatchewan.

In Rosthern, Li Han used the COVID-19 shutdown in March to undergo renovations at his bowling alley and install a golf simulator. Han, who hails from China has played on simulators for over a decade before moving to Canada and said he was familiar with the GolfZon brand and after extensive research his business was the first in Saskatchewan to use the brand.

“I played simulators over ten years and this is the same brand and equipment, so I knew this equipment very well,” he said.

Han had extra room at his bowling alley that has been in operation in the town for over 50 years and he saw a need for allowing residents a chance to play indoor golf closer to home. He said lots of work went into choosing a simulator.

“Before I made the decision I compared lots of simulator brands in Canada,” he said. “Compared to the price and other options GolfZon was the best option for my business.”

The simulator offers over 190 courses and was named Golf Digest Editor’s Choice award winner for best simulator in 2020. Han said the software includes over 150 courses in China, Japan, and South Korea but also has about 30 North American courses. He added that the reality on the play is what sets GolfZon apart from other simulator brands.

“In other facilities there timing gaps when you play, you hit the ball and you need to wait for the sensors to do their job. GolfZon is very quick and that is important. The other point is the environment, you can hear the birds chirp, the wind blow or when you play Pebble Beach you can hear the sea on the shore,” he said.

For more information on Golf in the Alley visit their website or find them on Facebook.

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Feb. 17, 2021) – The USGA announced today that Mike Whan will join the organization this summer as CEO, and will become the eighth top executive in USGA history.

Last month, Whan announced his intention to step down as LPGA Commissioner in 2021, after his organization completes a search for the next Commissioner. His transition follows an impressive 11 years at the helm of the LPGA, during which the organization experienced historic growth in virtually every aspect of the business.

As USGA CEO, Whan will be responsible for leading all aspects of the association’s operations, including its core functions, essential programs, and human and financial resources. He will also represent the USGA on a variety of national and international boards.

Laurence Applebaum and Mike Whan at 2019 CP Women’s Open

“Mike Whan is a proven, successful and transformative leader, not only in the golf industry but throughout his entire career,” said USGA President Stu Francis, who oversaw the CEO search process. “He has shown a unique ability to understand how the environment is changing in global golf and how to quickly and thoughtfully adapt an organization to meet those changes. Importantly, Mike is already a trusted peer for so many key stakeholders in the industry, and his existing relationships will not only help the USGA, but will also help advance the game.”

Whan started his career at the Procter & Gamble Company in 1987, where he rose to Director of Marketing for Oral Care before leaving to pursue a passion for sports. Whan’s sports business career began at Wilson Sporting Goods as a Vice President and General Manager in the golf division. He joined the TaylorMade Golf Company as Vice President of Marketing in 1995 and later served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Executive Vice President/General Manager for Taylormade-adidas Golf. In 2002, Whan became the President and CEO of Mission Hockey, a hockey equipment company.

Since joining the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 2010, Whan increased the number of tournaments on the LPGA Tour’s schedule to 34 from 24, increased purses from $41.4 million to $76.5 million, and grew television hours from 125 hours per season, to over 500 hours. Under his leadership, the LPGA became a truly global business – with players, tournaments, sponsors and fans coming from all over the world. Currently, the LPGA Tour is televised in over 170 countries each week. Whan’s leadership resulted in the expansion of the LPGA to now include both the Symetra Tour, the recently announced joint venture with the Ladies European Tour, as well as a nearly 50% increase in LPGA’s teaching division. Whan’s focus on growing the game for junior girls has led to a significant expansion of the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program, which had 5,000 members when he joined the organization to 90,000 girls now engaged in the program.“As someone who grew up loving this game, I have always had huge respect for the USGA and its role in leading our sport,” said Whan. “The game has given me so much throughout my life, both personally and professionally. I know I have a lot to learn, but I’m truly excited about this role, as it gives me the opportunity to not only give back to the game, but to also work hard to leave it stronger.”

Current USGA CEO Mike Davis, who joined the USGA in 1990 and became the Association’s seventh executive director in 2011 and first CEO in 2016, will depart later this year to team with Tom Fazio II in a new course design venture, Fazio & Davis Golf Design.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mike Whan for many years and I view him as a trusted, strategic leader who has a proven track record of building collaborative partnerships,” said Davis. “I know the USGA will be in great hands, and I look forward to partnering with Mike to ensure a smooth and successful transition for the USGA.”

A couple more Saskatchewan born student-athletes kicked of their college golf seasons in the United States on President’s Day weekend.

Regina product Jacob Kydd and his Indiana Wesleyen University (IWU) teammates were in Davenport, Florida competing in the Champions Gate Spring Invite. Kydd carded rounds of 82, 79, and 77 for a 54-hole score of 238, 22-over par. He placed 40th overall. As a team IWU placed fifth overall at plus-42.

Next up for the Wildcats is an event in Kentucky in late March.

Kindersley’s Brody Istace also returned to competitive golf with the Columbus International University Rams this week. Istace was in Brunswick, Georgia taking part in the College of Coastal Georgia Winter Invite. Over 36 holes Istace shot 81-82 tying for 55th spot in the event. The Rams team was eighth out of 15 at the tournament.

Their next action is heads home for their spring tournament at Columbia Country Club on Feb. 22 and 23.

Kade Johnson and Roman Timmerman were scheduled to play over the weekend as well but their event was postponed until March 8 – 9.

Ernie Greenley is a Saskatchewan amateur champion (1966) and also a member of the 1964 Willingdon Cup championship team, still the only provincial team to win the title.

In 2008, Access Communications sat down with Greenley to discuss his career and that spanned 50 years at the Royal Regina Golf Club.

Greenley passed away in 2017.

For the first time since March of last year, the University of Southern Arkansas Muleriders were back on the golf course in a competition.

That included Yorkton’s Kade Johnson and Saskatoon’s Roman Timmerman as the school competed in the Houston Classic in Humble, Texas.

Over the first day of the event on Monday  where the players played 36 holes it was Timmerman leading the charge at two-under par with back to back 71’s on the scorecard, he took a one stroke lead into Tuesday’s final round. Unable to stay in front Timmerman posted a round of 80 and fell back to a tie for 14th place.

Johnson was tied for 18th after the first day of the tournament but rallied to shoot a 71 of his own over the final 18 holes to climb into a tie for ninth place.

49 individuals were in the field. The Muleriders as a team placed third out of nine schools.

Southern Arkansas will be back in action on Feb. 15 – 16 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Several other Saskatchewan golfers playing in college will get their seasons underway this month or in early March. For more information on student-athletes from Saskatchewan click here.

Saskatoon’s Caden Loeppky has signed a commitment letter to play collegiate golf in the United States.

Loeppky, 18, will attend Waldorf University in Forrest City, Iowa next fall. Despite only playing competitive golf for one summer and taking lessons for a couple years Loeppky said he has always enjoyed the sport.

“Honestly it’s hard to say what I like about the game because I like every aspect about it,” he said to Golf Saskatchewan. “I like that I’m in full control of every shot and you can’t put the blame on anybody else but yourself.”

Loeppky did play some golf when he was “super little” but it was on the advice from a friend in 2019 that he get involved in lessons with Clinton Schmaltz at The Willows in Saskatoon. The grade 12 student at Centennial Collegiate was a quick learner and he said Schmaltz sensed that and pushed him to pursue a spot on a college team.

“Clinton saw potential with me immediately after I started to take lessons with him,” he said. “I was super new to competitive golf, but I knew that I had a chance and that’s when I started to take it seriously. I was at the course everyday.”

Loeppky set up a profile on the recruiting website Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) and coaches started to reach out to him. After several discussions with coaches it was the talk with Mark Clouse at Waldorf that he decided to commit to.

“When I had that talk with Coach Clouse at Waldorf I knew immediately. Everything he had to say lined up perfectly with what I wanted. I knew immediately when I was talking to him,” Loeppky said.

He will enter his final year of junior golf this upcoming summer and will expand on his career tournament rounds. Loeppky said he will work hard to improve his game ahead of heading south in August.

“My goals for this season is be as consistent as I can be on the course and continue to work on my mental game as that’s a huge part of golf,” he said.

In the classroom Loeppky is going to study Exercise Science with the plan to become a physical therapist.

“I want to thank my parents for supporting me and encouraging me in this process and I want to thank Clinton for pushing me and believing in me,” he concluded.