Just About Over

Guess the season is just about over, at least as far as the on course activities go.

I managed to squeeze in a couple of late October rounds of golf.  It was tough trying to organize players around volatile weather conditions and sketchy forecasts.  Got out to play Glen Abbey, which is always a treat and a real challenge. The day was warm, the course was in great shape and my game was, well, so- so.

Last week I also checked the weather (it said 15 degrees and sunny) for Thursday. Got my group together and we headed over to Wildwinds Golf Club, a great track just outside of Fergus. Another overcast day but no rain and the temperature was bearable. Game was better.

October 31st seems to be a closing date for many courses and I guess it’s time for us golfers to sit back, rest up, clean the clubs, reflect on 2009, and look forward to 2010.  Here at GolfScene we are always looking ahead and trying to make things a little bit better and provide you with a little bit more of what you want.  The results of our latest poll suggest that perspectives on ways to get better and course reviews were atop your lists so we’re focused on those topics.  Course reviews is fairly self explanatory, but perhaps having you the readers tell us what you think might be a better means to an interactive and objective editorial direction.  Let us think on that one.  And the other option is a little ambiguous so please help us out below by narrowing down the category.

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It’s always great to hear from our many readers, those who regularly read our print publication and those who follow us religiously online.

Nice to receive a follow up to my October eNews story about ‘the group of friends I regularly golf with’. We invited readers to tell us about their foursome.  David Prang was quick to reply and I am pleased to share his story with you. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write about their interesting golf experiences.

• You can read David’s story here.

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Received a nice note (and picture)  from Wayne Schuman, our most recent GolfScene contest Grand Prize winner. Wayne was completely outfitted by Callaway Golf and he is obviously thrilled!

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And another note from Brad Matthews, long-time area golf professional and most recently the Director of Golf at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge. Brad has decided to leave the golf business and move into the financial services field. Brad will be missed by everyone. He was a great promoter of the game and has had a highly successful golf career. Good luck  in your new venture Brad and thanks for all you have done for the game of golf in the area.

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For those who read GolfScene Magazine you will all be familiar with our ‘back of the mag’ editorial by well-known columnist Ian Hutchinson entitled ‘talking in your backswing‘.  In the Fall magazine, Hutch talked a bit about the recent Golf Impact Study which says a whole lot about the ‘state of the game’ in Canada. If any of you care, there are way more questions about what the study claims than answers unfortunately. Nevertheless here is one comment we received, and I think it is rather poignant.

Anthony Beekhuizen sent us this note on October 14th and he says:

“I read your back page in the Fall GolfScene and it says that rounds of golf declined in 2008 and are expected to continue to decline in 2009 and the reason is so obvious to me. The higher the green fees the fewer the people that will play. We can only take so much. Don’t the owners get it?. If you attract 500 golfers a week at $50 a round the revenue will be $25,000. And that doesn’t account for food and beer. If a round is $$80 you might get 100 golfers.  Revenue is now at $8,000, plus a bit from food and beer. There are only so many golfers out there and only so many able to play at any one time.  Some courses are busy as hell (most of the time) and that is because their green fee rates are reasonable. Saw Whet Golf Course in Oakville is a good example of a busy course with reasonable rates. Wake up golf courses.”

Thanks Anthony. It is great to hear from you.

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And when you have a minute, take a few minutes to read a great ESPN piece about the late Moe Norman, currently on the GolfScene video section.

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A very special congrats to Sean Casey on his win as Ontario PGA Teacher of the Year.  Sean is a fantastic teacher and we’ve been fortunate to have him grace the pages of the mag as well the website.  You can read more about Sean, see his tips, etc in the posts listed here.  Or simply type Sean Casey into the search bar (that’s all we did).
And if your game needs a little expert advice (that includes every single one of us), check out this month’s pro-tip where you can ask Sean something pertaining to your game.

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Watch for more exciting things from GolfScene in coming weeks. The web-based travel eZine, with some of the best places in the world to play golf, will be available shortly just in time for Canada’s winter season.

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