Summer Magazine: Back to Front

The Summer magazine is getting ink, staples, and stuff. Inside you’ll find a feature story on the correlation between the forces of the golf swing and the, subsequent, strain on the lower back. We’ve got the perspectives of CPGA Pro Conor O’Shea and Dr Ian MacIntyre who both provide their invaluable insight / expertise on 3 different swing thoughts / functions that will both make us a better ball striker while  lessening the strain on the back in the process. There’s also a feature on many of the great Ontario golf course that are easily accessible via the 400 series of highways and, hence – much closer than you think.  Our columnists are in – David Main  |  Carolanne Doig  |  Tom Margetts  |  Paul Tribe  |  Ian Hutchinson.  As are contributions from Sean Foley and Bill (Skip) Johns.  In addition, we’ve got places to play, regional news, features, more (PROSpectives), and a whole lot of other interesting stuff.¹

PASTED FROM THE ISSUE

• When asked about the highlight of a long and illustrious career, Webb said it was getting a phone call from Brennan that he had qualified to play the Zurich Classic in New  Orleans and wanted him to fly down and be his caddy for the event.
• The long iron is not extinct, but it is certainly on the endangered list.
• The long iron in the modern game is like wearing socks and sandles to the beach – people do it but what’s the point.
• The southern coastline consists of a long stretch of fabulous sandy beaches, broken up by extraordinary rugged cliffs and fantastic grottoes.
• If you play it from tips I can guarantee that you will not even reach the ladies (forward) tee with your drive. And you all know what that means?
• I’ll remember the round because it was just, and here comes that awful word that so many golf traditionalists shudder to hear, that historically inappropriate F-WORD, fun.
• We would all agree that finding efficiencies is appropriate; however I think private clubs need to tread carefully, to be sure we don’t kill the goose for the golden egg.
• But the next sound wasn’t really what we expected. The ball flew and then what we  heard was a sort of whinging noise after which the neighbour said, quite loudly I thought for a family occasion: “HOLY S..T!”  We never did find that ball.
• I want to belong to the Club that strives to achieve consistency of its putting surfaces from #1 to #18. I want to belong to the Club that strives to maintain the practice green and facility to the exact same degree as the rest of the course. I want a golf course that provides a challenge everyday and improves my skill level. I want a golf course with no three putts…
• Why is it that golfers always look at shorter courses with disdain? Is it because equipment manufacturers are promoting the longer ball and the distance driver? Is it ego driven with course designers dreaming up ways to have the longest holes, the toughest slope, the highest rating, and those killer back tees? I haven’t quite figured it out because there are so many things in life that are ‘short but great’.
• A golf club is metal, the ball is urethane the trees are wood, the bunkers are sand and the fairway is grass. And we bring it to life and give it personality when all they are, are inanimate objects. Moral of the story is “You can’t think your way to proper action, you can only act your way to proper thinking.”
• Scottish shepherds started this while bored With tending to their flocks of goats and sheep. They took up sticks, then swung at stones and scored Wherever they went in, six inches deep.
• Ironically, my story in this issue of GolfScene is about a short, nine-hole course I consider great for basically one simple reason: What it has meant to literally thousands and thousands of people in Waterloo Region in terms of a learning, training and just plain fun.
• As for future Opens, it’s been nine years since Woods has played, so any boycott – either real or imagined – would just mean more of the same, but we continue to crave his attention. Lots of people are Tiger fans, not golf fans, just as Toronto is a Leafs town and not a hockey town. Both are products of hype.

Visit your favourite southwestern Ontario golf course, driving range, or retailer and pick up your copy today.