While most have their golf clubs away for the season in Canada, the golf world continues to turn. A few News & Notes for the week.
Order Of Ottawa For Patterson
Long-time Ottawa-area golf course owner Gibson “Gib” Patterson was honoured by the City of Ottawa on November 17th. He was inducted into the Order of Ottawa along with an impressive class of other Ottawa residents.
Patterson has been a key figure in the National Capital golf scene through the years, including development of the Airport GolfLand years ago on Hunt Club Road and current ownership and operation (along with many family members) of the Innes Road Golfland in Orleans and three golf courses – Emerald Links Golf Club, Cloverdale Links Golf Club and Anderson Links Golf Club.
Very active in the farming community, Patterson has also been a very generous supporter of many community projects both individually and as a member of the Ottawa Rotary Club for more than 30 years.
LPGA Q-School Finals
The final stage of LPGA Qualifying gets underway at LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, December 30th. It will conclude on Sunday, December 4th.
In total there are nine Canadians in the 157-player field seeking LPGA and Symetra Tour status for 2017.
They include: Jennifer Kirby, Lorie Kane, Sara-Maude Juneau, Augusta James, Jennifer Ha, Megan Osland, Samantha Richdale, Brittany Marchand, and Anne-Catherine Tanguay.
PGA Champions Tour Finals
Two Canadians are in the field for the PGA TOUR Champions Final Qualifying that gets underway November 29th in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge are the Canadians seeking full-time tour status.
In 2016 Spittle finished in 51st on the PGA TOUR Champions money list while Rutledge, who only had 6 starts, ended the year in 111th.
Both will be trying to finish in the top 5 this week, those golfers who do will be exempt into regular field events for the first part of the 2017 PGA TOUR Champions season.
Among the PGA TOUR regulars that will become eligible for the PGA TOUR Champions in 2017 will be: Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, David Toms, and Steve Flesch.
BCC Job Posted
Head Professional Derek MacDonald is leaving the Brockville Country Club. There is no confirmation yet on where the PGA of Canada member will land but the club held a goodbye dinner for MacDonald and departing office manager Matt Ward on November 18th.
The century-old club has posted a request for applications for a Director of Sports Operations – a new role that will encompass the duties executed by MacDonald, who spent a half dozen years at the club. He became the just the 5th Head Professional in the club’s history when he took over from Ron Healy in late 2010.
The club expects to have the position filled by the start of 2017.
TMSI & ClubEG Reach Agreement
Last week eastern Ontario-based Thunderbird Management Services, Inc (TMSI Sports Management) announced a new agreement with non-property owning golf club, ClubEG.
The partnership, which will begin in 2017, will see the two parties work together to develop programs and events for TMSI golf course properties.
Details on those will be announced in the future according to a statement provided by TMSI.
New Ownership At Mont Ste-Marie
PGA of Canada member Marc Foucault has confirmed that he and his business partners have acquired Golf Mont Ste-Marie. The deal includes the golf course property and an additional 29 acres that they will use for future developments.
Among the plans the new ownership has for the facility is free golf for golfers under the age of 18, all season long.
We’ll have more details on the development after an upcoming interview with Foucault.
Foucault and his partners currently own and operate the Kingsway Park golf course in Gatineau. They previously had a lease agreement in place for Mont Ste-Marie for operations.
