Scott Simmons, CEO Of Golf Canada, And Jeff Calderwood, CEO Of The National Golf Course Owners Association Canada, Advocate For Tax Fairness For The Golf Industry At Parliament Hill In Ottawa - Image Courtesy YouTube

OTTAWA – The National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) paid a visit to Parliament Hill recently conducting their National Golf Day and meeting with Parliamentarians to discuss the business of golf in Canada.

“Golf is one of Canada’s most beloved sports with more people playing the game than any other sport,” said Scott Simmons, NAGA Chair and Golf Canada CEO. “There are an estimated 5.7 million Canadian golfers and there are 2,400 golf courses and practice ranges in Canada and the industry contributes more than $14 billion to the GDP per year.”

While golf continues to be a favourite pastime for Canadians, it’s important to note that the small businesses involved in the golf industry have felt the impact of the weak economy over the past several years.

Both participation rates and employment have significantly decreased. The outdated federal tax legislation ‎that places all golf businesses at an unfair competitive disadvantage can no longer be sustained.

Scott Simmons Will Be Stepping Down From His Position Of 10 Years Come February 2017 - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

By Scott Simmons, CEO Golf Canada

As the 2016 golf season comes to a close, I would like to thank you for supporting the game of golf through your membership with Golf Canada and your provincial golf association.

Courtesy Golf Canada

OTTAWA – Today, the National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) are on Parliament Hill conducting their National Golf Day and meeting with Parliamentarians to discuss the business of golf in Canada.

“Golf is one of Canada’s most beloved sports with more people playing the game than any other sport,” said Scott Simmons, NAGA Chair and Golf Canada CEO.

“There are an estimated 5.7 million Canadian golfers and there are 2,400 golf courses and practice ranges in Canada and the industry contributes more than $14 billion to the GDP per year.”

While golf continues to be a favourite pastime for Canadians, it’s important to note that the small businesses involved in the golf industry have felt the impact of the weak economy over the past several years.

After 10 Years At The Helm Of Golf Canada, CEO Scott Simmons Is Stepping Down - Image Courtesy Golf Canada Archives

Dan Pino/ Golf Canada

(Oakville, Ont.) – Golf Canada announced today that after 10 years at the helm, CEO Scott Simmons has made the decision to depart the organization in early February 2017.

Originally hired to lead Canada’s National Sport Federation for golf in the summer of 2007, Simmons will continue to lead the organization during the transition period and assist Golf Canada’s Board of Directors in the search for a successor as CEO.

At The IAGA Conference At Amelia Island, Fla., PNGA CEO Troy Andrew (L) Was Named To The IAGA Board Of Directors And Oregon Golf Association CEO Barb Trammell (R) Was Elected To A One-Year Term As IAGA President - Image Courtesy PNGA/IAGA

Courtesy PNGA News By PNGA Site Administrator

At a conference for the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) in early November at Amelia Island, Fla., Barb Trammell was named the new president of the IAGA. She will serve a one-year term.

An industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in the golf business, Barb has served as CEO of the Oregon Golf Association since November 2007, a position she will continue to serve.

The IAGA is made up of golf administrators from state, regional, provincial and national golf associations, and serves as a means of exchanging information, techniques and communication among the world’s golf organizations.

Published in Victoria Times Colonist

On Wednesday, October 19, 2016, Joyce Millicent Woodruff (Bader) passed away peacefully in Kamloops, BC at the age of 82. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband, Woody, her daughters, Marilee (Greg), Marcia (Alan) and her grandsons, Jordan, Daren (Lexi) and Corey (Brooke), brother, Gerry, niece, Larinda and her children, Heather (Joel), Jeffery (Natalie), Haley (Kyle) and Hannah, as well as numerous family and friends.

Joyce was predeceased by her parents, Dick and Charlotte and her sister-in-law Phyllis. Joyce was born on October 6, 1934, in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Woody and Joyce were married in 1956 and settled in Victoria where Woody was in the Navy. They raised two daughters and then retired to Vernon and Kamloops to be closer to their grandchildren.

Joyce was an avid sports fan and golfer, active in the BCLGA in her retirement. She was a wonderful piano player and singer and enjoyed taking part in the choir. She loved animals of all kinds but her main loves in life were her three grandchildren. She didn't miss a single sports game that they played.

A Celebration of Joyce's life will be held on Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 2:00 pm in the Gathering Place at Overlander Extended Care, 953 Southill Street, Kamloops, BC, with Celebrant Glen Peter officiating.

Should friends desire, donations made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the British Columbia Lung Association in memory of Joyce would be greatly appreciated.

Condolences may be expressed at www.schoeningfuneralservice.com

Canada's Brooke Henderson Is One Of The Ambassadors For The Golf & Health Project - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKamphotos)

• New and unique project aiming to assess the health and wellbeing benefits of golf has launched around the world
• An academically rigorous methodology examines pre-existing research
• Innovative new research will fill knowledge gaps and show golf’s role in health and wellbeing

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., USA) - World Golf Foundation (WGF) – the non-profit organization developing and supporting initiatives that positively impact lives through the game of golf and its traditional values – announces the launch of the Golf & Health Project, academically researching and highlighting how the game can benefit peoples’ lives.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, led by Dr. Andrew Murray and under the supervision of leading international academics, Professor Nanette Mutrie and Professor Liz Grant, have conducted the largest, most comprehensive study of golf and health, with the results shown in a Scoping Review published in the world’s leading sports medicine and science journal, The British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The 2016 Distinguised Service Award winner, as honoured by the Northwest Golf Media Association, is Tom Cade.

Cade is the long-time editor of Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine, which is published by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). He is also the senior director of communications for the PNGA and the Washington State Golf Association.

Brett Standerwick Of Fairwinds Golf Course Has Been A Longtime Supporter And Fundraiser For The Annual Golfathon For ALS - Standerwick Image Courtesy Fairwinds

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Like so many other members of the Professional Golfers Association of BC, Brett Standerwick has been a longtime supporter of the organization’s annual golfathon for ALS. 

Standerwick, who is sales and revenue manager at Fairwinds Golf Course in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, has also tried to put his own personal stamp on a fundraiser that is now more than a decade old. “Typically, guys go out and you play from dawn to dusk and play as many holes and you can,” Standerwick says.

“That’s fun but we all do the same thing, so after the first couple of years I started to think about what I could do that was something different, just to try and increase the exposure a little bit.”

Innovative And Dedicated Are Just Two Ways To Describe Life-Long Golf Instructor Jack Westover Who Is Being Recognized By The PGA of BC With A Lifetime Achievement Award

Courtesy PGA of BC

The PGA of British Columbia is proud to announce Jack Westover as recipient to receive the PGA of BC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Westover becomes only the 9th recipient of the award, the Association's highest honour. Westover joined the PGA of Canada in 1957 while apprenticing under Bill Thompson and Len Collett at Marine Drive Golf Club until the mid-1960s.

Recently the Allied Golf Association of British Columbia (AGA-BC) distributed its inaugural industry newsletter.

The Allied Golf Association of British Columbia is a provincial organization that contains representation from each of the Regional Golf Industry Associations that are dedicated to providing one cohesive voice for the golf industry of British Columbia.

Golfers Should Get Used To Seeing Less Green Grass On Golf Courses In The Near Future - For The Good Of The Game 

by Brad Ziemer (British Columbia Golf)

The Mark Twain quote most often repeated in golf circles is the one about the game being a good walk spoiled. But there is another quote from the noted American author that seems especially apropos for the golf industry these days: “Whiskey’s for drinking; water’s for fighting over.”

Larry Gilhuly, the colourful west region agronomist with the United States Golf Association, has no doubt about what the biggest issue facing golf will be in the coming years. “It’s water,” Gilhuly said in a lively presentation to the annual general meeting of British Columbia Golf at Tsawwassen Springs.

(Richmond, BC - April 1, 2016) - British Columbia Golf is very pleased to announce the addition of Brad Ziemer to their staff in the capacity of writer/reporter. If ever there was a person in their field who needed 'no introduction' it would be Mr. Ziemer, however we are going to take great pride in doing so.

From (L-R) Lorie Kane, Warren Sye And Bob Weeks Are The Newest Members Of Canada's Golf Hall Of Fame - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Courtesy Golf Canada

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum is proud to announce that Canadian LPGA Tour legend Lorie Kane of Charlottetown, two-time Canadian Men’s Amateur champion Warren Sye of London, Ont., and renowned golf journalist Bob Weeks, of Toronto, Ont., have been elected as 2016 inductees into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Kane and Sye are being inducted under the player category, while Weeks will be inducted as a builder. With their inductions, the trio will become the 75th, 76th and 77th honoured members of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Federal Budget Pre Consultation

Ensure the Minister of Finance is aware of the need for tax fairness for Canada's golf industry

Dear CGSA Member / Non-Member / Golf Industry Representative:

The National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) has been focused on ensuring our industry's request for tax fairness is a priority for the new Government. We are now fast approaching the 2016 Budget, and our organization, in partnership with NAGA, has been working diligently to make sure golf is on the agenda.

We need your help to make sure our voice is heard loud and clear, and this can easily be done now that the Minister of Finance has officially launched Pre-Budget consultations. This provides an open opportunity for all Canadians to have their voices heard, and we've found that specific aspects of the Minister's call for responses can be linked to NAGA's tax fairness issue.

Royal Colwood's Jason Giesbrecht Has A Total Commitment To Using Technology In Instruction

Royal Colwood's Director Of Golf Jason Giesbrecht has long embraced technology's value in golf instruction. Recently he travelled to the PGA Show in Orlando to evaluate some of the latest advances in this rapidly evolving sector of the golf industry...

(Prince George, BC – February 3, 2016) - Sports enthusiasts from Prince George and the surrounding area are being recruited to work with elementary-school-age children to encourage them to be more active. 

SOAR (Sharing Our Activities and Resources) is an initiative developed by Tennis BC, British Columbia Golf and Curl BC. The not-for-profit groups are recruiting individuals to be trained in the delivery of three sports programs.

Olympic View is honoured to be hosting a Golf Fundraiser for our friend and Teammate Lori Hamstra

Registration is required by Thursday February 18th, and can be done quickly by calling the Golf Shop at (250) 474-3673.

Please view the flyer for the event here.

The 2016 Vancouver Golf & Travel Show is taking place from February 13 - 14, 2016 at the Pacific National Exhibit (PNE) in the Forum Building.

Be sure to mark it on your calendar and save the date.

There will as always be some great deals available for show visitors, some of which are shown below.