PGA Tour's Top 10 of the Decade

The PGA Tour's official website has been a very interesting stop for me these days, what with all the news about you-know-who. Of special note is their "Decade's Greatest Players" listing. Thankfully, our own Mike Weir has made the list at number ten. The lists's author, Nick Zaccardi, does a great job with each player, offering a mini-history of their achievements for the decade. Here's the link:
http://www.pgatour.com/2009/r/11/30/decade.players/index.html

The New Ontario Tax... and what it means!

It looks like Ontario will officially introduce the Harmonized Sales Tax on July 1st 2010 (HST being the combined GST and PST, so the new tax will be 13%). For golfers, this will affect the price of greens fees, range fees, and memberships, as well as some member services, such as club storage. Currently, these items have had only the 5% GST applied. We're still waiting for the "official" word from the Ontario Ministry of Revenue or the Canada Revenue Agency on any possible exemptions to this tax. An extra 8% will definitely be a bitter pill to swallow for all of us.

A Depressing Sight... for a Golfer

Our first tee at 2:00 pm today

Gifts for Golfers

A nice demo set that we have for sale

Now that we're into December and the Christmas season is upon us, we get many calls and visits from people who are shopping for the golfers on their lists. I'm always interested in "trends" of the types of gifts that are popular from year to year. So far, here's the "Hot 3" and "Not So Hot 3" gift purchases from our Pro Shop - and maybe it will help you out with your own gift-giving!

Hot: 1) personalized golf balls
2) gift cards
3) shoes
Not Hot, but has been in the past: 1) gift bags
2) clubs
3) clothing

Of course, serious golfers will drop hints to their gift givers about not purchasing clubs, because all the new stuff comes out in the spring. And this leads me to the obvious question: What's Hot for 2010? Here's a brief list from the Ontario PGA Merchandise Show:
TaylorMade R9 460 Drivers
Big Bertha Diablo Drivers
Titleist 909 D Series Drivers
Nancy Lopez Ladies' Apparel
Puma hats
Titleist ProV1 balls
Adidas shoes
SunDog eyewear

One More Tiger Article

Okay, I know I said that I'd leave the Tiger thing alone, but this article by AP's Doug Ferguson actually does offer some insight into how this whole mess translates into the world of professional golf. Here's the link:
http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/571215

OK. I Couldn't Resist...

Just got this pic emailed to me... the silliness begins! And I'll leave it at this, no more from me on this topic (unless it impacts the golf world).

Interesting Article

Further to the Tiger Woods thing, I thought this was an interesting viewpoint:
http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/10452288/The-key-Tiger-question:-Do-you-believe-him?GT1=39002

Tiger by the Tail

This whole Tiger Woods middle-of-the-night car crash incident has a lot of tongues wagging, a lot of it bullsh*t. But it is interesting. I'm sure there will be a lot of speculation by some very serious people, as well as "official" comments from the Tiger Woods camp. However, it's fun to guess, given the circumstances, isn't it? Like, what was he doing zooming out of his driveway at 2:30 in the morning? Was his wife really chasing him with a golf club, the same one used to apparently free him from the vehicle? Who knows... but let's get this over with quickly, so the golf world can get back to talking about golf.

Last day for the Course 2009

Well, this is it for 2009 - we pull the pins out tomorrow, and set up the "Temporaries": a 9-hole layout with the holes cut just below the greens.

A few groups are out today, taking advantage of the not-so-bad weather (although the fog is a little thick). Here's a group from the Orangeville area... thanks for the visit, guys!

Gary Player and a Funny Video

I was at the National Golf Course Owners Association conference last week in Vancouver, and had the privilege to meet Gary Player. Before his introduction, we were shown a very funny and clever video by a company called UgMo - they've developed a device that measures ground moisture levels and other factors, and works with the irrigation system to avoid unnecessary or over-watering. Anyways, I thought I'd post a link to the video, because it is quite hilarious.
http://garyplayer.com/television/video/a_dog_named_ugmo/
By the way... Vancouver is a great city. It was our first visit.

Bless those Hearty Golfers!

In spite of the chilly breeze, there's about 20 golfers on the course today. We're still open here at Victoria Park East in Guelph - and it looks like the weekend promises to be fairly good weather-wise, so we'll stay open until Monday or Tuesday (Nov. 23 & 24) and pull the pins on Wednesday. That's a pretty good run for golf here in Southern Ontario.

Anyways, welcome to my blog. I know it seems silly to start a golf-themed one at the end of the season, but it will give me some time to practice and have it going full-bore by the time th 2010 season is ready.

Eventually, I'll put in some pictures and maybe a video or two (my kids will help me out with that!)

Any comments would be appreciated. Email me john@victoriaparkgolf.com or check our website http://www.victoriaparkgolf.com/default.aspx