The Great Moe Norman

I got an email from one of our members, with a link to a wonderful little documentary video about the late Moe Norman.

Most Canadian golfers (of an age!) will have heard about Moe, his exploits on the golf course, his unusual but highly consistent ball-striking, and his rather eccentric personality.

We also have a family connection to Moe: my brother Paul's wife Sandy is Moe's niece. Her mother is Moe's twin sister.

Here's the link to the video, please feel free to pass it along:

http://bit.ly/fbA5Vo

Goodbye, 2010 Season

I couldn't resist. One of our members emailed me this comic. Of course, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm often surprised at the number of golfers that play in horrible conditions. And that's OK, God bless 'em!
For example, yesterday was our final day of golf here at Victoria Park East, and we had between 30 and 40 players. The weather was actually great in the morning, but just before noon a cold north wind picked up and it was brutal (I made the comment that "it's so windy, you can start at our course and finish at another one!")

What The...

And can anybody tell me how to get rid of those annoying "hover" ads that have suddenly appeared, on certain key words in my posts? I can't seem to find a setting anywhere (but I'll keep looking). I certainly wasn't aware that this would happen.

Looks Like It's It's Almost Time

It's Sunday morning, November 21st, and I'm watching a few flakes of snow hit the ground. So we'll probably pull the pins on the 2010 season this week, as the long-range forecast calls for colder weather and some snow.
I've been, well, somewhat lax in posting on my blog. Not because I didn't want to - there's lots to post about - but because time flies. So often, I've sat down to post, and got interrupted, and never got back to it. Excuses, excuses... time to look ahead.
Some interesting points I'll cover in the next few days:

-Q-School 2nd stage is on, and my cousin Bryan DeCorso is playing in it. Best of luck, Bryan!
-The 2010 golf season had it's highs and lows: the tournament business rebounded modestly, but public play stayed fairly flat. I've talked to a few other golf course owners who've reported the same results
-Looking ahead to the 2011 season, we've decided to offer more membership options in the "Intermediate" category (ages 19-45) to try and entice some more members in this age group
-The HST pissed everybody off, but we didn't experience the hit that we had anticipated
-Our new golf course, Victoria Park Valley, has been put to bed for the winter, and work will resume in the spring. 17 of 27 holes have been seeded.
-I've had some great comments from our members this year, both positive and negative. We like to hear these comments, because we understand that there's always room for improvement. Within reason, we can always make effective change.

Looking forward to posting more in the near future.

New Golf Course Update

Here are 2 pictures taken last week at the new Victoria Park Valley site. In the top picture, I'm standing on (what will be) the parking lot, looking south. The roof you see in the background is a bungalow that we intend to renovate and enlarge into a Pro Shop/Lounge.

The picture on the bottom shows the growing grass! I'm standing beside the A3 green, looking out over the reservoir at the A4 green. That's the pump house on the right.

Lots done, but still lots to do! More to follow...

Eat Your Heart Out!

OK, I just have to gloat a bit here.

Our team won the annual ProAm Scramble here at Victoria Park East yesterday, with an impressive score of 56 - that's 15 under! That's us, from left to right: Pro Paul Westaway, me, Randy Doucette, and my friend and guest for the day, Manoj Prajapat.

Gloat #1, Manoj got an ace on the 11th hole. That automatically got us the one and only Skin.

Gloat #2, my putts were actually dropping. And good putts, too - not kick-ins!

Gloat #3, we all bet on our team, and paid $85 on a $5 share!!!

Gloat #4, did I mention Manoj got a hole-in-one?

Ok, enough gloating...

It was a great day, and always a fun event. Thanks to all the members and area Pros for their participation (and not ribbing me too badly for winning!)

Definition of "Tournament"

I had an interesting discussion with one of our members not long ago, about whether I should be able to apply the word "tournament" to describe his golf day with a bunch of friends.
We've become used to applying this word to any group that books more than 4 tee times, but I do see his point, and we had an interesting back-and-forth (in a friendly was, of course).
Here's Dictionary.com's version of Tournament: "a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play in a series of contests..." Pretty simplistic.
Anyways, I would ask one question to determine if the word "tournament" could fairly be applied to a group of golfer:
Is score being kept, with intention of determining a winner? If the answer is Yes, then it's a tournament. The come-back argument was: "Well sure we kept score, but we had no prizes, didn't have a dinner... we just golfed, had a beer and went home."
So... where is this going? Well, it got me thinking about how we traditionally market the Tournament concept, and how the times are definitely changing: the days of the "big company" tournament with big numbers and big prize tables are (arguably) waning. Don't get me wrong, they're not totally gone, it just ain't what it used to be. But we have noticed a rise in the smaller, more intimate type of group coming out for a "golf day"; instead of the whole company, it's a particular department.
Our member had a point: don't call it a tournament, call it a fun day on the golf course. And maybe an opportunity just presented itself here...

Grow Grass Grow

Construction continues full-tilt on the new Victoria Park Valley Golf Club.
The first pic below shows the venerable Luigi Bonaldo doing some siding work on the pumphouse, which should be up and running in a week or so (waiting on Guelph Hydro to hook up the 3-phase service).
In the second pic, you can see that the fairway has been seeded with the now-common "spray-down" material that is being used to broadcast-spread turf.

This is hole A7.

The A holes are being seeded first (haha, I just realized how funny that sounds!)

More to come soon.

Weir & Woods

OK, so I stand corrected. Tiger Woods is no longer married, and he didn't win the two majors that I'd predicted he would, in a previous post.

The suddenness and finality of the divorce was surprising to many, it seems. But in retrospect, this (divorce) may have been the most logical thing to do: Elin can now separate herself - as best as she can - from the whole messy business, but having the children will still mean that Tiger will be in the picture. And Tiger... well, there's still a lot of golf left in him. It will be interesting to see what 2011 brings.

As for Mike Weir, it looks like ligament damage in his right elbow means an early wrap-up to a (somewhat) disappointing season. Interesting article here by the Montreal Gazette's Randy Phillips: http://bit.ly/9Da4mj

New Golf Course On The Way!

Construction began this summer on Victoria Park Valley, a 27-hole executive-length golf course located about 4 kms. south of Victoria Park East, the the north-east corner of Maltby Rd. and Victoria Rd. South in Puslinch Township.

This project is a co-venture with Victoria Park East and West, and it will replace the West course, which is slated to close at the end of the 2011 golf season (the West course property will be developed into a residential site). So, if everything goes according to plan, Victoria Park Valley will open for business in Spring 2012.


The picture above is looking west towards Victoria Rd. Construction has been progressing very well since the late spring, and project manager David DeCorso has been expertly juggling this project, as well as the constant demands of the East course. Here's an interesting picture of David, checking out a major vein of sand that was discovered on the property:

The golf course was designed by Scott Covell, and most of the property's natural features were incorporated into the plan. Very little earth-moving had to be done. The landscape is excellently suited to a links-style layout.

At this point (August 24th) most of the "A9" holes are shaped and top-soiled, and are ready to be seeded. I'll update with more pics as the projects continues. We're very excited about this, and anticipate that it will be a great fit for area golfers who enjoy a shorter-length golf course.

Getting Back on the Wagon

Time flies when you're having fun... or having fun being busy! June and July went by like a blur, and here we are in August, staring at the down-slope of the 2010 golf season.
Pardon my absense from the blog-o-sphere; I did miss posting stuff during the last month or so. Jane and I were in Italy for our 25th anniversary during the first half of July - fantastic! It was our first time in Italy, and we enjoyed it tremedously, despite the heat (and I mean, HEAT). And of course it took me two weeks to get caught-up and get my head back into the golf business here at Victoria Park East.

So, more posts coming, there's some interesting news and info to pass along - especially with our new executive golf course now under construction!

Here's a small Guelph Mercury article from last week, quoting a couple of us local golf course owners about the state of the biz up 'til now:
http://news.guelphmercury.com/article/671816

Victoria Park Golf Club in Jessica's Walk

Victoria Park East & West Golf Clubs entered a team in the annual Jessica's Walk, a charity event in support of juvenile brain cancer research. This was our first time attending this event, and it was a great success for the charity: now in it's 5th year, they surpassed the $1 Million mark in contributions! It was a great day, we were happy to be a part of it.


The back of my Aunt Bonnie's and my brother
Paul's heads.

Team Victoria Park listening to a wonderful

and emotional speech by Wendy Durigon,

Jessica's mother.

L to R: Paul, Madeline, Elena, Reid (with the

Italian movie star sunglasses) Will with the

blue cap, and part of Sandy - all DeCorso's.

Starting point, with Jessica's picture.

Time Flies...

Well, it's been way too long since my last post. Here we are in June, the golf season is in full swing (pun intended), the tournament schedule is heating up... lots happening here at Victoria Park East. Not that I'm making excuses.

The last few weeks have certainly been busy. We've officially launched a "Rewards Card " for our members, and that took a lot of background work. Our new golf course on Maltby Rd. and Victoria Rd. South is starting to take shape, we're looking forward to a spring 2012 opening - the West course will remain open for the 2011 season.

And of course, Tiger Woods hasn't won a major this year... yet. I guess you got my 5 bucks, Brian!

I actually managed to play 2 rounds of golf this week. Unheard-of! It's great to see how the winter damage has basically healed, I would say, to almost 100%.

One more thing, the HST is almost here. That will add about 3 to 4 dollars onto a green fee, straight tax. We've been warning our customers, and haven't experienced a predicted backlash; at least, not yet!

PGA Tour "Halfway Point"

Hard to believe how quickly the season marches along. Here's an interesting article by PGATour's Rob Bolton, sort of a "report card" type of thing:
http://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/05/12/fantasy-halfwaypoint-review/index.html/

It looks like Tiger Woods will take a break, nursing an inflamed neck joint. There goes my pool!

Picture of the North Channel

In my last blog entry, I mentioned that I'd post a pic from Manitoulin Island. We were there during the last weekend of April to attend a funeral (my wife's aunt, she was a very classy & hospitable lady) and the weather was beautiful. The ferry from Tobermory wasn't running yet, so it's a bit of a drive: up to Sudbury, west to Espanola, and across the swing bridge to the Island.

The picture was taken on Highway 6 just south of Little Current (the biggest town on Manitoulin). We're looking north-east, where the North Channel meets Georgian Bay. That's my sister-in-law Lori on the left, and my wife Jane on the right. What a spectacular view.

There are 3 golf courses on the Island, and 2 of them were open - very early for them! The 18-hole course in Manitouwaning had already cut most of the turf - again, very early. I've only played the 9-hole course in Mindemoya, Brookwood Brae, a fun & tight track with a few surprises! Definitely worth a visit.

May Showers & Flowers?

It's been awhile since my last post. My wife and I went to Manitoulin Island last weekend for a funeral, and it's otherwise been a busy week.

Some good news on the golf course: we now have all 18 greens open for play, just #6 has a small area at the front still roped off. The picture here is our 18th green. Conditions are improving nicely, and as you can see, the trees are starting to thicken up. Easier for me to hit them!

The weather hasn't been great for golf, and it looks like we have a "cold spell" coming. Oh well, c'est la vie... Speaking of Manitoulin Island, I'll post a great pic soon, that I took just south of Little Current, of the North Channel. Spectacular!

Fore! Damn that wind...

There's an Arctic blast in the wind today, but the sun's shining and the hackers are hacking! Conditions have steadily improved over the last week, with lots of growing-in left to happen. Twelve of our greens are still partial-play, so I guess "patience" is the order of the day. And everyone has been patient and understanding... we appreciate it.

The picture was taken this morning, showing a few of our hearty members braving the cold wind on the 10th tee.

David Hearn shot a 74 on the final day at the Nationwide's South Georgia Classic, which gave him a 4th place finish. He was leading into the 3rd round, but still a very respectable showing. Other Canadians that finished in the field were Barrett Jarosch, Ted Brown, and Jon Mills.

Good on'ya, David

It's great to see Canadian golfer David Hearn playing so well lately. He's been a regular on the pro tours for quite a few years now, along with the likes of my cousin Bryan and Ian Leggatt. David's currently leading the South Georgia Classic by 2, the same tournament Bryan DeCorso won a few years back.

Which leads me to a quick story... 2 years ago we wanted to get a good used golf bag for our youngest son. We answered a classified ad and went to a beautiful old house off York Rd. in Guelph to purchase the bag. The young woman told us she was selling it on behalf of her parents, who had "a garage full of them, from my brother's tournaments." Who's your brother, I asked. "David Hearn." True story. A scorecard was still in the pouch from one of David's rounds - I can't remember from which course, and I hope we still have it!

Welcome Aboard, Gordon

We have a new Teaching Pro here at Victoria Park East this season - and he comes with quite a resume! The Mercury published a good article yesterday about Gordon Crossman:
http://news.guelphmercury.com/Sports/article/622199

We're happy to have him with us, and encourage golfers to drop in for a chat and check out his many and varied lesson plans. I know I'll sure be trying to cure my slice...

Provincial Champions!

A few posts back, I gloated a little about my daughter's hockey team, the Guelph Thunder Bantam BB. Well, what a finish! They won the Provincial title with a 2-1 win over regional rivals the Waterloo Ravens. It took 6 periods (yes, 6 12-minute stop-time periods) to claim the victory... what a game! So, here they are, and that's it for hockey until September. Cheers to all the players and coaches, they deserved the victory! Me? I ate pizza and enjoyed the game!

Greening Up

It's been over a week since my last post - lots happening. My daughter's hockey team won the Brampton tournament last weekend, and this weekend they're in the Provincials! Very exciting hockey.

Anyways, back to life here at Victoria Park East. As you can see from the pic, the turf is greening up nicely. The weather has been decent, lots of rain last week, and lots of sun in the forecast. As you can also see, we have tarp covering some of our greens - actually, 11 of our greens are curently "partial play", and 2 of them are still temporary. Our mid-winter peak at the golf course was obviously too optimistic. In a nutshell, a nasty layer of ice on the greens caused a severy amount of winterkill. David and his crew have been working diligently on various procedures to help speed-along the recovery process, and so far he's cautiously optimistic that the putting surface on those affected areas will heal in a timely way. Most golf courses in the area have suffered the same fate.

So, for the meantime, we live with extended "winter conditions".

A Very Funny Video

I just had to post this short, and very funny, video. Enjoy. And thanks, Harry!

And Away We Go...

Victoria Park East Golf Club officially opened today... at least, as much as we could! All 18 holes are in play, but some severe ice damage has restricted play on about 6 of our greens, and the 3rd green is still temporary. I'll update conditions daily on the website. Pictured above are three of our fine members: Harry, Bob and Don, getting ready to tee it up.
So far, Easter weekend is looking good. Friday is basically booked up. Good to see! The Clubhouse is also now open.

And Now, for Something Completely Different

Pardon the indulgence, but I have to brag a bit about my daughter's hockey team, the Guelph Thunder Bantam BB. They had a great season, finished first in their division, won two of four tournaments (and one to go), and just last Saturday, took home the Silver medal from their league's "Final Four". Easter weekend they're playing in the Brampton Canadette's tournament, the biggest women's hockey tournament in the world. And finally, the weekend after they'll be in the Provincials - they had to win their way into that one. Way to go, ladies & coaches!
Okay, back to golf. We may open the course on Wednesday... stay tuned.

The Re-Birth of Tiger

Of course, the blog-0-sphere is abuzz with the impending return of Tiger Woods to the Tour. Here's an interesting video from the Golf Channel:

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/player-react-tigers-interview-6771/?ref=26000&cid=twitter_playerreacttoTigerInterviewVID_032310

Personally, I believe any athlete that posseses the paramount degree of skill in their sport - like Tiger - will survive any PR disaster (with the right professional help!), short of killing someone or espousing hatred. That is, as long as they can maintain that skill level and chalk-up wins. It's happened before in other sports, and it will certainly happen again.

Anyone want to start a pool? I bet Tiger wins 2 majors this year, and by the end of August nobody will be talking about his past infidelities... and he'll patch it up with Elin.

Temporary Layout is Open

It's dry enough to open our Temporary 9-holes. There are no greens in play - we cut a hole just below the green - and no powercarts on the course yet. The holes that we use are numbers 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 16. $12.00 all you can play. Of course, the driving range has been open & busy, but we're still hitting off the mat only.
So far, the weather is looking decent until Saturday, then it looks like it's back to March!

Driving Range Open!

Finally... as you can see from the pic here, the snow is gone (well, like 99% gone). Jay walked the driving range today, and we have decided to open it tomorrow (Tuesday the 16th) at noon. It's dry enough to run the range picker, but the golf course is still too wet for play.

Still, it's good to get the clubs out.

Check our website for more details:

http://www.victoriaparkgolf.com/default.aspx

It Keeps Getting Better

This has been the best "snow-melting" day so far: sunny sky with a gentle warm breeze from the south. Here's our 1st tee again, but now you can finally see some fairway grass. I took a walk this morning, and of course there's still more snow to go, and lots of drying-up to happen.
We've been getting some calls from anxious golfers about a potential open date, but it's still too early to call. Environment Canada says the daytime temperature will hover at around the 8°C mark for the next 5 days, with the night time temp not going below minus 1. So, my best guess is... two more weeks. But this is March, so don't hold me to it! In like a lamb, out like a lion?

Lots of work happening in the Clubhouse, great job re-decorating our 19th hole. I'll post some pics soon.

Oh, what a Beautiful Day!

This is, what, the 3rd day in a row of sunshine and above-normal temperatures, and it's supposed to continue for another few days. Of course, that means the phone's been ringing with the inevitable question, "will the course or driving range be open this weekend?"
As you can see from the pic (our first tee, taken this morning) there's still quite a bit of snow out there, plus the ground has to dry sufficiently. So, we'd love to be open, but it's looking like a couple of weeks yet (if the weather continues to behave).
However, you can phone us anyways, we'd love to hear from you!
For those of you who like to Tweet, I've set up a Twitter account specifically for the golf course: http://twitter.com/GolfGuelph

Being John Daly

This looks like it'll be entertaining. Coming to The Golf Channel:
http://www.thegolfchannel.com/being-john-daly/

Got a dump of snow again last Friday, but it looks like a mild spell coming, starting at the end of this week.

And yes... Team Canada... the fans know it! Gold!



Golf will be in the 2016 Olympics, and Canada is actually the
defending champion (George Lyon, 1908). Okay, so it's been awhile!
http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2008-08/china_dobereiner

...and the Tiger saga continues...

I guess I just can't help it. Between redecorating the Clubhouse and watching the Olympics, Tiger Woods and all the ensuing baggage keeps red-flagging my attention. Here's an interesting piece from the Golf Channel:
http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/whats-next-13408/?ref=10005&rsec=209

Lots of snow on the ground right now! Florida, anyone?

We Always Get our Hopes Up

Did I say we don't have much snow? I took this pic about 10 minutes ago. You may not be able to tell, but it's windy and SNOWING. That's our 1st tee at Victoria Park East, by the way.
However, we shouldn't be surprised. It's still February, after all.
New stuff arriving almost daily in our Pro Shop, so I'll provide some details in my next post. Our pro. Jay, is like a "kid in a candy store" right now.

So, Where's the Snow?

Here's a picture of our road sign, taken today:



...and from last year, about the same time:



I've had questions about the snow, or lack thereof, and how it might impact the turf. I'm no expert, but my cousin, David DeCorso, is our Superintendent/Greenskeeper, and he says there's no need to panic. We haven't experienced any really drastic thaw/freeze cycles, which is the main culprit in killing turf over the winter. He ploughed off the greens in mid-January and spread a fine layer of black sand, to help draw in heat and counteract the potentially damaging layer of ice that had formed. Anyways, so far so good. But there's still March...

Getting Ready for Spring

So, we've succeeded in making a big mess! Of course, when you're decorating, cleaning, etc., things always look worse before they look better. These pics are from yesterday (Feb. 11th)


Jay in the office. Bye-bye purple walls!


Too much crap.


Jay & Matt painting swear words on the wall!

Welcome to our Pro Shop!

Speaking of the Pro Shop, new golf equipment/accessories will be arriving soon. Our Pro, Jay Pembleton, will soon get out of his painting clothes.

Social Networking - Twitter

In between bouts of painting here at Victoria Park East, I've jumped into the Twitter ring. I've been to a Guelph Chamber of Commerce presentation about social networking, so I just had to try Tweeting! Twicking! Twitting... anyways, you can look me up on Twitter as GuelphGolfer (I know, not too original).

Winter Feast 2010

Last Friday (January 29th) we hosted a special event here at Victoria Park East called "Winter Feast". About 80 people braved the cold evening to come and sample an excellent variety of "pub-style" foods, as well as local craft ales from Charles Maclean of Battleaxe Brewery and some fine wines from Pelee Island Winery. A splendid time was had by all... the food and drink were amazing! Here are some pics:


Chef Stephen Vaughan, Wendy Gottmers,
Alexis Dinniwell


Some guests during arrival



Madeline, Andrew and Ricardo at one of the
five food stations serve up cheddar 'n ale soup,
beef pie, and lamb "sliders"


Daryll MacMillan from Pelee Island Winery
with a great selection


Charles Maclean from Battleaxe Brewery.
Great ales!

To knock-off or not to knock-off?

I get a ton of emails from suspicious-sounding suppliers of golf equipment, usually from China, and they almost always say they carry the name-brand stuff: you know, Nike, Callaway, Ping, Titleist, etc. And they're kind of funny, too: plain-text, horrible grammar, bad spelling, and always from a guy named Mike or Larry or Simon (no last names given). I suppose, like anything, there's a big market for knock-off golf clubs. Do they perform as well as the real thing? Do people care, as long as it has the right logo on it? Well, the big players are taking it seriously, and have collaborated on cracking down on the knock-off trade. Here's the press release:
http://www.worldgolf.com/newswire/browse/58200-Criminal-prosecution-against-counterfeit-golf-club-warehouses

Just before Christmas, a lady came into our Pro Shop with a sleeve of Titleist ProV1 balls, and asked if they were genuine. Our Pro, Jay, only needed a few seconds to tell that they were counterfeit. Buyer beware.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE!

Quick... how many months?
(sorry for the indulgence, folks. It's an inside joke)

Watching Graham DeLaet

With a decent finish at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii, as well as his 8th place finish in Q School back in December, Graham DeLaet's star is rising. The Canadian Tour's 2009 Player of the Year is carding some fine scores, and hopefully the trend will continue for him. I always enjoy keeping tabs on Canadian players, and Graham will be one to watch. Here's a link to his PGA Tour web stats:

http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/74/36/

Some sad news today...

D. Cecil "Cec" Wilton passed away on Saturday, January 16th, after a lengthy struggle with cancer. Cec was a long-time member here at Victoria Park East, and also worked for us occassionally as a marshall. He was a fun guy, and always had a kind word (and some decent golf tips!) for my kids. We'll miss you, Cec. I'll raise a pint of Keith's for 'ya!
For those members and friends that might be reading this, here's the link to the Guelph Mercury obit, it's a good one:
http://www.lifenews.ca/guelphmercury/profile/72027--wilton-donald-cecil-cec

Looks like the taxman wins...

The verdict is in, and it looks to be official: the HST is coming on July 1st, so we must brace ourselves for the tax hike. In terms of golf, it means that there will be an extra 8% on the price of a greens fee after July 1st. The golf portion of memberships will see the usual 5% GST for this year, but next year it will be 13%, along with a few other services such as club storage, locker fees, handicapping, etc. Game card packages will be exempt if purchased before My 31st. We lobbied hard, but a majority government can legislate at will. More on this later. I need a glass of wine.

A Tiger Woods Movie?

Well, okay, I keep breaking my own rule about "not mentioning the Tiger Woods thing", but this sure got my interest: a big-budget Hollywood movie about Tiger Woods. Still in the planning stages - if the reports are true, and sources are sketchy - the biopic will star... wait for it... Cuba Gooding Jr. No, not Will Smith. Guess it was just a matter of time.

But what do you think about Cuba Gooding Jr.? I guess with the right haircut and some quality gym/driving range time, he could probably pull it off.

Speaking of movies, anyone agree with me that golf is sadly misrepresented in movies and TV dramas? Golfers are usually presented as stuffed-shirts, stuck-up, monied, elitist, dumb... you get my drift. The closest thing I've seen to a decent golf movie was "Stroke of Genius", starring Jim Caviezel as the legendary Bobby Jones. And it wasn't really great, a little too sugar-coated at times. "The Legend of Bagger Vance" was OK, but again, the violins were a little too loud every time Will Smith entered the scene.

Anyone out there care to comment on their favourite golf movie?

"Are You Bryan's Dad?"

I get asked that question a lot, or a similar "are you related to...". Bryan DeCorso (for those of you that don't know) is a Nationwide Tour player, Canadian tour player... and my cousin. Sure, I'm a few years older than he is, more grey hair, and way less-skilled with a golf club! Bryan is my uncle Angelo and aunt Bonnie's son, and he is now based in the Orlando area.

Bryan was born here in Guelph and basically grew up here at Victoria Park East - Angelo was the head pro and general manager here for many years, so Bryan's exposure to a golf environment was substantial.

Bryan continues to play on the Nationwide Tour, and internationally, and we're very proud to call him "one of our own." But no... I'm not his dad! (I don't look that old, do I?)

Happy New Year!

It's been a few weeks since my last post, but with Christmas holidays and some exceedingly fast-paced time off, there's been little time for the computer. Needless to say, in the throes of January it's pretty quiet here at Victoria Park East Golf Club. Time to clean up and get ready for the new season. Our Pro Shop did well this Christmas, with gift card sales finally coming on strong. Happy New Year everybody, I'll post some news and views as they come up... and enough about Tiger!