Tee 2 Green with Barry Sharpe - - December 26/08

One of the first events on the 2009 calendar for British Columbia's Lower Mainland golfers is the annual Vancouver Golf & Travel Show scheduled for BC Place Stadium February 14 & 15. Among the features returning this season will be the Demo Driving Range, the PGA of BC Teaching Centre, the GolfBC Seminar Stage, the Long Putt Challenge and the Long Drive Challenge.

One of the most popular features each year is the PGA of BC's FREE Clubs For Kids booth where parents bring their young ones to pick up what often results in being their first golf club, sized just right for each individual new golfer.

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Between now and the first of the year you are bound to see many lists like the following. This is but one of the TOP 10 GOLF EVENTS OF 2008.

-- Jan. 4: The season got off to a controversial start when Golf Channel announcer Kelly Tilghman and analyst Nick Faldo were discussing who would challenge Tiger Woods. Tilghman said the young players should "lynch him in a back alley." She was suspended for two weeks, then apologized on the air. Woods said he was not offended by the comment.

-- Feb. 21: Drug testing began with the LPGA at the Fields Open in Hawaii. It took hours at times, and the LPGA later said it was a trial run. After switching companies to administer the test, the LPGA started testing in May. The PGA began in July.

-- May 13: After 72 wins and 10 majors on the LPGA Tour, Annika Sorenstam announced she was taking a break from competition. She said she planned to focus on business ventures and start a family. "This is obviously a very difficult decision for me to make because I love this game very much," said Sorenstam, who turned 38 in October. "But I know it's the right one. I have other priorities in my life. I have a lot of dreams that I want to follow."

-- June 16: Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, defeating Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff. Woods won the year's second major on a wobbly left knee and a few days later announced he would have surgery and end his season. The U.S. Open was his 14th major title. "I think this is probably the best ever," Woods said. "All things considered, I don't know how I ended up in this position, to be honest with you."

-- July 10: Former PGA pro Mike Souchak died at 81. He was best known professionally for the 1955 Texas Open, when he shot a four-round total of 27 under par.

-- July 20: The British Open was interesting for two reasons: 1) Tiger Woods wasn't there. 2) Greg Norman was. Norman, 53, hadn't seriously contended in years, but there he was, in the lead Sunday. He eventually tied for third six shots behind winner Padraig Harrington. Harrington also claimed the PGA Championship a month later and has temporarily taken Woods' place as the tour's best big-tournament player.

-- Aug. 20: LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens told players she would impose an English proficiency standard beginning next year and player privileges would be revoked for noncompliance. The rule was aimed at Koreans after sponsors complained they could not carry on a conversation during pro-ams. The LPGA backed off a month later after much criticism, but Bivens said she would still like to see programs in place to help foreign tour members converse in English.

-- Sept. 21: For the first time since 1999, Americans took the Ryder Cup Valhalla CC in Kentucky. The team won without Tiger Woods with grinders such as Boo Weekley, Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk producing a five-point victory, the largest margin for the United States over Europe since 1981. Paul Azinger was praised for his role as captain. Corey Pavin will captain the U.S. team in 2010.

-- Nov. 14: J.P. Hayes disqualified himself from a second-stage PGA Tour qualifying tournament in Texas after he discovered he had used a nonconforming ball for one hole in the first round. Not until after the second round did Hayes realize the ball was a demo and likely not approved by the USGA. He called a tournament official that said if a check with Titleist confirmed the ball was not approved, Hayes would be disqualified. Hayes, 43, is not eligible for the PGA Tour next season. "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and this is going to be a bad nightmare," he said.

-- Dec. 7: After seven years as a part-time player in LPGA and PGA events, Michelle Wie, 19, earned full-time status on the LPGA Tour when she finished tied for seventh at Q-school in Daytona Beach. She will play on the LPGA Tour full time in 2009. "It feels good to get that card. It's like high school graduation," Wie said.

-- All season: John Daly embarrassed himself throughout 2008. At the PODS Championship in March, he spent a weather delay in the Hooters corporate tent, employed Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden as his caddie, shot 77-80 and headed back to the Hooters tent for more fun, which prompted coach Butch Harmon to drop him as a client. A week later he missed his pro-am tee time and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In October he passed out at a North Carolina Hooters and was detained 24 hours to sober up. And just for good measure, Daly, 42, smashed a spectator's camera at the Australian Masters because he thought the man was taking pictures too close to him. Nice year.

Our thanks to SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

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He still has one course to complete in his engineering entrepreneurship and innovation program at Hamilton, Ontario's McMaster University but already Kelly Curry of Burlington, ON, has successfully gotten into the swing of running a business.

Writing in the Hamilton Spectator, reporter Lisa Grace Marr has unveiled the fascinating story of the 39-year-old Kelly, who has developed and refined a training club for golfers that he calls the Swingnature. It looks like a any golf grip and shaft minus the club head except that Kelly's device helps golfers develop proper swing mechanics and increase club head speed to hit the ball farther and drive straighter off the tee and fairway. It sells for $99.99.

Curry's business plan for Swingnature has all happened rather quickly. Already his product has caught the attention of Golf Town, the national chain---all because of an article he read years ago about the importance of golf.

"I read this article just before I graduated in '93 or '94 about how much business is done on the golf course," says Kelly. "That's the reason why I got into golf. After playing it and having a bit of an athletic background, I just fell in love with the sport. Now I've combined technology and golf and I'm starting to see (my) product take off. It's a perfect world."

Once Curry had the idea for the Swingnature he contacted the RCGA's Henry Brunton, a National Team coach and accomplished golf instructor, to get feedback on the product.

"I knew it worked. My golf game improved to the point where I placed first in my first tournament.

"I just kept knocking on doors. You knock on enough, you're going to find one that's going to make a difference."

Now that the Swingnature is in Canada, with some local investors on board, the next step is the world. He's already sent two clubs to Scotland to a key retailer there for testing and he's heading to the PGA show in Orlando. As for manufacturing, he aims to keep everything in Canada.

"The cost structure is such that it should be able to be made here. There's nothing I could be more proud of to say everything is made in Canada."

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The PGA of BC is looking to fill the following job opportunities:

Associate/Apprentice Professional
Fairview Mountain Golf Club

Assistant Professional
Beach Grove Golf Club

Golf Shop Manager
Fraserview Golf Course

Assistant/Associate Professional
Revelstoke GC

Assistant/Associate Professional
Glacier Greens GC

Assistant Professional
Bootleg Gap Golf

Head Professional
Fort St. John Links GC

Tournament Director
Canadian Junior Golf Association

Assistant Professional
Shuswap Lake Estates G&CC

Assistant Professional
Vernon G&CC

Apprentice Professional/Member Services Coordinator
Vernon G&CC

Tournament Coordinator
Northview G&CC

Teaching Professional
The Golf Academy at Westwood Plateau

Tournament Coordinator
PGA of BC

Assistant Professional
Furry Creek G&CC

Assistant Professional
Summerland G&CC

Assistant Professional
Nicklaus North GC

Assistant Professional
Cranbrook GC

Head Professional
Olympic View Golf Club

Assistant/Associate Professional
Golden Golf Club

Event Coordinator
Westwood Plateau Golf & Entertainment

Assistant Professional/Tournament Director
Meadow Gardens Golf Club

Associate/Assistant Professional
Castlegar Golf Club