Tee 2 Green with Barry Sharpe - - February 22/09

Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club on Eagle Mountain in Coquitlam, one of the Lower Mainland's most challenging and most expensive public courses to play, is apparently up for sale, or has already been sold, possibly to an offshore buyer.

Jen Derbyshire, spokesperson for Wesbild Holdings Ltd., the land-development division of Intrawest Investments Ltd., told the Tri-City News a few days ago, "More details will be released next week, once the sale is complete."

Derbyshire has confirmed Wesbild received an unsolicited offer to buy Westwood Plateau's 3,000-square foot clubhouse along with the par-72 18-hole course and it's nearby nine-hole golf academy, which totals about 270 acres.

The golf course was built as part of Wesbild's master-planned development on Westwood Plateau after the company bought the 1,410-acre parcel from the provincial government In 1989. Today, it is home to about 20,000 people.

Derbyshire says the sale of the golf club and academy is not tied to work on Burke Mountain in northeast Coquitlam, where Wesbild owns 200 acres of developable land. Webild also has developments at Predator Ridge and Turtle Mountain, near Vernon.

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Once again, it seems Tiger Woods upstaged Phil Mickelson this past week with his sudden announcement of returning to the PGA Tour. Was the timing intentional? We'll let Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle provide the details:

The news was released on Tiger Woods' website at 5 p.m. Thursday that the No. 1 golfer in the world would return from his surgically induced hiatus next week at the WGC Match Play.

Here's just a couple of random thoughts about it all.

1) The timing of the announcement made you wonder whether it was sending a subtle message to rival Phil Mickelson. The left-hander -- off to a dismal start on his usually bankable West Coast swing -- posted his best round since Tiger went dormant last June. But the 63 that Mickelson shot on Thursday in his title defense at Riviera was immediately downgraded to Page 2 news when the Golf Channel began breathlessly announcing Tiger's return. They already had a TV promo ad queued up before the hour was over. Poor Phil can't catch a break these days.

2) Just the day before, Tiger's caddie Stevie Williams was signaling in a rambling interview in his home New Zealand that the return of the king might be a few weeks away. Maybe the long-time looper isn't as in the loop as we think. He certainly has been talking more than usual for a guy who hasn't seen his boss in months -- stirring up trouble with untoward comments about the aforementioned Mickelson in December. Did Tiger give his caddie a bad yardage on his return date?

3) The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,269 on June 16, 2008 -- a day of slow trading attributed largely to so many people spending their Monday morning watching Tiger defeat Rocco Mediate in an epic 19-hole playoff at the U.S. Open. A week later it was down nearly 1,000 points. Minutes before Tiger's return was posted, the Dow closed Thursday at a six-year low of 7,465 -- 40 percent below the last time we saw Tiger. If stocks rebound next week and start going back up, maybe President Obama should consider nominating Woods to that still vacant Commerce Secretary post.

4) Friend and neighbor John Cook played with Tiger earlier this week and declared that the healthy Woods is "as good or better" than he ever was before. Considering Woods won 10 of the last 13 events he played AFTER tearing his ACL following the 2007 British Open, how scary is that?

5) Just how bummed is former Clemson star D.J. Trahan? Ranked No. 66 in the world, Trahan needs two people to stay away from Tucson next week in order to get a spot in the 64-person Match Play field. Not only is that one vacancy now filled, but if Trahan does somehow sneak into the field he'll likely draw Tiger in the first round. Ouch!

6) Is there any doubt who has just been installed as the prohibitive favorite for the Masters in April?

So after eight long months, the star attraction in golf is coming back. The only person other than Trahan bummed about that news might be Mickelson.

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Mike Weir and his new partner, course architect Ian Andrew of Brantford, ON, may be planning to create 18 holes to go with the 36 that already exist at Vernon's Preditor Ridge, but don't count on playing on a new Weir course in the Okanagan anytime in the near future.

Preditor Ridge general manager Rod Cochrane has acknowledged that it's only "speculation at this point." Weir is not known for moving too quickly when it comes to off-course projects. However, when he does makes decisions so far they have worked out well for the former Masters champion. The Weir Foundation has begun to see the benefits from Weir Wines in the Niagara Peninsula, but it will be some time before a Vernon winery carrying a Weir label hits the shelves in BC.

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UBC Thunderbirds finished second at the Arizona Intercollegiate tournament earlier this past week, just behind NAIA Rival Oklahoma Christian at the Francisco Grande Golf Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Brandon Markiw led a trio of T-Birds that finished in the top 10 with a sixth place result of 213 (73-69-71) as UBC had the best closing round of any team with a 284. Corey Renfrew finished eighth at 214 (71-74-69) and Seon Kim earned ninth with a 215 (72-73-70).

Oklahoma Christian took the team crown with a three round score of 842. Tte 'Birds shot 857.

UBC remains atop the Golf World/Nike GolF NAIA Coaches' Poll, earning nine of 11 first-place votes in the first edition of the poll for 2009.

Next outing for coach Chris MacDonald and the UBC men's team is not until March 16 and the Triumph hosted by San Francisco U at Pauma Valley CC, San Diego, CA.

The women's team travels to Monarch Bay GC in Hayward, CA to play in the CSU East Bay Invitational beginning Monday, Feb. 23.

On March 8 & 9 the UBC women will play host to the CN Gail Harvey Moore Collegiate event at Shaughnessy GC -