Volume 2, Issue 3

Message from the Executive Director Jean-Pierre Beaulieu A Wave of Positivism Sweeps Through the Industry

On April 30, the Québec Golf Federation was presented with the Sport Federation of the Year Award at the 41st edition of the Gala Sports-Québec.

Golf Québec was a finalist in this category along with the Fédération de gymnastique du Québec and Plongeon Québec. For Golf Québec, this was a second consecutive nomination. It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we accept this honour. I especially delighted when I think of all our regional and provincial volunteers who are dedicating countless hours to deliver our programs, services, and top quality events that are living up to

the expectations of all golf participants and our member-clubs. This recognition is both motivating and earned. Motivating as it confirms that we made the right choices in the past years. Earned because our programs are getting positive results thanks to the commitment of our dedicated volunteers and employees. The phenomenal success of our Golf in Schools program at the elementary and high school levels, in the past year, growth of our Golfmobile, popularity of the Introduction to Competition Tours (ICT), and certification of three Junior Development Golf Centres (JDGC) surely contributed to our nomination.

 

Besides the pride and joy of the Golf Québec volunteers and employees, the whole industry should be delighted with this great Québec sport recognition. A wave of positivism is now sweeping through the industry. Nonetheless, the biggest reward remains to see all these children who are introduced to the joy of playing golf through their Phys. Ed. classes. In 2016, Golf will be back in the Olympic Games in Brazil. This surely will contribute to increase our sport awareness in the coming years.

I would like to thank the other sport federations for their commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle within our society. Golf is a sport of a lifetime, and we truly hope for our population to remain active and healthy. I would also like to congratulate the athletes who were presented with a Maurice and other nominees. They truly are role models for our youth. Enjoy the beginning of this 2014 golf season.

Photo credit by Sports-Québec: The Golf Québec team with France St-Louis and Jean-Luc Brassard, ambassadors of the Gala.

 

 

Daniel Caza dcaza@ovationmedias.com

This Élan Is Yours!

You are presently holding the first printed issue of the Élan supplement, exclusive to Golf Québec. Give it, send it, share it. Élan was created in the image of your golf swing: straight forward and strong!

Following an agreement made with Ovation medias, it was decided to reserve six pages in every issue of the GOLF AGP-INTERNATIONAL magazine for exclusive Golf Québec content. This hardcopy of your Golf Québec supplement is incorporated in the magazine and harmoniously complements the rest of its content. But there is more! This agreement also includes a digital version of Élan which is offered in the mobile application of the GOLF AGP-INTERNATIONAL magazine, as well as on the mongolf.ca and golfquebec.org websites.

This web based Élan will give you all the latitude that you need. Make it yours. Be part of the one million plus golfers in Québec. Created in your image Created by Stéphane Duguay, the Élan logo connects with the golfing community that is already, or will eventually be, associated with Golf Québec. Whether you speak French or English, everybody is familiar with the meaning of the word Élan. And it is even more obvious and easy to read when we notice that the angle made by the golf club held by the golfer is actually putting an accent on the É. As we are hoping that you will appreciate the new communications means employed by Golf Québec to reach as many golfers as possible, we are wishing you the best for the 2014 season!

 

Sport Development Which Puma Color Are You Aiming For?

You are presently holding the first printed issue of the Élan supplement, exclusive to Golf Québec. Give it, send it, share it. Élan was created in the image of your golf swing: straight forward and strongIn collaboration with CN, Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada recently announced some exciting revisions to the CN Future Links Learn To Play program. At the same time, Puma joined this partnership in the most original way.

Learn To Play is changing from seven levels to four stages and refocusing its programming to target a smaller age range. This is excellent news as it will contribute to a better understanding and implementation of the program. The changes made to the Learn to Play program were needed to ensure that it remains relevant to PGA of Canada members, parents and junior golfers. The changes have created much more meaningful benchmarks for every program module. PGA of

Canada professionals will receive new lesson guides to help in the delivery of the program. Also new to the program is a revised progression system. Previously, CN Future Links participants were tracked through a numbered level system (Level 1, 2, 3, etc.), but will now belong to one of four specific colour groups, much like the popular martial arts “black belt” method and the Olympic Way swimming program. The new colour system will be more appealing to junior golfers and will allow a more innovative approach to incentive rewards.

The target age group of 6-12 year-olds will now be rewarded with colour-coded hats and gear provided

 

 

by the program’s new apparel sponsor, Puma Golf. CN Future Links instructors will benefit by enticing

juniors with the popular, vibrant Puma colours that have been made famous by PGA Tour stars Rickie Fowler and Canadian Graham DeLaet. Teenagers of more than 12 years old will be encouraged to register for the new Learn to Compete program, which is being piloted this summer. Learn to Compete will feature programming that is tailored towards those looking to take their game to the competitive level. Golf Avenue Close to Young Players With the common objective of bringing more children to play on our courses this summer, Golf Avenue and Golf Québec have developed a partnership that will pay off in the participating establishments of our Golf in Schools program. A new initiative took shape this spring for the purpose of equipping a number of children with training kits featuring reconditioned used golf clubs.

At the moment, this is a pilot project that will enable five high schools to distribute a free training kit to five of their students so they can pursue their golf discovery initiated within their Phys. Ed. classes.

These kits, comprised of a driver, an iron (7, 8 or 9) and a putter, will be distributed in June to school establishments identified by Golf Québec, just on time for the golf season. Through their implication, Golf Avenue, a company that is specialized in online sales of used golf clubs that were reconditioned, wishes to contribute to developing our sport by facilitating the creation of a direct link between schools and golf facilities. This is a concrete action undertaken by one of our local businesses and its co-founders, Marc-Antoine Bovet and Pierre-Luc Laparé, to promote the development of sports amongst our youth.

 

Golf in Schools Through these two initiatives, Golf Québec pursues its efforts to create concrete links between children, golf clubs, and schools that are featuring the National Golf in Schools (NGIS) program. Launched in 2012, the high school component of this program is booming. 55 teaching establishments are conducting golf activities in their Phys. Ed. classes and extracurricular events. Our objective is to add twenty new schools to our list of participants by the end of the year.

To promote the initiative furthermore, Golf Québec will resume its Golfmobile visitation program in the summer. A minimum of 30 activities are planned to introduce new players to the game of golf and grow the number of some 10,000 children who were already introduced to our sport through the NGIS. These statistics show the impact of Golf Québec actions aiming to develop future players and support its title as Sport Federation of the Year in Québec.

Competitions Le Cerf, a Golden Opportunity

Are you ready for a busy golf season? Download the Golf Québec BlueGolf mobile application to get our live scoring and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. It’s a go!

Even if the weather is just starting to be nicer, our young competitors have already played quite a few rounds of golf with a first tournament presented in the United States. It’s in very harsh weather conditions, plagued by rain and cold, that our junior competitors begun their golf season with the Vertdure Junior

 

 

Spring Open that was held on May 3 and 4 at the Olde Kinderhook Golf Club in Valatie, New York.

Valérie Tanguay of Club de golf St-Hyacinthe began the 2014 golf season the same way as she did last year by winning the event. In her first round, Valérie Tanguay played 78 (+6), including 7 bogeys and only one birdie. This surely was not the way she had planned to start her season on the Vertdure Tour. Yet, she was only one stroke behind the three leaders, Grace St-Germain of Hylands, Céleste Dao of Summerlea, and Océane Jacques of Royal Québec. Then, a second round of 77 and a cumulative score of 155 led her to victory. One would remember that she went through the same performance pattern last year, for the same event in which she had to catch up on her opponents to win.

Interview with Valérie Tanguay: http://bit.ly/1s0VAJA Océane Jacques, current Provincial Juvenile Champion, ranked 2nd with a cumulative score of 158 (77 and 81). Céleste Dao was the best in the juvenile girls’ competition and she ranked 4th overall. In the boys’ category, American player, Kevin Kramarski, dominated the whole event with a first round of 73, 2 strokes ahead of his fellow compatriot, Matthew Paradis of the Derryfield CC in New Hampshire. Kramarski, a member of the Riverton Country Club in the Philadelphia Association, signed a second scorecard of 77. This was enough to capture his first victory in a Golf Québec event. Charles-Éric Bélanger of Royal Québec played 73, the best score of the final round. As a result, he tied for 2nd with Paradis, four strokes behind the winner. By doing so, he also secured the juvenile title. Get the complete results: http://bit.ly/1uMsUlC Photo album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/golfquebec

 

Our juniors will get back on the course for the second leg of the Vertdure Provincial Junior Tour to be held on May 17 and 18 at club de golf Montcalm.

49th Final of the Québec Games Meanwhile, the city of Longueuil is getting prepared to receive over 3,700 athletes for the 49th Final of the Québec Games – Summer 2014. http://longueuil2014.jeuxduquebec.com/ Parcours du Cerf will be the scenery of the 3-day golf competition in which 114 athletes of 12 to 16 years old will participate and represent the 19 regions of the province. They will look forward to winning the banner of the Games for their respective region. Golf podcast: http://bit.ly/1tZ763Y

On the Way to the men’s Spring Open At Golf Québec, the month of May goes hand-in-hand with the Spring Open. This story goes a long way back and represents a series of events that competitive golfers look forward to. Altogether, six qualifying rounds will take place throughout the month, leading up to the 85th edition of the Spring Open. On May 30, the Beaconsfield Golf Club will be host to this prestigious tournament for the 40th time. Professional golfer, Rémi Bouchard, will be defending his title. Results of these tournaments will also be used to establish or improve the differentials of our amateur players on the men’s provincial ranking. Calendar and qualifying results: http://bit.ly/1hBsmww

Jocelyne Bourassa Series: http://bit.ly/1qj3QQH Women will not wait much longer before they can kick start their golf season as well. The Jocelyne Bourassa Series will begin at Golf Le Mirage on June 5 with the NIVO Debbie Savoy

 

 

Morel Cup. The NIVO Women’s Players’ Cup and NIVO Women’s Provincial Amateur and Senior

Championships will be held in July. Calendar and results: http://bit.ly/1l1jnzk

Competitions François Roy froy@golfquebec.org High Caliber Athletes: There Is No Parenting Guide!

In sports, whether played for fun or competitively, at the local, provincial, national or international level, parents have their fair share of challenges to face. How should they deal with these issues?

As parents, we all wish for our children to fully embrace a sport activity. It’s a healthy choice and a proven fact that sport participation is a good remedy for many medical issues whether physical or psychological. Whether they play an individual or a team sport, our children appreciate spending time with their peers, having fun, progressing, and sometimes they

even reach very interesting levels. We are proud of them, they thrive, and we follow them in their journey without fully realizing what is awaiting us around the corner. What’s the next step when our children start performing at higher levels? Parents play a key role in the numerous stages of their children-athletes’ careers. They will always be their biggest fans, of course, but there are so many other duties to be fulfilled, including providing them with financial support. Unconditional Support and Availability First of all, you must support your children in their choice to compete at

 

higher levels. They can never be pushed or pressured to win. Learning to accept losing is one of your children’s priorities in their sport development process. This is probably one of the biggest challenges that you will have to face. Losing is part of the sport.

Roch Couture acted as caddie for his son, Eric, for quite a while Living with an athlete also implies that you will have to be very available to comply with a busy schedule and accommodate training sessions, competitions, field trips, and more. Don’t forget to reserve some extra time for their academic agendas too! Your children will always depend on you. Without even noticing it, you might become their sport, emotional and… logistical supports. You might even have to be there private psychologist, massage therapist, media liaison, fundraiser, coaches’ contact person,

mediator, cook, nurse, equipment maintenance person, fan, manager… and official carrier! A Financial Stress One of the most important stress factors for families is the required financial commitment. In golf, a high caliber athlete can easily spend between fifteen and twenty-five thousand dollars per season. Numerous training sessions, expensive equipment, competition fees, traveling expenses and even medical care can take a toll on the family financial situation. That’s when financial stress becomes intertwined with emotional stress. This new situation has a direct impact on everybody else in the family, including on other siblings. Get Prepared For the Future On the other hand, even if your children are talented and are performing well, you should never forget that very few of them will actually make it on a professional tour, world’s tournaments, or the Olympic Games. Do not forget to help them prepare their “after sport” career and remind them regularly of how vital their studies are.

 

 

Very often, it is difficult to convince young athletes that their academic profile is also important. We

must insist on the fact that, besides their athletic careers, they will most likely have to get a real job that will fulfill them in life as much as their sport does. And golf is no exception! Useful Tools To help you get prepared to embark this journey with your children, some interesting tools are available. Christiane Despatie, mother of the famous Olympic diver, has published a book in 2012 called “Être parent d’un athlète“. This book surely will help many understand the lives of a high caliber athlete and of his parents.

Other interesting publications include: Fundamental Movement Skills for Parents published by Coach.ca http://www.coach.ca/fms-for-parents-s16748

The Long-Term Athlete Development for Parents document published by Golf Canada: http://bit.ly/1hLFBLg. Finally, to all parents who devote their time and energy to their children’s sport activities, CONGRATULATIONS! And thank you for showing them the value of sport and an active lifestyle.

 

Golf Québec’s Tournaments Amongst the Cheapest In Canada

In any given association, it quite normal for members to inquire about the value of their membership and, in this context, Golf Québec compares favourably with other provinces.

Considering their yearly dues of $29, whether they are clubs or golfers, the Golf Québec members benefit from many services and programs. Let us first look at our numerous development tours that are the envy of other provinces. The diversity of our competition network, organisational quality, and number of events contribute to the satisfaction of our participants. The Golf-Études program, Junior Golf Development Centres that are sanctioned by Golf Canada since last year, and financial support provided to our elite athletes are some of the concrete steps taken by Golf Québec to help young golf athletes who could

eventually be appointed to Team Canada, amongst others. Training and evaluation Let’s not forget that Golf Québec also supervises activities such as: 1) Rules officials and coaches’

training sessions; 2) Course rating; 3) Handicaps system and handicap

factor review; 4) Recognition of volunteers inducted

into the Québec Golf Hall of Fame; 5) Scholarships and fundraisers

including “Golf Fore the Cure”, etc. Golf Québec is a very committed sport federation and we believe that it makes a vital difference in the golf community. This is basically what we do with the $29 dues paid by our members. At the end of the day, directly or indirectly, each golfer benefits from top quality services. In addition, golfers who play in Golf Québec’s tournaments benefit from

 

 

their investment even more as the average entry fee of our competitions is amongst the lowest in

the country (see chart below). This comparison enables us to insist furthermore on the fact that Golf Québec’s members are getting a great value for their dollar! Highly Regarded Structures We should also keep in mind that Golf Québec his committed to developing the future of the game. As such, our Federation thrives to be active in all four pillars of sport development. Our introduction and recreation initiatives are numerous and comprised of very popular activities. Our competition and excellence flights, for which Golf Québec has long been recognized, are more efficient than ever. The success of our four introduction programs speaks for itself: 1) 10,000 children introduced to our

sport through the Golf in Schools program;

2) 125 CN Future Links golf clubs;

3) 37 clubs affiliated with First Drive and the Golfmobile;

4) New Introduction to Competition Tours (ITC) implemented two years ago for children of 7 to 12 years old.

There is much to be proud of in our structures. We might as well use and maximize them! Revealing Numbers This chart compares the average entry fees paid by competitors who play in what we call the “main” amateur tournaments of each province. In most cases, these are multiple-day championships.

PROVINCES AVERAGE ENTRY FEES

1 Nova Scotia $140 2 New Brunswick $144 3 PEI $153 4 Québec $171 5 Saskatchewan $188 6 Manitoba $189 7 Ontario $206 8 Newfoundland $208 9 Alberta $216

10 British Columbia $276 Golf Canada $292