Ontario’s decision to close golf courses and driving ranges has caused an uproar, at both the grassroots and industry levels.
The provincial government shut down golf, playgrounds and some other outdoor activities until at least May 20 to curb the escalating third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing a decision earlier in the year to allow them to be open.
Golfers were enraged. “This needs to come to a screeching halt,†recreational player Justin Bhatt of Barrie, Ontario, said of the ban. He carried signs to Ontario’s legislature in Toronto last week to protest, one of which read, “Let us play.â€
Bhatt said golf courses proved last year during the pandemic’s first and second waves that they were safe, even as courses reported record numbers of rounds. He played more than 150 games at his home course, National Pines, and other clubs, saying rigid safety protocols were in place and were observed.
“There’s no evidence to suggest COVID-19 is transmitted through the golf courses,†he said. “Golf is not the problem.â€
Noted infectious-diseases specialist Isaac Bogoch agreed, tweeting about the outdoor activity limits: “huh?â€
The PGA of Ontario, representing the province’s club professionals, also voiced its disappointment about what it called an “unfortunate†decision. It said it lobbied the government right up until the ban was issued, pointing out the physical and mental health benefits of golf as well as the safety measures in place at courses, including closed clubhouses, sanitized touch points and physical distancing.
The organization believes golf was swept up in a broad move to restrict “non-essential†activities as COVID-19 cases reached record numbers and hospitals neared capacity. But it’s hopeful the government will reconsider, as it did with playgrounds, which reopened almost immediately following a backlash.
“We believe that golf is an important outlet and will continue to make this case,†the association stated.
Ontario is believed to be the only jurisdiction in North America that has suspended golf this year, although in British Columbia, where COVID-19 cases also are soaring, golf tournaments are not allowed, according to the province’s website.
With the pandemic disrupting golf in 2020, young pro Selena Costabile spent much of the year playing Beethoven sonatas on the piano, learning Japanese, practising yoga and raising money for Alzheimer’s patients. Her main competitive golf outlet was the Toronto Players Tour, an Ontario mini-tour populated mostly by men.
But the 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario, doesn’t feel like she lost a year. She won one of the mini-tour’s events and believes she ended the strange year as a better player.
“It was such an amazing opportunity to still be competitive,†she said. “I honestly felt like it was a good development.â€
Those good vibes have continued into this year, as she restarts her touring career. After six weeks in Victoria, British Columbia, working on her game in the winter, she joined the Women’s All Pro Tour this month and reeled off two top-10 results, including a runner-up finish (where she lost in a playoff).
This week, Costabile takes another big step forward with her second career start on the Symetra Tour at the Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas. A pro since 2017, she earned status on the second-tier tour at the 2019 LPGA Q-Series and is finally getting her chance to become a regular.
She expects to get into more Symetra events in the spring and summer as she aims for her ultimate goal, the LPGA Tour.
“I’m living out of a suitcase, but it’s exciting,†Costabile said. “This is what I’ve wanted to do.â€
Hard work is paying off for Adam Svensson, who is moving closer to a return to the PGA Tour. The 27-year-old from Surrey, British Columbia, posted his second career victory on the Korn Ferry Tour this spring and has four other top-10 finishes in 2020-21.
The results propelled him to No. 13 on the tour’s points list as of last week entering the Veritex Bank Championship in Texas, putting him in line to secure one of the 25 PGA Tour cards up for grabs for next season.
He would have locked up a promotion at a Korn Ferry stop in Las Vegas this month with another win, but he faltered in the final round and fell from second place to 22nd.
Svensson, who reached the PGA Tour in 2019 but lost his card, attributes his resurgence to a better work ethic.
“I put in so much work in the offseason,†he said after his late-March victory in Savannah, Georgia. “I’ve never been that hard a worker, but I worked my ass off – hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. It’s just very fulfilling when you work that hard and it pays off.â€
ScoreGolf magazine noted that Svensson has kicked up his practice regimen to eight hours a day, from three or four, at Medalist Golf Club on Florida’s east coast, where he makes his home. “Just treating it like a job,†the six-year pro told the magazine.
Fellow Canadian Taylor Pendrith was in third place on the Korn Ferry points list, a position that would earn him his first full-time stint on the PGA Tour next season.
The conclusion of the 2020-21 season comes in September with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
Anne-Catherine Tanguay’s equipment on the LPGA Tour this year is more than just her golf clubs. She’s also toting an inflatable bathtub and a white-noise machine. The extra gear isn’t for her, though. It’s for her 9-month-old daughter, Livia.
Tanguay, of Quebec City, has returned to tour golf after stepping away from the game in fall 2019 to mend her ailing back and to attend to what she called “personal projects.†Now, the 30-year-old is back on tour with baby in tow, joining a growing list of LPGA moms balancing athletic competition and late-night feedings.
Tanguay told the Next Round’s on Me podcast last week that friend Sophia Popov’s victory at the AIG Women’s Open Championship last summer inspired her to make a comeback. Her season debut this month went well – she made the cut at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, which improved her LPGA status and will lead to more starts later in the year. She also plans to mix in some Symetra Tour appearances.
With packing advice she got from Jackie Stoelting and other tour members with children, she says she’s up for the challenge.
“You realize you can do this,†she told podcast host Adam Stanley.
A once-prominent British Columbia course that closed for seven years is coming back to life this summer. Sagebrush Golf & Sporting Club is set to reopen July 1.
The sprawling course, built on the side of a mountain overlooking Nicola Lake near the city of Merritt, opened to great fanfare in 2009 and reached as high as No. 10 in ScoreGolf’s ranking of Canada’s best courses. It was the brainchild of PGA Tour winner Richard Zokol and others, and a pioneering example of modern minimalist golf – so minimal that it had no yardage markings and barely even defined teeing grounds.
But the global financial crisis of 2008 derailed its ambitions to become a luxury leisure and residential retreat, and it shut down in 2014 amid ownership, money and legal troubles.
Under new ownership – an investment group headed by British Columbia real estate developer Andrew Knott – Sagebrush is working toward its reopening. The club rehired former superintendent Neil Pilon last year, and last week it brought in industry veteran Randy Smith, most recently with Vancouver Golf Club, to be its head professional.
General manager Mark Strong predicts the business prospects for Sagebrush are good this time, especially as golf has rebounded in popularity and the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many property seekers to relocate to remote spots with open space.
“But firstly, I’m most excited just for Sagebrush to be back on the golfing landscape,†he said.
Strong said the integrity of Rod Whitman’s original design will be upheld, as will the emphasis on a “pure golf experience.†In addition to turf preparation – “We came out of winter well,†Strong said – the club is constructing a new version of its halfway house, the Hideout, which sits beside a pond and invites golfers to stop for refreshment and fly fishing. One of the property’s large stay-and-play cottages is being converted to a pro shop and dining facility, and plans are on the drawing board for a clubhouse. Sagebrush also has 37 lots available for housing.
Jared du Toit of Kimberley, British Columbia, shot 7-under-par 65 last Monday at a qualifying tournament for the Veritex Bank Championship in Texas. His score not only earned him his second career Korn Ferry Tour start but it also gave him a high-profile playing partner for the first two rounds – former National Football League quarterback Tony Romo, who was playing on a sponsor exemption.
The brush with celebrity didn’t appear to faze 25-year-old du Toit, who has played most of his tour golf on the third-tier PGA Tour Latinoamérica and Mackenzie circuits. He opened the Veritex with a five-under 66, against Romo’s 77.
E-Mail Jeff
