Everyone Has a Story...

What’s Yours?

VOLUME 3 – ISSUE 3

Québec Players in the USA Get the Golfmobile to Visit Your School

 

 

Volume 3 – Issue 3

Message from the Executive Director Jean-Pierre Beaulieu Everyone Has a Story... What’s Yours!

The Canadian golf industry recently launched a campaign to promote golf participation and win the hearts of new fans. This initiative called Golf Canada Golf will share and revive many inspiring life stories in link with this sport that we all love so much. Would you have one to share?

In terms of participation, golf is the most popular sport in Canada. With over one million golfers in Québec and 8.6 million rounds played every year, our participants truly share a passion for the game and they surely have a few tales to tell. The golfcanadagolf.ca website was designed to inspire golfers with the

stories of people they know or situations they have experienced personally. It is now possible to share those stories and reinforce that unique connection that they have with the game of golf. Whether it is about a historic shot, family round, favorite course, golf trip with friends, someone’s first steps in the golf universe or who was successful at facing adversity through the game of golf, every story is worth being told. With this in mind, the Golf Canada Golf campaign invites everyone to share their anecdotes or read about the fascinating experiences that others have lived and that show how great golf is. In the end, our goal is to interest new participants to discover

 

 

golf, stimulate golfers to play more, and celebrate the game altogether.

This campaign will take place throughout the 2015 season and will highlight how important golf is for sports fans of Québec. The website is also a communication hub for social networks and our hashtag #golfcanadagolf. Golf Québec is challenging every one of you. Our Federation is 95 years old and full of history. You might even have contributed to build it. Your personal story is also very interesting to know. Be one of those who will share an anecdote. Share your story or your video on the golfcanadagolf.ca website, Like our posts on Facebook, or Tweet your adventure.

Tell us YOUR story! Visit golfcanadagolf.ca. http://www.golfcanadagolf.ca/en

 

 

 

 

Québec Players in the USA American Success Stories Are Marked by Québec Athletes.

 

Even if very few Québec players make it on a university golf team in the United States, their impact is still quite significant. Some chapters of American university golf are even dedicated to our local boys and girls.

Beauce native, Josée Doyon successfully took up the torch passed by previous notorious Québec players. In her third year on the American Tour, she captured her first victory on April 5, at Oxford, MS, and added her name to the long list of NCAA champions. Thanks to the performance of this young criminology student, Kent State also captured the team victory for a 17th consecutive year, an all-time historic high both for the institution as well as the conference.

Since then, the little darling of Saint-Georges-de-Beauce has grown familiar with success and captured more individual victories on the NCAA Tour: at the Mid-American Conference Championship as well as at the Rebel Invitational (Mississippi) and Lady Buckeye (Ohio State) where she played the par (or better) in each of her six outings. Since the beginning of the spring schedule on the University Tour, this young athlete who is a regular participant in the Jocelyne Bourassa Series and a past champion of the NIVO Debbie Savoy-Morel Cup has been voted Golfer of the Week by her coaches. Not only once… but twice! Former Junior Provincial Champion, the Beauce native also helped her alma mater, Kent State, to join the Top 25 of teaching establishments on the Golfstats ranking.

 

 

Obviously, Doyon was successful at following the footsteps of Maude-Aimée LeBlanc, Sara-Maude Juneau, and Anne-Catherine Tanguay, who also were crowned on the NCAA Tour just like Lisa Meldrum, Isabelle Beisiegel, and Michèle Guilbault had done before them.

(Photo: Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Josée Doyon) http://golfcanada.ca/fr/blogues/article/blogue-de-mario-brisebois/josee-doyon-elue-joueuse-de-lannee-de-la-conference-mid-american-de-la-ncaa/ Promising First Steps Twice a provincial junior champion, Valérie Tanguay is now making her first steps as a rookie with the

University of Oklahoma Sooners. The St-Hyacinthe player is now discovering the American University Tour as other talented Québec players, such as Anne-

Catherine Tanguay, did before her. Coached by Québec native, Véronique Drouin-Latreille, since 2009, the Sooners gradually climbed the ladder of fame to eventually join the NCAA winners and we can expect that their new teammate will contribute to keeping this tradition alive.

 

 

Successful Young Men Québec men have also earned their stripes in

the conference and division golf championships of the American University Tour. For a fourth consecutive year and thanks to the contribution of Francis Berthiaume, the Alabama State Stingers won the Southwestern Championship in Alexandria, LA.

Francis Berthiaume http://golfcanada.ca/fr/blogues/article/blogue-de-mario-brisebois/francis-berthiaume-mene-alabama-aux-grands-honneurs/ Following a dream season in which he was crowned Québec Amateur Champion with an 11-stroke lead, Raoul Ménard kept up his momentum throughout his last golf season with the University of North Carolina 49ers. Even if fewer men’s team have captured the honours, individual

performances were still exceptional for our Québec athletes, including for the Pinegrove member and native of Ange-Gardien, in the Montérégie area. Quite discrete up to now, Joey Savoie turned out to be one of the best elements for the St. Leo University Lions this year. Ranking in the Top 10 five times, he also led his team to victory in the NCAA Southeastern Association tournament held at Valdosta, GA.

Joey Savoie http://www.saintleolions.com/sports/mgolf/2014-15/bios/savoie_joey_qm7b Nephew of Golf Professional Jean-Louis Lamarre, Joey Savoie has captured many individual titles in his junior days with Golf Québec. He is one of the most promising rising stars of Québec golf along with Hugo Bernard who will also join an American university in September.

 

 

 

 

Women’s Clinics at Golf Le Mirage Play Like a Pro

http://www.golfquebec.org/index.asp?id=798

As any other sport enthusiast, women are also striving to improve their skills and increase their enjoyment of the game. To provide them with the necessary tools and coaching to achieve their goals, Golf Québec teams up once again with Debbie Savoy Morel and her group of professionals at Golf Le Mirage. Together, we will conduct two development and improvement clinics, on June 4 and August 24.

In the past editions of our women’s development clinics, participants have grown to expect top-notch coaching. This summer’s sessions will not be different! On June 4, golfers will benefit from a “Technology and Full Swing” Golf Day in which they will learn how to improve their game using cutting edge tools.

Later on, the very popular VIP and Pro-Am LPGA Clinic will be back at Golf Le Mirage as some of the best golf professionals of North America will gather on August 23. Exercises of the day will focus on “The Scoring Game” or, in other words, the last 100 yards. Participants will learn how to master those strokes that represent 60 to 65% of your total score in a golf round.

View our YouTube coverage of last year’s clinic https://youtu.be/c-wWclmMy5o

These two training sessions, specifically designed for women, were made possible thanks to the participation of the first female golfer

 

 

to ever become Head Professional of a Canadian facility, Trois-Rivières resident, Debbie Savoy Morel and her team of LPGA guests professionals, Donna White and Mary Lee Cobick. Coaching professional since 1993, Debbie is also the only woman in Québec to act as Head Pro of a 36-hole golf club. She actually was the first one woman to do so in Canada. Aside from these two development clinics to be presented at Golf Le Mirage, ladies who are affiliated with Golf Québec’s member-clubs surely will be interested to play in Golf Fore

the Cure events and contribute to raise funds to fight against breast cancer. Through the presentation of these events dedicated to women, Golf Québec aims to offer a different and exciting golf experience. Register now! golfquebec.org/womengolf

 

 

 

 

The Golfmobile Is on Tour in Québec

Get the Golfmobile to Visit Your School!

Golf Québec’s mission is based on a long tradition and still honours the development of sport at grassroots level through introduction programs such as the Golfmobile that facilitates creating links between existing development initiatives that are already implemented in school environments.

This program is entering its third year. Its main goal is to introduce children to golf from the first to the sixth grade. Altogether, it enables us to create a dynamic link between the Golf in Schools program, integrated in Phys. Ed. classes of elementary and high schools, and other programs. In 2015, the Golfmobile will visit elementary schools, at no charge, among those that are participating in the Golf in Schools program. Our Golf Coordinator will conduct fun activities for students of those schools while providing support to

the Physical Education Teachers for the implementation of their own golf program. The main objective of these visits is to familiarize the Physical Education Teachers with the teaching material at their disposal so they can keep on giving golf lessons even if they are not golf specialists. This program, in parallel with the Golfmobile, was designed to help children to develop aspects of physical literacy related to the sport of golf, and increase student knowledge and appreciation for the game. With this in mind, Golf Québec strives to help students acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to lead healthy, active lives and enjoy success at all levels of sport participation. https://youtu.be/Rhn3aUmNwks

 

 

The Golfmobile initiative, combined with the Golf in Schools program, offers a variety of activities to visited

school establishments such as: visit of a golf professional, training sessions for Phys. Ed. teachers, and field trips to a golf facility. All our efforts are

focusing on facilitating the transition of children “From School to the Golf Club”. http://www.golfquebec.org/index.asp?id=985 Golf Québec is already planning its schedule for the fall of 2015. Call us now to get more information.

Eligibility conditions for a Golfmobile visit: 1. Be on the list of participating schools registered in the

Golf in Schools program; 2. The Golfmobile will travel for workshops of 3 to 5 periods; 3. Selected teaching establishments can only receive the Golfmobile once; 4. Maximum of 25 students per hour of supervision (regular classes, aged 6 to 12

years old); ** In the case where there would be more than 25 students per hour of supervision, a minimum of 2 respondents is required for safety purposes, and other conditions may apply** 5. Children must be accompanied by their Physical Education Teacher at all times

(not by a substitute teacher);

6. Intentions to develop a dynamic link with one of the renowned golf clubs of their area are must;

7. Submit the following registration form to Golf Québec in order to be visited by the Golfmobile during the school year;

8. Once a school candidacy is accepted, the establishment will need to fill-out and sign the Golfmobile visitation agreement.

 

 

Junior Schedule https://youtu.be/ep_KqLnqsGo

The 2015 Golf Season Gets a Facelift

As an increase interest for golf competition is seen within young and new participants, Golf Québec pursues its mission of developing competitive golf by supervising local, regional, and provincial tournaments. Our ultimate goal is to bring our future golf stars to higher levels of competitions so they can eventually play in national championships, for example.

In 2015, Golf Québec will conduct over 17 provincial events, competitions, and qualifiers for golfers of all junior ages, including bantam, pee-wee and mosquitos. Many amendments were made to optimize our schedule. It enables our future headliners to discover the game of golf in the Introduction to Competition Tour (ICT) and creates the opportunity to measure up to the best golfers of their age group on the Regional Junior Tour (RJT) and Provincial Junior Tour.

First on the Course This new golf season is not different from the few past ones. Our junior golfers were the first ones on the course as they played in the Junior Spring Open held in the New York State on May 2 and 3. Amongst tournaments composing this extensive schedule, the Provincial Junior Tour events as well as the Boys’ and Girls’ Provincial Junior Championships will be the most important ones to keep an eye out for. A member of the Team Canada Development Squad, Étienne Papineau, will also catch everyone’s attention. The 18 years old golfer will attempt to capture a third consecutive title at the Boys’ Championship. Should he be successful at doing so, he would only be the second golfer to achieve this accomplishment with Mathieu Rivard who completed the hat-trick in 2008. Online Registration http://quebec.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/quebec15/schedule/golfquebecjr/index.htm

Other major changes include the schedule leading to the Boys’ and

 

 

Girls’ Provincial Junior Championships and that was completely reviewed. The Golf Québec team added a brand new event

designed specifically for golfers of 11 to 14 years old, the Provincial Pee-Wee and Bantam Classic to be held at Verchères on May 30 and 31. As well, the Assante Optimiste Classic was integrated in the junior calendar of this season. In terms of participation, this 36-hole competition will be the biggest junior tournament in Québec with over 245 golfers. https://youtu.be/Rhn3aUmNwks

In 2015, the Introduction to Competition Tour (ICT) will be back in every region. This will be an amazing opportunity to introduce your children of 7 to 11 years old to the universe of competitive golf. Online registration for all provincial events has begun on March 1.

 

 

New Headliners Are Revealing Themselves Charles-Éric Bélanger and Noémie Paré Capture Their First Victories https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153305168327767.1073741898.168062312766&type=3

Charles-Éric Bélanger dominated all of the competitions held in the Capitale-Nationale region last year. He also experienced an excellent 2014 golf season at the provincial level. His intentions for the new competitive season became very clear as he captured the victory of the Junior Spring Open, the first leg of the Provincial Junior Tour. http://quebec.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/quebec15/event/quebec151/contest/10/leaderboard.htm

The Olde Kinderhook Golf Club in Valatie, NY, was the stage to great performances as two of our promising players, Charles-Éric and Noémie Paré, captured the first victories of their careers. This could be an omen of the upcoming golf season. This first provincial victory was perfectly timed for the young Québec

City player who intends on having the best golf season of his life. “I prepared myself for this event and trained seriously during the two months that we spent down South, in the United States, this past winter. For me, it was crucial to get the show on the road straight from the start and to maintain my pace from there. I really did not want to be a runner-up once again,” admitted Charles-Éric Bélanger when we met with him after completion of the tournament. Even if the first round was quite a challenge for most golfers, the young

https://youtu.be/27pKZzDogl4

 

 

Royal Québec rookie managed to play the par with three birdies and bogeys. Gold medalist in the 2-man

Vegas competition of the last Québec Games held in Longueuil, Bélanger played very steadily during the weekend. His score of 71 (-1) in the second round led him to victory with a 2-stroke advance on his closest opponent. Only Québec representative on the Team Canada Development Squad, Étienne Papineau ranked 3rd despite his final score of 70 (-2). Our 2014 Provincial Junior Champion and Canada Game gold medalist played 76 in the first round of the Junior Spring Open. As a result, he tied for third with Félix Normand with an overall score of +2. Noémie Paré Begins the Season With a Roar https://youtu.be/_NbZc5_XScU At the latest Québec Games, she had teamed up with Audrey Côté to capture the gold medal in the “Two-ball, best ball” competition. This time, Noémie Paré proved that she can also win individually by registering the two best scores of her career.

With a card of 73 (+1) in the first round, the Victoriaville athlete maintained her winning streak with four birdies and only three bogeys in the second round. Overall, she played the par after two rounds. Juvenile Champion of the second leg of the 2014 Provincial Junior Tour, Noémie Paré had never fully won across the board before. This first victory means a lot to the young golfer: “This winter, I spent a lot of time with my brother, in Florida, and I worked really hard on improving my skills as well as some psychological aspects of the game. I am very proud to see that my efforts are finally rewarded,” she explains in her interview.

Provincial Amateur Champion of 2014, young Ontario player, Grace St-Germain seems to be one of the most serious contenders for this new competitive season. Following a first

 

 

round of 77, she registered a score of 70 (-2); the lower score of the event. Due to their performances, Brendan Smith of Dufferin Heights, Jake Bryson of Eagle Creek, and Antoine Rioux of Royal Québec earned

automatic bid in the Boys’ Provincial Junior Championship to be held at Le Blainvillier from July 19 to 23.