US College PlayerEvan LittlefieldWins InauguralWhitewaterInvitational presented byBoston Pizza.

JUNE 2012

Fort William CountryClub OffersBeautiful Setting For GolfSee Page 8

The Next La Costa:Golf, Spa, and Food

Equals RelaxationSee Pages 6 -7

The TBDGA2012

TournamentCalendar

My Golf Gamewith a 6 Time

PGA TourWinner- Steve

Pate

Manitouwadge,Marathon,

White RiverGolf

Note: Some of the dates orcourses are subject to change2012 Member Club and TBDGATournamentsJUNEJune 16-17Mallon’s Play It Again SportsBetter BallChapples Golf CourseFort William C.C.June 19Marathon Senior Men’s OpenPeninsula Golf CourseJune 22Kenogamisis Mens SeniorInvitationalKenogamisis Golf CourseJune 23North Shore Invitational (27holes)North Shore Golf CourseJune 29Municipal 2 man ScrambleMunicipal Golf CourseJULYJune 30-July 1The Keg District Open

Strathcona Golf ClubWhitewater Golf ClubJuly 7-8Chapples Invitational (3 manscramble)Chapples Golf CourseJuly 12Steve “O” Senior InvitationalThunder Bay Country ClubJuly 14-15Strathcona Club ChampionshipStrathcona Golf ClubJuly 20North Shore Senior 2 ManNorth Shore Golf CourseJuly 21-22Whitewater GC ClubChampionshipWhitewater Golf ClubJuly 28-29Aguasabon 4 Man MastersAgusabon Golf CourseJuly 28-29Fort William CC ClubChampionshipFort William Country Club

AUGUSTAugust 3-6Strathcona InvitationalStrathcona Golf CourseAugust 4-5Stanley Thompson Memorial 2ManKenogamisis Golf Course

August 10-12Fort William Country ClubInvitationalFort William Country ClubAugust 11-12Marathon Men's OpenPeninsula Golf CourseAugust 11-12Chapples Club ChampionshipChapples Golf CourseAugust 18-19The BergstromKenogamisis Golf CourseAugust 18-19Municipal Club ChampionshipMunicipal Golf CourseAugust 18-19Thunder Bay CC ClubChampionshipThunder Bay Country ClubAugust 23-24TBDGA District JuniorChampionshipTBA\August 25-26Centennial Club ChampionshipCentennial Golf CourseAugust 25-26Aguasabon Men's OpenAguasabon Golf CourseAugust 25-26Dragon Hills ClubChampionshipDragon Hills Golf CourseSEPTEMBER

September 1-3Canadian Tire District AmateurStrathcona Golf CourseChapples Golf CourseWhitewater Golf ClubSeptember 1-2Marathon Club ChampionshipPeninsula Golf CourseSeptember 1-2Geraldton Club ChampionshipKenogamisis Golf CourseSeptember 8North Shore Two Man Best BallNorth Shore Golf CourseSeptember 9Municipal InvitationalMunicipal Golf CourseSeptember 8-9Emerald Greens ClubChampionshipEmerald Greens Golf CourseSeptember 15District Mid Am QualifyingTBAOCTOBEROctober 6Dragon Hills Open 4 ManScrambleDragon Hills Golf CourseOctober 7Stokaluk Shoot-OutMunicipal Golf Course

The Thunder Bay District GolfAssociation is a non-profitorganization responsible forcoordinating and promoting golfactivities and championship tour-naments with member clubs inthe Thunder Bay District.

The TBDGA held is annualmeeting on Sunday February 19,2012. The new executive is asfollows:

President - Laurence TullochVice-President - AndrewScavarelliSecretary - Scott AdamsTreasurer - Peter CampnerPast President - Barry CalandMembers at Large:Walter Keating Jr.Ed AtwillCurtis HildebrandtTony StokalukMatt Taylor

Dustin Wilson remains as theJunior ChairmanBarry Caland has steppeddown after eight years as thePresident. Laurence Tullochtakes over as President afterbeing acclaimed.

The TBDGA 2012 Tournament Calendar

Send Us Your Golf Event Results!We’d Love To Publish Them.

You Can Also Include a Picture or TwoEmail to

Scott Sumnernspinc@tbaytel.netwww.golfingnews.ca

Page 2 JUNE 2012

On a recent trip to the famed La Costaresort near San Diego,California I waslooking forward to playing the recentlyrenovated and reopened Championscourse. The Champions had been host to37 PGA Tour events over the years wonby such famous golfers as Jack Nicklausand Tiger Woods.

During breakfast a nicely dressed man inCalloway garb came up to me and said, Ihave your clubs on the cart and amgoing over to the range. Little had Iknown I would get to play that day with50-year- old Steve Pate, winner of 6PGA Tours events including at this very

course and now a regular ChampionsTour player. As an avid golfer and some-one who watches PGA Tour events regu-larly on TV and in person it was going tobe a fun day!

I’m not a great warm up person beforegolf but watching Steve Pate hit ballsand practice putting to right before ourtee time made me realize I might have tostart. He liked practicing Steve told meand that day was tinkering with puttersbefore gong up to the Calloway facilitysome 10 minutes away from La Costatomorrow.

Just before we began play I saw a famil-iar face from TV walking towards us-Deepak Chopra whose world headquar-ters are at La Costa and is where heholds many of his retreat events for peo-ple from all over the world. Deepak wasfriendly and it was fun to get twofamous people in conversation and a pic-ture!

Our fore some started our game withArt, another golf writer from Dallas andEd of the PR firm based in Pebble Beachwhich handles La Costa. Our starter toldus it would be cart path only, words Idon’t like to hear having a leg injury, butthis was going to be a good day anyway.

Steve Pate played on the PGA Tour from1988 to 1999 and won his last event in1998. Times have changed since thenwhen his first win gave him a winningpurse of $72,000 and last win around$ 270,000. “ The winner of the ValeroTexas Open last week made more inprize money than all my 6 wins com-bined " smiled Steve Pate who nowplays the Champions Tour on a regularbasis and loves it. " I like the 3 dayevents with no cut" stated Steve Patewho has always looked at the tee shot assomething you get out of the way untilyou go and have fun. Steve went toUCLA just up the road from La Costafor his college golf and is now partnerswith Damian Pascuzzo doing golf coursedesign including the renovation of thiscourse, Champions and the second SouthCourse on the property soon. Beforereaching the age of 50 Steve playedmany events and won on the NationwideTour to keep his game sharp.

After playing with Steve I rememberedhis nickname “ Volcano" because of hisintensity on the course. Today Steve ismuch more relaxed on the ChampionsTour but still enjoys the competition. Helives in the area, as he has all his life,and it seems to me his life has been apretty good one. It will be fun to watchSteve play a full schedule on theChampions Tour this year where he haswon some pretty good cheques already!

www.golfingnews.ca

My Golf Game with a 6 Time PGA TourWinner- Steve Pate

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

Page 3JUNE 2012

The west coast of North America isalways a nice place to visit and during thelast week of April I had the opportunity totravel to the San Diego, California areaand specially the famed La Costa resort.

Your trip to La Costa is really quite easywith a short flight to Toronto from my

home city of Thunder Bay, Ontario toToronto and then a direct Air Canadaflight to San Diego. You will arrive at1pm at the San Diego airport and after a30 minute car ride, enter the beautiful 450acre La Costa grounds. As the LAX air-port at Los Angeles got bigger andreached their capacity the San Diego air-port benefits with more direct flights.

They also have the John Wayne Airportjust North, some 45 miles at Carlsbad.

Paul Joseph McCormick is the VicePresident and General Manager of LaCosta located in Carlsbad, California. Hegrew up in Niagara Falls, New York andcame often to Trout Lake, Ontario nearBarrie Bay in Canada where his familystill owns a cottage. Paul went to collegein Las Vegas, spent 6 years working inHawaii, opened the Luxor in Las Vegasand worked at the Grand Traverse Resort,Michigan and PGA West Barton Creekbefore coming to La Costa.

The La Costa property was originallybuilt in 1965 and at that time it was theplace to go with a destination spa, one ofthe first in the US and a beautiful golfcourse. “ In those days the men's side ofthe spa was about 2 1/2 times the size ofthe ladies spa. Then the old cronies wouldgo in and get massages. Today it has allchanged. The ladies spa is about 2 1/2times the size of the men's.” saidMcCormick.

Through the years La Costa has had ahigh profile holding 37 PGA events andalso having an array of the Hollywood setvisit. Even recently they have had manycelebrities like actors, TV personalitiesand sports figures so La Costa has a rich

history. In the old days the Rat Packwould do a warm up here with theirlounge show and after that take a breakand go to Las Vegas.Once you are at La Costa you are with ina close distance to many other areasincluding 1 1/2 hours up the road to LosAngeles.

La Costa was built in 1965, had its hayday and then a Japanese company boughtit. They experienced some trouble andKSL bought it in 2001 and started a fullrenovation process. KSL owns Club Corpwhich has 160 golf clubs including theClub Link properties in Canada, WesternAthletic Clubs, the Squaw Valley ski area,Orion Cruise Lines in addition to the KSLresorts which has 6 properties. Their headoffices are in Denver.

In 2006 KSL sold the property toGoldman Sachs and retained the manage-ment contract. They owned it for 4 yearsuntil 2010 and then KSL brought theproperty back from Goldman Sachsbecause they were having a rough go, asit was a tough time to be in the hotel busi-ness.

Continued Next Page

The Next La Costa: Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

The beautiful La Costa resort feature 2 18 hole golf courses over 600 rooms and ahuge spa complex with over 40 treatment rooms

Page 4 JUNE 2012

Continued From Previous Page

" After buying the property back we starteda $50 million renovation which includedthe Champions Golf Course, all of our

food and beverage outlets, the meetingspace, guest rooms and our retail outlets aswell as the overall aesthetics of the resort,”said McCormick. “ It is a stunning place.Our plans are to move forward with someimprovements to the second course includ-ing fairways, tees, greens, irrigation andthen the aesthetics. On the Championscourse 75% of the work we completed youcan’t even see, as it was all underground.We wanted proper drainage.”

La Costa is located on 450 acres of primereal estate in Southern California with atremendous location an hour from OrangeCounty, 1 1/2 hour from LA and 30 min-utes north of downtown San Diego. Theyare in a sweet spot with a good density ofpopulation. La Costa has 610 rooms at theresort ranging from villa products with 3bedrooms to your standard hotel rooms,some on the course and other near privatepools. The property is spread out morecampus style so there is lots of walking toenjoy the gardens and foliage. La Costahas received many accolades including thenumber 1-wellness spa in the nation.

“ We leveled the first spa and rebuilt thisbrand new spa in 2003/4. It has it’s owncourtyard and cafe, separate pool, romanwaterfall showers and 42 treatment rooms.We were the originals in SouthernCalifornia. We look at ourselves as a well-ness destination where 12 months of theyear you can be outside. Our philosophy isfresh air equals fresh thinking. Our guestsspend 80% of their time out side. The SanDiego weather is probably our most won-derful benefit here at La Costa,” smilesPaul McCormick. “ We also have DeepakChopra’s world wide headquarters righthere on the grounds of La Costa. La Costahas something for everybody. For the fami-ly we have waterslides and pools, greatcamp programs and a kid center where youcan drop your kid's off and mom and dadcan go to the spa or go golfing and have awonderful vacation. The kids do as well.We have guys groups which come andplay some golf, watch some sports, have acocktail and can relax with our wonderfuladult pool.The ladies have the spa which isgreat.”

At La Cost a package is the best option forguests which can include a spa, golf androom package which can run for a couplefrom $600 to $800 night. La Costa offersso much to do with 42 different fitnessclasses every week as part of your experi-ence. The resort is also located 1 1/2 milesfrom the ocean. Another very uniqueaspect of La Costa is the close proximity

they have to golf companies Calloway,Taylor Made, Titleist and Cobra- Puma. Infact Cobra Puma have their testing centrelocated right at La Costa. Since Marchthey also have the PGA Tour Academy,

their west coast facility, right here at LaCosta. You can visit Calloway for instanceand do a tour, which is pretty spectacular.You can even get fitted for clubs here. Themanufacturers chose to be here because ofthe consistent weather where they can testtheir product in a wonderful environment.

The Champions course at La Costa hasbeen totally renovated. “ We took about 30acres of turf grass and replaced it withnative grasses moving in a green directionsaving on water costs.” said DamianPascuzzo who along with partner formerPGA Tour and Champions Tour playerSteve Pate and architect Jeff Brauerreturned the course to world class standardfor which it had become famous. JeffBrauer helped with 30% on the work. Theflood water now stays in the rough awayfrom the fairways.

“ Steve Pate and I started working togetherin 2003 and joined formally in 2006. Wemade 23 visits to the course during con-struction. It was a fast track renovation.They wanted better playing conditions toovercome the reputation of being wet andsoggy. The bones were bad and needed anew irrigation system. Our soils were highin salts and the sand capping we didhelped flushing that out. The soils were a

challenge to work with. Sand capping thefairways allowed the water to stay longenough to feed the grasses but then drainaway.”

La Costa is one of the most beautifulproperties I have visited in my frequenttravels around the world. The grounds arejust beautifully maintained and the over1000 staff members at La Costa make your

time there very enjoyable. The recent reno-vations make your living accommodationsfirst class and your dining, golf and spaexperiences excellent. You should makeyour next vacation, La Costa.

The grounds at La Costa were beautiful. It is a very large campus style with beautifullandscaping everywhere!

Page 5JUNE 2012

The Next La Costa: Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation

The first ever Whitewater Invitationalpresented by Boston Pizza was held at theWhitewater Golf Club over the May longweekend. The 4-day match play eventstarted with a stroke play game to deter-mine the championship flight rankings andthe other flights to make up the field of 48players. The final championship match onMonday afternoon featured two local resi-dents who both attend US universities ongolf scholarships, Evan Littlefield and JeffHunter. Evan won the back and forthmatch on the 18th hole on a beautifulsunny day at Whitewater.

“ It has been a awesome event. We havebeen looking to do an invitational event fora long period of time. The Whitewatergolf course sets up very well for a matchplay event. It gave us the opportunity to trymultiple tee decks and mix it up each andevery day play with the pin placements. Ithas been a fun event and well accepted bythe players,” said Matt Simmons Directorof Golf Whitewater Golf Club, ThunderBay, Ontario. “ We chose the top 10 on theTBDGA list and if they weren't already onthe list, the top ten of the players of thedecade. The junior district champion andany other major winners of 2011 were alsogiven invitations for a total of 15 invita-tions. We had 12 come and play in our

event from there. Part of the invitationswent to the Whitewater members and wehad quite a few of them play.”

“ Evan Littlefield and Jeff Hunter was anexciting final championship flight match towatch. Both play US college golf; both areCore Golf Academy students andWhitewater members. We are very happywith the condition of the golf course thisyear, it is fabulous.” smiles Simmons.

“ It feels good to win. They were hardmatches each one of them. I just played towhat I could do out there and got it donewhen I had to,” said Evan Littlefield, age20, who had matches against MylesPeterson, Barry Caland, Evan Degrazia andthen Jeff Hunter in the final. “ We wentback and forth all day and it just seemed Icame out on top at the end but it was toughout there. The conditions were tough butthe course is in great shape right now. Thegreens are beautiful. It is really nice forMay long weekend.”

Evan Littlefield is 5 feet 10 inches tall

and weighs 130 pounds and can hit the balla long way. Last year he was a freshman atWestern New Mexico in New Mexico. “ Itwas a great experience playing college golfwith guys from all over America and see-ing what that is like. It was tough. Weplayed in 6 events. There are a lot of goodplayers in my division from California.There are lot of good players here inThunder Bay as well,” noted Littlefield.“ I am planning on playing all the local

events and try and come to the course

every day and play 18 or practice. Ihaven’t decided on what my course spe-cialty at school is yet, right now I am tak-ing golf.”

Evan Littlefield spent two years at theCore Golf Academy in Orlando beforestarting his college golf career. “ It wasamazing at Core Academy. The coachingthere got my mental game improved drasti-cally. They just helped me plot my waythrough the golf course. I spent my senioryear in high school and post graduate yearworking with Sean Foley, Jeff Hay andTom Jackson,” smiled Evan. “ It wasamazing having my grandfather out herewatching who turned 95 today. I was play-ing for him, every shot I hit was for him,and it feels good.”

Jeff Hunter of Thunder Bay was in thechampionship match and enjoyed the com-petition. “ I was good fairway to green butnot very good off the tee box and it kind ofkilled me. I was hitting the driver wellcoming into this event, but not at the event.

The 3 wood went well so I should havekept the driver in the bag a little bit more I

think,” said Jeff Hunter who attendsSoutheastern Oklahoma University located1 1/2 hours north of Dallas. He is a the 4.0grade student taking accounting. “ Thiswas my second year in the US. It wentwell. I made the all conference team play-ing 10 events. School is easier for me thangolf for some reason.”

Hunter has also attended the Core GolfAcademy program in Orlando. “ It was agreat experience. I leaned a lot about golfand met a bunch of cool people so I would-

n’t change it for the world,”smiles Hunterwho had a couple top 10s this year and a

second last year in college golf. “ I likeplaying golf although it is a tough gameand is hard to get better. Sometimes it justclicks for some people. I have two yearsleft at school to figure out what to next. Iwould like to play golf full time but thatgoes for everybody in this tournament Ithink. There is a long way to go before that

for sure. It was good to do well at thisevent.”

US College Player Evan Littlefield Wins InauguralWhitewater Invitational presented by Boston Pizza.

Page 6 JUNE 2012

Eric Peterson, age 95 grandfather Evan Littlefield and Frank Littlefield, father

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

Page 7JUNE 2012

ManitouwadgeMunicipal Golf Course

The Manitouwadge Municipal Golf Courseis a 9 hole course measuring 3193 yardsfor men's play and 2475 yards for ladies.The course offers a picturesque setting anda combination of undulating and flat fair-ways with small, well positioned greens.

The course is open from May to Octoberand booking of tee times is not necessarythough a call to the clubhouse at 807-826-4265 to check on course condi-tions and tournament play would be rec-ommended.

Course Information9 Holes/Par 36Tees for SeniorsNational Rating: 75Slope rating: 125Putting GreenGolf Cart RentalsGreen Fees under $ 20.00

Municipal Clubhouse

Our newly constructed licensed clubhouseoffers lights snacks, club storage lockers,and limited sale of golf merchandise.An excellent view of the entire course canbe seen from our balcony on the secondfloor. This facility is open from May toOctober for the golfers and doubles as ourlocal cross country ski club facility in thewinter months.The clubhouse can be rented for privatetournaments or functions. During the golf-ing season arrangements can be made foryour event by calling (807) 826-4265.

MarathonPeninsula Golf Course

Stanley Thompson, CGA, designedPeninsula Golf Course, a beautiful, public9-hole golf course overlooking LakeSuperior. With a licensed club house, proshop, resident golf pro, rental equipment,and golf carts, you will find everythingyou need for a great day of golfing!

The Golf Course is located on PeninsulaRoad and hours of operation are 7:00 a.m.to dusk, daily. Lounge hours of operationare 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Pro Shop hours

of operation are 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Memberships and Fees

During the season, all items may be pur-

chased at the golf course. Call the golfcourse at (807)229-1392 for more informa-tion.

"Outdoor adventure right at your doorstep!"

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The Fort William Country Club started in1925 as a nine hole layout and thenexpanded to eighteen holes in the mid60’s. Designed by the famed StanleyThompson the course has gone throughmany changes over the years to provideone of the best golf experiences inNorthern Ontario.

“ As time progresses there are newrequirements with golf courses say withwatering needs which are much differentthan 40 or 50 years ago. Also we areusing more carts than before whichrequires cart paths,” said Bill French,General Manager of the Fort WilliamCountry Club. “ We have also rebuiltnumerous tee boxes and the greens were

done several years ago. We changed allthe sand in the traps and corrected most ofthe drainage on them. In the clubhouse wehave dressed up the locker rooms, themain floor and the upstairs decoratingthings to bring it up to today. Everythingneeds updating and up grading along theway.”“ There are different clubs and courseshere now. Twenty five years ago peopleonly saw the courses they played all yearround. Today people are travelling moreand seeing different things. Theirdemands are higher on how they want tosee the course they play all the time.”saidFrench.

The Fort William Country Club contin-ues to be one of the most popular golfcourses in the region. “ We have thestrongest membership of any course in thecity. Our membership doesn’t vary much.

We have members that have been here for40 plus years. Our oldest members would

have close to 50 years here, in that cate-gory. ” said French. “ If you are not amember just call up to the pro shop andthey will fit you in when they have a timeopen.” What does Bill French enjoy about theFWCC? “ I play a fair amount and thinkthe scenery here is spectacular. The gran-ite wall of the mountain is where you willhit into and creates a spectacular backdrop view.When we put people on thecourse for the first time they areawestruck by the mountain behind themon most holes. We have lots of deer run-ning through the grounds. We are close tothe city. I think it’s a super course. Wehave great restaurant service and a phe-nomenal banquet service.”

It was fun to play the FWCC again latelast year after having been a memberthere for so many years. The course con-tinues to impress me especially with thespectacular mountain back drop. In recentyears I have got to play some of the verybest golf courses in the world. TheFWCC is a great place to play and it’smembers should be very proud of theircourse.

Fort William Country Club OffersBeautiful Setting For Golf

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

the FWCC has a beautiful setting.It was fun playing golf with Bevy,

Jerry and Scott!

Page 8 JUNE 2012