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Thank God for Golf

February 25, 2021 by Dianne Hutton

2020 was a record-setting year for rounds of golf played despite the challenges associated with Covid-19. Little did any of us know that the game of golf would be revitalized as numerous people flocked to get out of the house and enjoy some fresh air and exercise. Even on bad weather days it was difficult to get a tee time. It is thought that this renewed popularity is what the future holds as many new people are taking up the game.

We were so very fortunate to have the continued support from the golf courses as all of them were packed from dawn to dusk and tee times were a premium.

Back in February of 2020 when the Corona virus was upgraded to a pandemic who thought it would be with us a year later? In those early times of lock-down and isolation we were hard pressed to find ways to stay positive and active, the isolation started to take a toll on our minds, bodies and spirits. Then the golf courses were allowed to open with protocols established to keep us safe and we turned to golf as an outlet. Playing a game of golf offered us respite from despondency and isolation, it was our bright light and offered us a semblance of normalcy.

As we head into 2021 we believe our golf will be much the same, we will still have to distance; we will still have to follow established protocols; we will still be able to enjoy and have fun.

If you are not a member of GOLFAROUND INC and you want to play golf we are open to registrations in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. Don’t delay though there are only so many spots available and as you can see golf is at a high demand

Filed Under: News

Edmonton 9 Hole Day League

February 25, 2021 by admin_account

Great News!!!  We have planned a 9 Hole Day league for the Edmonton ladies on Wednesday mornings. This is a nice option for those that do not have the whole day for a game of golf.

There are benefits to playing 9 holes for all of us. Let’s face it we live in a very busy world with work and family commitments and it is tough to find some time for ourselves. It is important to get a well-deserved break every now and then but going out and playing 18 holes of golf isn’t always easy due to time, cost, and physical limitations.

  • Playing 9 holes should take just under 2 ½ hrs
  • 9 holes rates are less than 18 hole rates – as we try to get the best bang for our buck these days
  • Playing nine holes allows you to get great exercise without overdoing it if you face health restraints

Come out and play holes – no more excuses!!!

Filed Under: News

Golfaround Chronicals 2016 to 2019 Part 2

February 25, 2021 by Dianne Hutton

In 2017 we introduced indoor Short Game clinics at Riverside and at a new facility, Grand Slam. The instructors were great, the venues excellent and everyone had fun.

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Canada 2017 marked a significant moment in our countries history, our 150th  birthday and of course we had to celebrate Golfaround style. We chose the Mystery bus trip and the theme was great, so many dressed for the occasion and Lee Creek Valley folk were great hosts and we enjoyed sunshine and awesome golf and then a major hail storm hit but we were done and enjoying a great banquet and bevies.

Play & Stays included Kimberly and Golf and Gamble at St Eugene Mission. Edmonton members had an awesome tournament Meeting of the Clans. It was very well done and there were some pretty awesome Highlanders on the golf course as well as some pretty neat games which made us laugh.

Our next season in 2018 was challenged by smoke, With 322 hours of smoke recorded in Calgary, 2018 is the smokiest year ever recorded in the city, It certainly played havoc with many who suffer from breathing issues and was a bit of a damper for great golf.

We added some golf courses to our roster, Maple Ridge, Woodside, Serenity and Lil Devil and it was fun to have more awesome courses to play.

Malasia a Southeast Asian country occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo was our unique travel destination in 2018. It’s known for its beaches, rainforests and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultural influences. This trip offered us a myriad of interesting, diverse and exciting adventures.

Golfing in the wild of the tropical rainforest has been described as Asia’s best kept secret and it offered us a unique challenge and afforded some beautiful malasian landscapes

Penang’s rich history, incredible architecture and cultured foods are the usual attraction, but we  also enjoyed top-class golf at some of Malaysia’s leading courses. Penang Golf Club & Bukit Jawi Golf Resort were those we played in Penang.  Penang is steeped in history as we can attest to. We strolled down a living heritage community as we visited Chew Jetty. What started as a wooden passageway slowly became a cluster of houses perched above the sea shores by stilts, this site is locked away in a time zone by itself disregarding the urban development taking place around it. We saw an array of temples the best of which was Kek Lok Si the largest Buddhist Temple in Malaysia. It was a truly impressive complex housing temple grounds, temples, gardens, the pagoda and the four heavenly kings pavilion and an enormous statue of the Goddess of Mercy. After that we experienced riding the funicular train up to Penang Hill where I saw my first monkey cup plant. Georgetown was unique, we saw atmospheric temples, street art, brightly coloured trishaws and mega malls are abundant in this beach town. We flew from Penang to Kota Kinabalu. KK,  as it is known by the natives,  has bustling markets, modern boardwalks, beaches and waterfront. Just a speed boat away were beautiful islands and the snorkeling was outstanding. Again the golf was interesting we played Dalit Bay Country Club and Sutera Harbour. My personal favorite was Sutera Harbour i. We enjoyed beautiful vistas and we also encountered many challenges, monkeys taking our balls, water hazards and rough, and our night golf was especially interesting if you did not hit in the light beams bye bye ball.
We had an early morning flight to Sandakan where we observed orangutans and Malayan sun bears at conservation centers in Sepilok.

Our highlight was the sojourn in the jungle. Who would have known that you could travel two hours by boat to the middle of the Jungle and find a top notch Resort, the Sukau Rainforest Lodge, in the middle of nowhere, This is one of the National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World. What a feeling to be completely secluded in the jungle listening to the music of the rainforest! Imagine gliding down the river in the morning mists and the afternoon light, spotting wildlife up close from a quiet electric-motored boat. We could stroll right from our room into the jungle on an elevated boardwalk, stopping to see wildlife and tropical plants. We dined on a riverfront terrace, taking in the view over delicious meals as well as watching monkeys and rare birds flit among the trees as we cooled off in the refreshing pool. The nighttime river cruise allowed us to see sleeping birds up front and personal, it seemed surreal.
Everything was top notch and even if we did not see the pigmy elephants we saw an amazing array of monkeys and an orangutan and her junior.  We identified many different birds as well as dozens of primates, reptiles, and a variety of land mammals.

Our final destination, Kuala Lumpur,  offered us excitement as there was a major thunder storm when we were downtown visiting The Petronas Twin Towers, what a rush that was. The architecture is indeed amazing as were the many other attractions we visited. The Palm course at Saujana Golf & Country Club has a reputation for being an exacting test. The sloping greens are fast while the dramatic changes in elevation and undulating fairways are challenging even to professionals. This was a challenging round of golf and the heat and humidity made, for me,  a very perplexing round of golf but it was a great way to end up our fascinating Malasia golf experience. The memories and experiences will stay with us always.

Filed Under: Chronicles, News

Better Things are Coming

January 28, 2021 by admin_account

It is really hard to plan when you don’t know what is around the corner, however always optimistic.  By now we would have been hitting balls for 4 weeks and played some virtual golf.  The north and south domes  have not been open and I am not sure if the south dome will be available due to the collapse after that heavy snow fall.  Once things get open we will communicate the plans for practice this winter. We are hopeful and look forward to seeing everyone, I think we are all missing socializing and to quote CJ “getting sick of our own company”.  We won’t plan a virual golf league on a regular basis but hope to provide  a couple of separate events.

Looking forward to welcoming back the members we refunded last year due to Covid and looking forward to meeting the new members. Registration opens up on the website  February 1.

Filed Under: News

Golfaround Chronicles 2016 to 2020

January 28, 2021 by Dianne Hutton

Looking back over the first 20 years of Golfaround  we found that it was maybe time to recapture the last four years. Remembering where we went and what we did will give us something to look forward to in the seasons to come. This will be the first of three articles.

The 2016 season certainly had it’s challenges, the weather Gods were not too kind to us. The big, black cloud came in at about 4pm every week day and sometimes on the weekends as well. We couldn’t remember when we had such violent storms. We were lucky though to have an early Spring start and instead of hitting ball inside the Dome in April we actually played outside on the course at Fox Hollow. We had fun at the Mystery Bus trip which saw us in Golden with a great theme of “Golf is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get”. If you saw Forrest Gump you will remember that line but it was about life. However it does adequately describe the challenge of the average amateur golfer every time he or she tees it up. What game is going to show up today? Our spin was the mystery of what you got on every hole. Also the Play & Stay in Fernie and Edmonton’s wind-up at Broadmoor enjoyed some favorable weather.

2016 was also when The Elks Golf Club changes their structure and with it their name, it changed to The Winston the golf course didn’t change and we continued to have great golf at a reasonable price.

For 28 of us and that does include 6 spouses the highlight of 2016 had to be Italy. A beautiful country offering magnificent architecture, beautiful landscapes, ancient ruins, and brilliant art. Some entire cities that we visited are works of art in themselves, Venice, Florence and Rome. In Venice we were surrounded by magnificent sights and sounds as we cruised along the Giudecca canal to St. Mark’s Square We admired the Bridge of Sighs and the beauty of St Mark’s Basilica was amazing, as was the ornate Doge’s Palace. We enjoyed some stuning architecture; saw mysterious passageways; explored the canals by gondola in the rain, it was fun. A trip to the beautiful island of Burano, known for its lace production, gave us the opportunity to visit local shops and a museum to admire high-end lace on display, and also to admire the island’s brightly colored fishermen’s houses.
On the way to Lake Garda we stopped for a while in Verona, the setting for Shakespeare’s most famous play, and saw the Roman Arena and Juliet’s balcony. It was here that we experienced our first excellent meal at a little out of the way restaurant accompanied by some delicious Amarone wine which comes from this area, very good. We loved the Lake Garda area and had fun exploring the jewels of the area Brescia and Sirmione. We could only approach the town by foot crossing the draw bridge but once inside we felt immersed in the Middle Ages, since there is a profusion of historic buildings at every turn. Cars are not allowed inside the city, which is ideal for pleasant strolls through the narrow cobblestone streets where an air of nostalgia fills the entire town.
On our way to the UNA Poggio dei Medici Golf Resort we stopped in Milan to see the La Scala Opera House, the Duomo di Milan with it’s amazing architecture and the high end Galleria Vittonio Emauelle II where we gasped at the prices. Our rooms at the Poggio were great as were the other amenities The course itself was great and quite a challenge, we were all happy we got to play it twice thinking it would be easier the second time around, but no, we still got lost. One of the great things about here was that we were all in the same area so happy hours on the patio were great and we all got to know one another a little bit better.
One day in Florence is not enough time to absorb all the wonders. Masterpieces are everywhere and the magnificent Duomo and Baptistery are wonderful. We visited the Uffizi in the afternoon the art was outstanding. The day ended with sunset over the Arno high above Florence, what more could you ask for.
Onward to the South and Pistoia by way of Pisa where we admired the famous Leaning Tower. In Pistoia we golfed again which was great, went to the local market which was fun and the majority of the group attended the cooking school where we made delicious pasta, pesto, biscotti and more. Other places we enjoyed in the area were San Gimignano and Lucca. The wine and olive oil tasting we did at the Fattoria il Poggio was excellent. Our last experience was Rome, everything is gigantic with the exception of Joan’s beer at the hotel, it was pretty small for the price but we’re in Rome. Everywhere you look there seems to be remnants of the Roman Empire. Both Vatican Ciy and Rome has to be seen to be believed. Within the Vatican are 11 Vatican Museums which hold some of the best art in the world. We saw the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco and St. Peter’s Basilica, a huge and beautiful church holding priceless works of art. St. Peter’s Square is a huge circular piazza where people gather to see and hear the Pope. Again we only saw a small portion of what is Rome but what we saw, the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain were a sight to see. Our last golf game unfortunately had to end after nine due to rain, but other than a sprinkle when we arrived in Venice and the last day in Rome we had sunny warm weather. Our farewell dinner was excellent and the opera singers gave us an entertaining show enjoyed by all.

Stay tuned for the next episode in the March newsfeed.

 

 

Filed Under: News

So Long, Farewell 2020

January 1, 2021 by Kristy Hutton

Happy New Year – the new year, a time to say good bye and a time to say hello.  I am sure many of you are like me,  looking forward to moving on to a new year. There will still be some challenges but we are optimistic about managing what is, instead of worrying about what could be. I am expecting the golf courses will operate in a similar way as last year but because we have been through it we know how to manage and we learned some new things along the way.

Let’s watch that light at the end  of the tunnel grow brighter and brighter. We will be out on the golf courses before we know it, enjoying each other’s company and that human connection we are missing.

Filed Under: News

2021 Registration

January 1, 2021 by Kristy Hutton

Registration has to be handled differently this year. Members that deferred 2020 lessons and league membership have been contacted by us already requesting your lesson choice. We will open up registration on the website February 1 for members refunded and new members. Members that were refunded will get priority but it is important that you registered sooner vs later.

Filed Under: News

Christmas Wishes

November 30, 2020 by Dianne Hutton

Sending you all Christmas wishes for joy and merriment seem inappropriate this year but we do wish everyone good health and a blessed Christmas. As we approach the holidays we fear that they will be different as we abide by the regulations to keep us all safe. We will need to be willing to adapt to a different environment and to find new ways to celebrate with our friends and family and by doing this we will enjoy.

The holidays will be different but can be joyful, there will be less but we will make it enough, it will not be the things that we miss but the closeness and connections we treasure. We will feel sad but we can be hopeful that all this will be over sooner vs later. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are thinking of you all and hope that we will survive, stay positive and strong.

Filed Under: News

Winter Golf Practice

November 30, 2020 by Kristy Hutton

To say I have been procrastinating planning winter practice puts it mildly.  We are determined to stay positive and are trying our best during these trying times. If we all stay safe and do what is being asked of us, and yes I know it is in some ways confusing, but we will do what we  need to do so that COVID can be behind us. I am working at organizing practice sessions at the Eaglequest Golf Dome in the north and the south dome at the National Golf Academy. Practice will have to be organized and communicated earlier and numbers may be restricted; and in some cases early payment required. A schedule and procedures will be sent by email before the end of the year.

Filed Under: News

Winter Golf League

November 30, 2020 by Dianne Hutton

As we all know golf, this season, got us out of the house and gave us the opportunity to have some fun while staying safe in a controlled environment.

Winter in Calgary can be long and because of COVID it will seem longer than usual because we need to stay in our bubbles. A winter golf league is a great way to remain social while keeping our golf swing looking good. We golf around during the summer but our Winter Golf League will offer us a wide variety of golf courses, many of which we may find too expensive for our budgets and they will all cost the same.  Our Virtual golf league gives us way more choices, we will never play the same course twice and we get to play some of the world’s best golf from one location and no rush hour traffic to contend with. We are planning a daytime league on either Monday or Tuesday in the late morning starting in January 2021. If we can get space we will consider running in the evening and other areas.

Filed Under: News

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