Everything changes; it always has, and it always will. Right now we can see the leaves changing colour as fall approaches or should I say has come. We can choose to keep up and be part of the changes, or we can overlook and ignore changes.
We recognize that the golf industry is changing, when our economy changed it has impacted them and because of this they are changing their focus and looking for ways to increase revenue and manage costs so they can stay in business. They also have to see how effectively they are meeting their members needs and providing them with value for their investment.
Golfaround also needs to react to the changes that are occurring and because of this we are looking towards the next season with an open mind. What can we do to keep our long term members and what can we do to attract new members? In order to do this we need to take time to listen and to learn from both our members and some industry professionals.
In order to do this we have elected to hold a Quality Circle inviting representation from both new and long term members from all the leagues as well as representation from the Edmonton component. If you have suggestions please e-mail them to us so that we are aware and can address it.
Some of the things we are considering are adding more diversity to our winter activities that commence in January. We will still offer indoor lessons but we want to add more variety to the “dome’ on Thursday nights. We will try to, maybe, alternate with a south option once in a while and possibly some virtual golf. We would like to offer some “walk the line” opportunities realizing that we may have to have a small charge for this to compensate the golf pro.
Many of our long term members have arrived at a place in their golf game that they need more than we, Golfaround, can offer so we are considering offering a “league only” option for full time members who have been with us for a number of consecutive years.
There will, I am sure, be other things that evolve from the Quality Circle so be sure to stay tuned for more exciting news.
To keep Golfaround at the top of the game we need to think outside the box and react to the challenges that are upon us. We value our members and want to continue to be the best we can be while meeting your needs and staying true to our core values.

Fall is rapidly approaching in Calgary – the leaves are turning, the sun takes longer to warm up, and recently I woke up to frosted rooftops. For runners, we can’t wait for cooler temperatures, the perfect combination of shorts and long-sleeved shirts. However, depending on your sport of choice and where you live, fall marks the beginning of the end. I’m talking about golf season.
I was never interested in golfing. My memories of golf as a kid were roasting in the sun in a golf cart, next to my sister and grandma, while my papa played and grumbled to himself. It’s difficult to learn, it’s expensive, and the season is brief in chilly Alberta. However, my other half is an avid, talented, and lifelong golfer. After we started dating, he almost immediately encouraged me to start playing (I mostly tried to avoid the subject). For our first Christmas together, he surprised me with a set of golf clubs, custom ordered in pink, with a golf bag to match. Okay, I guess it’s time to learn, I thought.
However, learning to golf is not like running. It’s not as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. In Alberta, where you can golf for only a few months of the year, it’s difficult to progress your skills. If the weather cooperates, you start playing in mid-May, and once you get into a groove, it’s time to put the clubs away again for the next eight months. While it was great to have my own set of clubs, I wasn’t playing regularly, and I struggled to improve.
After a few consecutive summers of this frustrating pattern, I decided it was time to join a women’s golf league. It would encourage me to play on a regular basis, and maybe I would get somewhat good at golf. A quick Google search found Golfaround, a women’s league in my city, and they turned out to be fantastic. Run by a mother and daughter team, they are inclusive and encouraging. From beginner golfers to 9-5 working gals to active retirees, there is an option for everyone to play on a weekly basis. The league takes care of booking tee times and coordinating foursomes. All you do is pick your course each week and show up. Membership includes a set of lessons to kick off the season, and there are additional events and weekend golf getaways throughout the summer.
I continued to join this league every summer for the next five years. It’s easy, it’s supportive, and most of all, it’s fun. Just like with running, if you don’t enjoy it, then why do it? I love getting outside for a few hours on a weekday evening, meeting other women and having some laughs.
Golf is a great combination of cross training and a rest day. I love to golf on the day after my long run, because it enables me to walk around for a few hours and work out the kinks in my legs. It doesn’t have to be strenuous or high impact, but it’s still good exercise and gives you a few hours of fresh air.
I decided not to join the league this year, because of life reasons – including house hunting, a different job location, and an unreliable car in the spring. I’ve had a great experience and I highly recommend any woman, who is even remotely interested in golf, to join a women’s league. Golf is a male-dominated sport and I think we have an opportunity to change that.
Try a trusty Google search, like I did, to find a women’s golf league in your area. Take a few lessons and check out local public golf courses. Bring your daughter, mother, or girlfriend with you. If you’re looking for fellow female golfers, then ask around at work, your community association, your running friends or workout buddies, or post on your social media pages. There are other women like you out there, who are interested in golf but maybe not sure how or where to start. All you have to do is reach out and find each other.

Another season is over, where does the time go? It seemed like only yesterday that we were heading out to the kick- off social at Cottonwood and here it is the last of regular play for yet another year. Many will continue the game for a while if the weather gods are good to us and new and old friends alike will gather to hit that little white ball down a sometimes-leafy fairway.

It has been a great season, we have met and got to know some new people and I am sure have also made some new friends. We enjoy the newbies every year and they too have some great things to say about Golfaround and the members they have played with. They have fun and enjoy the supportive environment and comradery after the round. For many of us it has little to do with the number on the score card, but the thrill of seeing the numbers diminish and the dream of doing better, of breaking a hundred or less. This dream feeds our desire to give the game everything we’ve got while having fun and enjoying the outdoors and great people.

Behind all the hours of playing and practising, of all the good shots and not so good shots, of all the successes and failures there is a gal who still tries to hit the ball long and true, fell in love with the game and will never look back.

Don’t forget to check out the newsfeed over the off season, there will be some activities during the winter which you may want to come to. We will not say goodbye but farewell until we meet again and we thank you all for your support and help, Golfaround is what it is  because of the special group of ladies we are lucky enough to be around. If you are missing golf season click here  to bring back old memories.

The weather gods smiled once again and provided 64 Edmonton Day, Evening and Beginner ladies with 21 deg temps and even cleared the smoke from the skies.  Clan members, attired in their finest highland attire were given three games to mess with their scores during their round, including the Loch Ness Poop Challenge and Move Yer Arse Agnus.  In keeping with the Ode to Scotland theme, $174.30 was collected in the Curse Cups placed in each golf cart.  That’s approximately 10 curses per clan, although some cups were noticeably heavier than others! The 50/50 draw was won by Trish Clare who will be using her $165 to pay for some fall golf.  Winners:  Kim Tynacity for Closest to the Pin; Miala Evans for Longest Drive AND Ball in Creek, Lesley Mitchell for Ball in the Sand, Ellen Frombach for Closest to the Target and Hiliary Propp (guest of Lyn Propp) for Longest Putt.  Clan MacEwan (Lorna Farkas, Karmelita Tolpolski, Jennifer Dowdle and Therese Kehler) won Highest Score.  Clan MacKenzie (Paige Nelson, Joan Miller, Joey Matwychuk and Michelle Orgill) won Most Honest Score.  Best dressed was Lesley Lambert. Although Honourable Mention must go to Lorna Farkas who scoured fabric stores for just the right tartan and made herself shorts, a tam and scarf.  Tyler Rumpel, Head Professional and Food and Beverage Manager at Jagare Ridge provided us all with hats and a most excellent meal.  Who knew gluten free pasta could taste so yummy!  In all $339.30 was donated to YESS.

Patti Daye Edmonton Coordinator

We had some good fun out there this season playing around the number of golf courses Golfaround has to offer. I know this year some of us were a more selective on the area of the city to go because of all the construction. Let’s hope we have an extended summer so that they can finish the majority of the projects.   The league schedules included Woodside in Airdie and Maple Ridge this year and we hope to include them next year. We would be interested to know why the out of town courses were not that well attended, they were so popular in the past. The Beginner league members discovered Lil Devil and very much enjoyed, it was nice to put some of those other clubs to work and of course the bonus was the restaurant/lounge following the round.

I also personally have to compliment the staff and the starters at Silver Wing….love the jokes the starter shared with the ladies to relax them before they went out to enjoy their round.  They also appreciated the kitchen staying open for them so that they could come in and enjoy a meal and beverage and swap war stories.

Hello Deer  – we would not have see these two terrific creatures if we had tee’d off at our original start time at Inglewood Golf Club,  we can always find the positive.

We finally played at Serenity Golf Club this season and even though we did not finish the 9 holes we did get a good feel for the course and really enjoyed it.  We look forward to the Sun Catcher 18 and a clubhouse so that we can socialize and talk about our games.

We were challenged again this year with smoke in our province and the golf courses were very understanding when some of us had to cancel or show up and decided not to play. Twenty of us decided to brave the smoke and play 9 holes at Blue Devil because it is one of the favorites. 

The teaching team saw some new blood this year and we are extremely thankful to Valley Ridge and The Wintson Golf Club for stepping up when we needed the big assist.  We are also pleased to have Tiff more involved with the teaching this year, I know those of you that had her loved her approach.  A a huge thank you to Edmonton’s Countryside Golf Club for welcoming us back & Sandpiper for their support and Liz & Leigh for joining the team in the north.

Thank you to all of the golf clubs and teaching venues that support Golfaround each season. We look forward to working together in the future to see how we can all benefit one another.

 

 

If there ever was a day when the weather gods paid attention, it was Monday, July 9, when fifty Edmonton ladies drove themselves to the beautiful Trestle Creek Golf Resort, located about 97 km west of Edmonton.  Day, Evening and Beginner ladies were thrown together to golf 18 holes on a day when the weather was perfect, not too hot and no mosquitoes.  Started off by following the Course Marshall to our holes on the Creekside 9 in an exercise one player described as ‘herding cats’.  Despite the multi-level greens with wicked pin placements (nasty to put a flag at the top of a hill with the slope leading down to a sand trap….) a fun time was had by all.  Lovely steak dinner followed with their chef separately cooking the steaks for our dietary restricted ladies AND making them a special dessert.  I think we need to go again next year!

Patti Daye Edmonton Coordinator

 

Par Bears and Birdie Juice are par for the the course in the Edmonton Day league.

Understandably, the Day league ladies are a more relaxed group than the Evening and Beginner league members.  They have the time to golf 18 holes, are not rushing from work to play golf and are not struggling to master the intricacies of the game.  Thus, it seems, they become more inventive….

Par bears:  The Day league ladies celebrate their pars by sharing par bears; at least one member of each team seems to carry this treat, made from soaking gummy bears in some sort of alcohol for anywhere from an hour to a week.  Some refrigerate the container whilst soaking while others leave it on the counter. Is vodka better than almond tequila?  More experiments are obviously needed!

Birdie juice:  Another alcoholic beverage to celebrate the achievement of a birdie.  This one is more simple but again, there does seem to be at least one member of each team that carries the supplies.  Tiny plastic shot cups are presented, the ‘juice’ is poured out and the birdie is toasted.

Of course, being great Ready golfers, these celebrations are carried out at the next hole, not the hole the event occurred on.

Patti Daye Edmonton Coordinator

Zero putt’s for Edmonton’s Cathy – making a 60 yard pitch into the 13th hole at the Links at Spruce Grove.

Kimberley’s Trickle Creek Golf Course – one tough track so congrats to all of you!!! and some personal bests and birdies at the Kimberley Golf Club on the Play &  Stay this year.  Trickle Creek Birdies for Lynne #11 Terri #8 and Carol #13  Melanie birdies #7 at Kimberly Golf Club and scored a 99, a personal best I think

Carol birdies #7 at Valley Ridge and follows it up with a Par on #8, Nicki par’s the 17th hole and Heather birdies #3 at The Canals at Delacour.

When we play golf we must always keep up to the group ahead of us right?  Well this did not work so well at Woodside Greens a couple of weeks ago. We were three groups and were starting on the back nine. The first group headed out and as there was some construction on the 10th tee box we had to tee off on a temporary one, but not a problem. The second group went out and our group followed. We continued on to hole #11 keeping up with the group ahead of us. I asked Kristy what the par was after our drive and she replied a par 4, really I asked we just drove and there is the 200 yard marker? well maybe it is marked incorrectly? We putt out and go to the next tee, seeing the second group up ahead of us and guess what it is hole #14, we looked back and the first group are now following us. We had missed holes number #11 and #12 no wonder the yardage seemed wrong……………this was certainly a first and gave us all a chuckle, the group in front of us didn’t catch on until hole number #16 I think.