Photo credits: Magic Hour Golf / Andy Hiseman. Volume 3 Issue 1

Transcription

1 Photo credits: Magic Hour Golf / Andy Hiseman Volume 3 Issue 1

2 Volume 3 Issue 1 Message from the Executive Director Jean-Pierre Beaulieu Exciting Challenges! More golfers on our courses, more children, more women, more families and, of course, more often. This is the main challenge of the upcoming golf season. We had many achievements to our credit, last year, especially with our junior clientele. The 536 elementary and high schools that are using the Golf in Schools program surely are the ultimate proof that our efforts are bearing fruit. But is there a consequence to this success? Of course, there is! We are now facing a new challenge. Besides introducing children to golf in their Phys. Ed. classes, we must now make sure that they take their gym acquired skills to the golf course. It is highly important to make an early impact in children s lives in order to develop their interest for a sport. By facilitating the transition between our development programs and those conducted in golf clubs, we will promote the children s interest to invest in their skills development and, by extension, their desire to play. A junior will have 50% less chances to take part in a sport, later on in his life, if he was introduced to it after the age of 12 years old.

3 Top initiatives Nwks In order to facilitate this transition towards golf clubs, two existing programs will be promoted furthermore in the spring. They are the CN Future Links Field Trips and Golfmobile. Concretely, over 15 field trips to a golf club will be subsidized and our Golfmobile will visit over 50 schools, municipalities, and golf facilities. develop top athletes, but we will also aim to increasing the frequency of participation in the game and fun that golfers have when they play. For this purpose, we must communicate the efficiency of our programs and promote the awareness of our top initiatives towards the masses. Developing new sources of revenues for the Federation will take a bit of time, new contacts and energy to revitalize our business partnerships, promote our fundraisers, and Communication and financing challenges In the upcoming golf season, Golf Québec will also introduce the new Strategic Plan for the cycle. Our main goals will still be to introduce golf to new participants and communicate our membership model. We are confident that we are already on the right path. Finally, as the new golf season is about to start, I would like to challenge each and every one of you. This summer, take a moment to bring someone new to play golf with you.

4 Make them discover the great game of golf. And while you re at it, why not post pictures of your good deed on social networks? Who knows, this could become as popular as the Ice Bucket Challenge. I may be dreaming in Technicolor, yet, when you introduce one new participant to the game of golf, you make a direct contribution to the development of your favorite sport. Enjoy the 2015 golf season! Homage to Our 2014 Champions No Big Surprises on the Women s Tour They share the same last name, but are not related. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that Valérie Tanguay is following in Anne-Catherine s footsteps and the 2014 golf season was not an exception to this rule. our inter-provincial team captured the honours at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship. A member of the National Development Squad for a second year, the young Saint-Hyacinthe golfer registered two victories on top of her excellent performances at the Canadian level. Crowned at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship, the Oklahoma Sooners rookie also contributed, with Annie Lacombe and Océanne Jacques, to one of the rare victories claimed by Golf Québec as Canadian Champions: Valérie Tanguay (centre) with Océanne Jacques and Annie Lacombe

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6 A Winner in Québec, A Winner Everywhere On the women s amateur provincial stage, Josée Doyon s name was on everyone s lips in Winner of the Jocelyne Bourassa Series first two legs, the NIVO Debbie Savoy Morel Cup and NIVO Players Cup, this 21- year old from Beauce reaped every honour last summer. And her outstanding performances are not limited to the province of Québec! Josée Doyon, crowned in two of the events composing the Jocelyne Bourassa Series presented by NIVO Crowned many times on the American University Tour for her great performances on the fairways since she has joined Kent State University, Doyon is gradually building her reputation as one of the most successful golfers to wear the Athletics blue and gold uniform. Among others, she is ranking 9th in the overall University history with an average of strokes per round. Torti, Stronger Than Ever Since she has joined the senior category, Marie-Thérèse Torti has a legacy of success. Leaving as little chances to her opponents as when she was an amateur, this veteran golfer put her experience to good use in 2014 and captured two victories. She also represented Golf Québec at the Canadian Women s Senior Championship for the second time. One would remember that she had already represented the province 12 times at the Canadian Women s Amateur Championship. Senior champion of the NIVO Players Cup, she successfully defended her title for a second consecutive year at the NIVO Women s Match Play Championship. She can be proud of these titles that will add up to the three victories she captured as an amateur between 2004 and 2011.

7 Homage to Our 2014 Champions A Golf Season Dominated by Raoul Ménard The 2014 golf season was dominated by a fairly small group of competitors. Francis Berthiaume, Joey Savoie, Pierre-Alexandre Bédard, and Vincent Blanchette all contemplated leading the amateur ranking. maintained his momentum on the American University Tour. Nonetheless, the name of Raoul Ménard, resident of Ange-Gardien, is the one that will be remembered from the 2014 golf season. Winner of the Duke of Kent and Men s Provincial Amateur Championship, two of the three events composing the men s Triple Crown, Ménard gave serious headaches to is opponents on the Québec courses. By winning the Acura Classic, Ménard also signed a memorable performance as he defeated the best golf professionals of the province even if he was still an amateur. Proving that this was not just a one-time victory, the representative of the Charlotte University 49ers, in North Carolina, Raoul Ménard Interview with Raoul Ménard: RYzU&feature=youtu.be Two consecutive titles! A member of the National Development Squad for the first time in his young career, Étienne Papineau successfully demonstrated why the Golf Canada scouts selected him as he dominated the competition at the Boys Provincial Junior Championship. Papineau proved that he has what it takes by winning the Boys Provincial

8 Junior Championship two years in a row. By doing so, he only became the 8th player to ever write his name on the trophy more than once. Ranking 7th at the Men s Provincial Amateur Championship, the junior player of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was also successful at capturing the honours at the Junior Match Play Championship. Guilbault Surprises More Than One Winner of the 2014 Men s Provincial Mid-Amateur Championship, veteran golfer Luc Guilbault surprised many with the quality of his game. As a result, he earned a place on the Québec Amateur team competing at the Canadian Championship. The Drummondville golfer played steadily throughout the summer and even ranked 2nd at the Men s Provincial Senior Championship, only 3 strokes behind the winner, Michel Gagnon of Royal Québec. Main Events of the Amateur Tour May 29 July 5-6 July July Omnium printanier Beaconsfield - Pointe-Claire, QC Alexandre de Tunis Camelot - Cumberland, ON Duc de Kent Royal Québec - Royal - Boischatel, QC Championnat provincial amateur masculin Royal Estrie - Asbestos, QC

9 2015 Calendar A Highly Competitive Season is Coming Up! If 2014 was rich in emotions and spectacular performances, the next golf season promises even steeper challenges as Golf Québec will be presenting over 47 provincial events, competitions, and qualifying rounds for all categories of golfers. successful, he would only become the second golfer of all times to do so after Mathieu Rivard in View our 2015 provincial schedule of junior tournaments: 5/schedule/golfquebecjr/index.htm Our junior competitors will be the first ones to set foot on fairways when the Junior Spring Open will be held in the New York State on May 2 and 3. Amongst tournaments composing their very extensive schedule, the Provincial Junior Tour events as well as the Boys and Girls Provincial Junior Championship presented at Le Blainvillier will be important competitions to follow closely. Member of the National Development Squad, Étienne Papineau will attempt to win the Boys Championship for the third consecutive year. Should he be Étienne Papineau As the calendar of the Provincial Junior Tour was reviewed, important changes will be noticed. Among others, the Golf Québec team created a new tournament for young golfers of 11 to 14 years old. The brand new Pee-Wee and Bantam Classic will be held at Verchères. In addition, the Assante Optimist Classic was integrated in the Provincial Junior Tour. This 36-hole tournament gathers over 245 golfers, boys and girls, and as such is the most important junior tournament presented in Québec, in terms of participants.

10 The Introduction to Competition Tours (ICT) will be back in every region in They provide an amazing opportunity for your young children aged between 7 and 12 years old to discover golf competition. View our 2015 provincial schedule of men s tournaments: m/bluegolf/quebec15/sche dule/golfquebechomme/in dex.htm Women s and Men s Challenges It is obviously impossible to talk about tournaments without mentioning the men s Triple Crown and ladies Jocelyne Bourassa Series. After spending a whole season on the American University Tour, Vincent Blanchette and Josée Doyon will be back as headliners of our main events in which they both captured the victory last year. Traditionally, the men s competitive season will begin with the confrontation amateur and professional golfers in the Spring Open held at Beaconsfield. Qualifiers for this event should be very popular this year as they will be presented on the most reputable courses including Royal Montreal, Pinegrove, Royal Québec, La Tempête, and Le Fontainebleau. These prestigious sites surely will tempt more than one to register! The Alexander of Tunis and Duke of Kent, the first two legs of the Triple Crown, will draw a lot of attention. Then, the Provincial Championship will visit Royal Estrie in Asbestos from July 27 to 30. Part of the women s schedule, the NIVO Debbie Savoy Morel Cup was moved to June 29 and 30. It will take place at the Ki-8-Eb golf club for the second time since its inception. The NIVO Provincial Amateur and Senior Championship will be held at the Montréal Country Club, in St-Lambert. Presented locally, this event will be a must. New this year Based on popular demand, we will accommodate our competitors and reposition some events to spread them more evenly throughout the schedule. For instance, the NIVO Women s Provincial Match Play Championship, which used to be held in August, will be moved at the beginning of the summer. As a result, the Summerlea Golf and Country Club will be host to this event at the same time as the men s, on June 6 and 7. View our 2015 provincial schedule of women s tournaments: 5/schedule/golfquebecfemme/index.htm

11 As well, the Players Cup which was normally conducted in June will be matched with the Men s event presented at Le Blainvillier at the end of each season. On September 20 and 21, we will have the pleasure to see the Antoine Loranger Player s Championship combined with the NIVO Players Cup. National competitions At the national level, the CN Future Links Québec Championship will be held earlier in the season, from June 5 to 7. Also, the Canadian Junior Boys Championship will take place in our province, from August 3 to 6, at the Summerlea Golf and Country Club in Vaudreuil-Dorion. View the 2015 national schedule of competitions: Recreational events and workshops Throughout the season, Golf Québec will offer training sessions in various regions to those who are interested to know more about the rules of golf. Conferences will also be presented to parents who want to understand the sport development of their children better. place at the end of September, at Le Fontainebleau. These three recreational activities are very popular and get sold out very fast. Online registration for all our tournaments will begin on March 1. Give back to children Golf Québec would like to remind you that you can easily make an online donation when your register for a tournament. Collected funds will be invested in our golf development program enabling us to take the children From School to the Golf Club, the theme of our 2015 fundraiser. For each donation of $25 and over, a tax receipt will be produced. Do not miss our traditional Mixed and Generations Championships presented at Elm Ridge as well as our Benefit Golf Tournament that will take

12 Volunteer Recognition Two Great Volunteers Honoured As there are always new dreams to build and more people to introduce to the game of golf, the contribution of dedicated volunteers is crucial. Their commitment and their help within provincial and national golf association enable us to revitalize our industry. teach those willing to gain a better understanding of it. Diane Barabé is one such individual. Golf Canada recently announced that Granby native Diane Barabé has been named its 2015 Volunteer of the Year. She was honoured on the Saturday, Feburary 14, during the closing dinner of the 2015 Annual General Meeting. Golf Québec is blessed to count, every year, on numerous involved and dedicated volunteers. Their passion for our sport and desire to share it with others are driving our volunteers to give more. Diane Barabé and Nancy Spineti Delle Donne are part of this group of men and women. They dedicated themselves to the cause, fully, completely; so much that the industry recently honoured them as a token of our appreciation. Honoured from coast to coast The roles of rules official and golf committee member are not easy. It takes a dedicated and knowledgeable individual to serve the game and Diane Barabé Photo credit: Golf Canada/Bernard Brault In 1992, Barabé s love of the sport took her beyond the links. The longtime member of the Miner Golf Club joined its Board of Directors and became involved with the Eastern Townships District of the Canadian Ladies Golf Association (CLGA). The organization needed a rules official to guide and manage its tournaments; Diane Barabé became that person and dedicated seven years of committed service.

13 to A Level 4 certified rules official, she was the Chairperson of Golf Québec s Rules Committee from 2008 A combination of unfortunate circumstances brought her to come back as co-chairperson of the Committee in As such, she often acted as Head Rules Official in many provincial events and she was responsible for the appointment of all rules officials in all provincial championships. In the same year, she became the very first woman to officiate in an international event when the RBC Canadian Open was presented at the Royal Montreal Golf Club. More importantly, she has never hesitated to share her knowledge. As a result, she contributed to training the next generation of Canadian officials by acting as instructor in many Level 3 and 4 Rules Seminars. Now in its ninth year, Golf Canada s Volunteer of the Year award is annually presented to individuals in the community who best exemplify the national sport organization s commitment to growing the game. Throughout her time with the sport, Barabé has consistently and selflessly shown a willingness to help where she can and the uncanny ability to be where she is needed. It is for this passion, dedication and service that Golf Canada thanks her and recognizes her as its Volunteer of the Year. 89 course ratings in a year! A regional volunteer since 1997, Nancy Spineti Delle Donne joined the Board of Director in 2008 as Chair of the Course Rating and Handicap Committee. Nancy Spineti Delle Donne In 2014, she also accepted to join the Golf Canada Course Rating and Handicap Committee. Her provincial duties include the training of the course rating teams in our eight regional associations and management of their schedules. This year, for instance, they visited 40 member clubs to rate a total of 89 courses. Before visited clubs received their course and Slope ratings as well as other support documentation, Mrs. Spineti Delle Donne carefully reviews and inputs all data collected by the regional teams. As a result, she is ensuring the quality and high standards of our course rating services.

14 As part of our handicap services, Mrs. Spineti Delle Donne is the main animator of seminars that are periodically scheduled. Her mandate is to make sure that qualified individuals are identified in all golf clubs. Since 2011, Mrs. Spineti Delle Donne is also Chair the Golf Québec Membership. Members of this new taskforce are exploring possibilities to develop our membership at a short and/or long term and review the pertinence of our programs and services. Although she will be stepping down from the Board of Directors in 2015, Nancy Spineti Delle Donne will pursue her mandate as Chair of the provincial Course Rating and Handicap Committee. We cannot thank her enough for the invaluable work she accomplished. Golf Québec s Board of Directors Renewed Dynamism for 2015 At its 94th Annual General Meeting held on February 18, Golf Québec announced the nomination of its new Board of Director led by Marcel Paul Raymond as President for a second year. As Executive Director of the Federation, I feel extremely privileged to be supported, from one year to another, by professionals and business stakeholders who share their expertise with us for the betterment of golf. The coming golf season will not be different from the past and, once again, our 2015 Board of Directors is composed of highly dynamic and qualified individuals. Besides Marcel Paul Raymond, our 2014 President who accepted a second mandate, a few newcomers will be joining our group of twelve directors.

15 Marketing Expertise Executive Director of Sales, Media Creativity, and Marketing at Télé-Québec, Marie-Pier Mailhot has been working in the media industry for twenty years and has a very extensive knowledge of advertising, communicati ons, and marketing. She is an expert in sales and operations. A member of Golf Le Mirage, Marie- Pier, contributed to organizing several networking golf tournaments for business women. In 2014, she joined the Golf Québec volunteers as a member of our Strategic Planning Committee. Her expertise in management of changes will come in handy as our Federation is beginning to restructure our membership model and aims to revitalize and unify our industry through various projects led by the Industry Standing Committee. Rules of Golf Specialist Édouard Rivard is a level-4 Rules Official with a USGA certification. With a master degree in public and business administration as well as a certificate in corporate governance, he has enjoyed a long career as a manager. An avid golfer for more than 40 years, Édouard is now a member of Royal Québec and he is especially passionate about the rules governing our sport. As a certified official, he volunteers in our regional and provincial tournaments and had the opportunity to work with the PGA of Québec, Golf Canada, LPGA, Champions Tour, and Florida State Golf Association. This year, Édouard accepted to act as Chairman of the Golf Québec Rules Committee. His main goals are to provide more rules training, especially to juniors through their respective events, and manage our group of rules officials more efficiently by facilitating their transition from one training level to another.

16 A Regional Leader Louis Aubin of Saguenay/Lac St-Jean is the last of our three rookies. A golf amateur since at least forty year, he is a member at club de golf Chicoutimi and the Director of Business Development at UniFirst Canada. Very involved in his community, Louis has been a board member of his Chamber of Commerce. He has also contributed to the Fondation pour l enfance et la jeunesse and volunteered at Centre jeunesse Sag-Lac. In 2012, he joined the volunteers of the Saguenay/Lac St-Jean/ Chibougamau Regional Association where he became President in This year, as Chairman of the Regional Association Council, he will also join our provincial Board of Directors. Very dynamic and a trendsetter, he strives to maximizing the sport development efforts made in his region by introducing children to the game of golf as well as new clienteles that stand out of our industry traditions. Competencies steadiness and The strength of our Board of Directors lies not only in the competencies of our stakeholders, but also in the steadiness of our Directors. As a matter of fact, many of them who are either members of our member-clubs or representatives of the PGA of Québec or ATGQ will pursue their mandates with our Federation. Bob Bissonnette, 1st Vice-President, Ève Gaudet, 2nd Vice-President, and François Gagnon, Secretary- Treasurer, will still compose the Executive Committee with our President. Every year, some of our Directors are leaving our group to pursue other projects. I would like to extend our most sincere thanks to Marie-France Morand, Nancy Spineti Delle Donne, and Jacques Bédard who have shared their passion with us and dedicated numerous years to promoting the development of golf. Golf Québec plays an important role in the golf industry and more specifically in the development of the game. Many factors enable us to fulfill our mandate from one season to the other, including the competence and dynamism of our volunteers and staff - and never more so than in 2015.

17 Golf Québec s 2015 Board of Directors From left to right - back row: Édouard Rivard, Marc Tremblay, Rémi Bouchard, Martin Ducharme, François Gagnon, Denis Loiselle, Louis Aubin. Front row: Lynn Bellocq, Marcel Paul Raymond, Ève Gaudet. Missing: Marie-Pier Mailhot, Daniel Langevin, and Robert Bissonnette. Photo credit by Golf Québec.

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