I continue to be humbled by all the amazing golf courses we’ve been able to play and write about over the years, and looking back on 2017, it was no exception. Our 2017 journeys took us to the California desert, Vancouver Island, the Monterey Peninsula, Ontario, and the Canadian Rockies. Needless to say, there was no shortage of tremendous courses to discover for the first time.
With my off-season training in full swing, I thought it would be appropriate to get a dose of golf fitness information by welcoming the founder and owner of DM (Dynamic Motion) Golf Performance, Shannon Heffernan, on A Casual 9. Shannon has a Master’s degree in Kinesiology, is a Class “A” teaching professional, a TPI-3 Golf Fitness Coach and TPI-3 Golf Instructor. Her combined knowledge of the body, the golf swing, and fitness has turned DM Golf Performance into the go-to golf fitness facility in Calgary. Please enjoy.
Unless we’re talking about a fine red wine, not many things get better with age by sitting idol, particularly golf courses. It takes hard work, innovation and a willingness to not only maintain, but improve over time. This is why many courses actually get worse, whether it’s from overgrowth, complacency, or even evolving public perception as to what a “good” course is. Poppy Hills Golf Course, located along famed 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach, California, was a course that made a commitment to be better.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — everyone needs an off-season. Whether it’s measured in weeks or months, we all need that physical and mental reset. After using a productive off-season last year to start the season strong, lower back and sciatic nerve pain eventually held me back from making more progress…
After a bit of a summer hiatus, I am excited to bring back our interview series — A Casual 9– with a bang. For this episode I am pleased to introduce avid golfer, golf writer, and author, Jon Sherman. Jon is a lifelong golfer who has sniffed the highest levels of competition from college tournaments to U.S. Open qualifiers. He has learned a lot from his successes and failures on the golf course and is now cutting through the noise of game improvement tips and sharing his knowledge and wisdom through his website – Practical Golf. Please enjoy.
It’s not everyday you drive through the gates of a golf course and feel truly lucky to be there. Magna Golf Club, a private club located within the Greater Toronto Area in the town of Aurora, Ontario, turned out to be one of those places.
Entering the gates of this exclusive club on an overcast Monday morning felt almost eerie — the “too good to be true” type of eerie where you can’t believe you practically have a place like this to yourself. With only 270 full playing members, opportunities to play Magna can be few and far between.
Every so often you stumble across a place where all your worries melt away. You may not even be able to explain why, but you just know it’s special. For 30 years, Kananaskis Country Golf Course was one of those places for thousands of golfers. Kananaskis Country Golf Course originally opened for play in 1983…
Bear Mountain Resort is a 36 hole facility located on beautiful Vancouver Island in Victoria, British Columbia. Our visit to play at Bear Mountain came on our last full day of a 5-night adventure along the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, so we were a bit unsure how our bodies would hold up playing both courses in one day. After all, it was only May and we were just getting our season started back home in Alberta, even though it felt like the mid-summer on The Island.
Turns out we lived to tell the tale.
The great thing about golf is that you learn something every time you tee it up. Whether it’s something about your game, the course you’re playing, or yourself as a human, the learning opportunities are everywhere. And unfortunately, as I learned this year, adversity also offers some of the best opportunities to learn.
So, here’s the thing. Stanley Thompson is the man. If you aren’t familiar with the work of this renowned golf course architect, I highly recommend becoming familiar as soon as you can, because you will discover some of the most fun, interesting and beautiful golf courses you’ll ever play. St. George’s Golf and Country Club, a private club located near the core of Toronto, Ontario, was no exception.