I suppose I
should clarify that to read Naples, Florida. The tournament was held
at the Twin Eagles course, and most of the players remarked on the
excellent condition of the course. The weather could not have been
better, all week....temperature was in the low to mid eighties (25
Celsius) and there was only a slight breeze.
A week ago,
I headed out to the course to watch some of the Pro-Am play. I walked
by the driving range, and spotted a familiar figure driving some
balls out of sight. Rod Spittle was on hand, aided by his trusty
caddie, Butch Wilhelm. Butch has been his assistant for the past
three years. I have written about Spittle for several years. He is
indeed a friendly giant who loves to play golf. Last year he was the
fourth alternate for the event. He was accepted as four players
declined to play. This year he was the first alternate, according to
the specifications of the PGA. Unfortunately, not one player dropped
out, and Spittle headed home on Friday morning. Naturally he was
disappointed, and I held my tongue when I ran into him on his way
out, wishing him well.
Jim Durant
won the tournament, in dramatic fashion. In a four shot turnaround,
he birdied the last two holes. Steve Striker bogeyed those two holes,
and had to settle tied for second with Lee Janzen, Tim Petrovic,
David Toms, and Billy Mayfair. John Daly was not far behind, two
strokes back. He enhanced his chances with a hole-in-one on the 16th
hole with an eight iron. It was his second at a PGA event, the first
taking place in 1994 at the Houston Open. The crowds following Daly
were the largest by far. He still has that charismatic quality.
I spent a
little time with Spittle on the driving range, and at lunch
afterwards. He pointed out to me that these tournament were great
fund-raisers for charity. Most of the tourneys raise more than a
million dollars. Last year, at the Calgary stop, more than 8 million
dollars was raised. The amateur players in the Pro-Am rounds cough up
more than a thousand dollars to play with the pros. There are
sponsorship fees, marketing fees, and others which add up.
Spittle
always makes it very clear that he is Canadian. Whenever he stops to
be photographed, he turns the golf bag around so that the camera
picks up the Canadian flag. He said that he enjoys running into
Canadians here and there. The week before, at Boca Raton on the east
side of Florida, he ran into some high school friends from West Lane
Collegiate in Niagara Falls. He received a scholarship to Ohio State
after high school, and entered the work world following university.
He became a golf pro at age 50, and called the time since then a
“great adventure”.
We also met
quite a character in the lunch room: James “Doc” Reedy, Billy
Andrade's father-in-law. We had a long chat about the various schools
and universities at which he had worked and attended. When he found
out we were Canadians, he gave us a vivid description of Andrade's
victory at the Canadian Open, some years ago.
All in all,
the entire tournament was a great success, on all counts. There was a
rumour that it will be moved next year to another local venue, the
TPC Treviso Bay Course. In 2009, Loren Roberts won this championship
at that location. The Chubb Classic was moved to The Quarry for two
years, then found its home at Twin Eagles in 2012. No matter where it
takes place, it is a fine opportunity to spend a few hours in the
sun!
Langford,
BC – Damian McGrath and Sandro Fiorino have selected the men’s
and women’s under-18 teams to represent Canada at the Youth Olympic
Games Rugby Americas North Regional Qualifiers in Las Vegas from
March 1-3.
The
women’s squad features four returning players from the 2017 Youth
Commonwealth Games in Bahamas, in Taylor Black, Oliver De
Couvreur, Carmen Izyk and Keyara Wardley where Canada
claimed silver at the tournament.
“The
returning players from last summer will provide leadership and
experience. All of the players selected recently played in U18 Canada
trial tournament in Kingston this past weekend which was a tough
battle for the top 22 players in the country,” said Fiorino.
“The
goal is to give these players a taste of what high performance rugby
is all about and play at in an international tournament against other
quality sides,” added Fiorino.
Canada’s
U18 sevens program has produced a number of graduates into the senior
setup as current Canadian standouts Olivia Apps, Tausani Levale,
Caroline Crossley, Hannah Darling and Charity Williams all
represented Canada at the age-grade level before finding success on
the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.
Men’s
head coach Damian McGrath added, “It’s a great opportunity for
our young players to compete at an international event against tough
opposition and the experience will provide them with a good
foundation for future competitions.”
As
per IOC rulings only one male and one female team can attend the
Youth Olympic Games from each nation. Currently, the place is
held for women’s rugby and men’s field hockey in Canada. If
the women win in Las Vegas they will automatically attend the YOG
this fall, if the men win they will have to wait to see if the U18
men’s field hockey team qualifies as well. If the Canada men’s
YOG field hockey team does qualify our men’s program will
unfortunately not attend the games.
Both
men’s and women’s teams will compete against USA, Jamaica and
Barbados in a round-robin style tournament with the winner being
crowned on Saturday before the start of the HSBC Las Vegas Sevens.
On
behalf of the staff we are looking forward to the upcoming Youth
Olympic Game Qualifier. Athletes selected for the Las Vegas tour,
along with Non-travelling reserves, are listed below:
WOMEN’S
ROSTER:
1.
Delaney Atkins - Saskatchewan 2. Taylor Black - Ontario 3.
Kendra Cousineau - Ontario 4. Syd Seymour - Ontario 5. Hunter
Czeppel – British Columbia 6. Olivia De Couvreur - Ontario 7.
Brooklynn Feasby - Ontario 8. Lizzy Gibson - Ontario 9. Carmen
Izyk - Alberta 10. Kally King – British Columbia 11. Piper
Logan - Alberta 12. Maggie Mackinnon – British Columbia 13.
Brogan Mior - Alberta 14. Keyera Wardley - Alberta
Non-travelling
reserves: 1. Justine Blatt-Janmaat – Nova Scotia 2. Sam
Cyrille - Ontario 3. Breanna Martney - Ontario 4. Bridget Peros
- Ontario 5. Lilly Stewart - Ontario 6. Emma Wade - Ontario
Unavailable
due to Injury 1. Maggie Banks 2. Madison Grant 3.
Aliesha Lewis 4. Bethany Cudmore
The seventh player listed on the roster, Brooklynn Feasby, is our niece's daughter. Her parents are Scott and Melanie Feasby.
Former Belleville Bulls forward Jan Mursak will be the toast of Ljubljana — the capital of Slovenia — after leading the underdog Slovenians to a 3-2 O.T. upset win over the USA in both teams' opening game of the 2018 Winter Olympic men's hockey tournament Wednesday in Peongchang, South Korea.
Mursak scored the third-period game-tying goal, then notched the winner in overtime to lift Slovenia.
Mursak, 30, arrived in Belleville via trade from Saginaw during the 2007-08 OHL campaign. He scored 11 goals and totalled 38 points in 31 games as a Bull, adding 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 21 playoff games as Bulls advanced to the Memorial Cup tournament in Kitchener.
Mursak was a sixth-round pick (182) of the Detroit Red Wings at the 2006 NHL draft. In 46 career NHL games he has 2-2-4 scoring totals.
Mursak spent five seasons in the KHL before joining Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League this season. He had nine points in nine games for the Swedish club — including five goals — at the Olympic break.
• Team Germany
Another former Bull, defenceman Bjorn Krupp, is on the German roster at the Winter Games. The six-foot-three blueliner played three seasons with the Bulls, 2008-11, scoring twice and adding 24 assists in 185 career OHL games.
Krupp, 26, who was born in California, is currently playing in the German Elite League for Wolfsburg. He's the son of former longtime NHL rearguard, Uwe Krupp.
• Team Canada
Led by team captain Chris Kelly of the AHL Belleville Senators, the Canadian men's team opens its preliminary-round schedule Thursday vs. Switzerland. Game time on CBC-TV is 7 a.m. ET.
