Definition of "Tournament"

I had an interesting discussion with one of our members not long ago, about whether I should be able to apply the word "tournament" to describe his golf day with a bunch of friends.
We've become used to applying this word to any group that books more than 4 tee times, but I do see his point, and we had an interesting back-and-forth (in a friendly was, of course).
Here's Dictionary.com's version of Tournament: "a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play in a series of contests..." Pretty simplistic.
Anyways, I would ask one question to determine if the word "tournament" could fairly be applied to a group of golfer:
Is score being kept, with intention of determining a winner? If the answer is Yes, then it's a tournament. The come-back argument was: "Well sure we kept score, but we had no prizes, didn't have a dinner... we just golfed, had a beer and went home."
So... where is this going? Well, it got me thinking about how we traditionally market the Tournament concept, and how the times are definitely changing: the days of the "big company" tournament with big numbers and big prize tables are (arguably) waning. Don't get me wrong, they're not totally gone, it just ain't what it used to be. But we have noticed a rise in the smaller, more intimate type of group coming out for a "golf day"; instead of the whole company, it's a particular department.
Our member had a point: don't call it a tournament, call it a fun day on the golf course. And maybe an opportunity just presented itself here...

Grow Grass Grow

Construction continues full-tilt on the new Victoria Park Valley Golf Club.
The first pic below shows the venerable Luigi Bonaldo doing some siding work on the pumphouse, which should be up and running in a week or so (waiting on Guelph Hydro to hook up the 3-phase service).
In the second pic, you can see that the fairway has been seeded with the now-common "spray-down" material that is being used to broadcast-spread turf.

This is hole A7.

The A holes are being seeded first (haha, I just realized how funny that sounds!)

More to come soon.

Weir & Woods

OK, so I stand corrected. Tiger Woods is no longer married, and he didn't win the two majors that I'd predicted he would, in a previous post.

The suddenness and finality of the divorce was surprising to many, it seems. But in retrospect, this (divorce) may have been the most logical thing to do: Elin can now separate herself - as best as she can - from the whole messy business, but having the children will still mean that Tiger will be in the picture. And Tiger... well, there's still a lot of golf left in him. It will be interesting to see what 2011 brings.

As for Mike Weir, it looks like ligament damage in his right elbow means an early wrap-up to a (somewhat) disappointing season. Interesting article here by the Montreal Gazette's Randy Phillips: http://bit.ly/9Da4mj

New Golf Course On The Way!

Construction began this summer on Victoria Park Valley, a 27-hole executive-length golf course located about 4 kms. south of Victoria Park East, the the north-east corner of Maltby Rd. and Victoria Rd. South in Puslinch Township.

This project is a co-venture with Victoria Park East and West, and it will replace the West course, which is slated to close at the end of the 2011 golf season (the West course property will be developed into a residential site). So, if everything goes according to plan, Victoria Park Valley will open for business in Spring 2012.


The picture above is looking west towards Victoria Rd. Construction has been progressing very well since the late spring, and project manager David DeCorso has been expertly juggling this project, as well as the constant demands of the East course. Here's an interesting picture of David, checking out a major vein of sand that was discovered on the property:

The golf course was designed by Scott Covell, and most of the property's natural features were incorporated into the plan. Very little earth-moving had to be done. The landscape is excellently suited to a links-style layout.

At this point (August 24th) most of the "A9" holes are shaped and top-soiled, and are ready to be seeded. I'll update with more pics as the projects continues. We're very excited about this, and anticipate that it will be a great fit for area golfers who enjoy a shorter-length golf course.

Getting Back on the Wagon

Time flies when you're having fun... or having fun being busy! June and July went by like a blur, and here we are in August, staring at the down-slope of the 2010 golf season.
Pardon my absense from the blog-o-sphere; I did miss posting stuff during the last month or so. Jane and I were in Italy for our 25th anniversary during the first half of July - fantastic! It was our first time in Italy, and we enjoyed it tremedously, despite the heat (and I mean, HEAT). And of course it took me two weeks to get caught-up and get my head back into the golf business here at Victoria Park East.

So, more posts coming, there's some interesting news and info to pass along - especially with our new executive golf course now under construction!

Here's a small Guelph Mercury article from last week, quoting a couple of us local golf course owners about the state of the biz up 'til now:
http://news.guelphmercury.com/article/671816

Victoria Park Golf Club in Jessica's Walk

Victoria Park East & West Golf Clubs entered a team in the annual Jessica's Walk, a charity event in support of juvenile brain cancer research. This was our first time attending this event, and it was a great success for the charity: now in it's 5th year, they surpassed the $1 Million mark in contributions! It was a great day, we were happy to be a part of it.


The back of my Aunt Bonnie's and my brother
Paul's heads.

Team Victoria Park listening to a wonderful

and emotional speech by Wendy Durigon,

Jessica's mother.

L to R: Paul, Madeline, Elena, Reid (with the

Italian movie star sunglasses) Will with the

blue cap, and part of Sandy - all DeCorso's.

Starting point, with Jessica's picture.

Time Flies...

Well, it's been way too long since my last post. Here we are in June, the golf season is in full swing (pun intended), the tournament schedule is heating up... lots happening here at Victoria Park East. Not that I'm making excuses.

The last few weeks have certainly been busy. We've officially launched a "Rewards Card " for our members, and that took a lot of background work. Our new golf course on Maltby Rd. and Victoria Rd. South is starting to take shape, we're looking forward to a spring 2012 opening - the West course will remain open for the 2011 season.

And of course, Tiger Woods hasn't won a major this year... yet. I guess you got my 5 bucks, Brian!

I actually managed to play 2 rounds of golf this week. Unheard-of! It's great to see how the winter damage has basically healed, I would say, to almost 100%.

One more thing, the HST is almost here. That will add about 3 to 4 dollars onto a green fee, straight tax. We've been warning our customers, and haven't experienced a predicted backlash; at least, not yet!