SCOTT PIERCYWINS 2012 RBCCANADIAN OPENSee Inside!

August 2012

Superb Golf JustA Short DriveAway InMinnesotaSee Page 8

TommyHilfiger TheCollections -2012See Page 2

Golf Canada CEOScott Simmons On

The State OfCanadian Golf

The TBDGA 2012Tournament

Calendar

Taylor Made OnThe Range at The

RBC CanadianOpen

Manitouwadge,Marathon, White

River Golf

It was fun to sit down with Golf CanadaCEO Scott Simmons and talk about golf inCanada today. Here is my interview.

How has the membership program inGolf Canada gone for you?

The membership is going well. It isn’t

growing as fast as we would like, but it iscatching on. What we are trying to do isget Canadians to understand and embracewhat Golf Canada is trying to do for thegame as a lot had changed since our namechange to Golf Canada. The RCGA is stillthe legal entity of Golf Canada and hasbeen the governing body of the game since1895. We still do the rules, handicapping,amateur status, slope rating, nationalchampionships and so on for golf but nowwith this NSO National Sport Organization

status we are held accountable for growingthe sport from a participation and excel-lence point of view. We want golfersacross Canada to understand joining GolfCanada isn't just about someone who needsa handicap factor. It is really about a smalldonation to help grow the game you love.Without funding from Canadian golfers wecan’t do what we need to to grow thegame. Yes we get funding from the federalgovernment and corporate partners but themore funding we get from individuals themore we can do for the game. Our mem-bership program is growing, not at the ratewe were hoping for, but we are on track.

How many members does Golf Canadahave now?

There are roughly 6 million Canadianswho pick up a golf club and play at least 1game per year so a roughly 20 % partici-pation rate, arguably the highest in theworld. Roughly half or 3 million are avidgolfers who play 10 or more games. Ofthose 3 million only 500,000 are a memberof a club and many of those clubs put themembership as a line item on your mem-bership fee and that represents 350,000members, which is excellent for us. We aretrying to tap in to that vast majority of

those 3 million golfers that are not mem-bers of clubs. We need to go after the pub-lic. We have 20 to 25,000 like that now butwe are still growing the brand. We allmake decisions when we buy somethinglike a cup or coffee or a car so we have togrow our image and have made greatstrides in that area. The more that we do toshow we are doing great things to grow thegame that support will come.

We are not limiting ourselves to the mem-bership approach for revenue and lookingat other avenues like Sport Canada withthe Own the Podium program for moregovernment funds now that golf is back atthe Olympics. We are also looking formore corporate partners who want to usegolf to grow their business. There aremany other avenues and approachesbesides membership.

The cost of the membership with GolfCanada in Ontario is $27.50 ande $10.00goes to Golf Canada and $17.50 goes tothe provincial association. The member-ship fee amount varies from $20 to $30across Canada.

Continued Next Page

Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons On TheCurrent State of Canadian Golf

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

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Above: Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons Side: Ernie Els was a big draw

How has this years RBC CanadianOpen gone?

The 2012 RBC Canadian Open has gonewell. I couldn’t be happier. Number 1when I joined Golf Canada 5 years ago

was to grow the championship. I’m realpassionate about moving the RBCCanadian Open around to Canada’s bestgolf courses, which the players like. Thenumber 1 criterion for a PGA golfer toattend is the golf course, then the date.Using our charter plane and with teamRBC we are getting great fields. We can’tcontrol the weather or leader board but theplayers like the old style courses we haveused recently like St George’s,Shaughnessy and Hamilton. I would like togo back to Royal Montreal as well.

Next year we go back to Glen Abbey. Ithink it is the best spectator golf course inthe world and it has really matured. GlenAbbey has made Golf Canada what we aretoday because of the funds gained from thesale to Club Link. It was a great decisionto own Glen Abbey but today we are in acycle around the country when it was bestnot to own.

We will make a reasonable profit with thisyear’s event, which we will invest backinto Canadian amateur golf. We want touse the RBC Canadian Open as a kind of apromotional vehicle with all the coverageyou get from the media. It helps to growGolf Canada and the game of golf. Itserves many purposes in my opinionincluding branding messages as well asfinancial.

The RBC sponsorship has helped theevent quite a bit?

RBC is critical and even more importantthey share our vision.

The RBC sponsored player’s come to theevent, which helps you secure a prettygood field before you even start recruiting.Guys like Els, Furyk, Mayhan and Kucharare star players. As you can tell non RBCsponsored guys like Schwartzel,Oosthausen and Villegas come here aswell for even more elite players.

This year the players came from theBritish Open on a charter flight right to theHamilton Airport. We partner with theJohn Deere event in Milwaukee with theplane. The players, families and caddieswere here by 11pm Sunday night. Theypay similar to their own commercial ticket,which helps us to subsidize the plane cost.

RBC CEO Gord Nixon had been anincredible friend to sports in general withwhat they have done with the Olympics

and hockey. I think they understand thepower of sport and what it means to ourculture and society and lets be honest ithelps them build their business. They shareour passion and enthusiasm for the gameof golf and we are both in sync in terms ofwhat we want to do. It is a wonderful mar-

riage. They have renewed for another fiveyears so we have them now through 2017.The RBC Canadian Open is a big eventdepending on the year, a $15 to $17 mil-lion-dollar venture in terms of revenuesand expenses. The revenues come frommany sources but RBC makes a bigimpact.

Do you feel the current dates are bestfor the RBC Canadian Open?

The dates may change in the future but for2013 and 2014 are the same. When thePGA Tour launched the Fed Ex Cup it real-ly changed the schedule. There are signifi-cant costs associated with different slots onthe schedule. You have to ask yourself ifyou will get a better field with a differentdate. I’m not sure and it could cost morefor instance with television costs and pursesubsidy. RBC and Golf Canada are happywith the current dates but you are alwayslooking at other options. We want to makesure this event stays on the front burner inthe minds of players.

There has been some talk of theCanadian Tour changing name etc?

The Canadian Tour rebranding may hap-pen with the PGA Tour. The CanadianTour has been around for a while and Ithink it is an important part of theCanadian golfing fabric. I think a partner-ship with the PGA Tour may help with thevision somewhat like what they are doingin South America where it would be thelevel below the web.com tour. If you had

say 10 events in Canada, players wouldearn points and money and the top playerswould get their cards to the web.com tourand that is how eventually you get youway up to the big show. I know the PGATour has been up here at the CanadianTour events and am assuming a decisionwill come before this year-end.

Page 5August 2012

Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons On The Current State of Canadian Golf

When you live in Northwestern Ontariowe are lucky to have so many fantasticgolf courses in close proximity. There are12 courses in Thunder Bay, many more inNW Ontario and several tremendouscourses south of the border in Minnesota. Some 180 miles down the road to our

south; you will arrive at Giant’s Ridge,home to The Quarry and The Legendcourses, consistently ranked highly in theentire United States!

The Giant’s Ridge golf courses arefairly new with the Legend opening in1997 and Quarry in 2003 both designedby Jeff Brauer who started in the Texasarea and also designed another localfavourite course, The Wilderness atFortune Bay.

Paul Speltz is an Assistant GolfProfessional at the Legend course Giant’sRidge. John Kendall is the Director ofGolf of The Legend and Quarry.

“ Everything has gone well with awarm spring and the weather has beenvery good. The course conditioning isbetter now than usual because of the mildstart of the season,” stated Paul Speltz. “ Ithink both the courses are excellent. TheLegend is your typical northlands settingwith serene scenic holes out there. I thinkthe Quarry is the more challenging to playof the two. The Quarry is unique with 18good holes back to back with no easyones. They are very fair though.”

My day of playing both coursesreminded me of how pretty it is at Giant’sRidge. The holes 13 to 17 at The Legendare some of the most beautiful holes Ihave played in recent times. A long cartdrive from 12th hole to the 13th tee box iswell worth it. You feel like you are inyour own little world. Hole 17 is a par 3surrounded by water and makes you feellike you could just sit down and stay

awhile. It is very pretty!

The excellent highway system inMinnesota means Giant’s Ridge is acces-sible from pretty much everywhere.Green fees in prime season are $82 duringthe week and $89 on the weekend includ-ing cart and range at both courses. Pre orpost season the green fee rate is $62.There are also specials through out theseason including a 36 hole special. Theguests at Giants Ridge come from theTwin Cities and Canada. You can find agreat place to stay right at the resort in themain hotel or in the Villas.

Be sure to play some golf on these high-ly ranked courses in our part of the world!

Superb Golf Just A Short Drive Away In MinnesotaBY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

Page 8 August 2012