VOLUME 3 – ISSUE 4

Investing in the Development

Of Future Participants

Men’s Provincial

Tour

SQUARE ONE OF CHILDREN GOLF DEVELOPMENT

 

 

Volume 3 – Issue 4

Message from the Executive Director Jean-Pierre Beaulieu Looking Forward to a Bright Future! http://www.golfquebec.org/index.asp?id=985

Any organization must, at some point, take a moment to review, re-align, and confirm its strategies. Golf Québec recently went through this process in order to maximize its impact in the golf industry for the upcoming years

Such strategic planning serves to provide answers to a series of questions regarding our environment, identity, orientation, and activities. Our team has been working on this analysis since last fall. An accurate overview of the situation remains the guiding principle of any assessment. Considering the quality and reach of our programs designed for future participants, we are quite proud of our progress. The integration of Golf in Schools was

successful in close to 550 schools. The creation of the very popular

Golfmobile is also a source of pride. The implementation of the CN Future

Links program in an increasing number of golf clubs as well as the recognition by Golf Canada of about ten Junior Golf

Development Centres contribute to develop the skills of many children.

Our Introduction to Competition Tours are also a great accomplishment throughout our regions.

Other elements of our success include the quality of our coaching programs for developing athletes, regional diversity within the organization, commitment of numerous volunteers, and administrative accountability in the management of dues paid by our members. These are, among others, the factors that led us to being awarded with the Québec Federation of the Year title in 2014.

Our Introduction to Competition Tours are well received.

 

 

Main Challenges

A few challenges also came up in this analysis. For instance, we need to review our financing model

in link with the decreasing membership in golf clubs, improve our communications with public golfers and our partners, stimulate the

commitment of our community on a volunteer base, provide more support to athletes, and contribute to revitalizing the recreational development of the game. We need to reach out to a larger clientele Our industry is in constant evolution. Business competition comes from all other sports and leisure as well as cultural events and our participants are also changing their

playing habits. As a result, Golf Québec must increase its efforts to promote its programs and activities towards all golfers and incite them to remain actively involved in the game. With over 1.1 million golfers in Québec, we are looking at an amazing potential in membership growth. With all these factors in mind, we came up with a renewed strategic plan and vision for Golf Québec.

Three key development goals Three key development goals were identified to facilitate the active and dynamic role that Golf Québec plays in the development of golf participation. 1: Diversify and increase our financial resources; 2: Efficiently communicate our commitment;

 

 

3: Reinforce the implementation of our programs and services within the Introduction and Excellence pillars of sports development. The first objective will enable us to increase the revenues used to support all programs and services rendered to golfers and clubs. We will also be able to train more volunteers, rules officials, and course raters. The new dues model, sponsorships, and fundraisers will contribute to investing furthermore in the industry itself. The second goal will lead to implementing new communication initiatives and reaching out to a larger pool of golfers to make them live the Golf Québec experience. Our communications will be more dynamic, target-oriented, and lively by using the numerous web-based communication tools. Finally, we will aim to reinforce the implementation of our programs and services within the Introduction and Excellence pillars of sports development. The success of our current initiatives offers an interesting springboard to pursue and expand our actions. Regional implementation through our associations and golf clubs will facilitate an increased participation of public golfers of all ages and contribute to the success of young athletes that are starting to stand out on tours of all skills levels.

Grow the game together, better, for a larger clientele and with our partners, the golf clubs. This is what we want to do! The vision of Golf Québec clearly states the impact that we wish to have within the industry. Successfully shape the growth of golf with inspiring initiatives designed for golfers of all levels, living rewarding experiences and reaching their full potential. Our slogan could not say it better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep_KqLnqsGo&feature=youtu.be Have a great golf season!

 

 

Birdies for Charity Investing in the Development of our Future Golfers http://www.golfquebec.org/index.asp?id=990

 

The message couldn’t be clearer: true to a long-standing tradition, Golf Québec does everything in its power to pursue its mission and develop sports participation. Among others, the Federation is committed to financing the development of young golfers through its programs.

The 2015 “Birdies for Charity” activity is a fundraiser program organized, for the first time this year, within the RBC Canadian Open to be held at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, from July 20 to 26. Donors will commit to making a donation for each birdie made by the golf professionals during the four rounds of the tournament, Thursday through Sunday. As a result, they will contribute to supporting youth programs and initiatives through the Golf Québec Sport Development Program. In addition, for each financial contribution of $25 and more, the Québec Golf Federation will remit tax receipts. Since its inception in 2011, $83,000 was collected through this initiative which was initially conducted within the Montréal Championship of the Champions' Tour. The format of this fundraiser is quite simple. Should you make a donation of $0.05 per “birdie” that is made and that 1,000 birdies are cumulated through the four rounds of the event, then your total donation would come

up to $50. Of course, you could donate more, like $0.10, $0.25 per birdie or more. It’s up to you. You could also choose to donate a fixed amount instead. Introduction and Competition Our Sport Development Program is divided in many interdependent parts enabling young golf fans to develop specific skills. Many programs are conducted in various training facilities including: Golf in Schools, Golfmobile, CN Future Links, First Drive, She Swings, She Scores, as well as the Junior Golf Development Centres (JGDC). In tournaments and events, the Introduction to Competition Tours (ICT) and Regional Junior Tours (RJT) provide an opportunity to children to learn to play according to the rules while enjoying a friendly setting. Through these initiatives, Golf Québec is aiming to stimulate the interest of younger participants for our sport. Not only will this contribute to developing future golf athletes, but we hope that it will also help reducing drop-out rates and ensure the future of golf by introducing new players and competitors to the game. To participate in this fundraiser, please visit the Golf Québec website and download the information package and donation form. http://www.golfquebec.org/birdieforcharity

 

 

 

 

NIVO Women’s Provincial Tour

NIVO Sport and Golf Québec, the Love Story Is Still Going Strong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyC0JCPE-20&feature=youtu.be

Contribute to the constant growth of golf in Québec and, most of all, encourage women who share a passion for our sport by providing them with the proper development tools; this is Golf Québec’s goal in its partnership with NIVO Sport for the presentation of the Women’s Provincial Tour.

Pursuing its objective to promote women’s golf in Québec, NIVO Sport renews its title sponsorship of the Women’s Provincial Tour, including the Jocelyne Bourassa Series, for two more years. As exclusive partner of women’s apparel, the trendsetting Montréal-based company helps participants to stand out on the greens. The 2015 ladies’ golf season begun with the NIVO Women’s Provincial Match Play Championship presented at the Summerlea Golf and Country Club on June 6 and 7. It was quickly followed by the NIVO Women’s Provincial Mid-Amateur Championship held at Whitlock on June 11 and 12. Five Main Contenders The coveted NIVO Debbie Savoy Morel Cup is coming up soon, on June 29 and 30, at the Ki-8-Eb located in the Mauricie, and the key event of the season, the NIVO Women’s

Provincial Championship, will take place from July 13 to 15 at the Montréal Country Club. Valérie Tanguay who joined the University of Oklahoma Sooners last September, Katherine Gravel-Coursol of Le Blainvillier, young Ontario player and member of the national development Squad, Grace St-Germain, as well as Josée Doyon of Beauceville will some of the headliners of our 2015 amateur competitions.

On top of the Women’s Provincial Tour sponsorship, NIVO wishes to contribute to the future of golf by supporting the development of new participants. For this purpose, NIVO is offering a 15% discount on all purchases made on www.nivosport.com. By doing so, NIVO is looking forward to reaching women who are already golf fans as well as future participants.

 

 

NIVO Sport is already supplying Golf Québec with golf apparel for all women’s provincial teams as well as Rules officials. They are now looking forward to supplying the attire for all club and intersectional women’s competitive teams. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the development of golf while supporting a local enterprise. Shop NIVO's online store and use the

GOLFQC2015 promotional code to support Golf in Schools. www.nivosport.com http://shopcafr.nivosport.com/?os=GolfQc&pc=GOLFQC2015

 

 

 

 

New Junior Golf Development Centres

Athletic Achievement, a Focal Point of Development for Children of 5 to 18 Years Old https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep_KqLnqsGo&feature=youtu.be

Through the establishment of a network of Junior Golf Development Centres (JGDC) across the country and in collaboration with Golf Canada, Golf Québec is looking forward to bringing juniors and their parents in golf facilities that feature the appropriate development tools to support them throughout their personal itinerary, from discovering the game to competing at the highest levels.

For this purpose, Golf Québec and Golf Canada are providing interested youth with the opportunity to access comprehensive age appropriate golf programs and services, delivered at a national standard, providing the skills and experiences to the participants and their families that will keep them involved with golf for life. The JGDC initiative provides a clear golf developmental pathway with comprehensive coaching support for golfers between the ages of 5 – 18. These centres will create a systematic approach to developing junior golfers which benefits players, families, coaches and golf facilities. “Every single development program promoted by Golf Québec is combined within the unique structures known as the Junior Golf Development Centers, which makes them provincial references. This enables us to identify very specifically which facilities are devoted to developing the future golf stars of

their region,” explains Patrice Clément, Golf Québec’s Sport Development Director.

Already in expansion Two Québec golf clubs were the first to launch the program by registering as early as 2014 when it was incepted. They are: Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu with Coach Marc-André Guimond and Club de golf Chicoutimi where the development program is supervised by Golf Professional Jonathan Moreau. For Golf Québec, this initiative is a living proof that our efforts of the past few years to

 

 

introduce and develop new participants are finally bearing fruit. Since then, seven other Québec golf clubs were accredited as JGDC,

bringing their group up to nine facilities in the province at the end of May 2015. They are: Beauceville, Du Moulin, Le Versant, Lévis, Lorette, Stoneham, and Venise. Within this network, they benefit from additional tools to invest furthermore in the future of our game: children. “This initiative demonstrates how involved our provincial stakeholders are in sports development. They are not only striving to provide quality services, but also offer comprehensive and personalized training and coaching from grassroots level to the highest competitive levels,” adds Mr. Clément.

For Competition and… Recreation Too! The developmental pathway proposed by these JGDC is designed to let juniors chose whether they want to compete or play golf for fun. Obviously, performances aren’t everything for everyone. The appreciation of our sport definitely is a key element to also keep in mind. Each Center conducts a program aligned with the Long-Term Player Development Guide published by Golf Canada. As a result, Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada are supporting these recognized centres in terms of marketing and producing appropriate documentation. Altogether, the JGDC benefit from numerous advantages such as support from there golf governance bodies, official certification, promotions, grants, and many more. In addition, joining this program is absolutely free of charge whether they are private,

public, semi-private and/or municipal facilities. Visit: www.golfquebec.org/jgdc. Getting girls into golf with CN Future Links Girls Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qh3J4XOMDI&list=PLD284449A81FFC

2DB&index=43

 

 

 

 

On the Course Québec Golfers on a Successful Course!

Whether it is on the provincial, national or professional tour, Québec players started this golf season under the spotlights.

Brendan Smith of Ayers Cliff captured the honours of the Québec Junior Open presented by the CJGA in Hawkesbury, Ontario. With a pair of birdies and bogeys, Smith played the par in the final round of the event to finish with a cumulative score of 141 (-3). On the previous day, he had registered the best score of his career, 69, which led him to victory. At 14 years old, Québec Juvenile Champion Céleste Dao added a new title to her collection in this event where she easily won with an 11-stroke advance. Only Québec representative on the Golf Canada Development Squad, Étienne Papineau ranked 4th at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship and 5th at the Ontario Championship held a few weeks later. Québec Amateur Champion, Grace St-Germain, proved that her winning

streak is not only due to sheer luck as she was crowned at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship, the first leg of the national junior schedule. Québec Amateur Champion and past winner of the Duke of Kent, Raoul Ménard contributed to the victory of the 49ers of Charlotte University, located in North Carolina, at the NCAA Regional Championship. In the process, they defeated the three best American University teams at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Representing Kent State University, Josée Doyon surprised the whole NCAA Tour by

capturing three consecutive individual victories. As a result, she directly contributed to the success of her alma mater in the team competition. Anne-Catherine Tanguay couldn’t chose a better way to celebrate Mothers’ Day as she was climbing the ladder of the pro tour with no other than her own mother as a caddy. The Québec City golfer ranked 10th with scores of 68-73-71-75 (-1).

 

 

Junior Provincial Tour Our Future Golf Stars Showcased At Verchères

http://www.golfquebec.org/nouvelles_voir.asp?CodeN=1163

Golf de Verchères was host at the end of May, to amazing golf performances from the best provincial competitors of 14 years old and under as they played in the first edition of the Pee-Wee and Bantam Classic. Many of them took this opportunity to show their superiority even if the weather conditions were far from accommodating.

The 2nd leg of the Provincial Junior Tour gathered the best 90 pee-wee and bantam golfers of Québec, giving us the opportunity to observe first-hand our promising rising stars. Amongst bantams, Jean-Christophe Gagnon of Stoneham was the first to stand out on Saturday as he played 78 despite strong gusts of wind and heavy rainfalls. The golfer of La Capitale-National ended his tournament on a happy note, this Sunday, when he registered the best individual performance of the event with a score of 75. In the meantime, the girls had a very fierce competition in the Bantam category as the Top 3 players are only one-stroke apart from each other. Mathilde Denicourt of St-Césaire, 2014 Provincial Pee-Wee Champion, captured the honours of the first edition of this event with a cumulative score of 86-76—161 (+17). Emily Romancew of Whitlock and Lory Paradis of Golf Le Mirage respectively ranked 2nd and 3rd with +18 and +19; a promising future for women’s golf in Québec.

The Pee-Wee history is quite different. Last year’s Provincial Mosquito Champion, Jean-Philippe Parr continued his rise to fame. The young 10 year-old offered a very inspiring performance by playing 77, only 5 strokes above the par. As for the younger girls, Yasmine Daoud of Whitlock earned the first victory of her life. Daoud had registered a score of 88, which is a significant gap of 11 strokes ahead of the runner-up, Frédéricke Desbiens of Royal Québec who played 99.

Mathilde Denicourt and Jean-Christophe Gagnon Photo album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153382600712767.1073741901.168062312766&type=3 Bantam champions, Jean-Christophe Gagnon of Stoneham and Mathilde Denicourt of St-Césaire, earned an exemption for the IMG Academy Junior World Championships to be held at the Torrey Pines Golf Club, in the San Diego area, from July 11 to 17.

 

 

 

 

Men’s Provincial Tour Joey Savoie Writes a New Page of History at Beaconsfield http://www.golfquebec.org/nouvelles_voir.asp?CodeN=1162

Hollywood scriptwriters would never think of such a scenario. Recently back from his sophomore year on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tour, young Joey Savoie wrote a new page of history by becoming, on May 29, the first amateur golfer to win the traditional Spring Open since 2006. But to do so, he had to face a sudden-death playoff, first, at the Beaconsfield Golf Club.

Measuring up to the best amateur and professional golfers of the province, the Pinegrove Golf and Country Club member surely tapped inspiration from his performances of the past schoolyear when he registered an impressive score of 66 (-5). Tied with golf professional, Marc-Étienne Bussières, after 18 holes, Savoie only needed two additional holes to re-capture the trophy that he had been unsuccessful at defending two years ago. With quite similar scorecards including six birdies and one bogey, both golfers made a birdie on the first sudden-death playoff hole. Then, young Savoie grabbed the opportunity to showcase his talent. At 20 years old, his tee shot was very solid and hit the fairway while veteran player, Bussières, saw his luck turning as his ball hid behind a tree. Marc-Étienne Bussières had no other choice but to concede victory to the

young golfer who made a perfect 2nd stroke, sending his ball only a few feet from the cup to eventually make an eagle. In 2013, the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu golfer had engraved his name on the trophy as amateur winner of the event in which he had played 70 despite the fact that he had begun the competition with a 5-stroke lead in the first twelve holes. That year, Rémi Bouchard had won a sudden-death playoff and been crowned with a score of 69.

Joey Savoie – interview on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFCNTGPqlC4&feature=youtu.be In 2006, Philippe-André Bannon was the last amateur player to ever win the Spring Open in which he had scored 65; only two strokes above the course record established by another amateur golfer, Hugo Chamberland-Lauzon, the year before.

 

 

In 2013, the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu golfer had engraved his name on the trophy as amateur winner of the event in which he had played 70 despite the

fact that he had begun the competition with a 5-stroke lead in the first twelve holes. That year, Rémi Bouchard had won a sudden-death playoff and been crowned with a score of 69. Photo album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153382431072767.1073741900.168062312766&type=3