By Don Brennan, Ottawa Sun

www.ottawasun.com/2011/07/27/rideau-view-looking-up

When it comes to the Ottawa golf scene, there’s nothing like "The View" from Manotick.

The Rideau View men’s intersectional team — led by Justin DeVroome, Paul Spare, Bill Holzman, Steve Fritsch, Tim Sullivan and Adam Kingsbury — became the first in the region to win a sixth consecutive championship earlier this month. 

Member Brad Fritsch made the cut at a PGA event for the first time, when he finished tied for 71st at last week’s RBC Canadian Open, outplaying the likes of young stars Matt Kuchar, Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim.

Another member, Susan Pearl, has remarkably won three Quebec majors already this season: The Mid-Amateur, The Players Cup and the Senior Provincial championship.

Another member, 21-year-old Allison Timlin, won the Citizen Amateur title this week. Next month she heads to Fresno State on a golf scholarship.

And three junior members — Grace Howie, Estee Deschamps and Paxton Mayer — are B.C.-bound to compete for the national championship after finishing in the Top 16 at the provincial championships.

Yes, when it comes to the Ottawa golf scene, the view at "The View" is from up top.

"There’s a lot of good stuff going on," said Rideau View head pro Paul Sherratt. "There has been for a long time."

Rideau View hosted the Canadian junior championships in 1976, the Canadian PGA Championship in 1995, the Quebec Open in 2001, the RCGA Future Links Championship in 2009.

The clubhouse is nice, the food is good and the beer is cold. But none of the amenities distinguish themselves.

"People join because of the golf course," said Sherratt. "The club really distinguished itself some time ago. It’s a real player’s club."

Past members who made a name for themselves in the game internationally include Tony Romani, Allison Hayes and Henry Brunton, the Canadian team coach.

While the competitive course record is 64, Fritsch and fellow Canadian Tour player Lee Curry have carded 63s.

But you can barely swing a club without hitting a good golfer at Rideau View. A third of the membership at Rideau View has a single-digit handicap index, and almost 50% under 15.

"When half your golfers are breaking 80, that’s pretty significant," said Sherratt.

Pearl, a former tennis pro at the OAC, has already achieved a personal goal this summer shooting a sub-par round.

"It’s been pretty awesome," she said of her season to date. "This is sort of the culmination of a lot of years of working hard. I sort of call these my junior years, because I never played golf when I was young. I didn’t come across golf until my 30s. I took up golf to get off the tennis courts, because I spent so much time on the tennis courts.

"I work hard at my game. And I have a lot of support certainly from Rideau View, it’s awesome. We have a great group of guys there."

Pearl, who has always been a fitness buff, says part of the reason her game has improved is the TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) program Rideau View’s staff have had her on. TPI is a collection of golf-specific health and fitness information incorporated to improve one’s preparation and performance.

"I’ve been doing it for two years now, and it’s paying off a lot," said Pearl. "I always worked out before. My whole life is sports. But this made a big difference, because it was very specific to the thing I loved to do."

Checking in with a 71 in her first event set Pearl on a good path.

"That was pretty darn exciting," she said. "Then to back it up … because you sort of think, oh, one-off, you know, but that was good for the confidence. It’s the same old thing you see on the Tour. When you start winning, and you start doing well … we all sort of have the potential to do that. But it’s really really hard to put it together in a round, and it’s hard to put two rounds together, let alone three rounds together. It’s hard to really stay in the moment and get rid of the distractions.

"Once you win, and once you shoot low, that gives you the confidence to think I can do that again."

One distraction she appreciates greatly are the messages she gets from family, friends and fellow Rideau View members.

"The main thing is, none of this stuff matters unless you have people to share it with," said Pearl. "When I’m out there on my little tour, because I’m all over the place, my husband is my biggest fan, but then you have all these people sending you messages. You don’t realize who’s following you, that they’re actually looking at the scores online. It makes it like you’re doing it for everybody. You’re having fun with everybody."

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by Scott MacLeod, Flagstick

www.flagstick.com/teeshots/?p=4112

It was a long and grueling final day but it was worth it in the end for the new victors at the 2011 Ottawa Citizen Amateur Championships.

Fowl weather intermittently marred the last eighteen holes of the 11th version of the championship that was contested at the Eagle Creek Golf Club in Dunrobin.  Despite that fact, Dwight Reinhart and Alison Timlin perservered to win their respective titles.

Reinhart led for the entire three rounds of the men’s tournament, opening with a 65 at eQuinelle, and following up with a score of 73 at Kanata Golf & Country Club.  That put him two strokes ahead of Jeff Crowe of Camelot with one round to play. By the sixth hole of the final round that lead had disappeared due to a triple bogey by Reinhart and by the next hole Crowe held a one stroke lead.

What looked like a tight race to the wire changed into a victory march on the back nine as Reinhart separated himself from the field with five straight birdies to start the last nine holes.  He ended the tournament at four under par, six better than second place finisher, Jeff Crowe.  Brad Goodman of Greensmere was one stroke back of Crowe in third place.

On the women’s side of the action, it was 19 year-old Alison Timlin of RideauView that eventually surged ahead for the victory.  The sophomore to-be at Fresno State University started the final round tied with past champion Bonnie Wolff of Carleton Golf & Yacht Club.  Both players got off to a rough start on Tuesday, so much so that by part way through the front nine it was two other players, Diane Dolan of Hylands Golf Club and Teri DeLuis of Brockville Country Club that shared the lead.

Dolan and DeLuis struggled late in the back nine while Timlin steadied her play, enough to eventually secure a two stroke victory over Dolan and Lise Jubinville of Carleton Golf & Yacht Club.

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by Scott MacLeod, Flagstick

www.flagstick.com/teeshots/?tag=rideauview

RideauView’s Susan Pearl is on a roll. The winner a few weeks ago at the Quebec Mid-Amateur Championship continued her performance streak on Tuesday, June 28 by winning the Senior Division of the 2011 NIVO Women’s Players’ Cup Presented by Manon Sicotte. The first leg of the Jocelyne Bourassa Series was played at the Rouville Course of La Vallée du Richelieu Golf Club.

Pearl was particularly impressive in the opening round of the two day tournament when she shot one under par, 71, to establish a seven stroke lead over Louise Boivin of Le Boisé, the defending champion. Pearl strolled to the win by adding a more average round of 77 on day two, resulting in an eight stroke win over Diane Dolan of Hylands. Boivin finished in third place.

Also finishing in the top five were three golfers from the Flagstick print coverage region. Teri deLuis of Brockville Country Club, Louise Hotte of Rivermead Golf Club, and Carole Letendre of Algonquin Golf Club all tied for 5th place at 161, 13 strokes back of Pearl.

In the Amateur division, the winner was Marie Thérèse Torti, Susan Pearl’s victim in the Quebec Mid-Amateur playoff earlier in June. Torti, a member of the host course, opened up a three stroke lead with a 74 in the first round but faltered heavily in round two. Early in that round she made bogeys on five of six holes but turned things around with a birdie on the 11th hole of the day. On that same back nine her nearest rival, Hélène Chartrand of Summerlea, bogied her way into the clubhouse on holes 16,17, and 18, to hand Torti a one stroke victory.

“This final round was a constant battle, but I fought and I am proud of my victory,” said Torti, who dedicated her victory to her caddie, Doreen Edwards, who recently fought cancer successfully.

Julie Foster-Brassard of Royal Québec tied Chartrand for second with +10 (78-76).

Ms. Jocelyne Bourassa attended the award ceremonies and presented the winners with their trophies. She reminded everyone how important it is for women to play golf and the role they play in the industry.

The next event in the Jocelyne Bourassa Series will be held at Club Le Mirage on July 6 and 7. Players will compete in the second edition of the NIVO Debbie Savoy Morel Cup presented by Manon Sicotte. Sabrina Sapone of Le Blainvillier is the defending amateur champion of the Cup while Louise Boivin of Le Boisé is the defending senior champion.

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by Scott MacLeod, Flagstick

www.flagstick.com/teeshots/?p=4012

The Rideau View Golf & Country Club Men’s Intersectional Team has won their 6th Flagstick Cup in a row. The award, symbolic of the Flagstick Ottawa Valley Golf Association Men’s Instersectional Title, was proudly presented to Team Captain Paul Spare.

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by Scott MacLeod, Flagstick

www.flagstick.com/teeshots/?tag=rideauview

For the 2nd time in three years Susan Pearl of Ottawa is the Quebec Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion. Pearl, a proud member at the RideauView Country Club, completed the feat on friday, June 10, at the Whitlock Golf Club in Hudson, Quebec.

Susan first won the title in 2009 and 2010 lost a playoff for the championship with Canadian Golf Hall of Fame Member, Mary-Ann Hayward.

This year it was Pearl’s time to shine in a playoff as she need one extra hole and a par to defeat Marie-Therese Torti of the Richelieu Valley Golf Club. Both players had finished two rounds of regulation play at 156, 12 over par.

Sharing third place was Teri deLuis of the Brockville Country Club and Helene Chartrand of Summerlea.

On the men’s side of the draw the outcome was not as favourable for a golfer from the Ottawa Valley. Dwight Reinhart of the Renfrew Golf Club lost in a one hole playoff to Adelard Collin from the Alpin Golf Club. Collin birdied the first extra hole to claim the championship. Both players had ended regulation play at 222 and had shared the second round lead heading into the last day.

Jeff Crowe of Camelot Golf and Country Club, the recent OVGA Match Play Champion, Duc Dao of Summerlea, and his clubmate, Chris Henry all tied for third. That meant a playoff was necessary to determine who would join Collin and Reinhart on the Quebec Men’s Mid-Amateur Team. Crowe quickly sealed that opening on the second playoff hole. The Mid-Am team will represent Quebec at the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship at the Coppinwood Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ontario from September 5-9.

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Last January I filmed about 12-15 videos where the content was solely on fitness screens or exercises that hopefully will inspire some of you to take action to improve your mobility or stability. ALL of the videos were filmed with me staring directly into the sun – and this one might be the worst!

This exercise can be done with a tennis ball, or volleyball (size of a volleyball) and again, you will get what you put into this exercise. Putting pressure on the ball will give you a greater return on your effort….don’t go through the motions! I very often see postures (starting position) where the shoulders are quite rounded – you are most certainly destined to come ‘over the top’ if this is the case for you. Simply thinking of having your shoulder blades get closer together in the starting position during practice will engage those muscles responsible for supporting the shoulder girdle….BUT, they may be too weak to keep it up for a whole round of golf.

Try this exercise every other day for 2 weeks…..it will make a difference.

For the last several years, on Wednesday mornings when I do playing lessons, I’ll often take a moment to drive up to the Championship tees on Number 7 and let my student see the course from a whole new perspective. It normally catches them off guard…

I start the ascent to the top while explaining “You’ll be hard pressed to recognize your home course from up here.” We drive to the top – I park the cart smack-dab in the middle of the tee (when we do this the electric cart goes from being a cart that transports you around the course to a ‘maintenance vehicle’….as maintenance vehicles drive on the tees). It’s at this time I say:

“Just listen….and look.”

Because Wednesday mornings are a crossover the front 9 at Rideau View is void…of people (except, of course, it’s just myself and my student), and noise. It’s a chance to appreciate the course for it’s natural beauty and I sometimes wonder whether I do this little exercise for me (because I love the sounds of nothing but wind moving through the trees, and birds) or whether I do it because I’m secretly trying to get one person at a time to think the way I think…

And I think it would be wonderful for just one afternoon for members and their families to enjoy the golf course without clubs……without carts….without golfers….no flags….no tee blocks…..that we just enjoy the course as a park…..for one afternoon.

Can you picture volleyball and badminton nets on #13?

A soccer game taking place on #5?

Touch football on #16?

A sand castle building contest for kids in the bunkers?

#6 and #7 would of course be sport and sandcastle free because it would be a noise free zone….books to read and hammocks to lay in….get the idea? *I call shotgun on the hammock position at the black tees on #7

We often aspire to finish a round of golf where everything just felt right….that we were one with the golf course….that we just made it look really, really, simple….like a walk in the park.

Possible?

Remember this – you will get what YOU put into this exercise. Ask yourself if you are indeed pushing as hard as you can because….it makes a difference.

It’s been four months since I recorded these videos and it’s very noticeable in this clip that it’s one of the last ones…..very, very, very slow talking combined with a little bit of dry mouth.

Enjoy.

The biggest story from this week is Kevin Na…a young professional who agreed to be ‘miked’ up on Thursday. Being ‘miked’ up is supposed to keep viewers entertained by allowing them to listen in on player -> caddy speak or even player – > player speak. Regardless, it’s intent is to give you the feel that you’re right there in the action.

Well, both Na and the network (and the viewers) got more than they bargained for when a rather ordinary Thursday and an ordinary hole turned into a Tin Cup moment for all to see…….and hear.

While watching the video please refrain from saying things like “Hey, I can do that!” even though you’ll have the urge to.

Enjoy.