Thanks to Vittie Gomes and our great partners at Nike Golf I was given the opportunity to caddy for Paul Casey on day 2 of the Telus World Skins Game in Banff. Thanks V!! Day 1 saw a blue bird day in Banff but the morning of day 2 saw it rain as hard as you would see in the Rockies with- yes this is true- fresh snow on the mountains over night! The Pro Am in the morning was unfortunately cancelled so Paul and I were going blind in the afternoon I had played a few holes so overall no worries there.

I got to meet Paul for lunch before the round. He’s a big mountain biker and we chatted about Whistler and bikes- he has a few! He snuck up to Whistler Saturday for Crankworx during the Canadian Open to check it out and has riden here often. After lunch it was off to the locker room to get the bag ready. It was a caddies worse day. Heavy rain was forecasted so we loaded up the bag with everything he had. A brief meeting in the morning with the players, caddies and TSN regarding the back 9, a reminder about no foul language as everyone is mic’d up, that evenings travel and off to the range for warm up.

His clubs are pretty standard. Nike blades with a cavity back 2 iron, 3 wood, stock Nike VR driver, 10.5 loft, 73 Diamana shaft. Method putter, 52 and 58 degree sand wedges. Warm up was short and sweet. PC hits it DEEP. So does Jhonatthan Vegas. This kid is going to be a star. He’s still very young but once he figures it out he’s got the length and touch to be very good. Anthony Kim is just flat out skilled and can also move it. Lucas Glover hits a draw all the time and has a great sense of humour. He loved the two guys in the crowd dressed up as Santa??! and called them up to the tee for a photo. Steven Ames is also a great ball striker and was giving it to AK pretty good the whole way around.

Skins game courses are set up pretty short so it was driver/wedge most of the way around. Putts were lipping out from everywhere. The only tense moment was when the laser they gave us didn’t have batteries so it got a little tense for a hole or so until we solved that. Paul also had to remind me we were mic’d so the F bomb I dropped when the laser didn’t work wasn’t real popular!

Thanks again to Paul for being so accomodating and to Nike Golf for a great day. We didn’t win a Skin on day 2 so I think that’s likely the end of my pro caddy career but looking forward to hopefully hitting the mountain bike trails with Paul next time he is back in town. Thanks again guys for a great day! Thanks also to Rod Black from the TSN for the props during the telecast.

AK

After a two year run of “float of the year” the Whistler Golf Club team had to get creative this year. The votes aren’t in yet but we like our chances. Continuing the theme of working towards zero garbage at our facility, the Whistler Golf Club’s float for 2011 declares war on terrible or terror-ible waste!
Merchandiser Suzanne Malone out did herself this year. She save all the egg crates from Palmer’s Gallery Bar and Grill over the season to make the body of the Humvee. The front window is made from salad packaging. The gun turret is an old irrigation catch basin with the gun being a piece of used irrigation pipe. The Canada flags were saved from the Olympics. The entire float will be recycled after the parade. The power for the float comes from one of our electric carts. Sales Manager Ro Davies is sporting his father’s official military jacket.

Our flags on the golf course this year are Canada Flags. Happy Canada Day everyone!!

The Whistler Golf Club has extened it’s Spring rates until June 16th. “It has been a long cold Spring and our course needs a little more grow in time to get to Summer conditions. We thank everyone who has visited us to date. The usual Whistler Golf Club service and Whistler Valley views and bear watching will continue to make your day. We hope you will find good value in our Spring rates. Our greens have been double overseeded and are improving daily”

To book your tee time and for great online specials visit www.whistlergolf.com.

Alan Kristmanson

General Manager

18 green June 1st

Book now for opening weekend! The weather looks good so lets tee it up!

BOOK ONLINE AND SAVE! Visit www.whistlergolf.com and book your tee times online. There you will find green fee specials while they last. They go quick so book them up as soon as you can.

SIGN UP FOR SPECIALS  Don’t forget to “Sign up for specials” at www.whistlergolf.com. You will receive monthly ENews from the Whistler Golf Club. As a thank you for joining we will send you a two for one green fee!

THE RANGE  Our newly renovated Practice Facility is now open. Our C.P.G.A. Teaching Professionals lead by Head Teaching Professional Duncan Savage is ready to help you with you game. Click here to see our instructional programs. Custom club fitting is available with our Nike fitting system. Book your appointment to “get fit”

PALMER’S GALLERY BAR AND GRILL   “Palmer’s” will open May 14th. We are pleased to introduce our monthly fresh sheet with a focus on locally grown product. The deck at Palmer’s features free WiFi and is a great place to come by for a coffee and a muffin or a great meal.

GOLF SHOP  The shop is fully stocked with 2011 apparel from Nike, Lole, Adidas, Quiksilver, AUR, and more. Our award winning shop features both golf and lifestyle apparel. Come check it out!

THE COURSE!

Our crew has been working hard getting the course ready following a late Spring. Click here to follow our Spring preparations on our Facebook Fan page. For up to the minute information follow us on Twitter! It is amazing how fast the course goes from snow to green fairways but its not without a lot of hard work and expense. Thanks to our maintenance crew for their hard work this Spring. Check out the dates of the two photos below!!

MARCH 16TH

May 1st

JUNIOR PLAY FOR FREE  That’s right. The Whistler Golf Club is the home of free golf for juniors and our junior tees. Each paying adult may bring a junior free of charge. We have junior tees on every hole from 90- 165 yards. Super juniors can beat Mom and Dad from the adult tees.

WWW.WHISTLERGOLF.COM   -mobile  Visit www.whistlergolf.com from your smart phone. Tee times can now be booked from your phone! Golf course information including directions, rates, video flyovers of each hole and more can be at our mobile web site.

Have a great golf season everyone!

Over 100 golfers turned out for the Whistler Golf Club/ Westin Resort and Spa”s 1st Annual “Whistler Thanks” day in support of the Whistler and Pemberton Food Banks. Green fees were generously donated by the Westin Resort and Spa leaving our guests with the option to donate food and/or cash to the food bank. Thank you to Joanne Pershbacher, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Westin for the donation of green fees for the golfers.

Donations were overwhelming with Shaw Cable generously tripling the value of all cash and food received through their “Together is Amazing” program. Doug Sedgwick from Shaw Cable was on site to thank the golfers for their donations. Shaw also donated a HD PVR as a prize for the golfers attending today! Bruce Stewart at Nester’s Market stepped to the plate by furthering the value of the donations.

It was a great day for the Whistler and Pemberton Food Banks. Thank you to all our golfers for a great golf season and for contributing to this great cause.

The Whistler Golf Club greens are in great shape and will stay so until our closing date of October 11th. Greens aeration will take place on October the 12th.  With fresh snow on the mountains the views are amazing (see below) right now some come and join us for some great golf.

Please note The Range will close on October 3rd.

Whistler's first snowfall of 2010

The sun came back out to make the second day of our Grand Opening of The Range a truly grand day!

Wilson Yeu was our first KP contest winner and now enjoys a Nike VR wedge in the bag.  Thanks again to Ian Carlson from Nike Golf for being such a big part of our opening festivities with prizes and demos!

Wilson Yeu flanked by Ian Carlson from Nike and Ryan Pepper CPGA with his new Nike VR wedge

Keegan Blunden, one of our junior members, was beat out in a putting contest yesterday but had the luck of the draw when it came to winning a wedge also!  Nester Egido stepped up to the plate in the putting contest to drain all three putts and win a Hybrid from Nike! 

Ro Davies handing Keegan Blunden, one of our junior pass holders his new Nike VR wedge

Nestor Egido being lifted by Dan Axford CPGA and Ro Davies

Brother Twang rocked the tee line all afternoon and when it came to their luck of the draw, Luci McEachern, a loyal student of our CPGA Pros, was drawn to win a new Nike VR Driver!   The new Nike drivers were flying out the door as Andy McNaughton, one of our passholders, hit the cart and was stoked to have the dream club in the bag! 

Brother Twang entertaining the huge crowd at The Range

Luci McEachern, the winner of a new Nike VR driver with Ryan Pepper CPGA

Andy Mcnaughton on the left with Daniel Ryan, the Winner of the hugely popular "Hit the Cart" contest

In our next putting contest, Willie Lewis Sr. was the victor in a three person playoff winning a new Nike wedge. 

Willie Lewis Sr. lining up a tough putt with caddie Ro Davies

 The hit the cart contest was definitely a popular one, and junior member Casey Klimock dropped one right in the box for the win!

Hit the cart winner Casey Klimock fighting over his new Nike VR hybrid with Dan Axford CPGA

Our next KP winner was Mike Turcotte who prevailed in the prevailing winds and is also enjoying a new Hybrid from Nike! 

Mike Turcotte, KP winner testing his accuracy with his new Nike VR hybrid

If you weren’t one of the on-site draw prize winners, don’t fret!  We are still going to give away more amazing Nike clubs and a 10 game pass from everyone that entered to win over the course of the weekend.  Thank you to everyone that came out to enjoy the new Range!

High noon on Saturday, July 31, 2010 saw the ceremonial first swing and official opening of the Range! The sun was shining, the hot dogs grilling, and Ian Carlson from Nike Golf was on site with all the latest Nike gear (and will be back again tomorrow). Our Pros on hand for free tips and good deals for the future! 

Nike Golf had kindly supplied 18 new Victory Red drivers, rescue clubs, and wedges. No time was wasted starting to give them away to our guests in attendance. Everyone on the line at noon took part in a KP contest that saw Darryl Palmer stick it to 10 feet for the first rescue club now part of his bag. 

Ro Davies handing Darryl Palmer his brand new Nike VR Hybrid

CPGA Duncan Savage took a break from giving free lessons to run the first putting contest which saw Cameron Pascoe winning a new Nike wedge. 

Duncan Savage CPGA and Ian Carlson presenting Cameron Pascoe with his new Nike VR wedge

Then we opened fire on Shimmy in the picker cart, and CPGA Ryan Pepper’s student Chris “Tin Tin” Schindele was the first to hit the cart and won a new Victory Red Nike driver.  Chris has also taken part in Nike Junior camps in previous years, so it looks like it was a good investment! 

Ryan Pepper CPGA, Paul Shimizu, Tin Tin Schindele and Ian Carlson from Nike

We had a lucky draw prize (everyone coming to the opening Saturday and Sunday has a chance to win great prizes) and Bob Beatty took home a new wedge.  Hugh Walker, Whistler Golf Club loyal supporter won himself a rescue club in another KP contest with a beautiful shot.  

Ian Carlson and Ryan Pepper knighting Hugh Walker and Bob Beatty with their new clubs

Close to 40 people took part in our second putting contest and three guests battled it out for 3 playoff rounds until Naomi Ford, who has been learning to play golf in the Whistler Golf Club’s women’s only clinics was the ultimate winner of a new Nike driver – her first golf club to start her down a lifetime of fun times on the links! 

Ian Carlson with Naomi Ford and her new Nike VR driver

Then at 4:30 the skies turned black and the lightning began to strike, and we all took cover from the biblical rains and hail storm! 

We’ll be back again tomorrow from 12-6 to have a bunch more fun.  Come and join us!