Toronto Star\'s annual Golf magazine, 64 pages designed and produced by Kathleen Doody

1. 2 0 1 0 S E A S O N P R E V I E W
TIGER RETURNS
WONDERFUL AFTER HIS
WALES CAREER CRISIS
He’s back
Welsh golf takes
centre stage
ST. GEORGE’S
The Canadian Open
is back in T.O.
MAPS! EXPANDED LISTINGS: MORE THAN 500 COURSES

2. 2 0 1 0 S E A S O N P R E V I E W
HAIL WALES
By Jim Byers
The hosts for the
2010 Ryder Cup offer a
stunning array of golf
Page 52
PHOTO COURTESY OF VISIT WALES
Cover story
TIGER BACK
Features
ON THE PROWL Bogeyman’s Ontario 6
By Dave Perkins
Tiger Woods seeks Island greens 21
to put his troubles
behind him Page 19 The next big things 24
▼
Star Amateur 26
If they build it . . . 48
ALBERTA BOUND
By Jim Byers Tour schedule 51
Golf in the Rockies is like Hail Wales 52
no place on earth
Page 12 ▼ Chip shots 57
Marketplace 58
MANAGING
HIS GAME GORGEOUS GEORGE
By Richard
By Daniel Girard
Griffin
After a 42-year absence,
Blue Jays skipper
the Canadian Open returns
Cito Gaston finds
to Toronto and venerable
his relief on the
St. George’s Page 8
▼
golf course
Page 16 Cover photo:
▼
David Cannon/Getty Images

3. CANADIAN OPEN
After 42 years, the Canadian Open returns to Toronto
and once again grand old St. George's plays host
By Daniel Girard
Gorgeous
GEORGE
c Canada’s biggest golf tournament is finally
returning to the country’s largest city.
For the first time since 1968, the RBC Cana-
dian Open will be staged in Toronto this year.
Once again, St. George’s will host the event,
which runs from July 22 to 25.
event came to town.
Today’s professionals are hitting the ball
farther and more accurately than 40 years ago.
The game’s popularity among fans has
exploded, thanks to Tiger Woods, and more
people are playing. The population of the GTA
But the similarities end there. also has risen sharply, making neighbouring
In 1968, Bob Charles of New Zealand beat streets much busier.
Jack Nicklaus by two shots to become the first All three factors are affecting the planning of
lefty to win the Canadian Open at the Stanley the tournament.
Thompson-designed gem. He pocketed “St. George’s is a golf course that gives us
$25,000 (all figures U.S.) of a total purse of challenges and opportunities like no other,”
$125,000. The champion of the says tournament director Bill
2010 tournament will receive Paul of the RCGA. “You really
$900,000 of the $5 million have to use your creativity
up for grabs. outside the gates be-
But it’s more than cause there’s no way
PHOTOS BY RENE JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR
prize money that’s this can work if we’re
dramatically different only dealing with the
since the last time the golf club.”
In 1968, Bob Charles slayed the
dragon, and Jack Nicklaus.
8 TORONTO STAR GOLF 2010

4. TRAVEL TRAVEL
The term natural hazard took on a whole new meaning for a Toronto Star reporter at Kananaskis Country’s Mt. Kidd course last summer.
c
It was a great line, but we were quickly Hawaii, with the blue Pacific beckoning
told it was highly unlikely we’d catch sight of your white Titleist to come for a swim. And
any grizzly bears. We’d seen elk and deer golf in the British Isles is magic, as my expe-
and ground squirrels and ravens the size of a rience in Wales last October confirmed (see
Smart Cars, but one local resident said he’d page 52). But it’s hard to beat the majesty of
lived in Canmore for 37 years and never towering, ancient spires of rock and pine
“Cue the grizz.” seen a grizzly bear. trees, with crisp mountain air, sparkling
Two days later, a group of us were on the streams and vistas that stretch for miles in
All week long it was the running fourth hole at Kananaskis Country’s Mt. the Canadian Rockies.
joke among a group of journalists Kidd course, looking down from an elevated Still, this magnificent setting isn’t without
PHOTOS BY JIM BYERS/TORONTO STAR
tee to an island-style green, when a Toronto its challenges for greenskeepers.
visiting Alberta golf clubs in the Star reporter spotted something large and “This is one of the only places in the world
brown strolling quietly on a stony bank where a superintendent has to have majored
Rockies last summer. As some of us toward the Kananaskis River. Sure enough, in dealing with elk urine,” said Simon Jones
waited to tee off at the majestic it was a grizzly and her cub, making their of Banff Springs. “They can be messy. But
way from the woods to the fourth green. you learn to deal with them.”
Banff Springs club on a drizzly day, We all stood, transfixed and utterly Folks here are careful to advise adven-
the sun shyly peeked through the astonished. turous tourists to stay away from bears (no
“Cue the grizz,” someone said, and we kidding) and not to assume a 1,200-pound
gloom and we could see the dissolved in laughter. elk with antlers as wide as a Buick wants to
Silvertip, nestled on the slopes of Mount Lady Macdonald near Canmore, Alta., features 600 feet of elevation change and spectacular views. It’s pretty unlikely visitors will be graced have its picture taken from 10 feet away. So
towering grey mountains. It was a
by anything as magnificent as a grizzly bear pack a telephoto lens along with your Big
Hitting the
lovely shot, and one of the folks on on a trip to the Rockies. But the six courses Bertha.
that have banded together to market them- Here’s a rundown on the Rocky Moun-
Range
the tee box laughed and suggested it
When teeing it up selves as the Rocky Mountain Golf Consor- tain courses:
had all been staged for us by the tium don’t need exotic wildlife to make
in the Rockies, themselves a worthy destination. FAIRMONT JASPER PARK
local tourism folks. Courses in Ontario, British Columbia and The story goes that legendary Canadian
it’s always wise to let “Okay,” he said to one of the tour the Maritimes tend to hog the golf magazine designer Stanley Thompson, in one of his
headlines. But there are some outstanding spunkier moments, sculpted the par-3 ninth
the bears play through officials. “We’ve seen everything tracks in Alberta. Calgary and Edmonton in the shape of a voluptuous woman and
have plenty of good courses, but folks from called it Cleopatra. More conservative types
now. You guys have it all arranged.
Ontario, not to mention the U.S., Japan or at Jasper were appalled and forced a change
By Jim Byers Cue the grizzly.” Australia, come to this part of the world to in design. Standing on the elevated tee and
see mountains, not prairies or rolling hills. looking down, it’s easy to imagine how it
And these six courses have tall peaks in might have looked, but male golfers these
spades. days will have to get their thrills by making
There’s nothing finer than teeing off in par. The views of Pyramid Mountain from
12 TORONTO STAR GOLF 2010 GOLF 2010 TORONTO STAR 13

5. A GOLFING LIFER A GOLFING LIFER
Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston
has fallen in love with golf
By Richard Griffin
Managing
his
Game
w When Cito Gaston
finally steps aside as
the Blue Jays’
manager at the end of
the 2010 season, he
already knows what
the next part of his life
team golf tourna-
ment, so I started
playing there. I won a
trophy for the worst
score.”
Gaston, a native of
San Antonio, Texas,
has in store. A contract was signed by the
extension, agreed to in Milwaukee Braves in
late November, will 1963 and got to room
keep him on course as with his childhood
senior adviser for the hero, Henry Aaron, in
Jays for four more his brief time with the
PHOTOS BY RENE JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR
years. His golf bag will Cito Gaston plays most of his golf in Florida, but puts big club after the
Hawaii at the top of his wish list.
keep him on the course franchise moved to
for life. Such is his passion for a sport he took Atlanta. He was drafted by the expansion
up relatively late, in his mid-20s. Padres in 1968 and remained with San Diego
“I was playing in San Diego,” Gaston for six seasons before returning to the
recalled of his time as an outfielder with the Braves to finish out his career. By that time
Padres from 1969-74. “We used to have a he was a golf fanatic.
16 TORONTO STAR GOLF 2010 GOLF 2010 TORONTO STAR 17

6. COVER STORY
Tiger Woods will need a thicker skin, and perhaps a new 9-iron, on tour this year.
TIGER
back on the prowl
But this time he’s gunning for Bear, not booty
By Dave Perkins
In any other year, the buzz in the early part of the PGA Tour season
might be about . . . what? The new restrictions on
grooves? The sputtering status of any number of
ABOVE: MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS
title sponsors? Rickie Fowler’s future?
Naturally, the answer is none of the above,
because this isn’t any other year in one major
regard: Everyone knows when, but no one knows how
Tiger Woods will come back.
GOLF 2010 TORONTO STAR 19

7. TRAVEL
Island
Greens
Tropical tracks to get you Caribbean dreamin’
By Ian Cruickshank and Jim Byers
PHOTOS BY JIM BYERS/TORONTO STAR
t
The par-3 16th at the Green Monkey in Barbados, one of the most beautiful layouts in the Caribbean. Don’t forget your camera.
The siren song of the Caribbean has long tacular coastlines in the Dominican
lured Canadians to its sunny climes, many Republic, as well as Jamaica, Barbados
with their Callaways in tow. Golf’s roots and other ports of call. New courses are
run deep in the islands, but in the last being planned all over
couple of decades things have really taken the Caribbean. Here’s a
off. There are glittering courses on spec- look at some island beauties.
GOLF 2010 TORONTO STAR 21

8. TRAVEL TRAVEL
Sluggers Babe Ruth and John Daly both
found a watery grave trying to cut the corner
SIMPLY
on the fifth at Mid Ocean in Bermuda EXCEPTIONAL
visit our website
www.golfdeercreek.com/golf
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC valleys. (The course winds past the late For all of our special offers!
Along with China, over the past five years the Johnny Cash’s estate. The Man in Black used
Dominican Republic has been busy keeping to take the occasional spin in his own golf
the golf boom alive. The DR is now home to cart, stopping to chat with surprised golfers.)
nearly 30 layouts, with the newest additions Outside of Montego Bay, there are a
being designed by major league names such couple of courses worth investigating
as Fazio, Faldo, Nicklaus and the Dye family. including the Sandals club, which curls
Most of the new tracks are concentrated through the high ground above the sea, and
on the east side of the country, including Ocho Rios. (Players here have ranged from
two terrific Nicklaus courses at the Cap Ian Fleming, who wrote his James Bond
Cana Resort and a new Fazio layout at the novels at Goldeneye, his home at the
nearby Puntacana Resort. (It already boasts
La Cana, a memorable layout that zig-zags
bottom of the hill, to Canadian super-
chanteuse Celine Dion.) Stanley Thompson
WHAT’S NEW?
between the ocean and the resort.) Also in devotees will want to investigate Constant • Walk the Championship
the area is the Westin Roco Ki, a Nick Faldo Spring in the suburbs of Kingston, which North Course starting at $60!
design. While Faldo the player was known the master designed in the 1920s.
as The Mechanical Man, his course at Roco • FREE Corporate Membership
Ki is cutting edge, punctuated with cliffs BERMUDA when you book a Shotgun
and crashing white water. You’ve got to love a place that boasts more Tournament!
The Dominican’s most famous golf stop is golf per square kilometre than any other • Play FREE on your Birthday
the Casa de Campo resort in La Romana, country in the world and, in fact, offers at Deer Creek Golf &
where for nearly 40 years Pete Dye’s evoca- more golf courses than fast food outlets. Banquet Facility
tively named Teeth of the Dog course has Bermuda is home to eight layouts including
been ranked No. 1 in the Caribbean. The a couple of classics. Jack Nicklaus once
The windswept par-3 13th at the Jack Nicklaus-
us- des
designed Punta Espada course at Cap Cana, Dominican Republic. There’s worse places to lose a ball.
UPCOMING EVENTS
resort sports two more outstanding Dye called Port Royal the best public golf course
designs, including the ominous Dye Fore in the world. The government-owned THE DEER CREEK
which is perched above the wild River course is even better with a recent renova- visitors love the sensational sea views. Its drives but a bad approach will skid off the ST. LUCIA ACADEMY
Chavron valley. tion that added nearly 300 yards. The best most famous hole is the fifth, a dogleg that dome-shaped greens to certain doom. Sometimes a golf course takes your breath
The DR’s unsung beauty is Playa Grande, hole is the 16th, a 238-yard monster par-3, wraps around a pond where big sluggers After the seventh hole, get your camera away despite being oversold and over- OPEN HOUSE!
outside the town of Cabrera on the isolated where it looks like a good sneeze will send from Babe Ruth to John Daly have unsuc- and proceed to the area behind the green — romanticized. And sometimes you have a Saturday April 17th, 2010
north coast. Opened in ‘97, it was the last your ball tumbling off the green and over cessfully tried to cut the corner. and hope you have batteries and a wide- great time at a golf course because it’s so
layout ever designed by Robert Trent Jones the cliff into Whale Bay. If you haven’t been to Bermuda in a while, open memory card in your pocket. The 16th much better than you expected. “Best Practice Facility in GTA”
and a fitting farewell for one of the game’s Mid Ocean is a tony private club where try the new Tucker’s Point course, which is is the signature hole, a downhill par-3 with a The St. Lucia Golf Resort and Country “Best Teaching Facility in GTA”
most influential architects, with 10 holes members include Oscar winner Michael just a 5-iron from Mid Ocean. In its bunker on the right that features a patch of Club definitely fits into the latter category. It “Best 9 Hole Executive Par 3”
hugging the clifftops. Douglas and the nearby neighbourhood previous incarnation it was known as Castle grass carved into the shape of a monkey. doesn’t look like much as you scan its
features billionaire politicians such as Harbour, but has been completely reno- White clouds and pink bougainvillea, website from a desktop computer in
JAMAICA Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vated by Rulewich and, like its neighbour, is impossibly green grass and the blue Toronto. And, sadly, it’s not a layout that runs GLEN CEDARS
The best collection of courses in the and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. hilly with inspiring lookouts to the Atlantic Caribbean in the distance, this place is along the ocean, so you don’t get to enjoy Celebrating 42 years with
Caribbean are clustered around Montego Mid Ocean allows some afternoon play and ocean. simply magnficent. views of the Caribbean or the Atlantic, which
Bay on Jamaica’s northwest coast. The They only allow public play for an hour meet at the north end of the island. But it $42 Green Fee Tuesdays
group includes Tryall, Cinnamon Hill, BARBADOS each morning. It’s $385 (U.S.) if you’re does have an interesting variety of holes,
WEBSITES
White Witch and Half Moon Bay, originally Green Monkey might be the loveliest trop- staying at the ultra-swank Sandy Lane hotel, plenty of elevation changes and small, chal- DEER CREEK GOLF
laid out by Robert Trent Jones and more ical course you’ll ever play that’s not right on $4,000 for a foursome of non-residents. lenging greens that more than make up for & BANQUET FACILITY
■ www.godominicanrepublic.com
recently renovated by his right-hand man the water. You can also play the country club course, the lack of length, just 6,685 yards. There’s
Roger Rulewich, which stretches to more ■ www.visitjamaica.com They make remarkable use of the old which is quite attractive, for about $250. also water on 11 holes to test your game. OPEN HOUSE!
than 7,000 yards and is one of the few walls from the limestone quarry that once Royal Westmoreland, not far from the A yardage book or a better scorecard Sunday April 25th, 2010
courses in the Caribbean where golfers can ■ www.bermudatourism.com occupied the land, and it has a bit of a Green Monkey on the west coast, also would help, but it’s still a fun course to play.
walk. The prettiest layout is Cinnamon Hill, Niagara Escarpment in the tropics feel to it. accepts guests for part of the day. There’s There’s a nine-hole course that’s part of the
“2 of The Top 18 Holes in GTA”
■ www.visitbarbados.org
which kicks off at the site of an 18th century There are lots of bunkers, shaved green- lots of exposed coral and lovely landscaping. Sandals resorts on the island, and there are
plantation, dips past a long stretch of beach,
then hopscotches through the local hills and
■ www.stlucia.org side collars and slick putting surfaces to deal
with. You can be a touch wayward with your
There is also a great downhill finish on the
18th hole.
plans for more layouts. But, for now, this is
the only 18-hole course on St. Lucia. ■
905.427.7737
www.golfdeercreek.com/golf
22 TORONTO STAR GOLF 2010 GOLF 2010 TORONTO STAR 23