Phil Berube knows quite a bit about golf in Alberta having been around the sport for quite some time. Now he is tasked with the weighty job of working towards what is best for the game in this province.
He spent 15 years with the PGA of Alberta, leaving for an opportunity for two years out east with Junior Achievement Canada and then got back to Alberta in January 2016, deciding this was the best move.
A lot of the decision was based on his previous dealings with the PGA of Alberta over the years where he worked with many of the people he is working alongside now as Executive Director/CEO with Alberta Golf.
It’s the collaboration of the different groups like professionals, amateurs, golf course owners, superintendents and such working towards a common goal of making golf better which he really enjoys.
“The one thing that attracted me the most was the change that Golf Canada was making and its future in terms of engaging the average golfer,” he said about the plan to offer tangible benefits to those weekend warriors. It’s something golf professionals have been asking about for many seasons.
“It’s not just about a handicap. It’s not just about sending course raters out there to level the playing field. Now we’re looking at providing real benefits so it felt to me it was going to become a bridge between what the industry had been asking for professionally and something the golf professionals, the owners, managers could use to help grow the game and sell the game.”
The high performance young men and women deservedly get plenty of assistance to bring their goals closer to fruition which is part of their mandate from groups like Alberta Golf. They are the future of the game on one level but what about those average players in those age groups who don’t have such lofty ambitions? They are just as important to where golf is headed in Alberta and across the country.
The sport development aspect of Alberta Golf is working on an answer because it can’t just be about nine boys or nine girls in the high performance area. It has to be about the base of the pyramid, he said.
“We have 48 thousand members and 1,100 competitors so what do we do for the other 47,000 members? That’s a challenge and a focus that we’ve tasked ourselves with this fall and winter and so we’re exploring things like leagues, talking to golf professionals and clubs about provincial interclubs, provincial leagues that can involve everybody from every handicap level.”
The thrust of the plan is to find ways to broaden the base of that pyramid and the scope of our offerings, he said.
While he knew Alberta Golf was an engaging organization fueled by some very passionate volunteers he admits he wasn’t aware of the depth, breadth and scope of the myriad of programs offered which appealed to such a wide range of players.
The year has been one of learning for Berube as he makes his way along the path forward. There are many directions which were already decided when he joined in February of 2016 as the season was not so far off so the first year was relatively straight forward.
“ For me it was just coming in, learning, getting to know our team, our staff here, volunteers, board members, committee members. “
He viewed things from a distance in some respect as the people who were running the show had been doing this for quite a long time.
Three areas he said stood out were how much work is done within development of the sport. Programs which help those competitive players reach the podium with Team Alberta, working with the army of rules officials and the course ratings teams who travel the province.
“These volunteers (raters) just go out, drive two hours and spend the entire day at the golf course and then drive back that same day. The passion that exists with our course rating teams is something I don’t even know if that’s known on a national level how dedicated our teams here in Alberta are in that role.”
The year came to a great conclusion playing wise with a very successful Canadian Women’s Open at Priddis Greens. Berube says the staff there did a magnificent job of prepping the course and fans got to see some Canadian players do well, including Albertan Jaclyn Lee the young Alberta Ladies amateur champion who qualified and made the cut to play alongside some of the women she idolized. In the end the Open helped solidify the relationship with Golf Canada moving into 2017, he said.
“It’s a refreshing outlook for me and our team here to know that the work that we’re doing is being supported nationally.”
But back to the pyramid.The cooperation to help grow the game can also be extended to other official golf organizations where they may be able to lend a hand with Alberta Golf programs to nurture and grow them, he added.
With just over 200 volunteers and more than 48, 000 members Berube says being able to get assistance from the parent body is a great change in focus which will help spread the word.
One of the side benefits under this umbrella of work may just be more time on the golf course for staff and board members.
“ If everybody can play one more round per month, plus four let’s call it, in May, June, July and August, that’s how we’re going to grow the game,” he said. “Our role is to lead the game by playing the game and I’m excited to see the results at the end of the year to see how many rounds our board members have played, how many rounds our committee members have played and by extension how many rounds our members have played.”
This next season will be one filled with the heavy lifting to get those blocks into place which will make for a stronger base of the pyramid to work from in 2018.
