CLASSIC GOLFERS SET TO TEE OFF
Nick Faldo, Mark O’Meara among star players for what should be a beautiful weekend of golf
Sir Nick Faldo signs autographs during the RBC Pro Am at the Shaw Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf Club on Thursday. The PGA Champions Tour event begins Saturday.
In July, Eddie Melville rode off into the sunset in a manner befitting a descendent of Stampede royalty.
“They gave me a send-off like no other,” says the 25-year veteran of the Rangeland Derby, about the tribute paid to him after his last turn as an outrider. “I was pretty surprised, but it was just amazing.”
On Thursday afternoon, the grandson of chuckwagon great Orville Strandquist was back in the sporting world, albeit one a far cry from the rough and tumble one for which he’s known.
He’s caddying at the Shaw Charity Classic (shawcharityclassic.com) during its Pro-Am tourney that leads up to the main competition starting Saturday, the Calgary stop of the PGA Champions Tour.
The event for pros 50 years and older, now in its fifth year and set to return each August at least until 2020, brings together some of the biggest names in pro golf — and, yes, even a few local cowboys who count the sport as one of their passions.
“We grew up here as junior members,” says Billy Melville, who, like his brother, is volunteering his services over the weekend at Canyon Meadows Golf Club. “We both love to golf and we love helping out at this event, which brings the best golfers to Calgary and raises money for kids.”
While such high-profile champions as England’s Sir Nick Faldo and American Mark O’Meara vie this year for a purse of US$2.3 million, the folks behind the Shaw Charity Classic are looking forward to hitting the $20-million mark in fundraising — it’s already set a record for charitable giving on the PGA Tour — for Alberta youth-based charities by the time it wraps up Sunday afternoon.
“We haven’t had great weather like this for the past couple of years,” says Sean Van Kesteren, executive director of the tournament, who tells me about the new kids’ day on Saturday and other family-friendly activities over the weekend. “We’re expecting a big turnout.”
While the skies on Thursday are a bit hazy due to smoke blowing our way from the B.C. wildfires, the mood on the grounds at Canyon Meadows are sunny indeed.
Just before taking a few questions from the gathered media in one of the clubhouses, Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal says he is at his first Shaw Charity Classic because of its stellar reputation among players as well as for its charitable component.
“It has been a very warm welcome,” Olazabal says of his first few days in Calgary. “I feel very comfortable here, and I’m having a good time.”
The combination of hospitality and professionalism has earned the event more than compliments: after its debut in 2013, the Shaw Charity Classic received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the PGA Tour; it followed that up with back-to-back President’s Awards as the top event on the Tour.
For volunteers like Billy Melville, it’s not hard to understand why a made-in-Calgary Tour stop would be so successful right out of the starting gate. “This is a city of professional volunteers,” he says with a big smile. “It’s one of the reasons this is such a great city to live in.”
Fellow volunteer Warren Smandych adds that it doesn’t hurt that it’s also a city of golf lovers. “I love to give back to this sport and to this city,” says Smandych, who spends Thursday behind the wheel of a courtesy vehicle.
“Having this event in Calgary does a lot for the sport here.”
While the main competition is serious business, the Thursday Pro Am is more than a bit of fun. Pro player Mike Allen can be heard to yell out to one amateur, “You swing better than you look!” while retired NHL player Neil Brady smokes a cigar on the green before teeing off.
Taking it all in from the sidelines is fan John Henry, who has parked his folding chair at the 14th hole.
“The Pro Am is the best day to come,” says the retired banker as he watches some of his most beloved pros play his favourite game.
“No crowds yet — and the best seat in the house.”