KAPALUA, Hawaii – Bob Parsons conducts business to an extreme, and that now includes golf clubs.

The people he hired to build his golf clubs have no limitations and no deadlines. Money is no object, either, and that better be the case for the consumers. Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy, is selling his PXG clubs at about $5,000 for the entire set.

“Making money is not what I have in mind,” Parsons said. “My goal with this is to build some very incredible clubs without regard to cost, without regard to the process. I’ve been telling people what I’m doing and I’ve heard many times, ‘You’re nuts.’ That’s a very good sign.”

Ryan Moore last year became the first PGA Tour to put them in play.

Now, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company is hopeful of making a big splash in 2016 by signing an additional eight players, men and women, to staff contracts at PXG. Topping the list is British Open champion Zach Johnson, who had been with Titleist his entire PGA Tour career that includes 12 victories and two majors.

Johnson, who is in the field this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, did not want to discuss his switch ahead the announcement at Kapalua. He said in a release that he did not make the change lightly.

“My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process,” Johnson said. “We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my goals on the course.”

PXG also signed Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, James Hahn and Charles Howell III on the PGA Tour, along with Cristie Kerr, Alison Lee and Gerina Piller on the LPGA Tour. Already on board with the clubs were Moore, Rocco Mediate (Champions Tour), Sadena Parks and Beatriz Recari.

Parsons describes himself as a golf fanatic and an equipment junkie. He didn’t start playing seriously until he was in his 30s because he was too busy with work, first with Parsons Technologies for 10 years (which he sold in 1994 for $64 million) and then with the GoDaddy Group. He stepped down as GoDaddy executive chairman in 2014, though he remains on the board and is the largest shareholder.

By then, an affinity for golf turned into an addiction.

“It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment,” he said. “I bought pretty much everything and would hit it. I could tell you which irons, woods and all that … were real and what wasn’t. Most of it is gimmicky. You take any manufacturer and they say, ‘This will give you an extra 10 yards and 15 yards.’ If all that were true, we’d be hitting it a mile-and-a-half.”

Eventually, Parsons was intrigued by building his own clubs.

PXG stands for “Parsons Xtreme Golf,” though a running joke in the industry is that it also stands for “Ping X-Guys.” Among the Ping employees he hired were two engineers, former Bay Hill winner Mike Nicolette and Brad Schweigert, and Parsons turned them loose.

“We have no constraints on our engineers, no cost constraints, no time constraints,” Parsons said. “The only they must do is the performance must be there before we release it. … We’re using as much technology as we can shake out as long as they conform with USGA rules.”

The iron, which has the look of a blade, is a hollow body design that is filled with thermoplastic elastomer that allows for a thinner face. The signature look on the PXG clubs are what appears to be black dots. Those are tungsten alloy screws that enhance the perimeter weighting and increase forgiveness.

“Our iron is one of the few that is made to be adjusted weight-wise,” Parsons said. “When the engineers were doing the initial development, they took one of our first prototypes – which was a train wreck – and put weights into it one way. I said, ‘That looks good. It’s going to be our trademark look.'”

The equipment industry is crowded, and the venture is a risk. Parsons doesn’t mind that.

“If we did exactly that TaylorMade and Ping was doing, and Callaway and on and on, we’d get our brains beat out,” Parsons said.

He was behind the racy GoDaddy.com ads during the Super Bowl (he said PXG doesn’t need to be as outrageous in its marketing). He also caused a sensation in golf circles when he bought what is now Scottsdale National Golf Club and wrote a letter to members outlining bold new rules – no more than 30 rounds a year without bringing a paying guest and a $100 service fee every time a member plays. Those who didn’t like the rules were given a refund on their initiation fee.

It was different. But that’s what Parsons is all about.

But is there a market for golf clubs that cost $5,000 for a set?

“There are 6.5 million avid golfers in the country (U.S.), and 4.1 million of the have a household income in excess of $125,000 a year, which means about 2 million have significantly higher than that in household income,” he said. “If you ran across a set of clubs that you don’t have to change a thing in your game and it would take you down to a 3 (handicap index) and you feel great hitting them … you’d do what you could to buy them.”

As the year winds down, we look back at the most-viewed news stories on golfcanada.ca in 2015.

No. 10 – Team Canada’s band of brothers embark on next stage of golf careers

No. 9 – Don’t forget to post your scores

No. 8 – Brooke Henderson defends her PGA Women’s Championship of Canada title

No. 7 – PGA TOUR Canada announces 2015 Qualifying School dates and sites

No. 6 – New membership model welcomes everyone to be part of “golf in Canada”

No. 5 – PGA Tour Canada announces 2015 schedule

No. 4 – Final field announced for 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open

No. 3 – Golf’s governing bodies announce Rules of Golf revisions for 2016

No. 2 – Golf Canada announces 2016 Team Canada

No. 1 – Field announced for 2015 RBC Canadian Open

TORONTO – Red-eye flights, pre-tournament qualifiers and last-minute travel plans were often the norm for golfer Brooke Henderson in her first season as a professional.

At the start of the year, she hoped to post some decent results and use her rookie campaign as a learning experience. Henderson did much more than that in 2015 – she became the first Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour in more than a decade and rocketed into the top 20 in the world rankings.

Not bad for someone who just celebrated her 18th birthday a few months ago.

Henderson capped her impressive season Monday by winning the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year. She picked up 21 votes (37 per cent) in the annual survey of editors and broadcasters from across the country.

“I’m hoping this is just the start of a pretty long career, and one where I can chase after some bigger dreams and goals that I’ve set for myself,” Henderson said. “Really I think that there are no limits and I think anything is possible. My 2015 year proves that it’s true _ that anything is possible.”

Soccer player Kadeisha Buchanan was well back in second place in the voting with 10 votes (17 per cent). Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard won the award the last two years.

Henderson is the first golfer to capture the honour since Lorie Kane in 2000. Kane was also the last Canadian to win on the Tour until Henderson blew away the field at the Cambia Portland Classic in August to end Canada’s 14-year victory drought.

The youngster from Smiths Falls, Ont., needed to play in a qualifier just to enter the tournament field that week. She showed she belonged by finishing with a whopping eight-shot victory.

“A couple days I was playing there and I was thinking back to when I would just kind of daydream when I was little,” she said. “I was looking at my putt on the green and I could see the hole and the ball and I could see the fans around the green. They were kind of blurred and it was just exactly how I pictured it when I was little. I was like, ‘Wow, you know what, this is my dream.”’

Henderson, who also posted fifth-place ties at two major events last season, was granted immediate LPGA Tour membership by commissioner Mike Whan after the win.

“The LPGA Tour win – that was really the pinnacle of the season,” she said. “It was when I was playing my best and I was able to secure my LPGA Tour card and get my first LPGA Tour victory. (The year) as a whole was a result of a lot of hard work and it was just something where everything came together and I thank God for that.

“It was just a miracle year really.”

Henderson will be able to play a full Tour schedule next year and make her plans well ahead of time. Gone are the days of needing sponsor invitations or travelling overnight to make it to the course in time for morning qualification rounds.

“I wanted to play against the best in the world,” she said. “Most of the times when I was doing that, I wasn’t a member and I didn’t really have anywhere else to play. I was trying to make my way onto the Tour and trying to make my mark. It was something that I knew I had to do and it was exciting to know that I could have a chance to do something amazing.”

Henderson finished the season ranked 18th in the world – a jump of over 200 positions from a year ago – with over US$100,000 in official LPGA earnings and more than $700,000 in combined earnings as a pro.

“Already a top-flight golfer at such a young age,” said Red Deer Advocate sports editor Greg Meachem. “Proved she can compete – and be successful – against the best of the best in a global sport.”

Canadian women’s team coach Tristan Mullally, who has worked with Henderson since she was 14, said she’s a remarkably steady ball striker with the accuracy to be consistent on different types of golf courses.

“When you combine those two, that makes for a pretty potent recipe,” Mullally said.

Henderson hopes to start strong early in the 2016 season with a goal of cracking the top 10 in the world rankings. She’s also a virtual lock to play for Canada when golf makes it return to the Olympic program at the Rio Games in August.

“I still have many years ahead of me and I’m working hard for 2016 and the years after that,” she said. “But this award for 2015 is definitely something I’m proud of and I’ll be very honoured to accept.”

GUELPH, Ont. – A fierce competitor on the course. A warm and generous person off of it. “Outside of the ropes, I’m not sure I ever saw her without a smile on her face.” That is how Grace Glofcheskie was described by Brandon McLeod, the head golf coach at the University of Guelph. Glofcheskie played five seasons on the Gryphons varsity golf team (2010-2014) and this past Fall came back on a part-time basis to serve as an assistant coach and help out with some of the current student-athletes on the women’s team. Grace tragically passed away early Sunday morning at the age of 24.

When describing Grace’s impact on the Gryphons varsity golf program over the past half decade or so, there are several analogies that seem to fit perfectly. In basketball terms, she was the point guard of the team. An extension of the coaching staff both on the course and at the range; someone who worked hard on her own game, yet always found the time to offer help to teammates as well. To use a family analogy, she was the mother of the team. The one who was caring and welcoming to both rookies and veterans alike. The one who constantly put others before herself. And the one who provided the type of leadership qualities that ultimately led to her being described as “the glue of the team for the past five years” by her head coach.

Who is going to organize the team party at the end of the season? Grace.

Where’s everyone meeting up before heading to the year-end Athletic Banquet? Grace’s house.

When head coach Bob Wanzel announced he was retiring, who was the one who put together a picture book to give to him at his retirement dinner? Take a guess.

Grace Glofcheskie’s impact on and off the golf course will never be forgotten by all of those who were fortunate enough to cross paths with her. In 2010, Grace joined the Gryphons varsity golf team as an eager-to-learn rookie from Arnprior, Ontario (just outside of Ottawa) who was full of energy. “Even at that young age, you could already see she had a lot of great leadership qualities” said head coach Brandon McLeod. “She was a sponge for information and each and every year she took a few steps forward to get better.” While improving her own game and pushing herself to be her best was certainly high on her list of priorities, it wasn’t at the top of the list for Grace. That spot was reserved for the greater good of her team as a whole. Towards the end of her career, Glofcheskie battled injuries that limited her in both practice and in competition. Head coach Brandon McLeod recalls a forearm injury that resulted in Grace barely being able to grip a club. Coach McLeod told her that she should not practice and that it was ok if she missed out on the team’s competition the next day. Grace, who McLeod added “never complained once,” practiced anyways and was on the course the very next day. For her, it was simple decision to try to play through the pain…she did not want to let her team down.

On the course, Glofcheskie was hard to miss with her long blond hair and glowing personality. That same personality made her a tremendous employee in the Gryphons fitness centre where she worked as a Weight Room Supervisor from September of 2010 until December of 2013. Fitness Program Supervisor Lynne Skilton-Hayes adds, “We were truly blessed to have Grace as part of our team. She had an excellent work ethic, was reliable and had a very genuine desire to help people.”

The Grace Olivia Glofcheskie Memorial Fund has been established by Grace’s loving family to honour the memory of their daughter and sister. click here to to visit the Memorial Fund

Little by little, greatness drips away from elite athletes as they grow old. Nick Weslock, however, did his best to squeeze out every last drop.

In fact, when he passed away six weeks before his 90^th birthday in late October 2007 from an aortic aneurysm, the legendary Canadian amateur golfer had played a round of golf only a few days earlier, trying out a new set of clubs.

He still was searching for a more reliable swing well after a remarkable career that yielded more than 400 career victories. But he didn’t allow time to weaken his passion for the game nor diminish his skill.

For example, three of Weslock’s four Canadian Amateur Championship titles arrived in his late 40s and his final of 11 Ontario Amateur was celebrated four months before his 53^rd birthday.

“Nick probably played his best golf in the late 1950s and 1960s when I was playing some of my best golf,” said Gary Cowan, one of Weslock’s closest rivals on the amateur scene. “You knew if you could beat him, you had a good chance to win the tournament.”

Weslock also overcame a serious gall bladder condition in the late 1960s to dominate the senior scene, winning six Canadian Senior titles and 11 Ontario Senior championships.

He particularly enjoyed testing his talents against the professionals. As a result of his four Canadian Amateur titles, he played in four Masters. He finished low amateur in the Canadian Open a remarkable 16 times, including a surge in 1947 that allowed him to finish third, four shots behind the winner, Bobby Locke of South Africa.

Weslock also won seven Ontario Opens against a field of mostly professional golfers he admired like his close friend Moe Norman. Yes, beating the pros always was special for Nick the Wedge, who earned the nickname because of his short-game prowess.

“Being an amateur and beating all the pros seven times was really something,” Weslock once said of his Ontario Open wins. “It gave me a lot of satisfaction.”

Weslock, who would have turned 98 on Dec. 13, also represented Canada more than 15 times at international team events like the World Team Amateur, the Commonwealth and Americas Cup, and played on 25 Ontario Willingdon Cup teams.

Born in Winnipeg as Nick Wisnick (he changed his name to Weslock in 1947), his family moved to Windsor, Ont. as a youth. It was there he fell for golf, caddying at the Essex Golf and Country Club. He liked to tell the story of how he once caddied for the colourful Walter Hagen, when the latter visited the acclaimed Essex layout.

After high school he worked in the then booming Windsor auto industry, learning the tool-making trade.

Weslock never turned pro. He had a successful business in Burlington, Ont. that made and developed components for assembly line systems, mostly in the automotive business.

As a result he had plenty of time to play golf and study the game. He had a library of film of the game’s best swings he devoured.

He loved to tinker with his equipment in his basement workshop. He also liked to talk to shop about his game with legends. A conversation with Masters champion and Canadian Open winner Gay Brewer or his close friend Moe Norman would send him to retrieve his little black book to jot down some notes.

He later turned all his log entries into an instructional book, Your Golf Bag Pro: Nick Weslock’s Little Black Book of Key Golf Secrets.

Weslock had game, and gamesmanship.

“He was like Mutt and Jeff on and off the golf course,” Cowan said. “He was much nicer to be around off the golf course. He had a win at all cost mentality.”

Welsock was opinionated, too. But most of all, he loved hitting a wedge close or softly landing a long iron or finding a secret with his putting stroke.

“You can’t play this game just on natural swing ability,” he once said. “You’ve got to think about it and put everything in place.”

Mr. Weslock did just that on many occasions.

Lee Westwood did his part in Thailand. The math took care of the rest, and he’s going to the Masters.

Westwood, who tied for second two weeks ago in the Thailand Golf Championship, will move up one spot to No. 50 next week in the final world ranking of the year, assuring him a place in the field at Augusta National in April.

Westwood is No. 51 this week, but with gradual reductions in points, he will go back to no. 50 in the last ranking of 2015. Chris Kirk, who will fall to No. 51, already is in the Masters from winning Colonial.

Among the 12 criteria for pros to qualify, Augusta National takes the top 50 in the world at the end of the year, and again one week before the Masters.

The addition of 15 players from the top 50 brings the number of active players to 89 going into the new year. The Masters has the smallest field of the four majors and prefers it to be under 100. It has not exceeded 100 players since 1966.

A year ago, 90 players had qualified at the end of the year.

Still to be determined before April is if the field will include four-time champion Tiger Woods, who has not played since Aug. 23 and has gone through two procedures in the same spot in his back since then. Woods said earlier this month he can only walk and has received no indication when the nerve damage will heal.

The only way for players to qualify for the Masters is to win a PGA Tour event (except for the Puerto Rico Open). There are 13 chances, starting with Hyundai Tournament of Championship in Kapalua. Five players in the winners-only field are not in Augusta National because they won before last year’s Masters or won opposite-field events, which do not count toward an invitation – James Hahn, Padraig Harrington, Alex Cejka, Matt Every and J.J. Henry.

Of the 15 who qualified through the top 50, Sergio Garcia and Billy Horschel were the only ones to play a full PGA Tour schedule last year.

Australian Open winner Matt Jones (No. 54) and Ryan Palmer (No. 58) will end the year outside the top 50. Palmer, who father died in a traffic accident in West Texas in August, was No. 40 when he played his final event in Las Vegas in October.

Among those who will be playing the Masters for the first time are Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Emiliano Grillo from the high school class of 2011, along with HSBC Champions winner Russell Knox and Kevin Kisner, who had four runner-up finishes before winning the RSM Classic at Sea Island in final PGA Tour event of the year.

VAUGHAN, Ont. – Thornhill Golf & Country Club has announced the hiring of a new General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, an appointment that’s certain to attract notice across the country.

Thornhill Golf & Country Club, at the north end of the Greater Toronto Area, will welcome Joseph Murphy as its GM and COO, starting in March 2016. Mr. Murphy has served as GM and Chief Executive Officer at Toronto’s St. George’s Golf & Country Club for the last seven-and-a-half years, and other local private clubs prior to that.

“The members of our club are, basically, ecstatic with this appointment,” said Thornhill Club President Adrian Hartog. “We have been extremely fortunate to have had Michael Chadsey manage our facility for the last four years, and we wish him a long and happy retirement. We’re excited and confident that Joe Murphy will continue to build on a fine legacy and history, and take our Club to an even higher level of service in the years to come.”

Thornhill G&CC was founded in 1922, and remains in its original location on the west side of Yonge Street, north of downtown Toronto. It has recently completed a $5 million expansion and renovation project, augmenting and improving its facilities and services. The Club’s nationally-ranked 18-hole championship golf course was designed by renowned Canadian course architect Stanley Thompson.

Joe Murphy is certainly no stranger to historic Canadian golf clubs. In addition to two separate management stints at St. George’s, he has also served as GM at Toronto’s Scarboro Golf & Country Club, Islington Golf Club, and Clubhouse Manager at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario.

“I’m just delighted to be moving to Thornhill, and excited by the opportunity to maximize the new facilities and renovations at this outstanding Club,” Mr. Murphy said. “Leaving St. George’s will not be easy, but I’m sure the members there understand that new challenges are energizing, and most club managers know when it’s time to move on. This was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.”

Joe Murphy

Jordan Spieth returned to Augusta National last week for the first time since his four-shot victory in the Masters. He saw his name on the permanent Masters trophy. He was treated like an honorary member. And he checked out the new Champions Locker Room.

Augusta National has champions share a locker, and the 22-year-old Texan was curious.

“I walked up to see who I was with,” Spieth told Golfweek magazine. “And I share a locker with Arnold Palmer. So it was a very special moment there.”

He might have recognized one other thing in that locker room – his 60-degree wedge that he used to win the Masters.

The club asks champions to donate one club that was meaningful in their victory. That wedge is what Spieth used to hit a flop shot over the edge of a bunker on the 18th hole in the third round for an unlikely par save to keep his lead at four shots.

After next year’s Masters, the club will be brought down to the Grill Room with the rest of the clubs donated over the years.

LAS VEGAS – MGM Resorts International today announced a partnership with PGA TOUR star Graham DeLaet. Joining the company’s roster of PGA and LPGA TOUR professionals, DeLaet will serve as an ambassador for MGM Resorts’ portfolio of destination resorts and wear an MGM Resorts’ logo hat while competing in PGA TOUR events.

During the 2014-2015 PGA TOUR season, DeLaet made three Top 10 finishes, including T4 at the Travelers Championship, and a T7 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

“I’ve had the luxury of playing golf and staying at MGM Resorts International’s properties throughout my time on TOUR, and I am excited to partner with the company and join their team of ambassadors,” Graham DeLaet said. “I am proud to be sporting the MGM Resorts’ logo on my hat to promote the partnership while competing on the PGA TOUR.”

DeLaet joins other PGA and LPGA TOUR players as part of MGM Resorts’ brand ambassadors: Jimmy Walker, Natalie Gulbis, Ryan Moore and Pat Perez, to name a few.

Lance Evans, vice president of Marketing Partnerships for MGM Resorts International, said, “As one of the top golfers from Canada, Graham is a tremendous athlete who is respected on and off the course, making him a terrific fit to represent MGM Resorts.”

DeLaet’s debut as an MGM Resorts’ ambassador – which will see him wearing the logo on his shirt – will take place in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Rory McIlroy has been voted the European Tour’s player of the year for 2015, winning the award for the third time in the past four seasons.

The 26-year-old Northern Irishman successfully defended the Race to Dubai title after winning the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai last month. He had two other victories, at the Dubai Desert Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Match Play.

McIlroy says he feels “very proud to have won this prestigious award for the third time.”

He says it is “always special, no matter how often, to be recognized this way.”

The former top-ranked McIlroy was granted special dispensation to play the European Tour’s Final Series. He had not fulfilled the standard membership criteria because of an ankle injury sustained midway through the year.