The Open Championship has unveiled a new brand identity, including a new logo which will be presented alongside distinctive graphic elements, reflecting the unique landscape of links golf, and evocative photography.

Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We know that fans of The Open share a tremendously strong connection with the Championship.  The new branding celebrates the values long associated with The Open, the inspiration provided by great champions, the authentic and unrelenting challenge of links golf and the openness of our unique championship.

“The Open has enjoyed great success for more than 150 years and strengthening its brand will help to ensure its appeal continues to grow over the decades ahead.  We believe the new branding will reflect an enhanced experience for the millions of golf fans who support The Open.”

The new brand will come to life when The Open returns to St Andrews, the Home of Golf, next July for the 144th playing of The Open.

A short film celebrating the unique story of The Open has been released to coincide with the launch. The film entitled, The One, The Open, can be viewed below.

Following the release of his new autobiography, Grant Fuhr: the Story of a Legend, the former Edmonton Oilers’ goalie chatted with Stephen Whyno of the Canadian Press, discussing his life and career. Not surprisingly, the former Vezina Trophy winner spoke about his love for golf.

On his golf game:

“I still enjoy it, it’s a hobby. I enjoy competitive golf, but I also realize that the body doesn’t have that many miles left it in that I can sit and practice for six or seven hours a day. But the mind’s good, so I can get away with the mind being a little bit better than some guys, but I don’t have the talent. I can compete but not compete at a high enough level to be successful at it.”

On professional Canadian golfers and prospects:

“Canadian golf is skyrocketing right now. Brad Fritsch, all those guys. It shows what Golf Canada’s done, putting a program in place. You look at the girls. Brooke’s unbelievable, Rebecca Lee-Bentham. You look at some of the girls and how the game’s progressed. Canada’s known as a cold-weather country with a short golf season, but yet you look at how they’ve all progressed, it shows that Canada’s doing something right with our golf programs.”

On the pride he feels for the sport’s growth in Canada:

“As a Canadian, yes, because I think if you look at it, nobody really expects it. And I think it shows the dedication and the effort that, as a country, they’ve put into it to make the game better.”

The 2014 Golf Industry Expo is giving a free night of accommodation away to the first 100 unique facilities that register and buy a product at this year’s event.

This year’s Expo, which is selling out quickly, will be held between November 5-7 at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort and Conference Centre.

Last year’s successful event has attracted a host of major industry leaders for 2014 including, but not limited to, TaylorMade, Adams, Callaway, CobraPuma Golf and ClubCar.

An afternoon educational seminar and panel on the sustainability of golf in a changing climate and economy will be offered to those in attendance on November 6. The panel, consisting of a variety of industry experts, will be led by Dr. Eric Lyons, Associate Professor of Turf Grass Science at the University of Guelph. Kevin Thistle, General Manager of the Toronto Hunt Club, will moderate the discussion.

Aside from the allure of a free one-night accommodation, there will be bi-hourly $1000 cash draws for those who have placed orders during the conference.

Moreover, this year’s event will include a mini-putt tournament with a $1,500 purse for participants.

Additional information can be found at pgaofontario.com.

I recently participated in an event that has left me wanting more.

Lots more.

Next year golf makes its first appearance at a Special Olympics Summer World Games.

What will the Special Olympics World Summer Games look like in Los Angeles? How does 177 countries, 7,000 athletes and biggest event in the City of Angels since the 1984 Summer Olympics sound?

For a point of clarity, Special Olympics is not the Paralympics. Athletes participating in Special Olympic programs are athletes who have been identified as having “intellectual disabilities”.

Last week at Mayfield Golf Club (home of 97-year-old PGA of Canada Life Member Gord Delaat) in Caledon, Ont., I was privileged to be included as part of the coaching staff (in a role to support the Team Canada golf coaches) at one of the three fall Team Canada World Games multi-sport training camps. Our camp included golf, powerlifting, athletics and rhythmic gymnastics.

There was plenty of sweating, injuries and even the odd swear just to confirm there’s no fooling around here. As far as the coaches and athletes were concerned, the mission was simple: train as hard as you can.

The Team Canada Chef de Mission for #LA2015 Johnny Byrne has clearly laid the foundation and message for this team: there are no short cuts, no excuses and nothing is to be taken for granted.

I also witnessed behaviours I wasn’t expecting as much—athletes who were nurturing, caring and empathetic to teammates in their own sport and to those in other sports. On more than one occasion I saw athletes, both figuratively and literally, helping his or her teammate get up, dust him or herself off and get back at it. There was no time to stay down; there is critical training to complete.

There were no athletes at this training camp looking for anything except coaches who would hold them accountable and pushed outside of what felt comfortable. Three days of very early mornings and very late nights saw technical and tactical components tested and trained. Physical testing, nutrition, medical, strength and conditioning and mental sessions were also completed.

These are not Special Olympic athletes. These are not athletes who have intellectual disabilities. These are straight up, real deal, hard core athletes.

Special Olympics Canada is very proud of what they do.

And they should be.

They have maintained the sensitive and daunting balance between sport for life, health and integration and pursuing excellence and international standards.

The PGA of Canada and its members should be equally proud of the work we are doing with Special Olympics Canada and their coaches.

As a country, at the end of July we need to turn our attention to Los Angeles to support, inspire and most importantly, cheer on our team.

As I recently tweeted, the athletes I ate, trained and sat around a campfire with will have changed my life more than I have influenced theirs.

CARLSBAD, Calif., – Callaway Golf announced that longtime Staff Professional Phil Mickelson has signed a multiyear extension with the company.

“When I joined the team at Callaway 10 years ago, I knew I was making the best decision of my career,” Mickelson said. “And I feel even stronger about that decision today. Backed by innovative technologies, industry-leading products, and the outstanding R&D group that works so closely with me, I honestly believe that these next few years will be the best of my career.”

Mickelson’s Hall of Fame career includes five major championship victories and 42 PGA Tour wins. As a Staff Pro, he will continue to play Callaway clubs, a Callaway golf ball and carry a Callaway Staff Bag.

“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Phil,” said Callaway Golf President & CEO Chip Brewer. “He has meant so much to Callaway, and he continues to inspire us to develop the most innovative equipment in golf.”

A.W. Tillinghast

SCARBOROUGH, Ont. – Scarboro Golf & Country Club architect A.W. Tillinghast is one of four distinguished honourees who will be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum as the Class of 2015.

Scarboro members are thrilled Laura Davies, David Graham, Mark O’Meara and Tillinghast will be inducted on Monday, July 13, 2015 at the University of St Andrews, just blocks from the Old Course, host site of that week’s 144th Open Championship.

“Tillie’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame is ridiculously long overdue. He should have been in there from when the hall first opened,” says Canadian golf course architect Ian Andrew of Brantford, Ont. It was Andrew, along with noted American golf course architect Gil Hanse, who completed a sympathetic restoration of all known Tillinghast features and the removal of all recent changes to the course to return it to its original character in the fall of 2007.

“You could argue that he is the greatest American golf course architect of all time. I certainly put him ahead of Stanley Thompson,” says Andrew who has played most of Tillinghast’s layouts still considered among the world’s best and used frequently for golf’s major championships. Bethpage State Park, Winged Foot, Baltusrol GC, San Francisco GC, Quaker Ridge, Fenway GC, Somerset Hills and Baltimore Country Club at Five Farms in Maryland, where London, Ont., golfer Sandy Somerville won the 1932 U.S. Amateur, are all Tillinghast designs.

Born in 1874, Albert Warren (A.W.) Tillinghast took golf lessons from Old Tom Morris, was an admirer of St Andrews, and used that knowledge to become a true pioneer of American golf.  He was a prolific architect, having worked on 265 plus courses including more than 100 original designs in the U.S. courses to his credit.  He was also an original member of the PGA of America and authored a slew of books about the game. He died in 1942 in Toledo, Ohio.

“It’s like a piece of art.  You look at Tillinghast, you look at Alistair MacKenzie, you look at Donald Ross, you look at designers of that era, like David (Graham) pointed out, those guys were artists,” O’Meara said during a Hall of Fame interview. “They just had great pieces of property, great land, great vision, and golf will always stand the test of time even though players hit it further and equipment is better and this and that.”

Scarboro is the lone Tillinghast design in Canada. The club hired him in 1924 to rebuild the initial George Cumming layout at a cost of $40,000 and Tillinghast`s layout opened for play in 1926. Since that time, Scarboro has hosted four Canadian Open Championships and numerous other international and national events within the amateur and professional ranks.

“We are thrilled Tillinghast is finally being recognized by the World Golf Hall of Fame. His significant talent and genius are evident on every hole when playing this great golf course,” says Neil Rooney, Scarboro’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are proud to have his name connected to Scarboro and the club will continue to preserve and enhance the legacy of his classic design in the decades to come.”

Andrew believes Tillinghast was a genius when it came to creating par-3s. You only need to play Scarboro’s second, fourth, 11^th and 14^th holes to experience that brilliance. “Of all of the architects of his time, Tillinghast was the one who manufactured greens sites. He was a creator and a constructor. He would bring material together to make things more dramatic than they would have been. He was not afraid to go really big and that set him apart,” Andrew added.

Andrew says Scarboro is worthy of study when it comes to understanding golf course architecture. In his books, the course is home to some of the greatest green sites you’ll find anywhere and its strategic grass-faced bunkers that now hang on the edge of putting surfaces make them all the more interesting.

“In my mind, Scarboro doesn’t get its due as a great place to play golf,” he says. “Strategically it’s a lot of fun to play and one of the best courses in Canada.”

This is the first Class to be elected by the Hall of Fame’s Selection Commission, which debated a group of 16 Finalists.  The four members of the Class of 2015 each passed the required 75 percent voting threshold – approval by at least 12 of the 16 members. The Selection Commission was co-chaired by Hall of Fame members Nancy Lopez, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Annika Sorenstam and included the members of the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors and a mix of institutional and at-large seats.

Via back9network.com – This take on Bob Dylan’s famous song The Times They Are A Changin’, featuring some revamped lyrics about golf, was a popular topic on social media today.

For those interested, comedian Matty Blake is the man in charge of the vocals. He hosts “Off Par”, an inventive look at the world of golf and entertainment with a comedic twist, which airs Monday-Friday at 8 p.m. EST on Back9Network.

On the show, Matty, along with co-host Charles, offer free-flowing laughs in the form of viral internet videos, user-generated social media content, golf-themed skits, and guest appearances by other comedians.

Enjoy!

Many pros struggle to find their place after their playing days are done, but when they do, it can be quite fulfilling.

Just ask former LPGA Tour player A.J. Eathorne, who is thoroughly enjoying her role as the leader of Predator Ridge Golf Resort’s golf academy in British Columbia.. The 11-year LPGA veteran is now making an impact on others by teaching the game, a role she has come to love.

In addition to teaching, Eathorne has worked hard to bring more young girls and women to the game. She has used Swing Like A Girl workshops to do that, and most recently, her role as golf ambassador has included starring in a series of fun golf videos.

Backed and distributed by Canadian cable provider TELUS Optik TV and produced by Steamy Window Productions, the videos teach important golf lessons in a fun and lively way to help spread the word about how fun and rewarding the game can be.

Hope you enjoy…

Carlsbad, Calif. – adidas Golf has announced the release of the new tour360 x footwear collection, the next generation of the popular tour360 franchise. The collection features clean, streamlined designs incorporating iconic 360WRAP technology for an aesthetically pleasing, tour performance golf shoe with outstanding comfort for all golfers.

To construct a lightweight golf shoe with increased stability without the sacrifice of comfort, designers have combined a microfiber leather upper with climaproof technology and a new, nine-cleat thintech TPU outsole featuring patented CenTraXion technology.

The all-new outsole of the tour360 x was designed to increase surface area contact and stability throughout the swing while maintaining green-friendliness, which was accomplished by placing low-profile stealth cleats on a new TPU outsole featuring a distinctive ‘x’ pattern on the outsole.

Within the re-engineered outsole, designers strategically sculpted the TPU to reduce weight while providing increased flexibility and stability where it’s needed most – on the swingplane. For added comfort, an ultra-soft EVA foam was added throughout the midsole.

“The tour360 x is the latest in a line of unbelievably successful tour360 products,” said Masun Denison, Director of Global Footwear Product Marketing at adidas Golf. “While the new model takes design cues from 360 models of the past, we’ve advanced the line by incorporating new materials and technologies to reduce weight, add flexibility and provide increased comfort.”

Also available is the tour360 x Boa®, highlighted by Boa Technology’s most-advanced Closure System. Featuring the revolutionary Boa IP-1 dial on the center of the tongue of the tour360 x, the Boa Closure System enables fast and easy micro-adjustability for a precisely customizable and comfortable fit.

The tour360 x will be offered in three colourways, available at retail starting November 1, 2014. Available February 2015, the tour360 x Boa will be offered in two colourways.

For more information or to view the entire tour360 x and tour360 x Boa® collections, visit adidasgolf.ca.

Freddie Jacobson, Keegan Bradley and Graeme McDowell have announced they will be launching a series of craft beers through their new company, GolfBeer Brewing Co. The move marks the first time professional golfers have started their own beer company and have been associated with craft beer.

“Our lives have always revolved around golf, but we also are passionate about great beer, so we’re really excited about this,” said Freddie Jacobson, a founding partner of the GolfBeer concept. “I was first introduced to the idea of brewing a beer after a conversation I had with my friend and business associate Patrik Waxin. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to combine three of my passions: golf, beer and building a business. After doing my research and assembling a team of brewing experts, I reached out to my fellow PGA Tour players Keegan Bradley and Graeme McDowell to join me in this venture. Not only do they share my love of great beer, they also have an interest in building businesses and careers which transcend the golf course. Together we created refreshing and drinkable craft beers you can enjoy, whether you are on the course, at the 19th hole with friends, or at home watching a tournament on television.”

The beers were created to meet each golfer’s preference and taste profile: Freddie Jacobson’s Scandinavian Style Blonde Ale is a light ale brewed with Crystal malt and a variety of European hops; Keegan Bradley’s New England Style Lager is an easy-drinking lager brewed with two-row barley and a variety of North American hops; and G-Mac’s Celtic Style Pale Ale is a crisp, refreshing pale ale with a floral hop aroma and a snappy finish. Each of the golfers played a role in the design of the packaging which features their name, signature and silhouette. All three beers are between 4.5 and 5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and will be priced comparably to other premium craft beer.

“For me as a golfer and a restaurant owner, GolfBeer is the perfect marriage, bringing together two of my favorite things,” said Graeme McDowell. “I am excited to join the GolfBeer team and I look forward to sharing our beers, both at my restaurant Nona Blue and at courses and clubs throughout Florida.”

GolfBeer initially will be available on draft and in 12-ounce cans at select golf courses, restaurants and country clubs throughout the state of Florida. The company plans to introduce all three brands in 12- ounce glass bottle (six-packs) and expand to grocery stores, bars, and restaurants across the Unites States and into Canada for 2015.

The team chose the Florida market to debut GolfBeer for a variety of reasons. Demand for craft beers in the state is growing at a faster rate than anywhere in the U.S., to the point that wholesalers and retailers can’t get access to enough craft beer to meet the demand. This need, coupled with the large number of recreational golfers and golf courses in Florida, made it the perfect market to introduce the company’s first line of beers.

For additional information, visit www.golfbeer.com.