Transcona Open organizers seek return to tourney’s glory days
By John Towns Jan. 1, 2009 |
Professional and amateur golfers from across the province will descend on the Transcona Golf Club on Aug. 16 and 17 for the 2008 Transcona Open and event organizers are hoping the fact it’s been expanded to a two-day event will restore some of its lustre.
“In the last several years, the tournament had kind of declined,” said tournament director Barry Mymko, recalling paying to play in a tournament that in the past was made up of only club regulars, and offered little or no prize money.
“So last year we put together a plan to resurrect the tournament to its past glory. We made it a first-class event last year, and then this year we’ve actually expanded it to a two-day event, which is very rare, especially in the Winnipeg market.”
Mymko and a 12-member committee set about improving the tournament in any way they could last year. Those measures included attracting professional golfers, sponsorship, and taking cues from other successful golf tournaments in the province.
One sponsor the committee was able to attract was Casera Credit Union, title sponsor of the 2008 tournament.
“The thing with the Transcona Golf Club is that it’s really an icon in the community, and I think that we want to continue to do our part to help make it an ongoing success, which they've done a great job of over the last five years or so in terms of renovations to the course,” said Brent Thomas, CEO of Casera.
With the addition of a second day of play, the Saturday night of the tournament has become something of an event unto itself, according to Mymko.
“On Saturday we’re going to have a fish fry, there will be a social evening with a live band, a silent auction, and then what we’re calling ‘Moonlight Madness,’ which are some night golfing events,” he said.
“It’s going to be a pretty big deal for us on the Saturday night.”
The desire to see the tournament grow was the result of some major changes at the club.
“The club has gone through a big transition in the last five years,” Mymko said. “We’ve got a new pro, Dave McMillan, who has brought a new attitude to the club, and the golf course itself has gone through some major reconstruction.
“So with Dave's new attitude and the development of the course to a much better quality course, we thought that we needed a tournament that would equal these other two aspects of the club.”
Lorne Gardiner, membership director of the Transcona Golf Club, said the tournament is a great way for the club to highlight its recent course improvements.
“The course gets showcased. It’s like the major event for the golf course for the year, and we’re grateful to have the support of the community and the advertisers,” he said.
Another unique feature to the Transcona Men’s Open is that all proceeds from the tournament are given to charity.
“We decided when we were planning the tournament that we would raise some money for the junior golf program at the club, as well as a program called Shinerama, which helps to support people with cystic fibrosis,” Mymko said.
