Yesterday was one of the best golf days I have ever had. With a little nudge from some of the members of GolfClubAtlas, Pat Goss and I put together a day for good, geeky golf fun. It began with an outing for the Honourable Company of Reverse Jans Golfers, and ended with a Gathering of golf enthusiasts to share food, drinks, and the spirit of this great game.
The day epitomized the role that Canal Shores can play in the community and the game itself – it is a place where we can connect with each other and with our childlike joy.
THE OUTING
The Honourable Company of Reverse Jans Golfers is one of golf’s most prestigious societies. We aren’t ancient, and we’re definitely not royal, but we are dedicated – dedicated to the spirit of fun and camaraderie in the game.
The Company held its annual outing, at which we played a the course backwards – the Reverse Jans.
A great time was had by all, and Team Zinkand took home the prizes for our team competition. Thanks to the generosity of RJGers, Canal Shores received a nice donation to its Canal Shores 100 Master Planning Fund.
Many thanks to Seamus Golf, Imperial Hats, and Bluestone restaurant for their support of the event.
THE GATHERING
After the Outing, we were joined in the American Legion Hall upstairs at the Canal Shores clubhouse by other golf enthusiasts from the community and GolfClubAtlas. We were treated to presentations by our architects David Zinkand and Drew Rogers, and golf historian Dan Moore.
Drew started off by sharing his perspective on why he got involved with the Canal Shores renovation project. Our thanks to Drew, not only for his support and guidance, but also for his assistance in helping us to win the USGA/ASGCA Site Evaluation planning grant.
Dan Moore followed by sharing his findings from research into the origins of Canal Shores (formerly Peter Jans GC and originally Evanston Community GC). Dan confirmed that the course was originally opened as a 9-holer in 1919, and later expanded. He also revealed that the course was laid out by Tom Bendelow, who is credited along with Donald Ross, CB Macdonald, and other pioneers, with the spread of the game in America in the early 1900s.
And finally, Dave Zinkand made a neat presentation taking us through his background, his travels to Britain and back, and how he is drawing on inspirations to create the Jans Course at the new Canal Shores.
To view his presentation slides, click here.
The group at the Gathering made additional donations to the Master Planning Fund, for which we are also very grateful.
ONWARD
We have more news to share, but I will save that for upcoming posts. Suffice it to say, yesterday was a special day, and it is tremendously inspiring to be a part of this group chasing down the dream to reinvent Canal Shores, and the game of golf in our community.
If you would like to contribute to our Canal Shores 100 Master Planning Fund, you can do so by clicking the button below. Every dollar helps, and keeps us moving forward.
Onward we go…
Canal Shores is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and all donations are tax deductible.
More Journey Along the Shores posts:
- Pt.1 – Introduction
- Pt.2 – The Land
- Pt.3 – Principles for Greatness
- Pt.4 – First Steps
- Pt.5 – Tree Management
- Pt.6 – 4 Course Concept
- Pt.7 – Pilot Projects
- Pt.8 – More Tree Management
- Pt.9 – Inspiration for the New Canal Shores
- Pt.10 – Off-Season Projects
- Pt.11 – Blue Sky Findings
- Pt.13 – 4 Course Concept Revisited
- Pt.14a – The Power of Volunteers
- Pt.14b – More Volunteer Power
- Pt.15 – Metra Corner Makeover
- Pt.15b – Metra Corner Update
- Pt.16 – Super Changes
- Pt.17 – 14th Hole Bunker Rebuild
- Pt.18 – Annual Volunteer Recap
Copyright 2015 – Jason Way, GeekedOnGolf
Great post, my friend!! Thanks for making me a part of this effort, Jason. Drew >
Thank you sir. Very happy to have you in on the craziness.