NGA Championship Trophy
As the 2018 Golf Season starts to work it’s way into North Bay this week, I had the chance to chat with Owen Rigg. Rigg is a past Champion at the Bill Morland Invitational and sits on the Board of Directors for the Northern Golf Association (NGA).
Change and excitement are 2 words that can be used to describe what’s in store as the Association tries to grow the game in Northern Ontario.
Recently announced that the NGA Championship will be moving outside the area for the first time in a long time. The NGA has awarded the Championship to The Sault Golf and Country Club in Soo, Michigan. Something that has happened in the past when it was hosted by Rouyn-Noranda years ago.
The move was initiated after there was luke warm reception in trying to find a venue for 2018. The Sault Club was very interested in hosting and will be piggy-backing the event off of their own Lock City Invitational on the weekend of June 15th to 17th. The dates were also desirable as to not conflict with other traditional tournament dates at other Northern clubs when they host their own big events.
After ‘rebooting’ the event for a few years in Timmins, sponsors and players started to come back to the event as it found a more stable base among competitive golfers, and players looking to compete and enjoy tournament play at a higher level.
Last year’s event drew 180 players to Huron Pines in Blind River and the NGA hopes to be close to that number this year. The association hopes to draw players from Timmins and more importantly from players in the Highway 17 corridor for 2018.
A potential new membership model rolling out in the near future, built in conjunction with the Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) hopes to offers clubs in Northern Ontario a more business friendly model than what was offered in the past. Years of many clubs not participating with the GAO model of mandatory membership; a large fee paid for by the club for every member whether they played competitively or not. This newer model could evolve into what Rigg describes as ‘Customer Choice’. That model could find a modest club fee and the option for players to join the NGA for an extra fee that would allow them access to the new World Handicapping System, along with other perks including damage and club insurance. Last year there were 32 clubs that were part of the NGA and 6 of those also paid fees towards the GAO for members to access their events.
This new evolved participation could lead to the NGA events becoming a standard qualifier for GAO Championships. Instead of an area qualifier in Sudbury as in the past, where only one or two spots were available. The new events could have upwards of 18 spots that would make Northern representation better at the Provincial level. Juniors would also prosper, as the NGA Junior could have up to a couple of spots per age category, saving on families driving South to try and qualify (which they would still have the option of doing)
Coming into it’s fourth season, the Players Order of Merit has also been positivley welcomed. Where specially selected tournaments from around Northern Ontario awards points per finishing position and those points accumulate over the summer until an overall winner is declared at the end of the season. New events this year added to the Order of Merit include traditional tournaments in Lively, Labour Day in Kirkland Lake and possibly the Spruce Needles Am in Timmins.
Partnerships help a great deal in making events easier to put on, and the NGA has made strides in that department over the last few years. Snell Golf, are listed as the offical golf ball supplier for the Association and this year Northern College has come on board as the title sponsor for the NGA Junior Championship to show young golfers how the game of golf can help them reach their potential by using golf and the college system to further their education. That Championship will be played at Hollinger in Timmins on July 16th.
The NGA is active on twitter (https://twitter.com/golf_nga), passing along information from member clubs as it becomes available and also on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NorthernGolfAssociation/). The main website is located at https://www.golfnga.com/.
The Board is working on a 5-year plan for future Championships and if you’re interested in the NGA or would like to become involved, Rigg suggested checking out their website or talking to any of the Board Members that may be in your area. As with any grass roots movement, local participation is always encouraged and it’s nice to see a sort of reniseance of sorts for the NGA. No organization is perfect, but with positive involvement and effort things can always get better.
NGA President Archie Berube, latest member of the Timmins Sports Hall of Fame (Photo from NGA Facebook Page)
A big thanks to Owen Rigg for talking with me and a big congrats to NGA President Archie Berube on his induction into the Timmins Sports Hall of Fame.
