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Welcome...
Amateur golf in
Canada has seen significant changes in its governance in recent
months--- changes at the national, provincial and regional
levels. The RCGA has moved from 32 governors with proportional
regional representation to 11 governors and an advisory council
of the provinces. Similarly almost all of the provinces have
streamlined. Our provincial body, Golf Quebec, has moved from 52
directors across the province of Quebec as well as eastern
Ontario and an executive committee to a board of directors of
only 10 with an advisory council of the regions. It is my
privilege and pleasure to sit on that board as well as to
represent the Ottawa region on the council.
Most significantly
for golf in the Ottawa district we have seen the merger of the
men’s and women’s organizations. At a special meeting last
October the members of the RCGA Women’s Division-Ottawa District
and the Ottawa Valley Golf Association (OVGA) unanimously voted
to merge as a new OVGA to provide services to women, men and
junior golfers. The two boards were rolled into one board of
fifteen volunteer members.
While the changes
are important from a governance point of view it is our sincere
wish and goal that impact to our clients---the players and
clubs—be minimized and that you continue to enjoy the services
we provide ranging from competitions of championship caliber to
course rating services and rules of golf services as well as
providing handicap and rules seminars in cooperation with Golf
Quebec and RCGA.
We have a huge
competitive season with some 20 events over 26 days for the men
and 8 events over 10 days for the women as well as 8 events over
11 days for junior boys and girls. The ever -popular
Intersectional Matches continue to grow with the addition of
several new clubs and we conduct matches for women, men and
juniors. The work load for measuring and rating our member
courses is also daunting and we will be providing a handicap
seminar and hopefully a rules seminar. In addition we work
closely with the Ottawa Citizen in providing rules officials for
its premier event.
None of these tasks
can be undertaken to the benefit of member clubs without the
enormous contribution made by volunteers. Board directors, rules
officials, course raters, starters, marshals registration
helpers, scorers and committee members are all volunteers and
are dedicated to serving the game in our region. To all of you a
heart-felt thank you. New volunteers are always encouraged and
welcome and we certainly appreciate the efforts made by each of
the club captains in representing the interests of their clubs
and as a channel of communication to our member clubs.
We strive to make
the treatment of players from both original organizations equal
and, over time, will be moving to make costs and revenues equal
on a per player basis while recognizing the unique traditions
and needs of each of the groups.
To each of our
sponsors—The Ottawa Citizen, Flagstick Magazine, Humber College
and the Optimist Club, thank you for your assistance especially
to our juniors.
Finally, all golf
organizations are acutely aware of the difficult economic times
and understand the potential to impact participation negatively.
Be assured that the OVGA continues to strive for the growth of
participation of golfers in the region.
Rai King, President
OVGA
President, Ottawa Valley Golf Association |
