Up to par

Winnipeg

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This article was published 01/05/2024 (516 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Manitoba golfers return to courses around the province, Golf Manitoba is upping its game.

In March, the organization opened the Golf Manitoba Performance Centre in the Sport Manitoba complex on Pacific Avenue. The facility provides competitive golfers a place to practise skills and strategy year-round, using golf simulator technology, in the company of coaches and professionals.

Training facilities and programs like it are becoming common in the golf world, said Jared Ladobruk, Golf Manitoba executive director, who is pleased that the new training is in the Sport Manitoba facility, which houses a variety of resources for other sports.

The 1,200-square-foot area features a hitting bay, where golfers are given the option to develop specific skills — things such as carry distance, angle of attack, and more — or to play a whole round. Coaching staff can capture the metrics of each swing, helping each golfer identify areas for improvement.

The training facility is regularly used by Team Manitoba players.

“It gets used weekly, from, I would say, November, December, right through up until April,” said Brian Munz, Golf Manitoba director of communications. “So it’s utilized during our off-season. And then there’s also opportunity, because there’s data capture, it’s portable — we can take it into the green-grass environment and continue to capture that same data as the golfers migrate into playing in real-life conditions.”

The performance centre space even includes a putting green, with three holes split across 160-square-feet.

Ladobruk said there’s plenty to look forward to in the coming golf season.

Golf Manitoba will publish its season calendar online on May 25, at golfmb.ca, which will enable players and fans to keep track of the many tournaments and events this summer.

The organization hopes to keep the sport accessible through its Greatest Sport marketing strategy, Ladobruk said, and by introducing the game to young, potential players through its Golf in Schools program, which officially kicked off last week.

“It’s a big part of our strategy, introducing kids to the sport of golf,” Ladobruk said. “And making that correlation between golf and physical activities.”

It’s the one sport anyone can play with their entire family, Ladobruk remarked, and the health benefits of getting outside, walking and moving, are obvious.

“Golf is really an outlet that helps people live longer, healthier and happier lives. There’s data behind that,” Ladobruk said.