 |
Meet your Local Club Pro
Hal Eremko
Head Golf Professional
Riverway Golf COurse
Burnaby, B.C.
How many years have you spent at Riverway?
I've been at the Riverway in various capacities starting in 1999. It's been a lot of fun working at such a unique facility.
If not a golf professional, What do you think you'd be doing?
Wow, tough question. I like working with all types of people, so I would probably require some sort of interaction with others on a regular basis. I can't think of anything I would rather do. I might make more money in real estate right now - no, I think I'll stick to golf.
The Canadian Open was down the road from you at Shaughnessy last September, what kind of impact did that have on you and your golfers?
It's always great to see the best golfers in the world play - to see how they play tough shots around the greens or to see the trajectory of their shots. It helps to put into perspective how good these players really are.
What one tip about playing Shaughnessy could you have given the touring pros that would have helped their scores?
Like they would listen to me ... there isn't much these guys haven't seen, so it's pretty tough to fool them with local course trickery. If I was to offer some advice it would have been to come a couple of days early and get in some fishing, or some other outdoor activity so they could get their proper West Coast experience. That might encourage them to find a way to have more events here in the Northwest instead of having the PGA Tour events based around a two-hour airplane ride from Jacksonville. I think the golf fans in this area are getting a raw deal, and I think the Tour is missing out on some great golf courses.
Why is getting junior golfers involved in the game so important to you and to Riverway?
They are the future of our game! Without them, we have no future customers. Besides, kids are great to deal with because they have such enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.
Is there anything unique about your junior program at Riverway?
I think we just have some extremely talented people within our organization that bring quite a bit of energy to our programs. We also have terrific support from the Burnaby Parks Commission and Burnaby City Council to develop some of the interesting things that we have developed.
We are especially proud of a high school golf lesson program that we have started with the local area high schools. This program has allowed us to reach thousands of Grade 10 students that we might never have come into contact with otherwise. We've seen a lot of those kids hit that "One Shot" as a result of the program.
If you were king of the golf world for one day, what would be your top priority?
I would have every non-golfer hit that "One Shot" that hooks them into the game. You know, that shot that goes farther than they've ever hit any other kind of ball, the one that seems to be framed in the blue sky forever.
We see so many people who come to the course or to the range and have a frustrating experience because they have never been shown how to hold the club properly or how to give themselves the best chance to hit the ball properly. I've found that if they can hit that "One Shot," we've got a great chance of developing another customer.
|
|
