Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/366073
44 INSIDE GOLF STAFF NEWS BY LISA 'LONGBALL' VLOOSWYK INSIDE GOLF'S LISA VLOOSWYK WINS Golfweek Magazine's Golfest Entertainer Of The Year What a day! Recently I competed in The Villages GolfWeek Magazine Golfest Entertainer of the Year competition in Florida. I was honored to be with such esteemed trick-shot artists as Rocky Shipes, and the Godfather of trick shots, Ben Witter—what an inspiration he is. The judges said what a close competition it was—but I won! Blown away! I got a Happy Gilmour cheque and can't wait to walk in to the teller at the bank like Adam Sandler. Ha ha! Ben Witter, the Godfather of trick shots, just sent me his recent newsletter. If you want the definition of a class act, Ben Witter is your man. In the newsletter, he wrote about the Golfest and celebrated my win. What an amazing man! He is a multiple cancer survivor and has been handed mis- fortune that would cripple most people. Ben uses it as inspi- ration. You will never meet a kinder, more gracious and true salt-of-the-earth man. I am honored to be your dear friend, Ben. About Golfweek's Golfest Golfweek's Golfest is the country's largest outdoor golf life- style event. Attendees can try and buy the latest-and-greatest golf equipment, while enjoying clinics, golf entertainment, and contests. With custom club fitting available and exhibits includ- ing travel, real estate, wellness, golf lifestyle, teaching aids and much more, Golfest is sure to provide fun for the entire family. 04(.,*9,+0;.63->,,2 The other news related to the flood was whether the province would be willing to rebuild the iconic Kananaskis courses. And thirteen months after 32 of the 36 holes at the Mt. Kidd and Mount Lorette golf courses in Kananaskis Country were de- stroyed by floodwaters, the Al- berta government announced they would rebuild both courses from the ground up. The course's general manager, Darren Robinson, said in a tele- phone interview with Inside Golf that there were times, especially early on after the floods, where there was some doubt if in fact the two extremely popular courses in the Rocky Mountains would be brought back to life. "Well, I would answer that by saying that, yeah, there were times where you questioned if it was going to happen or not … but in our hearts we never gave up hope. We always believed that it would happen and it was what needed to happen for the community, for the local economy, for Albertans, for recreation. We always believed it but, yeah, there were some of those dark mo- ments in those 13 months where you started to question whether or not it was going to happen. You just had to sort of refocus and regain that positivity towards the right outcome." Robinson said that while noth- ing has been set in concrete as of yet about how the two courses will be restored/rebuilt, he suggested they would be put back together as close to the original Robert Trent Jones' design as possible. "Essentially," he said, when asked if the 36 holes would be car- bon copies of the old layout. "The layout is still all intact, so yeah, the intent would be to maintain the integrity of the design to what it looked like just prior to the flood." Robinson said the starting point of this massive restoration project is to clean up the entire area that has virtually sat untouched for over a year. The course proper is littered with mud, boulders, trees and debris that were swept up on the wave of water that washed over the area. "All that debris that was depos- ited on the course would have to be moved; filling up the channels that were carved away during the flood, that kind of thing." One of the major question marks about the rebuild is whether or not the Kananaskis River that flooded its banks will be allowed to stay where it is now, or once again be re-routed to where it was shifted when the courses were first built. During the floods, the river made its way back to, or close to, its original pathway. Robinson wasn't sure about what's going to happen there. "To tell you the truth. I'm not 100 per cent sure of all the details on the river. That's going to be on the government's side." It will take two to three years in all likelihood to get things back to where they were, the GM stated, although that is not a firm dead- line. And once the construction is done, that doesn't mean the lay- out is immediately ready to open to the public. "It's one thing to do the work but then the other component, of course, is to properly allow the maturation to occur." The work on restoring Kananas- kis to its former beauty and glory is expected to begin later this sum- mer or in the early fall. Continued from page 16 ...it was only through efforts of members, townspeople and volunteers literally from across Alberta that this club has 18 holes in play today.