Field of greens It wasn't an Iowa cornfield, but Southwood's dream of hosting big tournaments has come true By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 5:55 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018 Last Modified: 7:09 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018 Updates

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This article was published 31/07/2018 (2242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a proverbial field of dreams — 297 acres just south of the Perimeter Highway that underwent $8-million in work with the idea of transforming it into a premier golf course that could attract championship-calibre events.

Well, they built it. And now they are coming.

Southwood Golf & Country Club is the new home of The Players Cup as many of the game’s youngest rising stars will compete later this month for $200,000 in total prize money. The Thomas McBroom design, which opened in 2011, will provide a unique challenge for members of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada in what will be their third-last stop of the season.

“This was one of the dreams of moving here,” Craig Sheldon, the past president of Southwood who is now a co-chair for the Players Cup, said Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be a good test for the players. It certainly has some good length. A different style of course, certainly, than (where) it’s been held at in the past.”

Members affectionately refer to it as a “Prairie-style course,” which is one way to describe putting 18 holes seemingly in the middle of nowhere next to the old monastery ruins in St. Norbert. There are very few trees, but numerous deep bunkers and the ever-menacing fescue which will punish players for wayward shots.

And then there is the wind, which could become the main storyline as Southwood begins its three-year contract of hosting the event. Players begin trickling in Aug. 13 for pro-ams and practice rounds before the four-day tournament begins on Aug. 16.

“It’s very weather dependent, wind dependent. I’ve played it both when it’s dead calm and when it’s blowing a million and pouring rain. That’s the biggest factor. I’ve hit wedge into Hole 1 before, and I’ve also hit three-wood into Hole 1 before,” said Travis Fredborg, the Selkirk-born amateur who is currently attending the University of Nevada on a golf scholarship.

Fredborg, who captured the 2017 Manitoba Men’s Amateur, will compete in the Player’s Cup on one of a handful of sponsor’s exemptions. He previously played the event in 2013 and 2014, making the cut his first time around.

‘This was one of the dreams of moving here’
– Craig Sheldon, past president of Southwood Golf & Country Club and co-chairman of The Players Cup

(The wind) is going to be the main factor. For me it’s a golf course i really like. I love the idea of getting creative, running shots up the green, hitting them high, hitting them low, hitting a seven-iron out of a bunker that’s 50 yards away. It’s cool, it’s fun, I’m really looking forward to the test it’s going to bring,” said Fredborg. “Obviously making the cut again and just build off that and have a really good finish is something I think I’m capable of and want to do.”

Another exemption goes to 2018 Amateur champ Justin McDonald of Breezy Bend.

“Personally I hope it blows,” McDonald said Wednesday of the wind. He knows the pros will go low if conditions are calm and figures some wild weather is the best chance for someone like him to stay in the mix.

“The pros get to play in perfect weather all the time. They’re bringing it to Manitoba. We don’t have trees out there. Let it blow a little bit,” he said with a chuckle.

Aaron Cockerill is the lone Manitoban with his full Mackenzie Tour card and is looking forward to the change of scenery following the previous two Players Cup events at Pine Ridge and Niakwa.

“I think Southwood is going to be good. A lot of the guys out here get a little bit frustrated when we’re kind of boxed into some shorter golf course,” Cockerill said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Edmonton, where he was preparing for this week’s tour stop.

At nearly 7,400 yards — believed to be the longest on tour this season — pros will be able to let loose with their drivers.

“I think at Southwood it’s all going to depend on the wind and how that’s going to affect the course,” said Cockerill, noting last year’s Monday qualifying was held at the course to great reviews.

“Some were even saying they were wishing (the tournament) was there,” he said. “It’s a great layout. There’s a lot of really good holes out there. It’s just very wind dependent on how its going to play.”

This is a homecoming of sorts for the Players Cup, which was previously known as the Manitoba Open. Southwood hosted it for years in their previous location near the University of Manitoba before moving as part of the most expensive golf project in Manitoba history. It also marked the first complete relocation of a regulation course in Canada in 40 years.

“Southwood has a history with holding the Canadian Tour event and was pretty instrumental in keeping that event going back in its history,” Sheldon said Wednesday. “We’re excited to look at this new chapter now. When this course was designed, the vision of the design and of the membership was to host events like this.”

They got a rehearsal of what’s to come last summer by hosting the Canada Summer Games.

“This is a bigger event, there’s more expectations, there’s more players, it’s a longer event. We’re happy to have it for three years because it’s something we’ll need to build on. I think we’ll see, after year one, we’ll see some things we want to do differently and do better,” said Sheldon.

“The course is in great condition this year. It’s a fairly new course, so every year our course has been getting better and better. Mother Nature has been helpful. There’s been a fair bit of rain, it’s fairly lush out there, the rough is pretty thick. Our greens are in really really excellent condition. I think we’re going to be pretty pleased with how the course shows.”

Executive director Adam Boge said this year’s event will truly be spectator friendly, including plenty of on-site parking, a Canadian Forces “fan experience” area, numerous concessions and the inclusion of Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele on another exemption meant to draw some crowds. The tournament has also been moved from its traditional date in early July with the hopes of attracting a bigger audience.

“I think it’s going to be a great spectator sport. I’m really looking forward to seeing them play Southwood and how they handle this awesome track,” said Boge.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Sports columnist

Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.

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