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D4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, April 25. 2001 Tykes have great inaugural season T h e O a k v ille D ix ie W in g s ty k e h o u se le a g u e h o ck ey tea m cu lm in a te d a m e m o rab le se aso n by w in n in g th e S tre e tsv ille sp rin g se le c t to u rn ey . T alk a b o u t a tu rn -a ro u n d , a fte r lo sin g tw o o f th e ir firs t th re e g am es, the te am reb o u n d e d to c o m p ile a re c o rd o f 3 1 -1 -1 . In c lu d e d w a s a f ir s t p la c e f in is h in th e ir M in o r O a k s H o c k e y A sso c ia tio n h o u se le ag u e w ith a re c o rd o f 15-3-1 fo llo w e d by a 6 -0 p la y o ff c h a m p io n s h ip run. O th e r se aso n h ig h lig h ts in c lu d e d `s e le c t' to u rn e y c h a m p io n s h ip s in S tre e tsv ille a n d Jo rd an . D e fe n siv e sta lw a rts in c lu d e d g o a lie N ic h o la s D alb y an d d efe n c e m e n W esley D e sja rd in s, E v an F o rm o sa , Ju stin M a ttiu ssi an d W ade W ilh elm . O ffe n siv e sp a rk p lu g s in c lu d e d M a tth e w R u b in o ff (5 4 g o als) an d K evin R o lc z e w sk i (45 g o als). In th e se aso n en d in g to u rn ey , O a k v ille w o n th e c h a m p io n s h ip g am e 5-1 o v e r E rin d a le W o lfp ack . O a k v ille g o als w ere sc o re d by K ev in R o lc z e w sk i (3 ), M a tth ew R u b in o ff an d E v an W ebster. In th e s e m ifin a ls, O a k v ille d o u b le d T re n to n M ic h ig a n T ita n s 6 -3. In th e p re lim in a ry ro u n d , O a k v ille d e fe a te d ... · E to b ic o k e K n ig h ts 4-1 (M atth ew R u b in o ff 2, A n d re w B ro d ie an d C h ad S m ith ); · H illc re st S u m m its 14-1 (M atth ew R u b in o ff 4 , K ev in R o lc z e w sk i 4, A lex M a g ee 2, K y le M o rriso n , Ju stin M a ttiu ss i, C h ad S m ith an d E v an W eb ster); · an d C la rk so n 3-0 (A a ro n Je rv is 2 an d M a tth e w R u b in o ff; sh u to u t to N ich o las D alb y ). PHILTHY'S SPOTLIGHT: the O ak ville D ixie W ings tyke house league team capped a m em orab le inaugural season by w inning a S treetsville `select' tourney. B A C K ROW : coach D oug W ebster, coach John W ilhelm , E van Webster, D ylan W elfle, Ju stin M attiussi, A lex M agee, M atthew R ubinoff, coach B ill B rodie and coach Larry M attiussi. M ID D L E ROW : K evin R olczew ski, D aniel K arlsson-A m ador, A aron Jervis, W ade W ilhelm and K yle M orrison. F R O N T ROW : C had Sm ith, Evan F orm osa, N icholas D alby, W esley D esjardins and A ndrew Brodie. - P h ilth y's Spotlight Teams receive a $50 gift certificate Stephen hopes to one day make senior national team (Continued from page D6) assured o f a prom otion to the Apool. "We were hoping to finish first or second and m ove back up (o the A-pool, but it didn't happen," said Stephen, an 18year-old O A C student at Oakville Trafalgar. "It was a gam e w e really dominated. We had alm ost all the ball possession, w e just couldn't finish in the end. They made a kick at the final whistle to win it." The Canucks took their frus trations out on the Spanish, winning the bronze m edal 34-0. The Canadians won their opening two gam es over Belgium and Ukraine. For Stephen, it was his first experience suiting up for the national team. And he saw plen ty o f action in every gam e as flanker. "I thought I im proved a lot and played really w ell in the last two gam es. It w as definitely a really good learning experi ence." A part from the rugby, he said the w eather in Chile was definitely better than the non spring w e're having around these parts. "It was 25-30C alm ost every day -- it was outstanding weather. It was a really nice city, and we played on some great pitches." Stephen m ade the national squad after being one o f 40 hopefuls invited to a tryout in Victoria in December. He was one o f only six from Ontario to m ake the team, the rest being from British Columbia. The team assem bled in Vancouver in late M arch for a four-day training cam p before heading to Chile. W hile it may not m atch the w orld jun io r cham pionships, the local Halton high school league, w hich gets under w ay this w eek, is not w ithout its own interesting plotlines. A fter 29 straight local play off cham pionships, Oakville T rafalgar were finally upended last year by B urlington's Notre D am e, and the defending H alton cham ps should basically have their team intact. O akville Trafalgar, m ean while, is going into the season w ith "five or six grade 11 starters, w hich is unusual," con ceded Stephen. "W e're a much younger team ." Nevertheless, he maintains the Red Devils are "looking pretty good." "We should do pretty well. We should be able to beat Notre D am e." O akville Trafalgar open their season Thursday at W hite Oaks. For Stephen, it will be his final high school cam paign and he hopes to suit up for an area university -- M cM aster, Q ueen's or Western. L ast year he also suited up for the Crusaders junior team and this year he hopes "to play on one o f the m en's team s." The C rusaders' first team, last season, won both the league and playoff cham pionship in O ntario's top league. "I definitely hope to one day play for the senior m en's (national) team but that's off in the future." First things first, he hopes for a chance to try out for C anada's U-23 program. Try to improve your stats... The O akville B ea ver is running a series o f regular g u est colum ns fro m experts w ithin our com m unity d esig n ed to help readers in their sporting a n d fitn e ss endeavours. T od a y' s colum n , co urtesy o f g o lf instructor A n g elo Puma, w ill help yo u im prove y o u r o vera ll gam e -- b y im proving y o u r individual stats. A re you a once a w eek p layer? Do you practice regularly, say three tim es p er w eek? W hat do you practice on? W hat are your stats? H ow do you com pare to the good players? W hy can't I take it to the course? T he answ ers to these questions lie in your g o lf course statistics. T hey are a record o f the various shots you need to execute, expressed as a percentage o f your success. A ll tour players at one tim e or ano th er have analyzed their statistics. T hese stats have sev eral categories. Som e categories carry m ore w eig h t than others; how ever, the purpose o f the exercise is to find the areas in w hich you are deficient. T hese are the categories that players should keep track o f -- w rite them dow n in a jo u rn al o r in your score card. You w ill need to keep track o f a m inim um o f 10 to 15 rounds o f g o lf to get a realistic picture. · num ber o f drives in the fairw ay. Sim ply put, on p ar 4 & 5 holes, w hen you hit y o u r tee shot, how m any tim es d id you hit the ball in the fairw ay? Tour pros average 79 - 86% . · n um ber o f greens in regulation. On p ar 3 holes (o f w hich there can be 4 to 5 on any g iven course), how m any holes did you land the ball on the green from your tee shot. O n par 4 holes, how m any greens did you hit on your second shot. For par 5 holes, how m any tim es did you land the ball on the green on y o u r third shot. H ere's the average for tour pros: from 75 yards, 100%; from 125 yards, 97% ; from 175 yards, 82% ; from 200 yards, 74% . · ups and dow ns. T his refers to your shorter pitch shots and shots around the greens. How m any tim es did you pitch the ball up to the g reen and then sink the putt. A s you get closer to the green, y o u r percentage should increase. · sand saves. F rom the sand b unker and one putt. T his is called a sand save. If you have m ore than one putt it doesn't count. Tour pros average o ver 70% . · penalty strokes. D id you incur any penal ty strokes during y o u r round. A nd how m any? · total putts. Putting represents 43% o f all the strokes a p lay er w ill take during his or her round. A nything o ver 28 putts per round is co n sid ered h igh for tour players. · driving distance. Your drives are very im portant to setting up the hole for good scor ing. It is good for players to have a rough idea how far they hit the ball; how ever, I feel it m ore im portant to know w hether you felt you hit the drive w ell versus poorly. D riving dis tance is m ore p ersonal and everyone hits the ball according to th eir ow n strength. A good p rofessional can help you w ith the v arious techniques to im prove the area in w hich you need help. It is a fun and valuable exercise to keep track o f your stats. It w ill tell you exactly w here you need to im prove to take your game to a h igher level. A n g elo P um a is p resid en t o f PU M A G O LF P R O D U C T S a n d is a teaching p ro fessio n a l a t the F am ily G o lf C enter in O akville. H e also instructs the in d o o r g o lf program a t H um ber College, Town o f M ilton, a n d the Town o f H alton H ills a n d has con d u cted corporate g o lf clinics. H e m ay be reached f o r lessons, club fittin g a n d consultation a t 905-339-0438; F ax 905566-1403; em a il a p u m a g o lf@ A O L .co m . It' s not just a game... It's feeling like a hero on a Saturday morning. 's the thrill of scoring / f ... and take a Sand Wedge! The O akville B eaver is running a series o f regular guest colum ns fro m experts within our com m unity designed to help readers in their sporting and fitn ess endeavours. Today's G olf TIP column, on sand wedges, is p a rt o f a continuing series designed to educate golfers on the technical aspects o f g o lf equip m ent and how they affect their g o lf games. I t ' s supplied by Jim G ayler a n d Joe Lavery at O akville G o lf at 2512 Bronte Road a t (905) 8255757. M any golfers today do not carry a sand w edge, and m any do m isuse it. Regardless o f golfing proficiency, a sand w edge can be a valu able asset w hen used properly. The sand w edge is designed w ith more sole bounce angle to keep the clubhead from digging deeply in the sand on the dow nsw ing. T he clubhead itself usually never touches the ball but rather the sand forces the ball out as it is squeezed by the clubhead. If a sand w edge had the opposite o f bounce, or a dig sole, the club head w ould autom atically dig deeper than its norm al arc and w ould probably stop in the sand. It is m ost difficult to properly hit a ball out o f sand if the clubhead digs and stops. A sand w edge is m ore lofted than a pitching w edge and usually four to eight sw ingw eight points heavier than the low er num bered irons. Its sole w idth is usually the w idest o f any iron in the set and is generally more radiused from front to back and heel to toe. A sand w edge's face is usually rolled open for m ost sand shots. This does tw o things: first, the loft is increased and, second, the sole bounce angle is increased by raising the club's leading edge higher off the ground. To better understand this, take a sand w edge and set it on the floor in the square playing position. N ow roll it open slow ly and w atch the leading edge o f the clubface lift higher off the floor as the sole bounce angle increases. N otice also that on m ost sand w edges the leading edge will be raised o ff the floor w hile the clubface is in the square position. This indicates that the sand w edge does in fact have "bounce." A s a general rule, the thicker and grainier the sand you play from , the more bounce you w ant on the sole o f the sand wedge. A professional clubm aker can fit you w ith the p roper sand w edge(s) that will m ake your sand play easier. on the toughest goalie you ever saw. It's taking it on the chin when you miss the easy ones. It's sucking orange slices on a slivery wooden bench. It's pretending not to notice your mum looking really proud. It's well worth supporting. And Shreddies can help. Premier tourney for Ian Anderson House Oakville's Ian Anderson House will be the benefactor of this year's Premier Charity Golf Classic. The tournament will be held on Thursday, June 28 at Heron Point Golf Club in Ancaster with a fundraising goal of $35,000. Ian Anderson House is a sixbed residential hospice that offers quality, end-of-life palliative care to families in our community who, for whatever reason, are unable to provide the necessary round-theclock care at home to a family member who has terminal cancer. True to the tradition and phi losophy of the hospice, their care is provided without charge. As the Ontario government does not fund hospices, they must rely on the generosity of the com munity at large for their ongoing operating costs. The goal of this year's tourna ment is to raise $35,000 for Ian Anderson House. The Premier Charity Golf Classic was established in 1999 by local resident Merritt Goddard. The proceeds raised from the first two tournaments were direct ed to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts to assist them in their recent renovations to the the atre. Goddard has been active in the investment industry for more than 25 years. Together with his team, Merritt manages assets of approximately $125 million on behalf of more than 300 clients and their families. Call 845-2477 to enter or help sponsor the tournament. Every box of P ost Shreddies cereal you buy before June 30,2001 will help support the Soccer Association for kids in communities around you. The more you buy, the more Shreddies will donate. Pick up a box or two the next time you shop. Good, good whole wheat Shreddies Belt Classic helps fight against breast cancer The Glen Abbey Golf Club will host the annual Bell Classic on May 25. In its fourth year, the Bell Classic is a unique women's golf tournament bringing profession al women together to raise funds for a worthy and necessary cause -- the fight against breast cancer. This year's benefactor will be the St. M ichael's Breast Centre in Toronto. The event is presented in conjunction with Bell Canada by Zonta International -- a worldwide service organization o f professional and business women working together to advance the status of women. The tournam ent raised $90,000 in 2000, $100,000 in 1999 and $60,000 in 1998. This y ear's tourney is expected to again top $60,000. Oakville sports hall of famer Sandra Post, a nine-time LPGA tour winner, will chip in as emcee for the fourth straight year. Other notables to participate in this y ea r's tournam ent include 11-time amateur cham pion Marlene Streit and Canada AM co-host Valerie Pringle. To sign up for the tourney or for sponsorship opportunities, contact Sandra Cook at (905) 524-0188.