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Family Golfâ€"Oakville has now been open for 10 years this month and are offering a special "thank you" to all area residents who have made the facilâ€" ity one of the busiest teaching and pracâ€" tice golf facilities in North America. For the next week, Aug. 23rd â€" Aug. 28th, 99 cent specials will be available to all people in the area... 99 cents for a round of miniâ€"golf, 99 cents for a small basket of range balls, and a special $9.99 "Introduction To Golf" lesson package that includes a classroom lesâ€" son, a bucket of balls to hit, free use of clubs, a complete lesson summary sheet to take home, a sheet of Basic Rules, and do‘s and don‘ts on the course, to help newcomers over the initial learnâ€" ing period. A child under 14 can be included free with each adult registered. The facility has pioneered a lot of conâ€" cepts since Larry Armatage first went to the PGA TOUR in Florida with a concept of a high quality, familyâ€"orientâ€" ed sports facility. "When we went to them in February 1982, the typical driving range had black rubber mats which could almost destroy your clubs, range balls so rubâ€" bery that you couldn‘t cut them with an axe, painted rubber tire "targets" out on the range, next to the "highly optimisâ€" tic" yardage signs. Lighting was pretty poor, and teaching programs were fairâ€" ly unorganized", says Armatage, who searched for a place to practice when â€" he didn‘t have time to justify joining a club. Armatage saw a need in most commuâ€" nities for a well organized golf educaâ€" tion program, a miniature golf which more closely represented real putting on real greens, and a practice facility which could satisfy golfers who wanted to do more than just "beat balls", and were looking for. game improvement. F amzly Golf Oakvzlle Celebmtes ] Oth Anniversary w Some of the ideas and components of what makes Family Golfâ€" Oakville one of the busiest and complete Practice Facilities in North America ...... «* 60 astroturt tees, 40 of which are covered, to protect from rain, blazing sun, and wind w Year round operation, with comfort from overhead, infrared heaters, and enclosures on 3 sides. Hit full shots, to target greens, and Drives up to 295 yards. 9 50 grass tees, with over an acre of teeing area. w Practice bunker, with the sand that Nicklaus specifies for all his +â€" Burt mai â€" ADVERTBING FEATUR ] â€"â€"â€" MiSSISSAUGA â€"â€"+ He envisioned a place for people to come and enjoy an "almost golf" game â€" being able to work on their entire game â€"â€" without having to commit to 5â€" 6 hours. Family Golf became the original protoâ€" type "PGA TOUR FAMILY GOLF CENTRE" in North America and became the model after which a number of these facilities were patâ€" terned in the United States. They feaâ€" tured grass tees and artificial tees made out of Astroturf, fairly common now, but rare in the early ‘80s. They:â€" were determined to provide good balls, and the Golf Centre buys over 40,000 new balls every year... the best available. They built eleven contoured, shaped target greens, with different flag colors, and exact laserâ€"measured distances from every tee; there is a "bentâ€"grass" putting green, a pitching/chipping green, and a practice bunker, (use of all 3 included in your basket price). The golf education was the result of a great deal of help and information about content and format from Dr. Gary Wiren, who was, for thirteen years, Director of Education and Research for the PGA of America, and who was bestowed the great honor of being choâ€" sen to author "THE PGA MASTER TEACHING MANUAL". Wiren is unquestionably the leading golf educaâ€" tor in the world and is very keen on making golf a sport for everyone... little kids, juniors, seniors, women, and beginners, as well as, experienced golfers. As a result, Family Golfâ€"Oakville has programs that are available for all those groups. They feature a 15â€"week mornâ€" ing course for "The Senior Tour"; they teach over 100 high school classes eveâ€" ry spring and every fall; they have a fiveâ€"day kids camp that runs during the summer holidays; group lessons for COUrses f FOSL, LPGA, JOn Anderson, 01 tng DeSt GroUp INStTUCIOTS IN «* 11 contoured, shaped, target greens, featuring an accuracy wedge _ Canada. range w 36â€"hole, miniature golf, (2 courses), on 3 acres of beautifully * Exact, laserâ€"measured distances from all tees to all greens landscaped, flowers, shrubs, hills and valleys, waterialls, lagoons, melalâ€"halide, state of the art lighting system and lots of birds to sing for you, including the "Top Gun" course, * "Bentâ€"grass" putting, chipping, and pitching greens one of the most challenging in Canada 40,000 brand new, finest quality range balls every year Custom built, custom fit clubs, at surprising reasonable prices for f ®* A variety of good quality range clubs available, from Drivers to best performance, your clubs should fit you. Wedges * Great location... on the QEW‘s North Service Road, directly across : 5 * 6 instructors, including Tommy Williams, Life PGA Member, Sandra _ from Ford, just minutes from Burlington, Mississauga and Milton. ? 1516 NORTH SERVICE ROAD, EAST OAKVILLE 842â€"6120 1\ ~ . FAMILY GOLF L ?a@m\mmg F n t O as newcomers; private lessons for experiâ€" enced golfers; and a program for the disabled. "Golf For The Physically Challenged" runs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. The program is unique in Canada and encourages people who have had a seriâ€" ous setback (such as a stroke, head injury, visual impairment, or something that has put them in a wheelchair). The program is run by volunteers, and there is no charge for the participants. "These challenge golfers make substanâ€" tial progress while enjoying golf the same aseveryone does," says Armatage. The Golf Centre has six instructors, including legendary Tommy Williams â€" Life PGA Member; and former head instructor of Glen Abbey, Sandra Post â€" the most successful TOUR player ever from Canada. The Group Program is headed by Jon Anderson, who is in his 8th year with the Centre. Anderson plays on one of the Florida "miniâ€"tours" during the offâ€"season, and he and Armatage have attended PGA Advanced Training Seminars almost every winter at PGA Headquarters in Palm Beach. Now, with the new covâ€" ered, heated tees, instruction will be offered during the offâ€"season as well. Their latest project is a facility they carefully planned for about four years... they have built 40 covered, heated tees, a twoâ€"storey building enclosed on 3 sides (much like your car garage with * 36â€"hole, miniature golf, (2 courses), on 3 acres of beautifully landscaped, flowers, shrubs, hills and valleys, waterialls, lagoons, and lots of birds to sing for you, including the "Top Gun" course, one of the most challenging in Canada * Custom built, custom fit clubs, at surprising reasonable prices for best performance, your clubs should fit you. * Great location... on the QEWs North Service Road, directly across Post, LPGA, Jon Anderson, one of the best Group Instructors in the door open), with natural gas, infrared heaters above the golfers. Sliding unbreakable "Lexan" panels can be opened or closed to shut out rain or wind, or to let in the gentle summer breezes. Planned for this fall is a treeâ€" planting program with a series of windâ€" breaks that should almost eliminate winds from all directions to make hitâ€" ting balls an allâ€"year affair, giving area customers a choice of hitting indoors or outdoors. Armatage says that few comâ€" munities offer that choice for area golfers. "The new Sportsdomes offer total comâ€" fort during the offâ€"season, but have some drawbacks with ball flight and target shooting. Our facility will offer our 295 yard range and target greens all year, but on some days following a large snowfall, we may have to close for a couple of days to get cleaned up," says Armatage. "Either way, our golfers have a great choice. The Consulting Engineers who planned our windbreak system say that we have a good chance to almost totally eliminate wind, and with our heaters, should give our golfâ€" ers adequate comfort". The Centre has worked hard all sumâ€" mer to makeover a lot of their miniaâ€" ture golf courses. "Unlike a large tourist destination â€" such as Niagara Falls â€" we depend on repeat business almost entirely, and our miniâ€"golfers need to continue to be challenged with a constant renovation ad, directly across $# _ auga and Milto } of holes," relates Armatage. "We have just built a new style of holes, featuring natural grass fringes to act as "rough", some natural "water holes", several holes with real trees as part of the layâ€" out, and longer length to simulate a typical 40â€"foot putt on a real golf course. We have also tried eliminating the usual bump boards that surround most miniâ€"golf holes. We think our miniâ€"golfers will be enthusiastic about these new design ideas." Ten years into the life of the facility, a lot has stayed the same. "We have the same valuable core of people here as we had in 1982... Kathryn Hanson runs the accounting and inside staff; Bill Lawrence is an invaluable person who keeps our equipâ€" ment running and comes up with terriâ€" fic new ideas for the Challenge Program; Tommy Williams was shapâ€" ing the miniâ€"golf holes in the summer of 1982," says Armatage. "In the meanâ€" time, our basic operating philosophy hasn‘t changed in the last 10 years... give our customers a good project that is constantly being improved, treat eveâ€" ryone nicely with a friendly and helpful staff, and offer better value than our competitors. If you haven‘t seen the new offerings, bring your gang to Family Golfâ€" Oakville and see just how much fun golf â€" even miniâ€"golf â€" can be. Our specials will make it easy to do, and we welcome everyone". Until6 pmy