SPORTS Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com W 'l I I M S I ).\Y . MAN J l . J<x> \ · im > *c I n Former Ranger captain is happy to be back at his home on the range By Norm Nelson MHAVEU SP( >RTS El > 11 <>R New York R anger g reat Vic H adfield has co m e back hom e. A nd w e d o n 't m ean O ak v ille w here he has alw ay s lived an d is an inaugural m em ber o f the O ak v ille S ports H all o f F am e. We m ean. hom e, literally. S ittin g in a m o d est office at the new Vic H ad field G o lf an d L earning C en tre, w hich o p en ed last m onth on the south east c o m e r o f the in ter sectio n o f T ra falg a r and B u rn h am th o rp e roads, he points out the w indow : "T h is p iece o f p roperty g o es back -- my g ram m a used to have a house h ere ." He points to an o ld w hite h ouse, set w ell back on the p roperty and adds: " th a t's her h o m e, th ere." "It used to be up here on CHOMPING AT THE BIT! Vic Hadfield will help you swing into the golf season at his new golf and learning cen tre at the intersection of Trafalgar and B urnham thorpe roads. Below, general m anager Paul M adder gives some pointers to aspiring golfer Devon Ross. Harrison Smith · O a k v ille B e a v e r the corner, then w hen they w idened (the road), the farm er w as g oing to resto re it, but som eone has g o tten in there and sto len all the floor boards so w e c a n 't m ove it." "I used to w alk to school at B u rn h am th o rp e and N inth L ine." A sked to recall the n am e o f the sch o o l, long b efo re his ste lla r N H L career, m ostly w ith the N ew York R an g ers w here he has been nam ed to th eir all-cen tu ry team , he only had to furrow his brow for a few se co n d s b efo re co m in g up w ith: "S c h n e id e r's sc h o o l." T he 5 0 -acre p ro p erty is now tran sfo rm ed into a deluxe d riv in g range w ith 150 grass tees, 20 m ats, seven target g reen s, pu ttin g g reen , p itching green and ch ip p in g green. "M ini pu ttin g w ill be ready. June 2 0 0 4 ," he added. "W e're g oing to start it this year." H adfield, w ho spent 16 years in the N H L -- 13 with N ew York R angers and three w ith the Pittsburgh P enguins -- said his range will be m arked by q u ality tees and quality balls. T he balls, he said, "are the best m oney can buy." W ith the natural grass tees, he said staff is out there every day. "W e change the ropes, seed, fertilize and w ater every day. T h e lees are in ex cellen t co n d itio n . T h a t's w h at w e prid e o u rselv e s on. S taff takes a lot o f pride in w hat th e y 're d o in g ." H is staff, he said, is led by his O ak v ille location general m an ag er "and right hand m an", Paul M adder. P ersonal in stru ctio n is also av ailab le, eith er through upcom ing clin ics or through private group or individual in struction from the teaching pros. H adfield already o p erates a sim ilar lo n g -ru n n in g facility in W oodbridge and h e 's ec static to be able to open his seco n d lo catio n in his hom e tow n. W ith the Bell C an ad ian O pen and the m any fine g o lf co u rse s that grace this area. H adfield said O akville is very m uch a p art o f the g o lf boom that has hit C anada, cu lm in at ed by M ike W eir's recent his toric M a ste r's win. Ironically. H adfield, busy for the last tw o years adding his seco n d O ak v ille location, has seen his ow n tim e on the links g reatly reduced, bloating his h an d icap into double fig ures. " It's hard to find the tim e," he said. "I only get to play about six o r seven ch arity ev en ts a year, now ," he said. But th a t's m ade up by the fact that he likes w hat h e's doing. "I love the people business. G o lf is taking off. I like to m arket. I like to be creative, and com e up w ith new and d ifferen t id eas." H is first big pro m o tio n , on Saturday, M ay 31, p rom ises to be a real crow d p leaser w ith legendary ball strik e r M oe N orm an on hand for a clinic. " He used to com e to our (R angers) training cam ps back in the 7 0 's up in K itchener. " H e 's a dy n am ic in d iv id ual. H e's good w ith people. W e'll have a w ireless m ike on him ." P roceeds from this event are going to O akville < F areS hare F ood B ank. A d m issio n is a d o n atio n to th e th e foodbanV. or M O . H ad field -- w ho was the R angers first 5 0 -g o al scorer -- still m aintains strong ties w ith N ew York, w here he still spends co n sid erab le tim e in the off-season (the g o lf o ff season, that is). H e's publicity d irecto r for a New York based com pany B usiness Edge S o lu tio n s and he is very involved in a ch a ri ty foundation that w as set up in m em orial for a six-year-old girl w ho died o f leukem ia. "T h e fo u ndation is very special to m e." he said. M eanw hile, H adfield has m anaged to reduce his w o rk load a bit, h anding o v er his ice cream store in O ak v ille -- W h a t's the S co o p ? -- to his son and daughter-in-law . Hadfield welcomes Norman N H L g reat Vic H adfield o f O ak v ille has ju st o pened the Vic H adfield G o lf and L earning C en tre in O akville. A nd on S aturday. M ay 31. from I p.m . to 2 :30 p.m ., he w ill be w elco m in g C an ad ian G o lf H all o f Fam e in ductee M oe N orm an w ho w ill be d em o n stratin g his skills. H e's co n sid ered o n e o f the w o rld 's m ost am azing g o lf ball strikers. M oe N orm an w as born July 10, 1930 in K itchener, and has m any C an ad ian G o lf acco lad es to his cred it, in clu d in g C an ad ian A m ateu r C h am p io n 1955, C P G A C h am p io n 1966,1974 and C PG A S en io r C h am p io n 1980-85 & 1987. H is m ost recen t ach iev em en t w as the induction into the O n tario G o lf Hall o f Fam e in 2000. M oe N orm an w as a p ro d u ct o f the R ockw ay G o lf C lub in K itchener, and o f its p ro fessio n al L loyd Tucker. M oe N orm an held 33 co u rse reco rd s d u rin g his career. T he ad m issio n to the ev en t is an item o f n o n -p erish ab le food o r a $10 d o n atio n to the O ak v ille F areS h are Food B ank. T he Vic H adfield G o lf and L earn in g C en tre, w hich opened last m onth, is located at the south east co rn e r o f T ra falg a r Road and B u rn h am th o rp e Road in O ak v ille. For m ore in fo rm atio n p lease co n tact Paul M adder at the Vic H ad field G o lf & L earning C en tre, 9 0 5 -2 5 7 -2 3 3 4 . Lang and Matheson help Canada to 4-0 win over England O akville's Kara Lang helped C anada gain revenge against England, nearly com pleting a hat-trick in a 4-0 win in Montreal on Monday. O akville's D iana M atheson started along side her, giving O ak v ille som e pretty impressive representation in the game. Lang had credit for a goal taken away after the gam e, leaving her with the gam e's final two goals. The same two team s m eet up Thursday in Ottawa. L ang con v erted a great cro ss from C andace Chapm an in the 66th minute with a fierce near post strike. She earned her second when she dribbled into the box and unleashed an unstoppable shot to the far post. Lang has now scored 13 goals in 21 inter nationals. A ndrea Neil scored the first tw o goals. Neil along with C harm aine H ooper were on the Canadian side that lost 3-2 to England the last tim e the two teams played in 1995 at the World Cup in Sweden. "It's our first gam e in C anada this sum m er and we accom plished our objective," said Canadian head coach Even Pellemd. "We should see this w inning desire more often and 1 am dem anding consistency. "We m ade some mistakes but we have a num ber o f gam es to correct them before the World Cup." A Canadian Tire's Athlete of the Week C a n a d ia n Tire 4 ? and O akville.., A W inn ing C o m b in a tio n ! STORE H O U RS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-6:00pm Kara Lang Kara L ing scored two goals tor C an ad a in th eir 4-0 w in in a friendly against E ngland. Lang actually had a h at-trick for a while but a third goal was credited to another teammate at the end of the game. STORE H O U RS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-6:00pm Sun. 1Qam-6pm Sun. 10am-6pm Visit your local Canadian Tire Store to receive your Gift Certificate.