Sports Celebrities In Our Area For Gretzky Classic

Article & Photos © Stephen Vance, 2009

My initial reaction when I was first asked if I wanted to go to the Wayne Gretzky Classic Golf Tournament being held this week at the Raven Golf Club in Lora Bay & the Georgian Bay Club in Clarksburg was to.....well....laugh.

Not being much of a sports fan, it was something that just wasn't on my "to do" list. I don't follow hockey, or golf, and in fact I don't think I can even name a single player on the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club- unless Mike Palmateer is still around.

"Come on" my friend urged, "It is a big event for this area. You can write about it for your blog."

Resisting the urge to laugh even harder, I thought about it for a minute. I took a look at the list of "celebrities" that would be in attendance, and saw some names that I actually did recognise- Cassie Campbell the Canadian Olympic gold medal winning hockey player, Catriona Lemay Doan- Canadian Olympic gold medal winning speed skater who was at one time the fastest woman on skates in the world. There was also Donovan Bailey, at one time the fastest man in the world in the 100 metre sprint.

These were real, world class athletes. I softened a bit.

I then took a look at the tournament itself. I don't live in a complete vacuum, I do know who Wayne Gretzky is, but I didn't know about his foundation- The Wayne Gretzky Foundation, whose mission is to "provide less fortunate youth with the opportunity to experience the sport of hockey". A noble cause. Even though I am not a hockey fan, I do recognise the value in encouraging and facilitating young people participating in sports.

The only hurdle left to overcome was my personal view of what golf courses stand for. I decided to set aside my views for a day, and I promised myself I wouldn't launch into a rant about golf courses being the epitome of the human desire to manipulate nature for our own personal pleasure while at the same time destroying the natural habitat of hundreds if not thousands of animal species. I promise I won't utter a word about that. Not one.

Anyway, the first thing I discovered is that you need to get up really early if you are going to attend a golf tournament such as this. The first tee times were for 7 a.m., and of course anyone on the list of "celebrity golfers" that I had even the slightest interest in seeing were on the schedule for this time.

So, I left the house at 6 a.m. with my camera and notepad in hand, and went to see what all of the fuss was about.

It was certainly a beautiful day to kick off this event. The sun was shining, and there was a wonderful breeze as I stood at the first tee of the Raven Golf Club at Lora Bay. I bet the rabbits and deer used to love to hang out here...sorry.

NHL hockey player Scott Thornton who lives in Thornbury was part of the first foursome to tee off. I only know Scott Thornton by name, and I had to ask around and then verify by searching the internet, which team he plays for. Apparently he has played for many teams including the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is most recently was a member of the Los Angeles Kings hockey club.

In the next foursome was NHL hockey coach Mike Keenan. Mr. Keenan arrived at the first tee looking a little nervous. He hadn't yet located his caddy, and he indicated that he is not used to playing in tournaments, and in fact "is not the greatest golfer in the world". He did manage to find his caddy, and looked like a pro as he made his first drive of the day, but I did see him struggling later in the morning on the 9th fairway.

Coach Keenan was a very chatty and cordial fellow, which seemed contrary to what I had read about him last night as I researched the various participants in the tournament. There was no sign of a "fiery temper", he just seemed like a laid back guy that probably enjoys having a few beverages on a hot summer day and telling one story after another.

Very suddenly a crowd formed at the first tee. What at first appeared to be fans, though I quickly realised were "autograph hounds", were milling about by the dozen as former NBA superstar Charles Barkley arrived and began preparing for his first drive. "Sir Barkley" as he is apparently known, set a couple of the "hounds" straight as they attempted to get multiple autographs from him.

"Boy, you ain't gettin' no more. Don't even try." Barkley scolded.

After picking up his complimentary hat, and tearing open a granola bar, Mr. Barkley, who has a booming voice, a warm laugh, and a look of mischief in his eyes was ready to tee off.

Now that we had a couple of hockey types, and a basketball player out of the way, I started to get interested because Canadian Olympic gold medalists were due to tee off. I may not be much of a professional sports fan, but I do love international amateur sports, and I always have a great interest in the Olympic Games. To me at least, it seemed pretty impressive that this Gretzky golf tournament could draw such wonderfully talented athletes, who were the fastest and the best in the world in their sports when they were competing.

First up was Cassie Campbell who was part of Canada's women's hockey team starting in 1994 and has won a silver medal at the Nagano Olympics in 1988 and a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Campbell was a pleasure to talk to and a fine representative of amateur sports. She said that she was part of the tournament because she feels that it is important to be a good role model for children, and to promote physical activity and athletics to all children.

In addition to being a former hockey great, she is apparently a pretty good golfer, and at last years tournament she made the cut for the final two days of the tournament. She indicated that she was feeling some internal pressure to perform as well this year.

Judging from her first drive, she should do just fine this week.


Donovan Bailey arrived and created the buzz that you would expect when the man who was at one time the fastest man on the planet shows up.


I will confess that in the late 1990's I may have had a small crush on Catriona Lemay Doan. In addition to being a fantastically fast speed skater who won gold medals at the Nagano and Salt Lake City Olympic games, she also had a fabulous smile, and whenever I saw her interviewed, she seemed to be very grounded and intelligent.

She brought her famous smile with her today.


Ms. Doan said that though she loves to play golf, during her skating days she only ever had 4 weeks each year off from her training schedule, which left no time for hobbies like Golf. So it is a sport that she has picked up later in life, and has had to try and fit rounds of golf in with her duties as a mother of 5 and 2 year old children.


Perhaps of some interest to locals, was the arrival of Meaford Native Darren Pang. Pang is a retired NHL goaltender who at 5' 5" tall was one of the shortest players ever to play NHL hockey.

Darren who lives in the United States, and is a commentator for the Phoenix Coyotes hockey broadcasts, said it was nice to be back in the Meaford area. He hasn't been up this way in a few years, and he was amazed at the growth he was seeing in the area.

Pang's wife is from Owen Sound, so in addition to making the trip to support the Gretzky Foundation, he was enjoying being back in the area he and his wife grew up in.

Once these first 10 foursomes had started their rounds, I figured I should make my way over to the Georgian Bay Club where Wayne Gretzky and a bunch of his hockey playing buddies would soon be starting their rounds.

Before heading over to the Georgian Bay club, I stopped by the 9th green to see how some of the players I'd watched tee off earlier were making out.

Scott Thornton made a nice chip shot onto the green:


"Sir Charles" Barkley was in good spirits, though his 5 over par score indicated that he was struggling a bit. Barkley took some time to answer some questions, and make a couple of remarks that though they were funny, will not be repeated here:


Much like the Raven at Lora Bay, The Georgian Bay Club is an upscale golf club with a very large clubhouse.

As I wandered around the clubhouse, I started doing some quick math. There are roughly 320 golfers participating in this tournament. Assuming that an average set of golf clubs plus the bag to carry the clubs runs in the $700 range, that meant that there was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $225,000 worth of golf clubs being dragged around the two golf courses today. For some reason, I found that quite astounding. Trivial, and meaningless perhaps, but this is what happens in my brain when I wander around places like this.

Former NHL player Brett Hull was getting ready to start his day of golfing, and took some time to sign autographs for fans.

The energy here was different than at the Raven. Reporters from TSN, The Score, The Golf Channel, amongst others, were milling about waiting for a media scrum with the host of the tournament, Wayne Gretzky.

After a quick lunch, I found myself a spot in the area where the media scrum would take place. The various media outlets staked their claim to positions, and they waited.

It wasn't long before the man that everyone was waiting to see quietly walked toward the cluster of cameras and reporters, and stood before them for roughly 3 Milli-seconds before the questions began.

This is when I really became frustrated. This is when I was reminded of why I for the most part have no interest in professional sports. Sports reporters.


Sports reporters actually seem to believe that what is going on in the world of professional athletics is truly important. They treat issues as though they are life and death, and that somehow we the public just cannot exist in a world where we aren't constantly analyzing every aspect of sporting news.

Here we all are at a golf tournament that is hosted by a man who is often described as the best hockey player in history. The supposed purpose of the tournament is to raise money for a foundation that provides disadvantaged children with the means to participate in athletics.

Yet none of the sports reporters asked a single question about the tournament, or the cause.

The first question sought reaction from "The Great One" with regard to the recently announced retirement of another NHL hockey player, Joe Sakic. These questions were followed by a grilling about the state of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey club who Mr. Gretzky is involved in, and who have declared bankruptcy, and are trying to find a new owner.

There were questions about Gretzky's income tax reports, about whether Ontario, Hamilton in particular, deserves another NHL franchise, and if that were to become a reality, would Gretzky be part of such a venture.

I love sports, I am just not fond of professional sports, and I think it hit me today that a big reason I don't have a desire to spend much time following professional sports is because of the way it is reported.

Sports does not have to be all consuming. What is going on in the world of professional sports is typically trivial, and is merely entertainment. Yet sports reporters treat issues such as the future ownership of a franchise as if it is as important as world hunger, international conflict, corporate corruption, or the slow but sure destruction of our planet.

I felt bad for Wayne Gretzky. He actually looked perturbed at times with having to answer these questions on the opening day of a golf tournament that he hosts in order to raise some money and do some good for the community.

Sports reporting aside, this tournament is a very large event for our area. It is being hosted for a good cause, and it truly is amazing to see all of the work, the huge number of volunteers, and the enourmous amount of commerical sponsorship that goes into making an event like this happen.

Mr. Gretzky, his sporting friends, and a large slate of professional golfers resume their play tomorrow morning at both the Raven Golf Club in Lora Bay, and the Georgian Bay Club.

On Saturday the slate of players gets trimmed to those who make the cut and qualify for weekend play at which time the tournament moves over to just the Georgian Bay Club.