Every time I go to the gym, I do a light warmup riding the stationary bike for about 10 minutes at moderate speed and then do some easy stretching before I increase the intensity of the workout with weights and other apparatus. The reason I do all this is because I’m trying to easy my body into something more extreme. It’s the same with golf.

Image Credit: Nain News So what did you think of Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf? For someone who hadn’t played in 44 days, he didn’t do too badly, in my opinion, in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last week to support his foundation.

For many years, Canada has been waiting for the next Mike Weir, who won the Masters back in 2003 and became one of the top players in the world for a few years until injuries took their toll. Some such as David Hearn, Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor, Brad Fritsch and Adam Hadwin have come forward to make their presences felt as the next great Canadian on the PGA Tour, while amateur Jared du Toit had a good run in the 2016 Canadian Open, but none have been able to capture the imagination and optimism of rookie Mackenzie Hughes.

The other day a friend whom I had not heard from in a long time called me up and asked if I had time to go golfing with him. Immediately, I said yes. Golf is the type of activity that allows you to get away from things for a few hours, and in this case it was a chance to do something I hadn’t done with this individual in a long time.

Image Credit: www.historylocker.com In his book 99 Stories Of The Game, Wayne Gretzky talked about his passion for the game when he was injured after playing only one pre-season game in the 1992-93 season with the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky had some nagging injuries the previous few years, but it was never determined the exact problem. So he was sent to the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic, famous for doing the Tommy John surgeries replacing a ligament in the elbow with a tendon from somewhere else in your body. He was asked by the doctor at the clinic if his back had ever been checked. Gretzky replied he hadn’t because he thought the recurring problem was related to a broken rib. The doctor told him he had a herniated thoracic disk.

The end was coming and everyone knew it because Se Ri Pak said at the start of this season that this would be the final year of her glorious career, but it was still somewhat sad to see her retire from the game. At the age of 38 and with the game trending more and more to players in their teens or early 20s, Pak knew it was time to put away the competitive clubs. She announced earlier in the year that 2016 would be her final season as a full-time player.

This is the time of year when golfers have to cherish every chance they have to play a round. The temperatures are dipping for people who live in the eastern part of the U.S. and Canada – and didn’t it seem like only yesterday when the thermometer was going through the roof in what became the hottest summer on record? It certainly felt like that. And in a way, we were all spoiled. Yes, we sweated like crazy and had to drink tons of water to stay hydrated, and when we finished didn’t the prospect of sipping that first beer make you want to make a beeline for the clubhouse?

Bill Murray and golf go hand in hand. Whether he’s playing the game seriously or just to have a hoot, there’s no mistaking Murray on the course. He has dressed in some of the craziest outfits if for no other reason than to have fun and make people laugh. After all, that’s what comic actors do, and although he is known for his career on Saturday Night Live and the many characters he portrayed, anyone who follows the game of golf knows Bill Murray for the role of the irreverent groundskeeper Carl Speckler in the movie Caddyshack. He was terrifically funny trying various ways to kill gophers, along with the one scene in which he is dressed in rain boots and a rain cap taking some shots on the practice range, pretending to be the Cinderella story groundskeeper trying to win the Masters.

Before, during and after the tournament, American golf fans became the big story about the 41st edition of the Ryder Cup – perhaps even bigger than the victory by the team they supported – because of their behavior. Pete Willett, brother of 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, took a broadsided swipe at American golf fans in a column written in the National Club Golfer before the competition commenced. He called them a “baying mob of imbeciles” and put his support behind the European squad.