July 13, 2017
An Interview With:
STEPHEN AMES
THE MODERATOR:
Please welcome
Stephen Ames to the media center. You were tied
for low Canadian here last time in 2009.
STEPHEN AMES: Seems like a century
ago.
THE MODERATOR: A little while ago the
last time we were at Glenn Abbey, but you're
making your 16th consecutive RBC Canadian
Open start. Maybe you could tell us what it's like
being back at the Canadian Open and then we'll
open it up.
STEPHEN AMES: It's always fun being
back at the Canadian Open. It's a home event,
obviously a lot of family and friends always
following around, so in that respect it's wonderful.
Also the fact of knowing where we're staying and
everything each week that we come out to the
Canadian Open, it's fun. So in that respect it's
always a delight to play the Canadian Open.
Q. Talk about yesterday and what that
event meant in your eyes, what you see for it
going forward? And second question to that,
are you tending to help the younger guys,
something we just talked to Scott Simmons a
little bit more about, but are you tending to talk
to the younger guys a little bit more in this
country about being professionals and some of
these up-and-comers and some of the
guidance and wisdom of Stephen Ames you
can pass along to them?
STEPHEN AMES: Well, there's definitely
a lack of that, there's no doubt, in both respects.
Golf Canada not doing, I think personally, not
doing the job of being the governing body of golf
for Canada. I think the models of Australia,
Sweden are great models to follow, and Canada
doesn't do that. I refer more to the fact of facilities
for practicing, having elite facilities within each
province. That to me is a perfect model, what
Sweden does, and it shows. Look at all the great
players that have come out of Sweden.
Australia is exactly the same way, their
governing body supported very much by the
government, which is obviously a tickle with
everything with Canada in that respect.
Their hands are very much tied. It's tough
for them to raise the money to be able to support
those facilities to work, and for myself, giving back
to the game of golf is helping the up-and-coming
players, without a doubt.
Yeah, I do introduce myself, some of them
might know me, some might not, but a lot of the
good upcoming players, especially in Canada,
some really good players, some really good
players. Like Brad mentioned last night, it takes
time for these guys to get there, and I think that's a
true statement, but at the same time it's also an
excuse. There's time, but I think the time comes
from the fact of how much time you put into it to get
there quicker.
We see that with the kids from the States
and around the world, and I can name right off the
bat, the Korean kid, 14-year-old, he's there. But
boy, he does not leave the range. He works at it.
He's 14 years old, and it's amazing. From 40
yards in he'll give Tiger a run for his money, and
Phil; he's that good. He doesn't have the strength
to hit it far or the mechanics, which are very weak,
but from 40 yards and in, he's phenomenal, and it's
because he's put the time in.
When Brad mentioned that last night I
wanted to jump in but I didn't want to bite his
tongue a little bit on that respect. But that's the
difference there.
It's hard living in Canada, of course,
because of the fact that we have winter, so that's
what takes the time, because we live here. That's
the choice we make, but then we have a choice of
also going south, jumping on a plane and going to
Florida and working on your game, and that's
where the money comes up. It's very expensive.
It's a give and take in some respects, but I
think it's -- they're getting better, but I think they
could be better, especially for indoor facilities,
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working on your mechanics when the winters are
here, helping the younger players come up from 10
onwards and hitting balls, working on their basics.
When time comes to play summertime, they've got
the basics down, all they've got to do is go out and
play now, and that's the part that takes time. But
having the basics down, then it's easier. You're
not working on your basics like I do every day
when I am playing.
Q. So an event like yesterday sort of
becomes a conduit between your generation
and the generations coming up behind you?
STEPHEN AMES: Somewhat, yes.
Q. You've long been a proponent of
trying to get a Canadian Open out west. It
doesn't look in the short-term like that's going
to happen anytime soon, but you have the
senior event coming up in about a month's
time, obviously not this year but next year you
will. How significant is it for you personally to
have an event in Calgary?
STEPHEN AMES: Well, no offense from
everybody being from the east here, but the money
is in the west right now with the oil and sand. The
only problem is we don't have the golf course.
There is one that is in the works right now. The
first phase of the seven goes with a housing
project. It's done with the Harmony Group, and -Q. Is this the one you've been affiliated
with?
STEPHEN AMES: Correct. The first
phase alone was $110 million. There are seven.
You're hearing a lot of money that is coming out
there. But the whole system, the whole phase
itself, all the different phases added up, there are
3,500 homes going in there, so it's not a small
project. It's a big project. The golf course is a
separate entity to it altogether. The land was given
for free. We have the developer giving us all the
machinery for free. So there's a lot of things that
have brought plus, plus, plus, plus to get it started,
and we had to wait for the first phase financing to
come through, which it has, and we're supposed to
be breaking ground in August, right now.
Q. Do you see a couple years out, three
years?
STEPHEN AMES: At least. You've got to
give the golf course at least a year, year and a half
to build it, and another two to -- I've talked to Scott
about a date. We had potential -- we had '16.
That's gone. Now we're looking at '18 to hosting it
in Calgary.
Q. Is it significant for you to have an
event in Calgary? Is that a big deal for you?
STEPHEN AMES: Yes and no. I think it's
important that being a national open we move to
different cities within Canada. It's our national
open. Some can sustain it and some can't.
Calgary can sustain it. All we needed was a golf
course to build. The city is a booming city. We've
got great hotels, restaurants, everything to go with
it. Those are all added attributes to the event.
Great golf course to go with it, well, yeah, guys are
going to be happy.
Q. Lastly, what's the state of your game
these days coming in here?
I know it's
probably not where you want it to be. How do
you see this year? Is this sort of a transition
year heading in?
Do you still have
expectations coming out of yourself?
STEPHEN AMES: Body wise it's great.
No aches and pains, which is always a plus for me.
Q. No back problems?
STEPHEN AMES: No, no back problems.
I get a little sore every now and then, but I think we
all do as we get older.
But the game hasn't been great. It's been
a struggle, yes, without a doubt. I have struggled
mostly with the driver has been my weak fall in my
game. If you notice the stats, I'm actually third in
putting this year, which is good, so that part
usually -- that's usually the part that usually falls
down as you get a little older, and I'm actually
going the other way.
I'm looking forward to it, but at the same
time I've still got another year out here, and I still
think I can win out here. If I get my game back to
where it was before hitting and ball-striking wise, I
don't think I'll have a problem competing with these
guys out here because of the fact the short game
and putting is still very strong.
Q. Do you take notice when you see
Woody Austin winning at 49 last week?
STEPHEN AMES: It's good for him. He
was not playing anywhere. He didn't have any
exemption. I can still play anywhere I want. Lucky
me. It just happened to work out that way. I didn't
plan it, it just worked out that way.
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But for Woody, yeah, it's nice, yeah,
especially on that golf course. It was wet. It's
short, so the longer hitters had an advantage, and
he still ended up winning, which was great. I don't
know if it was an easy playoff, but it was a playoff if
I'm not mistaken, wasn't it? Daniel Summerhays?
Another three-man playoff. So it's fun. It's nice to
see that Woody did win, yeah. It gives him a place
to play, which is nice.
Q. Can you touch on the fact that the
Abbey is back here first time since '09? Do you
like the rotational thing for this event, or would
you like to see it just played at one course?
STEPHEN AMES: No, it needs to be
rotated. I've stated that for years, and I think that's
why they've gone about what they've done. I think
it's nice that we're capable of moving it. It's our
national open, moving it to different courses
around Canada and showing the different beauties
of Canada throughout. Vancouver, I wish we could
go to Nova Scotia and PEI and play out there. I
mean, that's another beautiful part of the world.
And then of course you're here in Toronto, the
metropolitan part of -- the New York of Canada,
shall we say, and then of course there's west
Calgary which we haven't got to yet.
Q. Do you think it's working?
STEPHEN AMES: I think it is, yes. I think
the main person that's putting the money up is very
happy, RBC, about the fact that we're moving
throughout Canada. There are a national bank or
the national bank of Canada, am I right, and
moving it within different parts of Canada, I think
they get to hit those markets that normally they
would not be able to hit, and I think that's the plus
part, and that's the part that I think is most
important more than anything else. The players,
we're just a bunch of spoiled golfers, you know,
and that's a fact, we are spoiled. So if we spoil
those guys enough, I think they'll come.
Q. Could you speak to I guess your
current enjoyment level of golf and where you
think it will go eventually when you eventually
go to the Champions Tour, if your feeling will
change on it at that point? Reflect, I guess.
STEPHEN AMES:
Well, my current
enjoyment depends on my son, if he continues
playing, who's caddying for me this week.
STEPHEN AMES:
Right behind you.
Yeah. That's my enjoyment right now, and it's a
thrill. He knows a lot about the game and sees a
lot in my swing, which is nice.
It's always
enjoyable when you have another family member
with you that is enjoying, reaping the same fun
things and enjoyment of the game that I've had for
years and that he's slowly starting to enjoy it, as
well. Hopefully a lot of it will rub on to him and he'll
continue the Ames tradition, shall we say, the
sarcastic Ames tradition, and go from there.
But this is his first experience caddying,
and I'm sure we'll have more as we go on, because
if he continues with the game he'll want to come
out and be with me and caddie, as well. Plus the
pay is not bad, I'm sure.
Q. Does he get the standard?
STEPHEN AMES: No, he's not getting
standard. He's getting pretty close to it.
Q. So you are paying him?
STEPHEN AMES: I am paying him, yeah.
Q. So this is a good summer job.
STEPHEN AMES: It's a summer job.
Q. He'll make more money here than at
Wal-Mart.
STEPHEN AMES: But fun level and still
enjoying it, yeah, I always have. It'll be a while
before -- when I start moving the ball backwards
and not forward, then I think I'll stop it, let's put it
that way.
Q. When you talked a few questions
ago about moving the rotation of the Canadian
Open around, how much of that is also playing
different golf courses? I know a couple years
ago the guys loved Shaughnessy, and I know
it's always come back here, but to play some of
the old courses, maybe like you said, on the
eastern seaboard, where we have some really
good golf courses, I think it enhances the
challenge for you guys, as well?
STEPHEN AMES:
Yeah, of course,
without a doubt. It's funny, about six months ago
Geoff Ogilvy and myself sat down and talked about
the golf courses that we play on TOUR, and we did
an analogy looking at the time, elapsed time of
playing in a pro-am format or playing in a pro-am
itself, and when you played a pro-am on the
Q. Same son who was out at Florida --
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Wednesday, if we played the PGA West golf
courses at Bob Hope Classic, the amateur, the
pro-am time was five and a half hours almost to
play, only because of the fact that everything was
a carry over water. We shot 26 under par to win
the event as an example. And we came to Riviera
now, old-style traditional golf course. The amateur
part of it, pro-am wise, was taking four hours and a
half, and the pros were getting their asses flicked
because it was a tough golf course.
And here we have a scenario, don't the
architects get the idea that traditional golf courses
are the fun ones to play for everyone, yet we keep
building golf courses like an example here
yesterday, I played with a guy who owns
Barnhead. What's his name, Iggy? He's 87 years
old. He couldn't hit it more than 100 yards. He lost
eight, ten golf balls in the nine holes that I played
with him. So everything was a false carry. There's
no run to it. How much golf can you enjoy playing
like that? I know he plays every day, but still.
And that's the part that is happening, and
that's why golf is, I think, going that way rather than
that way. A lot of it is technology has made it
easier for us, but at the same time the golf courses
have to become tougher, so they're building golf
courses that are obsolete for the amateur players,
and we're less than 1 percent of the population of
the world that plays the game. Why are we
building golf courses to suit us? We should be
building golf courses for the majority of golfers that
play. Jack has been saying that for years, and
he's very right.
I remember the old Royal Montreal was that way,
some holes, not all. There's still a lot of carries.
And then after that, where did we go to? We don't
have anything else after that tradition-wise, do we?
St. George's? That's the reason why we went
there I thought for me. I mean, it rained, made the
golf courses really soft. But I think if that golf
course was firm and fast, it would be a beautiful
test, you know?
I know we have a lot of traditional golf
courses out here, but at the same time technology
is making a lot of them obsolete, unfortunately.
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Q. Just to follow up, what do you think
the solutions are to increase participation?
STEPHEN AMES: Well, a lot of it, in some
respects, playing 12 holes, having a golf course
that's 12 holes, definitely different golf courses
where your traditional bunker left, bunker right, little
tucked behind it, but it still has to be the traditional
setup, the old design shall I say, rather than having
the 150-, 200-yard carries over water. You thin
one at a Scottish Open or a British Open golf
course, it's running straight up the middle. Okay, I
hit it a little thin, but look at that, it's running, oh,
look, it just went in the hole, but I landed it 80
yards short of the green.
People are going to enjoy that. They hit a
bad shot but they're still going to score more than
anything else, and that's why a lot of players
enjoyed Shaughnessy. It's a traditional old-style
right in front of us. Hamilton is exactly the same
way. I haven't played the new Royal Montreal, but
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