The 2013 MyGolfSpy Vancouver Open

Intro By: Tony Covey

I wanted to take a moment to share some information about an event that’s going to be kicking off in the very near future.

As Golf Spies, the staff here lives in the shadows…or at least that’s the mythology of what we’ve created. It’s reasonable to say that some of that has changed as the site has grown, but we’ve never been much for organizing trips, golf outings, or any of that other let’s get people together kind of stuff. Sure, we’ve talked about it, but we’ve never actually done anything.

The website is where we do our thing, the forum is for our members – and to the extent we reasonably can – we stay the hell out of it. When it comes to getting our growing community together physically to play the game that binds us together…well, frankly, we suck. We’ve done nothing.

So given our total lack of initiative, It’s absolutely amazing that a few members of the growing MyGolfSpy Forum Community, with no prompting, no participation, and honestly no help whatsoever, took it upon themselves to organize an inaugural, 5-day long event that we hope is destined to become the Annual MyGolfSpy Tour. I could not be more proud of what our community has done.

The full story isn’t mine to tell (because again…we had nothing to do with it), so we asked one of the primary organizers (Manbearpig) to tell you about the 2013 MyGolfSpy Vancouver Open.

Written By: Dan Mann

The Story

Last December, forum member RP Jacobs II had a dream to visit his new friends the Manbearpig’s at their home in Vancouver, BC.   Meanwhile, there had been talk on the forum of having an annual gathering of MGS forum members so that we could all get together for socializing and for playing golf.   MBP seized the opportunity and combined both into one gala event.  So the trip was opened up to the entire membership of MyGolfSpy.

As planning for the trip grew the MyGolfSpy Tour was born. The idea is to hold an annual event hosted by a member in his or her home town or place of his choosing and give the MyGolfSpy community an opportunity to get together and play golf.   After much debate and compromises, the first annual event; The MyGolfSpy Vancouver Open will be played on June 2-7 in Vancouver British Columbia.  Participants are arriving on June 1^st and leaving on June 8^th.  This will be a 6 day adventure showcasing the courses, beautiful scenery and great people that Canada’s west coast has to offer.

You can read the Original Forum Thread HERE.

Although not everyone who would like to is able to attend the inaugural event, even those who won’t be making the trip have added their input to make the experience better for everyone.  For all of you not able to make the journey, we are going to provide a commentary, if you will, of what is happening, and we hope that in future years more people are able to come to the Annual MGS Tour.

To keep the community here informed you may follow us on:
:: Twitter
:: Facebook

The Gear

The MyGolfSpy community forum is made up of a wide variety of people from many walks of life.  Some members are also sponsors of the forum.  One such example is BestGrips. We approached them about creating special “Schwag” to commemorate the trip.  He became so involved in the process and the forum itself that he is attending the Vancouver Open as a participating forum member.  We are ecstatic to have him as member, sponsor and participant.  He has created hats, visor, towels, Puttershoes, hat bands and many more great commemorative items.  Bestgrips offers non-trip related MyGolfSpy products as well.  The gear is not exclusive to just trip participants however; any MyGolfSpy member can purchase these items as well.  Details HERE.

The Courses & Itinerary

With all that said let’s get to the good stuff. Where are we playing?

June 2: Cove Links meet & greet followed by BBQ at the Manbearpig’s

June 3: Furry Creek Golf Course in Furry Creek, BC

June 4: Pagoda Ridge Golf Course in Langley, BC

June 5: Riverway Golf Course in Burnaby, BC

June 6: Cove Links in Ladner, BC

June 7: Riverway Golf Course in Burnaby, BC

The Award

And finally what would a golf tour be without a prize?  As mentioned earlier, forum member WalkerJames, wanted to attend but could not.  He still wanted to do his part and used his skills to create the now much coveted “Distinguished Gentlemen” award.  Since MyGolfSpy is about community you the members will decide who takes this bad boy home. The following is the required point system criteria for the DG award winner.

You Can Still Participate

While there are only a small number of people who are actually going to be playing in the Vancouver Open that does not mean that the rest of you forum members cannot participate. The above mentioned point system and who will take home the coveted Distinguished Gentlemen plaque is based on your say.   There will be a forum live thread which will go up right before the trip starts, so be sure to follow, join in on the conversation and even cast a vote…..