Gordon on Golf

Thoughtful holiday gifts for the golfer in your life

Golf gifts for the holidays

Anyone who knows me knows I love Christmas. Heck, I even own a Santa suit and still think my grandson believes I’m the real thing when I show up at his house on Christmas morning.

So, as you read on, please don’t label me the Golfing Grinch.

With that disclaimer, and I am sure I speak on behalf of avid golfers everywhere, spare us the trinkets and trash when buying a gift for us this year.

I don’t want another plastic clicker to count my strokes or a gopher headcover or a tee shaped like a martini glass or … You get the picture.

Actually, I didn’t know what I wanted until I read a tweet from Listowel Golf Club. “Merry Golfmas!” I shouted.

“Golf clubs have the answer to the eternal question of what to buy the golfer,” says the tweet’s author, Brenden Parsons. Parsons, the club’s director of operations, says your local golf facility most likely offers a variety of gift options that will make for a very special Christmas for the golfer on your list — or yourself.

Here are a few examples. Check with your local golf facility to see what they offer.

Online Shopping

Listowel GC offers an online store featuring gift cards of various denominations, golf clubs, footwear and apparel. One unique option is the Christmas Date Night Box which, depending on which level you select, offers a variety of appetizers and even wine. Share it with your partner or even arrange a Zoom party where everyone enjoys their own “Date Night” selection at home. Call it a virtual office Christmas party. “Our food and beverage team came up with the concept,” says Parsons. “It somewhat offsets the fact that there will be no Christmas or New Year’s parties this year.”

Visit the Golf Canada online shop to select logoed gear ranging from apparel, footwear, bags and balls to mementoes of the association’s 125th Many items are discounted for holiday shopping.

There’s a selection of top-level golf garb in FootJoy’s online Holiday Gift Guide and a dozen personalized Titleist balls is a perfect stocking stuffer.

Check out your provincial association’s website for golfy gifts. For example, a couple offer 2-for-1 cards for green fees and Golf Ontario hosts a “12 Days of Christmas” auction. Worth a look!

Gift Cards

The ubiquitous gift card is put to good use by many golf clubs. The options range from cash value redeemable at the course to paying part or all of a membership and/or a cart package, packs of green fees, lessons, club fittings and other services. “This reinforces the value of the club professional,” says Adam Frederick, communications manager for the PGA of Canada. “They are great retailers and experts in instruction and club fitting. This is especially important if you are looking for a gift for a new or junior golfer. Get them started on the right track.”

Donations

Make a donation to the Golf Canada Foundation in the name of the gift’s recipient. The Foundation, a registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association, raises and grants funds for the advancement of golf in Canada in five main areas: junior golf, collegiate golf, women’s golf, high-performance golf and heritage.

Members at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ont., get a chance at an additional 20 per cent off their holiday purchase if they drop off a non-perishable food item at the pro shop.

Lessons

If you live in the Greater Toronto Region, how about a gift certificate for a one- or two-hour fitting session at the Titleist National Fitting Centre located at Eagle’s Nest Golf Club? (Call 905-553-8555 for details.) Specialty shops like Modern Golf, TXG, GolfTEC and others offer winter specials for club fittings, lessons and more.

Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto offers a variety of services including a holiday cooking class and their own label honey and chutney. Glencoe Golf and Country Club in Calgary has an online holiday marketplace.

Aside from providing great value, patronizing your golf club helps support the industry which, like us all, has suffered due to the economic downturn caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another aspect of giving a gift certificate for future golf-related activities or purchases is that it provides a much-needed sense of optimism for a 2021 golf season full of promise, good health and lots of time outside on the course.

Merry Golfmas!