Sympatico Column: What will Santa bring the game of golf this year?

Let me take this opportunity to thank each of my readers who turned up on the site throughout the year. I always appreciate the comments — positive and negative. I hope each of you have a safe and happy holiday season. Not sure how often I’ll post over the next week or two — but I might show up depending on the timing. That said, I have two large features due early in the New Year (including one for which I interviewed Steve Nash yesterday), so I might be all written out. I also have to finish my book project for Eagles Nest Golf Club in January, so busy times are ahead.

Next year will see some significant changes at Ontgolf.ca, so stay tuned. I think they are pretty significant changes — and I hope they bring the site to an even wider audience. Over the course of the year so far, Ontgolf.ca had approximately 800,000 readers and 2.3-million page views, and I’m thrilled new people continue to find the site and enjoy the content we’ve provided.

With that in mind, here’s my final Sympatico column for the year — listing my Xmas wishes for those in the game we all love:

Tiger Woods is well aware that the coming of Christmas won’t fix everything.

But that can’t keep him from hoping that Santa Claus and his elves have a means of creating a scandal involving some Hollywood starlet (paging Britney, paging Britney…) so the interest in his alleged dalliances with waitresses, porn stars and party hostess will fade into the back pages of TMZ.com.
And while Woods is surely the biggest name in golf, he’s not the only one who is reaching out to Mr. Claus during the holidays. I can’t be sure what everyone in golf is asking for from Kris Kringle, but these are my Xmas wishes for golf:

For Sergio Garcia “ a year in which no one breaks his heart. As well, a new putter in his stocking that helps him find the bottom of the cup a little more often, translating into some wins.
For Mike Weir “ his ninth win on the PGA Tour, confirming what we already know “ that he’s the best professional golfer Canada has ever produced.
For Phil Mickelson “ a year without personal hardship, so we can find out whether his putting lessons from Dave Stockton are just a streak over a couple of tournaments or the real deal.
For Canadian golfers “ a hot, dry summer.
For Canadian golf course owners “ a hot, dry summer.
For the RCGA “ 1-million public golfers who embrace the new “Golf Canada” concept and buy into the fact the organization isn’t just for stodgy blue-blood country club members.
For Richard Zokol “ a rebound in the interior B.C. real estate market to help keep Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club, his excellent golf course that opened earlier this year, around for years to come so more people can experience what is the best golf experience in Canada in recent decades.