New Golf Canada CEO LAURENCE APPLEBAUM said that he "couldn't pass up a chance to return to his roots" and "helm the organization that oversees the country’s most popular participation sport," according to Dave Feschuk of the TORONTO STAR. Applebaum said, "Golf Canada as an organization hasn’t been able to resonate as loudly as I think there’s an opportunity to. What two better things do you get in a role than golf and Canada?" Feschuk writes Applebaum has "arrived on the scene" with an "obvious awareness of his environs." This was not former MLSE President & CEO TIM LEIWEKE "yanking down Stanley Cup photos at the Air Canada Centre." Applebaum "paid his immediate respects to the giants of the Canadian game, arranging introductory conversations" with the likes of Canadian golfers MIKE WEIR and LORIE KANE. Applebaum said, "The face of the Canadian golfer is changing. They have options. They have a lot of things coming at them. All the data is really clear." Applebaum, who will officially begin the gig on July 10, said that his top priority will be to "transform Canada’s dueling national championships, the RBC Canadian Open and the CP Women’s Open, into what he called 'big sporting events.'" Applebaum: "I don’t say ‘big golf events,’ because our two national opens ... are going to be big sporting events, not just big golf events. We’re going to really evolve these into next-level championships" (TORONTO STAR, 5/17). Asked about "doom-and-gloom talk" over golf in Canada, Applebaum said, "Part of our efforts will really be to determine who has the opportunity to come into the game? What are the barriers to entry? It's two things -- it's time and money. We can come up with a laundry list to make things faster -- nine-hole opportunities, six-hole tournaments" (SPORTSNET.ca, 5/16).
