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Scinocca assuming title of Brandon’sc ‘Mr. Golf’

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At 34, Dave Scinocca is at peace with himself. He’s got a golf swing to die for, a loving wife who will soon give birth to the couple’s fifth child, a number of successful golf-related businesses on the go and it will soon be spring, bringing with it another golf season.

The Brandon-born-and-bred Scinocca has given up any dream he may have once had about playing at the highest levels of the professional game and earning millions of dollars in the process, but while it may be sacrilegious to some to suggest it, he may be on the verge of replacing 62-year-old Richard Bull as the unofficial Mr. Golf in Brandon.

The two are still close. Scinocca still runs his junior golf programs at Bull’s Taurus Golf outlet on Braecrest Drive and doesn’t hesitate to say that “Rich has been so good to me over the years.”

He and Grady Manson purchased Bull’s Winter Golf School back in 2002 and then Scinocca bought out Manson and has solely operated it since 2005. “I’ve got friends in (the business of) golf who struggle in the winter,” he said. “Some of them find another job, and some of them draw beans. I’m lucky to have the school.”

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Scinocca opens his laptop computer and clicks to golfbrandon.com. “It (the site) has only been up for two days,” he said.

There are links to six Scinocca-related enterprises — Dave Scinocca Golf Systems (junior programs, golf lessons, etc.); Brandon Winter Golf School in the Town Centre; Shilo Country Club, where Scinocca serves as head pro during the spring, summer and fall; GolfingGreys.com, a program whereby members save money on golf, restaurants, hotels and other businesses; Taurus Golf, the Bull-owned golf centre that encompasses Northern Pines golf course and the Taurus Practice Centre; and the Westman Golf Expo, an event scheduled for March 28 this year at the Victoria Inn that is staged by Golfing Greys and serves as a kickoff to the new season.

“If you’re new to Brandon and you want to know anything about golf, my site has anything you need to know,” said Scinocca.

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The Winter Golf School is the golfer’s perfect antidote to the cold, harsh Prairie winter. Ten hitting stations allow golfers to limber up, work on the swing and maybe take a lesson from Scinocca. It’s also a gathering place for some local men-about-town who gather daily to have coffee, and express opinions about golf or the latest local, national or international news.

But the big draw is the Golf Simulator, which digitally takes golfers to more than 80 courses around the world. Scinocca has spent about $10,000 in recent upgrades to the machine, which measures distance and direction to a golfer’s swing and allows him to “play” some of the best courses in the world. “We’ve got Augusta National and I think we’re the only virtual golf simulator that has Augusta,” he said. “When people come down to play and we start listing off the courses they can choose from, they usually stop when we get to Augusta (home of the Masters).”

A foursome needs about four hours to play an 18-hole round. A twosome could get done in two hours. Fees are $20 weekdays and $25 on weekends. Some avid golfers play as often as three times a week. “It’s easier to score than real life,” said Scinocca, “but it’s pretty realistic. The ball doesn’t curve as much, but in the end, the better players will have the better scores.”

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One of the virtual courses on the Winter Golf School system is Bay Hill, Arnold Palmer’s course in Orlando, Florida. Scinocca has “virtually” played it a number of times indoors but got a chance this winter to play the real deal while on a family holiday to Disneyworld.

It’s a private course, but through a friendship with Florida Nike representative Fabian McIntyre, a former Brandonite, Scinocca and his 15-year-old son Daylan were given the chance to play it. And the smooth-swinging Scinocca still has game, as is evident by the six-over-par 78 he shot from the Bay Hill tips, about 7,000 yards. “Doubled 17,” he said.

Earlier on the trip, he shot an even-par 72 at Falcon’s Fire Golf Club, another Orlando-area course.

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Golfing Greys is taking more of Scinocca’s time, but he’s excited about the growth of the three-year-old project spearheaded by Brandon native John Lorenowicz. Other partners in the enterprise are website developer Cam Heming and Lorenowicz’s son-in-law Ross Paddock.

“We’re expanding at a rapid rate,” said Scinocca. “It’s grown a lot from just an idea three years ago.”

More than 120 businesses are aligned with Golfing Greys and offer a minimum 20 per cent discount to members, who purchase a GG card for $50 annually. Most of the businesses are golf courses (more than 50, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but also into North Dakota), but hotels and restaurants are also Golfing Greys partners. The GG family has grown to about 400 members and, Scinocca says “we’ve had a great response from both the businesses that are aligned with us, and the members who use the cards and enjoy the discounts.”

One doesn’t have to be a golfer to be a Golfing Greys member, since the operation now offers a “blue card” which sells for half of the regular $50 and is good at all businesses except golf courses.

A further expansion this year will wipe out the 50-year-old age requirement. Anyone 18 and older can become an “associate member” of Golfing Greys, which has organized bus tours and golfing expos such as the one coming up at the end of March in Brandon.

Naturally, Scinocca is selling Golfing Greys membership cards at his winter golf school.

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Scinocca said he had a rude introduction to the world of competitive golf when he was 15 and playing in his first Manitoba junior championship. “It was at St. Charles and I shot 82, not bad. But Rob McMillan, the same age as me, shot 67.”

Scinocca says instead of turning him away from golf, the stiff competition offered by the likes of McMillan “motivated me to come back and play better.”

While McMillan was rattling off four consecutive Manitoba junior crowns, Scinocca worked on his game to the point where he was provincial runner-up in his last year, at age 18. “I was 11 shots back of Rob,” he said.

McMillan, who went on to a spectacular amateur career and some decent years in the pro ranks, never did crack the big time and is now the Nike equipment and clothing representative in Manitoba. “We’re great friends now,” said Scinocca. “I buy stuff from him all the time.”

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The Winter Golf School will stay open until the snow melts, said Scinocca. Then it’s off to set up shop at Shilo, which has undergone a number of changes since golfers last saw the course in 2009. “It’s in fabulous condition — the best shape it’s been in years,” he said.

New tee boxes on No. 5 and No. 18 have added about 30 yards to each of the holes and with No. 17 being expanded to a 520-yard par-five (scheduled to be ready around June 1) with a semi-blind tee shot, the course now finishes with back-to-back par-fives and plays to a par of 72. Those last two holes follow the par-three 16th, recently expanded to 160 yards. “Our signature hole,” said Scinocca.

February and March are the busy seasons at the indoor school, as itchy golfers begin to realize the end of the winter is near. “Every mat’s full most days,” he said.

As a youngster, Scinocca had his own individual indoor school, using the family garage to install a makeshift net, a mat borrowed from Bull and a mirror to check his posture and alignment. He belted balls all winter and couldn’t wait for spring to arrive.

Now, a couple of decades later, not much has changed; golf balls are still round and he still can’t wait for the grass to pop through.

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