Ovechkin within reach of Gretzky’s all-time goal record: ‘Incredible what he’s doing’

The Tamil Golfers Association of Canada was founded with the simple goal of getting as many people from their community as possible to try out the sport that they love.

More than a dozen of their members will have a unique opportunity to get more comfortable on the golf course as they participate in Golf Town’s 400some on Sunday. Tharmalingam (Siva) Sivaraj, a member of the Tamil Golfers Association’s managing committee, is one of the golfers participating in the event at The Club at Bond Head in Beeton, Ont.

“The main idea of the 400some is to let the people know that this sport can be introduced to you if you have the initiative to come and take part,” said Sivaraj, noting that the event’s purpose perfectly dovetails with the TGA’s. “When I first joined there was a lot of intimidation, a lot of fear, a lot of embarrassment in the beginning.

“That will be easily broken by participating in the 400some, because people are going to be coming from different skill sets, from different walks of life and so forth.”

The 400some is exactly what it sounds like.

Four groups of 100 golfers will play Bond Head at the same time. After six holes, all four groups will line up together and take tee shots in unison, putting hundreds of balls in the air at the same time.

“It’s going to be a chaotic situation,” laughed Sivaraj. “It’s scramble ball, so my mindset is to score birdies on every hole.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do that with 100 people playing. One of them should be able to birdie each hole.”

The 400some was organized by Golf Town and Random Golf Club, a group that puts the emphasis on playing golf rather than competing at it. Erik Anders Lang, the founder and CEO of Random Golf Club, likes to compare it to surfing.

“When we talk about golf, we say we ‘go play golf.’ But it feels like, actually, what people really do is they go work at golf, you know?” said Lang. “Is there a way to practice surfing? I don’t know of one. Is there a deep obsession in surfing with your board? Or is it more just a personal connection that you have?

“Golf has this kind of weird perversion of what’s important. I think it’s because golf on television tells us what to think. The great thing about golf is that it’s actually not a game to be watched. It’s a game to be played.”

That’s why Lang helped create the 400some and other mass scramble golf events. With hundreds of golfers all going at the same time, it helps players — especially novices — forget their hang-ups.

“It’s supposed to break the mould of what everyone thinks golf is,” said Lang. “Whether you’re a non-golfer, whether you’re a new golfer, or whether you’re a longtime golfer, it’s aimed at basically saying, ‘hey. wake up. You can make golf whatever you want it to be.'”

As proof of concept, the Tamil Golfers Association of Canada had its 15 tickets for the event all claimed within eight minutes. It’s exactly the kind of breakthrough that Sivaraj hopes to see in his organization’s membership.

“We have a TGA Academy where they get novice golfing lessons subsidized by our organization,” said Sivaraj, noting that Golf Town contributes directly to that program. “This is why we’re so excited. We are continuously growing and the members’ contribution to our communities and society here in Canada will be enormous down the road.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A British yacht is back in the America’s Cup finals for the first time since 1964 after INEOS Britannia finished off Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on Friday.

Britannia scored the winning point for a 7-4 series victory after a fast and flawless race that it finished 17 seconds ahead of Luna Rossa. Britannia claimed the Louis Vuitton Cup for being the best of five challengers.

The boat skippered by Olympic great Ben Ainslie will next face defender Team Emirates New Zealand in a first-to-seven wins series for the America’s Cup starting on Oct. 12.

Despite holding the most Olympic medals in sailing and having a rich maritime tradition, Britain has never won the biggest prize in the sport — a wait that runs back 173 years.

“One more to go boys!” Ainslie told his sailors, who shouted with joy as they crossed the finish line.

Britain has been chasing the America’s Cup ever since the schooner America won the race’s very first edition back in 1851 when it bested Royal Yacht Squadron in a loop around the Isle of Wight, with Queen Victoria herself in attendance. This is the 23rd time it has challenged for the Auld Mug, more than any other nation.

Now, it is the closest it has come to finally winning the cup in sixty years.

It will face a New Zealand team that has won the past two editions in 2017 and 2021. As defending champion in this truly winner-takes-all competition, the Kiwis got to choose the rules and the location of the regattas, so in theory they should have an edge that the Brits must overcome.

The British will have on their side the real racing experience over recent weeks. They have gone from outside threat to the fastest ship of the challenger’s fleet. Before racing started, New Zealand leader Grant Dalton said that he put both Luna Rossa and American Magic a notch above Britannia, but warned that the Brits could pull off a surprise.

That they did, delivering a nearly flawless Louis Vuitton finals series, while Luna Rossa’s chances were hurt by structural problems to their silver-hulled yacht.

The Britannia team has the financial backing of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who also bought into storied soccer club Manchester United this year. It has also benefitted from a partnership with the Mercedes Formula One team.

The British win over the Italians avenged a 7-1 loss to Luna Rossa in the same stage of the 2021 event in Auckland.

Only four nations have ever won the cup. After the 30 titles by American boats, New Zealand has won it three times, Switzerland twice and Australia once.

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AP sports:

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LONDON (AP) — Two former London police officers have been handed their jobs back and will receive back pay after winning an appeal Friday against a ruling that said they had lied about smelling cannabis during a stop and search of two Black athletes.

The Police Appeals Tribunal overturned the conclusion by a disciplinary panel a year ago that the two former Metropolitan Police officers — Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks — had lied. That conclusion was “irrational” and “inconsistent,” the appeals tribunal said.

The two athletes, British sprinter Bianca Williams and her Portuguese partner Ricardo Dos Santos, told the police watchdog that they were racially profiled by a group of police officers on July 4, 2020.

The couple were driving home in London with their 3-month-old son in the back seat when police followed their car and pulled them over outside their home. The athletes were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons but nothing was found.

The appeals tribunal’s chairman Damien Moore said Clapham and Franks were “dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers” whose reputations had been “ruined” by the original findings.

“Both officers did not lie,” Moore said. “Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back pay.”

Williams had filmed the original incident and the video was widely shared online. It shows her visibly distressed about being separated from her baby.

The Met, which is the U.K.’s biggest police force, came under heavy criticism after the footage was aired.

After the appeal decision, Dos Santos released a statement expressing his disappointment and said he and Williams will challenge the outcome in civil courts.

“Our drive home from training in 2020, with our baby, should never have turned into a violent incident where we were wrongly accused of smelling of drugs,” he said.

“We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs,” he added. “The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable.”

The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents police officers, said Friday’s ruling represented “yet another damning indictment” of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which first assessed the incident.

“Justice has been served,” said Rick Prior, the group’s chairman. “Why it ever got to this point however remains an absolute mystery.”

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