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m weekender april 23 1994 st sports johnnys speedway goes upscale bruce stapley correspondent golfers heading down the tenth line to shoot a round at the john evelyn golf centre this season will notice a few new stop signs on the course long dubbed johnnys speed way for its obstaclefree lay out but while things may be slowing down on the course they are speeding ahead else where at the semiprivate facility with the death of john eve lyn last may after 21 years spent running the golf opera tion the evelyn family is pulling together to breathe new life into the club outside former briars golf and country club course superintendent grant sedore has been hired to assist sean evelyn rejuvenate a course that was lacking in surprises a trio of golf pros have also been brought in including 1993 canadian assistants tour player chris learmonth club general manager mary evelyn said the death of her father caused her four broth ers and sisters along with her mother patricia to reevaluate their position with regards to the business we had to make the decision to get in or get out said evelyn when dad got sick the family commit ment was to our dad now that hes gone our commit ment is to fiie course evelyn said the family is striving to take the same approach to value as their father did while he was run ning the business the course will continue to be a lowpriced alternative for golfers but with a new emphasis on ser vice and professionalism dad wanted to offer value and ser vice and he loved the cus tomers but it no longer pays simply to be the lowest price point you have to offer good value as well i guess you could say were changing with the times she said a major part of the familys recent investment has centred around the hospitality end of the business she cred its the clubs new food and bev erage manager bob spiers with providing a much needed boost bobs been wonderful hes redone the banquet and snack bar menus and hes brought us up to speed said evelyn new carpeting and paint the addition of a new bar and other fresh touches have served to give the facility a much needed lift its a new clean look something thats been lacking in recent years after all we are a service busi ness and youve got to keep the people happy the new approach to service has also been adopted outside starters and martials will be employed to help ease traffic congestion on the course and a new fleet of golf carts with roofs has been ordered drink ing fountains are being set up on the course and a mobile food and beverage cart will look after the needs of golfers in mid game a licenced patio is to be set up outside the club house as well course improvements are to include contours and improved drainage and fertilization on the fairways with improve ments evident as soon as this june said sean evelyn six new sand traps are being added along with stone cart paths and barrels with flowers were trying to make the course better and the greens faster said sean evelyn we want people to have fun on the course were working on it were really trying with the new approach in place mary evelyn said the family is hoping to generate interest among local golfers and outsiders the centre will host various local tournaments this summer as well as the scarborough senior games tournament june 1 she said there would also be another fundraiser for the markhamstouftville hospital where her father died the photobruce stapley sean evelyn far left holes the flag while golf pro karl grundulis gets set to putt at the john evelyn golf centre recently looking on are bob spiers second from left patricia evelyn and mary evelyn far right facility donated a dollar to the hospital from every fall round played last year above all else mary evelyn said the family is looking to continue the tradition estab lished by their father we all love the game and the busi ness thats why this place is so important to us merchants to play ball in a new league this season bruce stapley correspondent howard burkholder is looking for a change of leagues and a supportive fan base to help motivate his stouffville mer chants to regain the provincial crown they lost two years ago the local fastball team which placed third in the canadian junior mens fastball champi onships in 1991 after winning its second straight ontario crown has switched over to the davisville toronto mens fast ball league for the 1994 sea son the team hadbeen playing in the oshawa city and district league since its inception in 1990 burkholder gave two reasons for the move he said he thinks the compe tition in the davisville league will prove stronger and that it will give the team a change of scenery we were wanting a new look something to get us cranked up a bit said burkholder who has served as merchants head coach since 1991 we werent unhappy with the oshawa league but there just seemed to be some lethargy goalies only tryout minor novice rep born in 1986 or 1987 centennial arena markham sunday may 1st s00 600 pm to preregister call mike ralph scott pearl rick ostrom 4711370 2944503 4722414 with the team a change is always good while the league may have changed the merchants will continue to play their home games wednesday nights at 845 pm at the main diamond at the town park burkholder who will be assisted by bill mcknight again this season said the team will continue to rely on veteran pitching ace byron baranieski along with a nucleus of proven players including his sons chris rich and ryan darren crawford ryan mclntyre bill pride jason yoshida and jason underwood crawford and mclntyre stayed sharp playing ball in new zealand in the offseason well be competitive if we can play up to out potential we have one of the top pitchers in the province along with four or five players who are also among the best in ontario burkholder said he would like to line up astrong second pitch er but that it might be difficult you dont get top pitchers out of the woodwork among the promising new comers to the merchants this year is bramptons scott smith a shortstop who played with the st catharines team which knocked off the merchants in the 1992 ontario champi onships burkholder said he is still negotiating with a few other players from ontario and other provinces newcomers are also welcome he said the team might use stouf- fville resident and senior mens pitching veteran jim chilvers in senior tournaments like they did last season said burkhold er the merchants who have already held several workouts will be gearing up for provincial finals to be held in oshawa the weekend of july 810 once again both provincial finalists qualify for the nation als in st catharines in august along with the host team giv ing ontario three teams at the canadian junior mens show down but burkholder said it wont make it any easier knowing his team must only make the top three to go to the nationals theres going to be a lot of tough competition- this year he said the sebrftigville team that won last years ontario finals would be that much tougher this season because of their merger with kitchener this year will be the last sea son of junior eligibility for sev eral merchants players and burkholder said he might take a year off once the season is completed in the meantime hes hoping the merchants can reach top please see page 25 were just down the road i 5531mainstreetstouffvihe44a7x5 i