• Canadian Brooke Henderson vaults into tie for second at LPGA Tour event
    The Canadian Press

    Canadian Brooke Henderson vaults into tie for second at LPGA Tour event

    LOS ANGELES — Canada's Brooke Henderson was tied for second after her second round of the LPGA Tour's HUGEL Air Premia LA Open on Thursday. Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 6-under 65 and is now 8 under for the tournament. The Canadian was tied with Angela Stafford, five strokes back of American Jessica Korda toward the end of the morning wave. Henderson birdied four of her final five holes in the second round to surge up the leaderboard. The 23-year-old Henderson is sixth in the world women's golf rankings. Henderson has been steady but unspectacular for much of 2021. She's made the cut in all seven tournaments entered, with a top finish of ninth at the season-opening Tournament of Champions. Henderson has nine career wins on the LPGA Tour. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • PGA Tour Canada splits into Canadian, American circuits for 20201
    The Canadian Press

    PGA Tour Canada splits into Canadian, American circuits for 20201

    TORONTO — The PGA Tour Canada is being split into two circuits for the 2021 season due to COVID-19-related restrictions at the United States-Canada border. The PGA Tour said Thursday in a release that U.S.-based members of PGA Tour Canada will be eligible to compete in the newly created Forme Tour, while Canadian-based players will be able to compete in events under the Mackenzie Tour banner later this summer. Players on the Forme Tour will play in a series of U.S.-based events between June and September. The top-five points earners on the tour will receive 2021-22 Korn Ferry Tour membership, while others will advance to the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament. Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala., and TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio, have signed on as host sites. The PGA Tour said the tour’s other six venues — as well as tournament dates — will be announced later. Details on what the Mackenzie Tour circuit will look like were scarce. The PGA Tour said Canadian-based players would be playing for the opportunity "to earn access to the traditional Mackenzie Tour in 2022." “The Canada-based players will play in 72-hole Mackenzie Tour events, and the tournaments will continue to support local charities and local economies," Mackenzie Tour executive director Scott Pritchard said in a statement. "We will share more details about specific plans in the near future. We're excited to continue to further develop golf and competitive golfers in this country." The 2020 PGA Tour Canada season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • Philly developer has big plans for Atlantic City's Showboat
    The Canadian Press

    Philly developer has big plans for Atlantic City's Showboat

    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — As it turns out, the $100 million indoor water park that Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein is pursuing at a former Atlantic City casino was just the start of his efforts to bring family entertainment to the Showboat hotel. Blatstein has a boatload of other entertainment attractions on the horizon, including a retractable domed outdoor concert hall that can fit 8,000 fans; what he says will be New Jersey's largest arcade; an outdoor beer garden, and an extension of the Boardwalk to create a sun deck near the sand dunes. It will add at least $29 million to the amount he plans for the Showboat, which ceased to operate as a casino in 2014. And amid all this, he resolutely refuses to say if he's still pursuing an effort launched several years ago to return casino gambling to the Showboat — although the new indoor attractions take up all the space that once was filled with slot machines and gambling tables. “We're going to be the first true year-round family resort in Atlantic City," Blatstein said. "It makes sense to bring all these things together in one spot so that people have a place to go if they're not just interested in gambling.” Mayor Marty Small praised the emphasis on family entertainment, and said Blatstein's plans “will surely be a game-changer for Atlantic City.” Atlantic City has long defined itself as an adult playground. And even though there are attractions including a giant Ferris wheel and an aquarium, families have long complained that there is little do do in the resort beyond gambling and enjoying nightlife, particularly during the eight or nine months a year when the beach is not an option. Although he has successfully developed numerous projects in Philadelphia, not everything Blatstein touches has turned to gold. His purchase and renovation of the former Pier Shops at Caesars in Atlantic City into an entertainment-shopping facility called The Playground fizzled; he eventually sold it back to Caesars Entertainment, he said, in order to fully concentrate on the Showboat. Tuesday afternoon, a state agency, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, approved indoor and outdoor entertainment plans for the Showboat. They are separate from the $100 million water park at the site which the agency approved for a tax incentive plan last December. The CRDA approved designation of the water park project as an entertainment retail district, which entitles it to an annual rebate of up to $2.5 million in sales tax generated by it for 20 years. There also will be tax breaks on construction materials used for the project. Blatstein said he hopes to break ground on the water park by the end of May. Other aspects of the plans are on a similarly ambitious schedule: he says the indoor arcade, to be named “Lucky Snake,” will open on May 15. On Wednesday, workers were still putting the finishing touches on machines including basketball hoops; Skee-Ball, miniature golf, and an array of boardwalk-style games including water gun races, claw or crane games, and oversized video games like Pac-Man. The concert arena will be called “The Dome," and will feature a retractable roof and sides; in the winter or during inclement weather, it will be totally enclosed. But in the summer it can be opened on the top and on both sides to let the sun and the ocean air inside. It will be built next to the Showboat hotel, on land that is now a parking lot. Just east of the dome, on sandy ground that most recently was used as volleyball courts, will be a beer garden called “The Beach Club.” And pending approvals from numerous governmental agencies, the Boardwalk would be extended eastward to the edge of the sand dunes to create a sun deck. The Dome, the beer garden and the deck should all be open by summer 2022, Blatstein said. ___ Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC Wayne Parry, The Associated Press