The greens are grass just like the nine-hole layout in Russell, Man. - "there's still people in our neck of the woods who have sand greens, but Russell's had grass for a long time" - but otherwise things have changed for Jon Montgomery since he was swinging a cutoff 7-iron "whacking a ball around the course."
Like being the "celebrity" in a foursome at charity event played before his country's national championship.
"I am out of my element, for sure," said Montgomery, the men's Olympic gold medal winner in skeleton, eight holes into his round at the Mike Weir Charity Classic at St. George's Golf and Country Club.
"In front of people, performing? That's not usually where I hang out. In skeleton, we get to toil in anonymity all the time.
"I didn't even know what I was getting into. Luckily enough, I didn't have time to worry about it because I'm nervous enough golfing with strangers watching."
It has been a whirlwind for Montgomery ever since he came down from the mountain - literally - carrying his First Nations turtle spirit guide bedecked helmet into Whistler Village after electrifying the country at the Olympics. He has signed with Agenda Sports Marketing in Calgary - marketing life, it appears, as much as marketing himself - and has become part of Right To Play (travelling to Uganda and South Africa) as well as swimming with sharks and doing barrel rolls with the Snowbirds acrobatic team.
It seemed for the longest time as if Montgomery was popping up everywhere. I mean, you half-expected him to be behind the counter of the local Petro-Canada. Or being the voice asking: "Welcome to Tim's. Can I take your order, please?"
He was at the Junos, for Pete's sake: Rocking on the streets of St. John's and hanging with Damhnait Doyle and the like and that's pretty cool because there's still something "indie" about the guy.
That's why his presence seems fitting for a golf tournament that might have finally found its comfort zone (or at least enough to stop apologizing for its timing and location).
As Weir himself said Monday: "The date (of the Open) is overblown."
Amen, bro. So, let that be the end of it. Let's take a cue from actor Kevin Dillon, who also put in an appearance in the celebrity event. He plays a character on the hit Entourage, Johnny Drama, whose brother Vincent Chase is a hot-shot Hollywood star. Drama settles for sloppy seconds, but he has an endearing and enduring sense of self-belief.
"Drah-maah! Drah-maah! Drah-maah!" yelled some leather lungs at the beer tent to the right of the first tee as Dillon - wearing beige cargo shorts that would have flunked the dress code for Media Day at St. George's - fired his shot into greenery and then reached out for another ball.
He hit a better second tee shot and all it would have taken was for somebody to throw their hands in the air and yell "Victory!" - one of Drama's signature lines.
Montgomery agreed Drama might be a kindred spirit. "Definitely," he responded.
Montgomery met Dillon briefly on the practice green and was going to seek him out, later. Oh to be a fly on that wall. ("Bro, you slide downhill? On ice? Head-first? No way!")
I asked Dillon if he ever slips into Johnny Drama just for yucks when he's on the course. "I don't," he said quickly. "He's so nuts. I don't want to slip into Johnny Drama. He's fun to play, but you don't want to bring him out. You want to leave him at home."
Look: Tiger's not here. Tiger may never be coming here and, frankly, I don't know if you'd even want the guy around any more. But that doesn't mean this can't be a signature event. Next year's Canadian Open will be played at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver and there is already hand-wringing about the extra travel that will entail, coming immediately on the heels of the British Open.
Frankly, this event ought to be played across the country. Why not Alberta? Or Manitoba? (Montgomery's right: We do have grass greens, you know.) Instead of worrying about the status, embrace it.
B-list, you say? Yeah, whatever. Just ask Johnny Drama: Sometimes, the B-list can be pretty cool.