A game for the ages

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2015 (3946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Millions of rounds of golf have been played in Manitoba since the game’s beginnings here 126 years ago. You can fit a lot of foursomes, fairways, floods, fires and four-letter words into that kind of time.

You’ll also find the finest of people throughout the decades. And among all the highlights, that is the biggest of Golf Manitoba’s 100th anniversary.

The beginnings of organized provincial golf took place in the summer of 1915, when the Manitoba Golf Association was born out of the efforts of individuals from five established clubs of the day: St. Charles, Pine Ridge, Norwood, Winnipeg Hunt and Elmhurst.

“The people part is so important,” said Tammy Gibson, Golf Manitoba’s president-elect who produced a visual/video presentation recapping the 100 years for an upcoming anniversary celebration.

Before the formation of the MGA, the game took a slow but quickening root in Canada and in Manitoba. Immigrants from Great Britain, where golf had become very popular, sparked its introduction.

The first appearance in Manitoba was in 1889, that inaugural effort generally credited to Lt.-Col. Samuel Bedson, the warden at Stony Mountain prison. The course by the prison didn’t last long, just five years or so.

Virden’s Wellview course was next to open, in 1892, and it remains open to this day.

Golf arrived in the city in 1894 with the establishment of the Winnipeg Golf Club, a nine-holer in the Norwood area. It didn’t stay there long, less than a year, before the club moved to a better location south of Portage Avenue not far from the current intersection with Broadway, where it quickly became an 18-holer.

Portage la Prairie had its first course in 1896, and Brandon in 1900.

By the time 1915 rolled around, interest was growing and there were plenty enough players to warrant the organization of the MGA. That development marked the start of a serious boom in golf.

In 1919, Manitoba had nine courses. There were 68 by 1926. Today, there are 133.

The game’s governing body in Manitoba and northwest Ontario has long been charged with developing, promoting and servicing golf. The organization conducts official championships and in its role as an affiliate of Golf Canada, assists in the delivery of programs such as the National Golf in Schools and Future Links programs.

It takes a lead role in training young athletes for Manitoba Games, Western Canada Games and Canada Games, as well as supporting the successful University of Manitoba Bisons golf program.

Golf Manitoba also has the responsibility for the administration of the rules of the sport, player handicapping and course ratings.

In an interview about the anniversary, Gibson spoke about tournaments, places and clubs — some long faded into the past — and most importantly about people, marvelling about so many she has met and discovered, from Hall of Famers to volunteers.

To put that emphasis into the anniversary season, the association implemented one of its best ideas in years.

Past champions were invited to attend provincial tournaments in 2015 as a salute to the occasion and to help present trophies — that sport their names — and prizes, adding historical context to the ongoing competitions.

The thoughtful plan, showing an immense respect for past players, brought folks such as Dave Hill Sr. (1965-67) to hand out awards at the Manitoba junior boys’ event, Diane Eyford (Frederickson, 1975 and 1977) at the junior girls’, Steve Bannatyne (1972 and 1974) to the men’s Amateur, Jill Hardy (2001, 2004, 2008-09) to the women’s Amateur, Don Forsyth (1988) to the senior men’s, and Merlene Netterfield (1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991) to the senior women’s.

“People loved it,” Gibson said. “(Netterfield) was so moved to be asked to come and do this.”

•••

Winners have made golf headlines for more than 100 years in Manitoba. Volunteers less so, but they’ve been the backbone behind organized golf in the province from the beginning.

Joe Vinet is one such foundation stone of the sport. Now 95, he’s the oldest living past president of the Manitoba Golf Association, having held the office in 1966-67, just as the organization passed its 50th anniversary.

His memory remains sharp, especially when it comes to recalling championship-calibre players who made lasting impressions.

“(Six-time senior champ) Harry Critchley was one of the biggest ones in my time, and the Homenuik brothers (Wilf, Ted, Stan), they were very good for sure,” Vinet said during a recent interview. “And the Pidlaskis (Mike and Bill), those were the front-liners I remember when I was around golf.”

Among Vinet’s indelible memories on the professional side was one amusing sidebar.

“I remember the fellow from Toronto, Moe Norman,” he said with a chuckle. “He used to drive us mad. The pros, they were always so annoyed with him.”

“We made our own golf clubs then. It was the only way to afford them.”

-Joe Vinet, 95, on golfing in the 1920s

Norman was a legendary ball-striker, whose unconventional behaviour was also legendary.

Vinet said he’s always had a favourite behind-the-scenes person in Manitoba golf.

“A good friend of mine was Dr. Dwight Parkinson,” he said of the noted St. Charles member who followed him as MGA president in 1968. “He did more for golf than anybody did in Manitoba then.”

Vinet and Parkinson were responsible for introducing the annual Manitoba junior inter-club competition, a one-day tournament that attracts teams from across the province.

Vinet himself was more than a capable player, once a three handicap. He also recorded seven holes-in-one over a lengthy span of time playing golf while a member at Assiniboine Golf Club, Breezy Bend and Elmhurst and during the five seasons he operated the pro shop at Clear Lake.

“I couldn’t well play in too many tournaments because I got interested in the administrative side, but I played the (men’s) Amateur a time or two,” he said. “And in the Mundie Putter league (a league featuring the best competitive players from the city’s local clubs), which I hear is still as strong as ever. I played for both Assiniboine and Breezy in that.”

He began in golf at the Assinawa club in Stony Mountain in the mid-1920s, when he was six.

“We made our own golf clubs then. It was the only way to afford them,” Vinet said. “The chokecherry tree has a great root to it and you could make your own clubs. You formed a 2-iron up to a 9-iron and away you went. That’s how we started.”

The oldest living president of the former MLGA also covers most of the existing time of Golf Manitoba, though Peggy Colonello trails Vinet by a few years.

“Sorry, not old enough to remember 100 years ago, but almost,” was the 91-year-old’s amusing response at the start of an interview.

Colonello was president of the Manitoba Ladies Golf Association from 1974 to 1976, and of the Canadian Ladies’ Golf Association in 1982-83. She has encountered plenty of elite players.

“I played golf a lot of years at Elmhurst… Marg Homenuik (six-time Manitoba Amateur champ) was a good one,” Colonello said. “I played against her some but she was eons ahead of me.

“I was just an average golfer and she’s one that still stands out. The whole Homenuik family. And (Hall of Famer) Ann Tachan, too.”

Colonello had the good fortune to be a provincial teammate with Tachan, the legendary Marj Edey and Grace Lindenberg for 1973 Canadian senior women’s amateur in Truro, N.S. It was a memorable experience and not just for the golf.

“The milk run,” she said about the plane trip to Truro. “I remember it was because of a strike and it was 14 take-offs and landings,” she laughed, recalling stops in Dryden, Ft. William, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax en route to the Canadian tournament.

“I’ll never forget that figure. I didn’t even know they had an airport in Dryden.”

Colonello recalls vividly her beginnings in golf, at about the age of 25 when her future husband, Alex, had piqued her interest in the game.

“It was riding the streetcar with a girlfriend to Bourkevale, clubs on our shoulder,” she said about the trip to the current site of St. James Collegiate. Her husband, she said, also began playing days at another now-vanished course — Polo Park Golf Course, where today stands a shopping mall.

•••

Golf Manitoba has seen plenty of change.

There is more to come.

Gibson, who is expected to take the organization’s reins as it begins the next 100 years, is conscious of that.

“Since I’ve joined the board, we’ve had a lot of discussion about Golf Manitoba and how we stay viable and meaningful to our members,” said the former three-time Manitoba senior women’s champ. “The whole dynamic of how the organization was in its heyday and how it will be going forward is not the same.

“The public player, that’s a huge group we’re missing. There are probably 100,000 golfers in Manitoba and only 10,000 are members of Golf Manitoba. There are a huge number of golfers out there, so how do you show value to them to be a member of our organization?

“We’ve been struggling with that for the last number of years and going forward, we’ll keep focusing on that question and keep trying to come up with options and ideas and things we can try.”

There will be time enough for that.

The coming days are about celebration, as Monday marks the official 100th birthday with a day-long event at St. Charles — Manitoba’s second-oldest existing club.

The anniversary party will include lunch, an afternoon golf tournament, dinner, prizes and a special address by the captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, George MacGregor, who’s attending the day.

The evening will also feature Gibson’s 13-minute historical compilation of highlights.

“I’m not a historian by any means… just kind of learning on the fly,” she said. “I have Alan Hackett’s book Manitoba Links, A Kaleidoscopic History of Golf and that was my main resource and that’s why I thought doing a 100-year video presentation would be possible.

“I’ve learned plenty, and enjoyed doing it.”

A great summation of 100 years of organized golf, wouldn’t you say?

 

Par excellence

One of the early tasks for the people who voted to form the Manitoba Golf Association in 1915 was organization of the amateur and other provincial championships, and caring for those competition over time.

It’s easy to speculate they would be proud of the job done in the first 100 years, given the chart of champions and players that have emerged from this prairie province.

Women’s golf — let it be noted the Manitoba Ladies Golf Association was not far behind in its formation in 1922; the organizations amalgamated into Golf Manitoba in 2004 — has seen numerous dominant players through the eras.

Isa Beairsto of St. Charles was an early champion, compiling six Amateur titles between 1925 and 1940. That remains the present-day record, equalled twice, for most Manitoba Amateurs.

Beairsto was interrupted a couple of times by clubmate Mrs. John Rogers, who also claimed the Canadian women’s amateur in 1937.

The next era included the incomparable Marj Edey of Charleswood, with her five Amateurs and her 36 Charleswood club championships, a feat that won her a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.

Edey’s dominance was followed by that of Marg Homenuik, who has recently moved back to Winnipeg. She also captured six Amateurs up to 1972, then promptly retired from golf due to arthritis.

The ensuing years brought the likes of Gail Graham (Anderson) and Cathy Burton, both of whom cut out distinguished careers as professionals. Graham was a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour.

The torch also belonged to the likes of Jo-Ann Lindsay, another Manitoba Hall of Famer who was seemingly ageless with three Amateurs and nine senior titles (one short of Ann Tachan’s record) and one Canadian senior.

And then there was the 10-year stretch (1987-96) dominated by Aileen Robertson of St. Charles, who equalled the Amateurs record (six), and Elmhurst’s Lynda Palahniuk, who won three. Had either played at another time, had Robertson not turned professional, had Palahniuk not moved to B.C., they likely each would have won more titles.

The record-setters of the men’s game in Manitoba are like bookends.

Near the beginning, Bobby Reith was exceptional, setting the standard of five Amateurs between 1932 and 1937, eventually turning to a distinguished professional career.

Todd Fanning, on the other end, matched Reith’s long-standing record last summer. He broke contemporary Garth Collings’ mark (22 years) for longest span between first and last victories, having won again 30 years after his first in 1984. In between, Fanning crafted a career as a touring pro.

One of Fanning’s heroes was one-time clubmate Allan Boes of Southwood, who took four Amateurs between 1941 and 1948.

Joining the list of three-time Amateur champions Ted Homenuik, Gary Kullman, Billy Parker and Collings is Rob McMillan, whose full resumé included a 1996 to remember — the Amateur, the Canadian Tour’s Manitoba Open as an amateur and the Canadian Amateur. McMillan also claimed three Canadian juniors, four Manitoba juniors, a world junior individual and six provincial player of the year awards before turning pro, when he added two more victories on the Canadian Tour.

The province has certainly produced its share of professional successes, all of whom had their grassroots programs and early competition here.

George Knudson, for example, is likely the finest player ever from Manitoba and possibly the entire nation. You’ll find his name on the Manitoba junior trophy twice, in 1954 and1955, prior to his eight PGA Tour victories and worldwide success.

Brandon’s Dan Halldorson, similarly, can be found on that Manitoba junior trophy (1970) prior to a long career on the PGA Tour as a two-time winner. He also holds two World Cup golf titles.

Similarly, Selkirk’s Glen Hnatiuk didn’t play long as an amateur here, though time enough for one Amateur title (1986) before a long stay on the U.S. PGA and Web.com Tours that included four Web.com victories.

And Wilf Homenuik, a two-time Amateur champion here, is likely better known for his extensive record as a pro, including a pair of CPGA titles, two Manitoba Opens that led to his induction into both the Manitoba and Canadian Golf Halls of Fame.

In a summary such as this, omitting some feats and stories is inevitable, though not intentionally disrespectful, but we would be more than remiss for not including one of the province’s biggest golf personalities.

Jimmy Doyle spent time as both an amateur and professional and was admired by so many. His resumé included a Canadian Amateur title (1968) before his only Manitoba Amateur crown (1975) as well as two provincial seniors.

Most Manitoba Men’s Amateur titles:

Bobby Reith: 5 (1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937)

Todd Fanning: 5 (1984, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2014)

Allan Boes: 4 (1941, 1943, 1944, 1948)

Ted Homenuik: 3 (1961, 1969, 1977)

Gary Kullman: 3 (1971, 1973, 1976)

Billy Parker: 3 (1978, 1979, 1982)

Garth Collings: 3 (1987, 1994, 2009)

Rob McMillan: 3 (1993, 1995, 1996)

Most Manitoba Women’s Amateur titles:

Isa Beairsto: 6 (1925, 1926, 1931, 1933, 1939, 1940)

Marg Homenuik: 6 (1961-64, 1966, 1972)

Aileen Robertson: 6 (1989-91, 1994-96)

Marj Edey: 5 (1946-48, 1950, 1951)

Linda Palahniuk: 4 (1982, 1987, 1988, 1992)

Jill Hardy: 4 (2001, 2004, 2008, 2009)

Major tournament firsts for Manitoba:

1921: Canada men’s Amateur, Winnipeg Golf Club, Elmhurst, Pine Ridge

1926: Canadian ladies’ Amateur, Elmhurst

1933: Canadian Ladies Union championship, St. Charles

1952: Canadian Open, St. Charles

Manitoba winners of the Canadian Men’s Amateur:

1909: Edward Legge (from Scotland, pre-dates the MGA, but was instrumental in the founding of Pine Ridge and Elmhurst)

1968: Jim Doyle

1996: Rob McMillan

1997: Dale Goehring

Manitoba winners of the Canadian Women’s Amateur:

1937: Mrs. John Rogers

1994: Aileen Robertson

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca