Transcona course celebrates 85 years

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This article was published 29/07/2016 (3544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Transcona Golf Club (TGC) has survived plenty of challenges in order to reach its 85th birthday, but the best is yet to come.

The course on Dugald and Plessis Roads is marking the occasion with special events which pay homage to the hard work of generations past.

The TGC debuted in 1931 as a nine-hole course on the southwest corner of Regent Avenue and Plessis Road before moving to its current location at 2120 Dugald Rd. in the 1940s, golf director Mike Berney said.

He said those early years brought their share of challenges.

“It was a shoestring operation. Whatever they could borrow, steal or manufacture to keep it open, they did.”

Tough decisions had to be made. In 1958 a cash crunch forced the board to sell its topsoil for $800, a move which was necessary but which combined with poor drainage and irrigation to damage course quality.

That began to change in 1987 when current golf course superintendent Greg Haus was hired . Credited by many members for greatly improving the course, Haus said the membership made a key decision in he early 1990s to develop a course master plan to address drainage, irrigation and turf quality.

Landscape cuts were made to facilitate water flow and an irrigation system was installed. The displaced earth was used to reshape the greens. Those improvements came just in time, as the 1990s brought more than one significant spring flood.

While the actual course continues to improve, the TGC’s social atmosphere is just as important to its success, clubhouse director Christal O’Brien-Frejuk said. One tournament features a corn roast where members are invited to bring their friends while their seniors scramble may be the only one in Manitoba. A Wednesday night ladies league has doubled in size following the introduction of theme nights.

Another successful innovation provides a funny story, Berney said. Night golf is played with special balls which leave tracers so they can easily be found. One evening a pair of golfers hit their second shots onto the green.

“All of a sudden, both balls got up and floated in the air,” Berney said. “One went one way and one went the other. Then they reappeared and we stopped in our tracks. We walked closer and saw two baby foxes had taken them.”

TGC has also changed with the times, grounds and greens director Jim Parsons said. Additional tee boxes allow new golfers to play a shorter course as they learn the game. Club pro Ed Boge introduced a Little Swingers program which teaches golf basics to youth. Kids Golf Free days are also popular.

“We’re encouraging that so people get to know the course and realize they can bring their kids here,” Boge said.

Boge added TGC is a stop on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour, a five-event circuit drawing top amateurs. It has also hosted all major tournaments, including an earlier version of the Manitoba Open.

It’s fitting in a sense that TGC’s 85th anniversary was marked by yet another challenge to overcome. The closure of Plessis Road during underpass construction has resulted in a significant revenue loss for the past two summers, Parsons said.

The TGC is celebrating the occasion in plenty of different ways. Players in a fall tournament will be encouraged to dress in past fashions and special food prices like 85-cent hot dogs will be available.

For more information on the anniversary, visit www.transconagolfclub.com or phone 204-224-5927.