100 Years in the Making Celebrating Ontario’s Golf Club Centennials
Golf in 1922. Photo provided by The City of Toronto Archives.
By Lisa Marie Pearce, Second Assistant, Burlington Golf and Country Club.
T
he game that we all know and love is said to date back to the 12th century; it became most commonly known to derive from Scotland in the 15th; and North Americans started swinging their sticks in the 17th. Still, it was not until the 19th century that golf became firmly established. Many Ontario golf clubs are a perfect example of this as they prepare to celebrate a monumental milestone, 100 years of operation! Let's take a look back in history together, with new advancements, as these clubs swing into their centennial this 2022 golf season.
BRIARS GOLF CLUB The Briars Club in Jackson’s Point, on the shores of Lake Simcoe, came to fruition during a turning point in Canadian Architect Stanley Thompson’s career in 1922. This ‘Best Kept Secret’ North of Toronto originally had nine holes and in 1972, another nine were seamlessly integrated by Robbie Robinson and his subtle charms. This club has been described as alluring due to its location and relaxed feel while creating a challenge for all golf levels on its narrow fairways and small, undulating greens; it also makes for a walkerfriendly course. In Thompson tradition, there are many flanking bunkers flashed into the hillsides and holes that bend in both directions, although they are not long, they do require accuracy. 6273 yards from the tips, the Briars’ beauty is extremely walker friendly and offers many amenities to its small capped membership base. Scottish Club Professional, I.F. Dalgeish (Dal), an important figure in their history, ran the show in the Pro Shop from 1920’s to his retirement in 1965 with minimal help from junior members. From lessons, tee-time bookings, repairing clubs, to Club Secretary and Treasurer, Dal spent seven days a week making this club what it
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Briars Golf Club.
is today: a well-rounded, membership pleasing, golf and social club. The greens crew consisted of the Head Greenskeeper and three other men during the 1930s. They had one tractor that maintained the tees, fairways, and aprons, and two heavy greens-mowers to cut the greens, which took a full day’s work to mow. The rough was cut with scythes once a month from June to August, and a horse-drawn cart would take away raked-up hay. A workday was long and hard because all watering of greens was done manually in the evenings. During the 1930s, its membership consisted of mostly cottagegoers and very few local residents due to a by-law that restricted any person living within 25 miles of the club. During this time, the annual fee for senior golfers was $35, nominees were $10, and juniors were $5 with no initiation fee. In the late 1960s, the club decided to start selling shares at $25 a piece.
