Erie Shores 75th Anniversary was 20 years ago

By C. Scott Holland

Erie Shores Golf and Country Club celebrated their 75th Anniversary in 2001 and in late 2000, plans were made for some of the events to herald the occasion.

Three members formed a committee to compile the course’s history, with each of them handling 25- year periods. Rick Harwood looked after the club’s first quarter-century since his grandfather, Robert Gray Sr., had created the course and had been its first professional.

Pete Lyons tackled the second quarter of the club’s existence and Chris Webster compiled the more recent 25 years.

The late Jack Greswell, a local golf enthusiast who had memories of the club stretching back to the 1930s, was pegged to do the writing, but turned the job down.

His reason was simple: The work would be done on a computer and Jack was a typewriter guy. He felt that he could not fairly pen its entire history on a typewriter.

The committee which oversaw the Erie Shores Golf & Country Club 75th Anniversary book. Front row are C. Scott Holland (author), Peter Lyons, Bob Moran, Darrell Langille, Don Mensch. Back row are Chris Webster, Rick Harwood, Jack Greswell, Bill Knox. Leita Vines was absent. The volume was a huge success and chronicled the story of the local golf course over its first 75 years of existence.

Photo courtesy of Scott Holland.

Jack called me (Scott Holland) one November morning and asked if I would be interested in doing the project.

My own grandfather had plenty of material and was a golfer there for nearly 35 years. I had inherited not only memorabilia, but stories of the course as well. It was a good fit and I accepted the offer. The only thing left to be done was to meet the committee and find out exactly what they wanted.

A full history was in the plans and they gave me access to the club’s archives, which included notes of board minutes. Delving into the course’s history and improvement over the years was anything but simple.

Via meetings with older members, newspaper articles and the snapping of photos, the book ended up surpassing anything the board ever dreamed of.

The volume was released at its kick-off tourney and was mainly intended for club members, although Erie Shores did allot a number to be sold publicly.

Today the soft cover book is out-of-print and considered a collector’s item. Their forthcoming 100th Anniversary in 2026 should be as exciting.

Commemorative tag produced for Erie Shores’ 75th Anniversary in 2001.