Three inducted into Golf Hall of Fame

St. John’s, NL….. This past weekend Golf Newfoundland Labrador (Golf NL), held its, Annual Awards and Hall of Fame inductions at Glendenning Golf in St.John’s.. The highlight of the event was the induction of Pauline Power and Dennis Langdon and Patricia (Pat) LaCour , both of Tamarack Golf Club, into the Provincial Golf Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2021 welcomed Pauline Power a member of Grand Falls Golf Club into the Builder category. In 1962, Pauline joined the club and over the next fifty-six years volunteered in numerous capacities both on the local and provincial levels.

In 1970, she as asked to fill the role of provincial Junior Development Chairperson and for the next six years filled role and organized and operated the Provincial Junior Championships. At the end of her tenure, she was approached by the Canadian Ladies Golf Association to fill a similar role with the national organization. She continued her volunteer work as Secretary for the NL Branch of the CLGA.

As secretary she was involved in the development with the first constitution and by-laws of the branch ad worked with the late Judith Dean to create the first official Provincial Ladies Championships Manuel and Inter-Provincial Team Trails Competition. Over the years she has served as Chairperson of the host committee to organize the Ladies provincial Championships at her home club.

On July 17^th, 2005, Pauline was made a Life Member of the Grand Falls Golf Club for her contributions on the club and provincial levels and continues to be an active member of the Grand Falls Golf Club.

Mr. Langdon, inducted into the Contributor – Volunteer Category, became an active member of the Tamarack executive as treasurer in 1998 and immediately set out to improve the club. He had no plans to do a few years on executive and stand down. He had a long-term strategy.

Dennis has been totally dedicated for the last 24 plus years to making Tamarack as good as it can be. He knew it would be a process.

A meticulous planner and numbers guy he started by building a strong team and worked with the team to build a better golf experience. Dennis reached out to various members to step up and take on roles to improve the maintenance of equipment., study the best way to grow greens and then implement best practice, improve the work culture and empower the employees to succeed, and set longer term financial and growth plans.

As a person Dennis does not seek status or recognition but builds teams and consensus to achieve goals. Dennis believes in helping people and teams grow and he helps set the stage for success. There are many that think Tamarack may not exist without Dennis. The significant challenges facing the club over the last 20 years may have forced others to run away. Dennis just shrugs and says lets get this done.

Patricia Lacour (Pat) was inducted into the Contributor – Employee category. Any employer’s dream is to hire an employee that can set an example of excellence and lead the organization to be the best. A person with the energy and passion to make the job their own.

In 1986 when Tamarack Golf Club/Labrador City Curling club hired Patricia Lacour as bartender/(to be manager) they never quite realized they had that type of individual.

For a while Tamarack contracted out various duties like the kitchen but it became evident that it all needed to be managed under one leader. So in 1994 the team was consolidated under the leadership of Pat. A decision that paid of for the next 27 years.

Pat began the process by simple leading by example. She started setting up a culture that recognized every member/visitor is important. All lives matter was always Pat’s credo. Employees are treated with dignity and respect and that extends to every member and visitor. The atmosphere set by the club’s employees set the tone for how the members felt.

These are times when the employment levels make it tough to find anyone for seasonal positions. Occasional Tamarack would struggle to find the full team…wages were higher, full times jobs were everywhere….so when those things happened you need to be inventive.

Pat would always face these challenges with even more energy and determination. She never shied away from any challenge.

She would go from slinging drinks – to booking tee times- to doing green fees – washing the dishes and janitorial work. While still getting the mail – doing the paperwork – the time sheets– picking up groceries and managing her team. Most of the time all in the same day.

The Annual Awards were presented to Robert Squires of Bally Haly Country Club and co-winner Jason Stagg of Humber Valley Resort for Male Golfer of the Year, Kathleen Jean of Harmon Seaside Links received the Female Golfer of the Year, Mila Snook of Bally Haly Country Club was awarded the Junior Female Golfer of the Year while Ryan Holwell of Bally Haly received the Junior Male Golfer of the Year award.

President, Rodney Roberts accepted the Golf Course of the Year award o behalf of Amaruk Golf & Sport Club and Level III Referee Paul Comeau was the recipient of the Referee of the Year Award.

President Janine Fraser stated” that these individuals are an example of the commitment, dedication and passion that has served the golfing community well in this province, and are very deserving individuals”. There were also Appreciation Awards presented to outgoing member of the Board of Directors including Ken Casey, Chris Young, Leonard Woodford and Janis Byrne for their contributions to the organization.

For more information contact Golf Newfoundland Labrador (Golf NL) at 709-631-3102 or e-mail golf@sportnl.ca