Welcome Friends
Compiled by Dianne Finstad
While there’s no doubt golf is a physical activity and a sport, it’s also a social game that has been bringing people together for decades. Or in the case of the Innisfail Golf Club, a hundred years!
When the Innisfail course was established in the early 1920’s, it became ‘the’ place to be, as people discovered this new sport. In fact, a 1922 newspaper article on the Innisfail club’s formation declared:
Golf has spread quicker in Canada than any other game, and golf has come to stay so it is hoped that all sportsmen will get into the game.
Competition and comradery did bring men, and women, to take part in the play. Leagues were established for members to play regularly in, and the Club soon became a social gathering point in the Innisfail community for those with a common interest in golf. A banquet and dance were big social events to celebrate the end of each season.
A highlight that dates back to some of the earliest days of the course was a Labor Day Tournament. There are pictures of the tournament’s players from as far back as 1936. There isn’t anyone left with memories from that far back, but there are a few who can recall the popular event’s more recent history, like longtime member Joe Beardsworth. In the 1960s, he points out, Innisfail was still a 9-hole course with sand greens.
The annual men’s Labor Day golf tournament was a popular event. The tournament was usually at capacity with 144 golfers in 9 flights of 16 golfers each. This was as much a homecoming event as it was a golf tournament, with many of the players having previously lived or grown up in Innisfail. The tournament employed local school kids, most of whom were junior golfers, to rake greens or caddy. The kids who raked the sand greens would each be assigned 3 greens to look after. They would rotate around keeping the greens as smooth as possible while trying to avoid being in the way. If you were lucky, you would caddy for someone who had a pull cart. The ultimate experience was to be chosen to caddy for a player in the Championship flight.
In those days, the members and volunteers made food for the tournaments. There were 45-gallon drums full of coals used for tournaments, with board members cooking the steaks. There are also fond memories of how the neighbouring Stuart family became quite used to golfers dropping by their place in the early days. The family had a walk-in basement entrance in their house where they kept cold, fresh well water in cream cans. Golfers would often detour during their round for a drink of cool water.
In the early days of IGC, liquor laws were restrictive. Although Prohibition was over, there were plenty of rules on when and where a nip could be taken, and the golf course wasn’t one of them. But, where there’s a will there’s a way, and the locals knew that special spot where they could ‘refresh’ their gameplay.
Joe Beardsworth adds his recollection of the time:
The pleasures of birdie juice had not been discovered and drinking while playing was not common. The bags were heavy enough without the added weight of liquor or beer bottles. The snack shack did not exist and there were no beer carts on the course. Most drinking occurred after completion of a tournament or special event and took place in a secluded area of the golf course known as the 19th hole.
Behind today’s Spruce 1 was the place to get refreshments – conveniently out of sight because you couldn’t have liquor on the course right up to the 1960s. Alf Nikkel, a past superintendent, is credited with building the popular spot – a simple lean-to facility.
Al Churchill is a member who’s golfed at Innisfail since he was a ‘little guy’ in the early 1950’s. Like many young lads of the day, Churchill remembers caddying for the Labor Day tradition, where his duties frequently ended a little prematurely. You see, the 19th hole was actually below the 7th hole then, and depending on their game, some players wouldn’t get to their last two holes!
As golf at Innisfail became more popular, there was a growing need for food and beverage service at the course, as well as a relaxing place to talk over the day’s game.
When it comes to Innisfail golf hospitality, a name that immediately comes to mind from the days gone by is Muriel Cook, the first and long-time Clubhouse Manager. She was one of the first hires at the course. From all accounts, Muriel was a one-woman show for service. She and her husband Harry lived in a trailer in the parking lot, and they kept an eye on things at the course.
Muriel’s base was a 40 x 40 shack, reportedly an old cabin from the pond, which was brought up to be the first clubhouse.
Another longtime member, Reg Stotz, adds his memories:
In 1970 the clubhouse had a series of break-ins. My in-laws volunteered to buy a mobile home and put it at the golf course (where the parking lot is today), they moved it in, and bought a big dog that was let loose at night, and the break-ins stopped.
I bought my first membership in 1972. If memory serves me right it was $75 for the year. We only had 9 holes at the time and the new grass greens were only in their 4th season. The Clubhouse/Pro Shop was one building, apparently two older buildings cobbled together. It was staffed by one lady, Muriel, who would check you in, take green fees, make and serve you a burger and or a beverage, sell you some new balls or a jacket …. and she did the cleaning. I remember playing tournaments in some miserable rainy cold weather and here came Murriel on a golf cart with thermoses full of hot coffee and/or hot toddies for everyone on course.
Al Churchill was serving as a board member when it was decided the time had come to upgrade the clubhouse. He recalls they bought a ‘house package’ thru Vern Maldaner with Revelstoke Building Supplies. Then they bulldozed the old place and put up an ordinary house with no interior walls, to serve as the club house. It had several additions over the years – a sun roof area, and a pro shop added to the north end.
As the course expanded to eighteen holes, the supporting facilities needed to be upgraded as well. There was plenty of interest in league play (junior, senior, ladies, men), which became an important part of the social side of golf too. And as word got out about the Innisfail Golf Club, the demand for hosting corporate tournaments grew. That ranged from Ducks Unlimited, to Innisfail Minor Hockey, to the Rotary club.
In fact, that was part of the impetus to go eventually to 27 holes, as a lot of locals felt they couldn’t access their home course enough due to the tournaments.
As board members of the day like Doug Bristow, and General Manager of the time Jim Romane, point out it was quite a dilemma. There was motivation to keep the tournaments because they were important for paying the bills, but they often took all 18 holes, so they also needed to accommodate the golf course members.
Under Romane’s leadership, a policy introduced limiting tourneys to Tuesday afternoons or Thursday mornings was implemented. The one exception still allowed a Saturday date was the Candlelighters (the Propane Association of AB) since they’d had their 140-player tournament at Innisfail on the second Saturday in September every year for nearly half a century.
Tournaments wrapped up with a barbecue around the firepit on picnic tables around the new ‘19th hole’ behind the clubhouse, where prizes were given out. But replacing the firepit with a building became an important element for going after the tournament market, while also relieving pressure on the clubhouse and member needs. The tournament house was built in 1988, and then had to be expanded several years after that. A new Pro Shop was also added to the property in 2001.
“We were growing,” comments Jim Romane about the club’s progress, as a cart shed and maintenance building were also added.
When the third nine holes became part of the picture, eventually the ‘house package’ clubhouse was outgrown. In fact, the Health Inspector required that changes be made to the kitchen area, with a deadline to get the work completed. The board recognized that even with upgrades to the kitchen, the old club house was not adequate for the 27-hole course, so a vote was put to the shareholders to replace the old building. The board and management made the decision to move forward to the future, and the present facility project was undertaken. It provides indoor and outdoor dining at Divots Restaurant, as well as a beautiful view of golfers coming up Spruce 9. The building is a source of community pride, especially for being built both on time and under budget! It was officially opened May 4th, 2016.
Socializing, enjoying the beauty of the course landscape and recalling the challenges and triumphs of the game continue to be hallmarks of hospitality at Innisfail Gold Club. With all that experience to draw on, you can expect the Celebration of a Century this year to be extra special!