Monday, June 12, 2023
Early afternoon shotgun start.
Fee includes golf, power cart, lunch, range access, taxes and special guest presentation.
Members: $175
Guests (one per member) $225
Cataraqui Golf and Curling Club was established in 1917 in the city that was briefly the capital of Upper Canada.
Excerpt from Stanley Thompson and Icons of Golf:
Through a series of land sales involving the City of Kingston and grain elevator
companies in 1930 and 1931 the Cataraqui GC lost three of its holes but in the deal it gained 75
acres of of new land and about a net $29,000 with which to rebuild. At the club’s request Stanley
first visited Kingston in the fall of 1931 and submitted a proposal. Stanley’s powers of
persuasion were both considerable and legendary. His partner Robert Trent Jones said of Stanley;
“ A charming, fun-loving guy, he could talk almost anybody out of almost anything . . . and
usually did”. Geoffrey Cornish said that ; “ Robert Trent Jones, Robbie Robinson, myself and
others, who knew Stan well, acknowledged that he was the greatest salesperson ever in our
profession”. And, according to his great-nephew Bill Newton, Stanley would approach a golf
club Board of Directors saying; “ Never have I seen such a piece of land. For a trifling few
thousand dollars more, gentlemen, you can make this the finest course imaginable.” So, rather
than just replace the three lost holes, it seems that Stanley persuaded the Cataraqui GC, now
flush with cash, to do a major remodeling job and he presented the routing on October 5, 1931.
Find out the rest of the story by joining us and guest speaker Scott Macleod