September 1, 2019

Life has been good


I wish to thank you for mailing me your Landscape Trades magazine over the many years I have been in the golf course business. It has been very useful and interesting and a real advantage when one was planning on spending precious dollars on supplies and equipment.

I have been out of the business for many years. However, at 91 years of age, I am still able to play some golf.

My interest in golf began when I was five. In the Depression years, 1929 to 1939, I witnessed the construction of Rockway Golf Course, the “Course of Champions,” in the city of Kitchener, Ont. It was a make-work project to employ able men. It took two to three years, in 1933 to 1935, to move the soil and construct the greens, mounds and teeing areas — horses driven by teamsters, men shoveling soil in wagons and scoop shovels pulled by horses were able to build a gem of a municipal golf course, now in its 85th year. The city fathers and city engineer Stanley Shupe (whom I caddied for) had a vision into the future!

This experience drove me to carry on in life to put people to work at two courses: Merry-Hill, 27 holes mid-length; and Dundee Country Club, 18 holes par 72. My life has been blessed with good health, good associates and partners in several businesses. While my education went only to 8th Grade, life has been incredibly good. The golf pro at Rockway, Lloyd Tucker, was a father figure to us caddies during our younger years. My life experience through golf has proven valuable.

Thank you for Landscape Trades magazine.

Anthony J. “Tony” Matlock
Waterloo, Ont.

 

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