The St. Marys Golf and Country Club hosted yet another successful Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Celebrity Golf Classic on June 17th to kick off another big golf summer in St. Marys. Both golfers and celebrities alike from all over Ontario, Canada, and even the United States visited the St. Marys Golf Club for this outstanding annual golf tournament.
The inductees for this year’s event were highlighted by legendary Toronto Blue Jays’ closer Tome Henke, nicknamed “The Terminator”. Alongside him were Tom Allan and George Wood, both influential figures in forming Canadian baseball. Tom was an amazing participant in this year’s event, travelling all the way from his small town in Missouri. A total of approx. forty family and friends of the Henke’s travelled over 1,100 kilometres to St. Marys to take part in the festivities. Way to go Tom and company!
The focus of the major event on Friday was of course the golf tournament, where the St. Marys Golf course played host to the scramble-style golf event. One of the major highlights for many of the returning participants, particularly those from the local area (Stratford, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto), were some of the recent changes that had been made to the golf course; including the major changes to holes 17 and 18. The low score of the day was 14-under (58), with two groups tying for second at 13-under (59). The Staffen foursome, which included three generations of family members, was one of the groups to finish in second. The Staffen group had the pleasure of golfing with former NHL hockey player Mark Bell. Other big name celebrities attending this year’s festivities: Tony Fernandez, Miss Canada, and of course, fan-favourite, Fergie Jenkins.
The theme of the day was focused around the opportunity for golfers and baseball fans alike from across the continent to take part in a day of fun, golfing with famous celebrities, and raising money for a great cause: the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
The night was capped off by a fantastic dinner, some well-deserved prizes, and a great speech from the three inductees, as well as a heart-felt speech from the man behind the Hall, Tom Valcke. Tom, who always speaks from the depth of his bottomless heart, gave a fantastic rendition of the days’ event and provided us all with inspiration for the future of the Canadian Baseball of Fame in St. Marys!
