LARGA History
In 1977 two gentlemen from the 445 Club of the Imperial Oil Company (a social club
within the company) had a vision that there should be a co-ed Retiree's Golf
Association. They applied to the New Horizon of Ontario and received a grant . That
was the origin of the Association with 45 members. It was originally chaired by the joint
founders Rich Jackson and James Wade . The
Sarnia Golf & Curling Club
hosted the first meetings and was one of the
courses on
which we played. More courses were added as
the years went by.
By 1980 the club had grown to a membership of
over 100 members. A this point a meeting was
held, at which time it was decided that the
Association could serve two groups. LARGA, the
Lambton Area Retiree’s Golf Association, and the
Lambton Women's Golf Association was born. Both Associations flourished for some
time and in 1987 the women's group disbanded from lack of members.
The men's association (LARGA) membership continued to increase and has had a
membership of over 400 playing members, playing a 52 game schedule. Play usually
started the first week of May & finished with a closing day in September.
In 1996 a trophy was presented to the LARGA group for the "Low Gross" shot on
closing day. It was donated by the wives of the two founders namely Mrs. Wade & Mrs.
Jackson. Only one plaque was ever attached to it, and that was for Doug Harris who in
1997 shot a 79 at Greenwood. LARGA played at 19 golf courses in and around
Lambton County. At one time courses in Port Huron, Michigan were also played,
including the Elks Club. During the winter months the executive would negotiate with
the various golf clubs for dates and times for the coming year. Early in the spring the
board met to approve of the schedule for the coming season.
Since 2000 the golf season has opened with an "Early Bird" in mid April, and closed the
first week in October with a final game followed by a Banquet at the Camlachie
Community Centre. Contracts for next year's play, including playing & cart fees, are
usually signed by the end of October.
LARGA is run by an Executive and a Board of Directors. The executive is comprised of
a President, Vice President, Past President, Treasurer and Secretary - all 2 year terms.
The board is made up of representatives from all the golf courses we play in Lambton
County and the representatives are all VOLUNTEERS. They are asked to stand for at
least one year.
Lambton Area Retiree’s
Golf Association
Past Presidents
1977-1984
Chaired
By
Rich
Jackson
& Jim Wade
1985
Joe McGill
1986-1988
Jerry Belhumeur
1989
Walter Rob
1990
Bruce R. Murrray
1991
Ike Hill
1992-1993
Jim Kakaraza
1994-1995
Bill Kindersma
1996
Don Spitzig
1997
Jim Haslap
1998-2000
Gary Kersey
2001-2002
Con Coates
2003-2004
Ron Hewitt
2005-2006
Dave Wilson
2007-2008
John Taylor
2009-2010
Gary Kersey
2011-2014
Bruce Houtby
2015-2016
Mark Harris
2018-2019
Wayne Sarson
2019-2020
Alec Brander