Colin Thompson

Head Golf Professional

St. Georges’s Golf and Country Club

Etobicoke, Ontario

New “Kid” at Old St. George’s

Having a youthful and creative head professional at one of Canada’s oldest and most venerable clubs, seems, at first glance, a bit of an oddity.

But it makes perfect sense when you meet Colin Thompson, head professional at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke, Ontario.

Thompson is a writer and musician and fine arts graduate from York University who played golf on the Canadian Tour for a time, and once sported a +4 handicap.

He’s not only overseer of a staff of six professionals, but also spends some of his off-course time as an instructor at nearby Humber College. He teaches up-and-coming students the fine art of how to be a first-class golf professional.

One his grad students, Brian Jones, is now one of the staff pros at St. George’s.

Thompson’s philosophy is to create well-rounded professionals who are ready to become head pros in the near future.

He’ll need all the well-roundedness he can summon up when the RBC Canadian Open stops at St. George’s next year. With 2,000 volunteers on the site, along with thousands of spectators, and hundreds of the best pro players on the planet, Thompson will be front and centre as a key contributor.

His staff will help with retail outlets around the course, and man the driving range, located off-site.

Already, word about St. George’s remarkable layout is making its way around the big tour, and Thompson expects the course to hold up well next year. The Stanley Thompson gem, considered one of the top three courses in Canada, has severely sloping greens, hilly fairways, and some of the best drainage in golf.

Thompson and staff attended the Open this past summer at the Abbey, and saw the complications arising from bad weather.

St. George’s is committed to a long-term plan to improve the course, and getting the nod to host the Open in 2010, has sped up the process of improvements, says Thompson.

This is Thompson’s first year at St. George’s after holding the interim label last year. He beat out 15 other applicants for the top job this past winter.

After working his way through university by selling retail in Nevada Bob’s, Thompson, a Toronto native, worked as a pro at other venerable Ontario venues like Donalda, The Granite Club, Oakdale and Brantford.

Being a creative sort, he also likes the challenge of communicating with a clubhouse on one side of Islington Avenue, and a pro shop and golf course on the other. He’s constantly on his two-way radio.

The first year staffer with TaylorMade loves the new forged cavity back irons, the R9 driver, and thinks the product line including adidas wear fits in perfectly with a club that is both old and youthful. St. George’s seems a fitting place to distribute TaylorMade and adidas products.

“There’s an air of importance that comes with the name St. George’s,” said Thompson.

That name will be on golfers lips around the world come RBC Canadian Open time next year.

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