This past October and one week before closing, our golf group decided to play one last round at Trafalgar Golf and Country Club in Milton Ontario. As the 2023 is about to start I drove by the course and was overcome by sadness as I surveyed the course that stood for over 60 years hosting golfers, making memories and responsible for some golf careers.
In January 1958, Keith Robinson obtained an option to purchase Ruthven’s sod farm to pursue his dream of building and operating his own golf course. Armed with his option and Robbie Robinson’s hand-coloured layout of the course, Keith and Bob Watson convinced nine astute businessmen to invest in what would become Trafalgar Golf & Country Club. In those days, the area was known as Trafalgar Township and this is why the name Trafalgar was chosen.
The concept of Trafalgar would be a truly family oriented golf course where men and women were to be treated equally, and baby-sitting would be provided. A swimming pool with a lifeguard would be built, and a junior program and clinic would be organized to promote an early interest in the game (a system which produced 2 Canadian Junior Champions and 5 Ontario Champions in 6 years).
Sandra Post came to Trafalgar at 8 years old. She was a member at Oakville where she was allowed to practice but could not play until she was 14, a rule of thumb held by most clubs at that time. Trafalgar had the most innovative junior program in Ontario initiated by Bud Corbett who volunteered to set up the clinics and programs, found trophy donors and in general, organized the junior section. Some of the junior Canadian and Ontario champions include; Sandra Post, Wayne Macdonald, Martin Mason, Stan Fay and Kelly Roberts to name a few—a phenomenal record for a fledgling club.
Marlene Streit and the owners convened the very first 3-day Junior Girls Ontario Championship at Trafalgar. The ladies billeted the out-of-town players, provided transportation to and from the course, and our junior boys carried their clubs. There was a big barbecue and dance with a live band on Thursday evening before the final matches on Friday. This event was the model for the Championship for many years.
Unfortunately, many golf courses sit on prime real estate and become targets for developers. As Trafalgar Golf Club is about to become another storage facility in Milton one must think that this is just wrong. Large trees green space, and ponds all gone.
I am thankful that I got one last round in and every time I pass the property, I will remember all the good shots and even the bad ones.
