One of Canada’s oldest amateur golf tournaments returns to its roots this weekend as Cataraqui Golf & Country Club hosts the 100th St. Lawrence District Golf Association championship tournament on July 24 and 25.

The St. Lawrence District Golf Association was founded at Cataraqui in 1925, the annual inter-club tournament began play the following year in Brockville. Twelve clubs from across Eastern Ontario and Northern New York compete for the prestigious title. Brockville Country Club captured last year’s championship and returns as defending champions.

Geoff Henning, well-known in local golf circles, serves as the Association’s General Secretary, acting as a liaison among the participating clubs while overseeing the annual championship.

‘My predecessors in this role have been very integral in keeping the interest up among the participating clubs, making sure there is ongoing communication and it’s a big reason why it’s lasted 100 years.”

Amazingly, Henning is just the fourth General Secretary of the association’s century-long history. He succeeded the late Doug Jones of Cataraqui, who served in the role from 1976 to 2018. The tournament’s senior championship trophy now bears Jones’ name in recognition of his decades of dedication. The junior trophy honours the late Kent Lloyd, one of the most accomplished golfers in Cataraqui history, who passed away in 2023.

The St. Lawrence championship has been contested continuously since 1926, interrupted only by the Second World War and for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Henning’s own connection to the championship stretches back more than five decades. He first competed as a junior in 1970 at Massena, New York, before becoming a member of powerful Cataraqui teams for more than 20 years.

“Looking back to the early years of the tournament, the social aspect was as important as the golf. They had dinner-dances for players and their spouses, but over time it became mostly about the golf.”

The tradition of camaraderie still continues. All twelve clubs will gather Friday evening at Cataraqui for dinner, where stories will be told and many long-standing friendships and rivalries will once again be renewed.

In the tournament’s early years, six golfers represented each club, usually qualifying through their respective club championships. Over the years, however, the format has evolved.

Today, each team fields ten players including at least one designated junior and one designated senior. The best eight scores each day count toward the team total over the 36-hole, two-day championship.

Individual honours are also awarded for Low Overall Score, Low Senior & Low Junior, with all the competitors playing from the same set of tees.

“The team aspect makes it a different approach for each golfer,” says Henning, “you have to think differently when you are playing as a team,” adding, “personally I think I was a bit more conservative with my own approach, not wanting to make a bad decision that could cost your team.”

Joining the host Cataraqui Club are Kingston’s Amherstview & Garrison Golf clubs, along with Gananoque, Brockville, Cornwall, Smiths Falls, Prescott, Perth, Mississippi Golf Club near Carleton Place, and the New York clubs from Potsdam and Malone.

The championship rotates annually among the 12 participating clubs. Cataraqui has been a dominant force throughout the tournament’s history, but the club has not captured the title since winning at Garrison in 2016.

Hosting the championship brings with it a distinct home-course advantage, and with the tournament celebrating its historic 100th edition, there is even greater motivation to end a 10-year championship drought.

For generations of golfers throughout Eastern Ontario and Northern New York, winning the St. Lawrence District Championship has become a badge of honour.

The tournament itself is nearly as old as Cataraqui Golf & Country Club, which was founded in 1917 and redesigned in the early 1930s by renowned course architect Stanley Thompson. Consistently ranked among Canada’s Top 100 courses and one of Ontario’s finest, Cataraqui has hosted many prestigious championships over the years.

“The Cataraqui club is well prepared for this weekend’s championship, thanks to head club professional Iain Reston, team rep Lorne Jamieson and his committee – they’ve made sure this year’s event will be memorable and add to the continued success of the Association,” says Henning.

For a club built on tradition, capturing the 100th St. Lawrence District Golf championship on home soil would add yet another memorable chapter to Cataraqui’s rich golfing history.

Mark Potter is a longtime Kingston broadcaster who has followed local sports for almost six decades. Mark was inducted into the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2012.