Joy Rutherford wins women’s club championship for the 33rd time

As the summer winds down, golf courses across our area wind down as well as by playing their club championships.

And at Flamborough Hills Golf and Country Club, that means members and staff are congratulating Joy Rutherford for winning the women’s club championship — again.

Rutherford won the title a couple of weeks ago, for the 33rd consecutive year.

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame doesn’t keep records on club championships so no one really knows if winning a club championship for 33 consecutive years is any sort of record. But regardless, it’s pretty darn impressive.

The late Jackie Rosart won the Burlington Golf and Country Club club championship 33 times as well, although they weren’t consecutively. What’s impressive about Rosart’s accomplishment is that she won it every time she entered and she won it in her teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.

Rutherford’s consecutive streak means that after she won her first one in 1990, she never lost and she never missed playing in it.

“I never missed because of illness although one year I woke up the day of the final round with vertigo and had to struggle through it,” says the 67-year-old Dundas resident who drives a school bus and then plays golf all summer.

Keeping the streak alive hasn’t always been a cakewalk or a sure thing. In fact, there was one year, Rutherford recalls, when she was nine strokes behind with nine holes remaining and still won.

And she’s never had to go to playoff.

“And I don’t want to go to a playoff, either. I don’t think my nerves could take that,” she says.

In her younger days, Rutherford played baseball, not golf. In fact, she met her future husband at a baseball game. He played golf, however, and convinced her to give it a try.

She recalls the first round she ever played. It was at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

“I shot 136, plus, plus,” she says with a laugh. “But when we went back to the same course four years later, I shot an 86.”

In other words, even though she was introduced to the game somewhat late, she took to it right away.

The Rutherfords joined Flamborough Hills in 1985 when Cliff Sheppard bought it from the original owners, the Windsor family, and they’ve been members ever since.

Joy has also added the Flamborough senior ladies’ championship to her list of titles at the club. She has no intention of giving up her club championship title any time soon, but she thinks this year’s runner-up will certainly push her in the future.

“Regan Andrusyk is an amazing talent and she is so dedicated. I can definitely see her going places,” says Rutherford. “She’s also 12 years old.”

Rutherford, who sports a 7.8 handicap index, has made seven aces, all at Flamborough.

With the passing last week of Queen Elizabeth, I was reminded that a friend from Hamilton, Mike Ellis, an avid golfer, had the opportunity a while back to play her majesty’s private golf course.

It’s actually called The Royal Household Golf Club, and it’s on the grounds of Windsor Castle. It is considered by many to be the most exclusive golf course in the world.

Only the Royal Family, senior staff members and their guests are allowed to play.

The Queen didn’t play golf but was known to walk her dogs on the course, and members of the extended Royal Family played the nine-hole course regularly.

Ellis, who grew up in Flamborough, went to England to play and coach in their professional hockey league.

“I was playing and coaching in Bracknell and the head of our fan club, Desmond White, asked me one day if I would like to play the most private golf club in the world,” says Ellis. “And then he told me about the Queen’s private golf course.”

White, it turned out, was also a senior member of the Queen’s personal security detail and as such had access to the golf course.

As an avid golfer, it didn’t take Ellis long to jump at the opportunity.

“We entered the grounds of Windsor Castle through a side entrance and had to go through the security check,” Ellis explained.

“And we had to drive through garden areas and to the Royal Livery (farm) before we got to the golf course.”

The Royal Household Golf Club was designed by Samuel Mure Fergusson in 1901 for Edward VII, the oldest son of Queen Victoria.

The nine-hole course is relatively short at 2,280 yards with a par of 32.

Ellis, who is now back in Canada and living in St. Thomas, said it was all threes and fours and a lot were doglegs.

He said he had lots of exciting times playing and coaching pro hockey in England, but getting to play the Queen’s private golf course is still his favorite memory.

Pre-round instructions included stopping play if she walked out on to the golf course nearby and not to speak to her.

And yes, well at least maybe, he saw the Queen.

“She was walking her dogs and was quite far away from where we were playing but I’m pretty sure it was her,” he says.

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