Next 100 Years Already Taking Shape at Peterborough Golf & Country Club
/By Scott Arnold
After more than a century in Peterborough, the Peterborough Golf & Country Club has no shortage of history behind it. For General Manager William Mitchell, the exciting part is helping decide what comes next.
adam brown of chemong lodge celebrates after sinking a long putt on the 18th hole at the Peterborough Golf & Country Club. PGCC continues to bring people together through golf, events and community. (Photo by Scott Arnold)
Mitchell is in his second season leading the club, but he admits he didn't know a great deal about the Peterborough Golf & Country Club before taking the job.
What he has discovered since arriving, however, has made him increasingly excited about the years ahead.
“There is something so wonderful here at the Peterborough Golf & Country Club,” Mitchell said. “I couldn't be more excited to help lead the team here and to help write the next few pages of the next 100 years of this club's history.”
After more than a century in Peterborough, the Peterborough Golf & Country Club has no shortage of history behind it. For General Manager William Mitchell, the exciting part is helping decide what comes next (photo by Scott Arnold)
That history is important, but the club isn't simply looking backwards.
Plans are underway to modernize the golf course and make sure it can continue to serve members and the broader community for another century. At the same time, the club continues to be a busy place throughout the year, with golf taking centre stage during the warmer months before curling carries the club into winter.
There are about 1,100 members, along with a staff of roughly 90 people who keep everything moving.
Mitchell said it takes all of them to deliver the major events that have become part of the club's calendar, from preparing the course to running the food and beverage operation and everything in between.
“It takes an army for sure,” he said.
The memory of Gary Dalliday continues to bring people together, with golfers gathering at the peterborough golf & country club Monday for the annual memorial tournament in his honour. left to right: Pete Dalliday, Jack Dalliday, Lincoln Dalliday and Gary’s brother, John Esford (Photo by Scott Arnold)
One of those major events was taking place when Mitchell sat down to talk about the club, with the Gary Dalliday Memorial Caring For Our Community Golf Tournament bringing about 100 participants together in support of Community Care Peterborough.
The tournament was particularly meaningful this year, taking place exactly eight years to the day after Dalliday passed away following a courageous battle with cancer.
For Mitchell, events carrying that kind of community significance are a reflection of the responsibility that comes with operating a club so closely connected to Peterborough.
“We realize the weight of the event,” he said. “We realize the weight of the individual that is honouring and the foundation and the community care that is supporting.”
Eight years after his passing, Gary Dalliday’s legacy of community involvement was remembered on the golf course Monday. left to right: Peter guerin, tim dalliday, dan jewell and craig field (Photo by Scott Arnold)
But while major events are an important part of the club's role, Mitchell said it is the people he has met that have made the biggest impression on him.
He came to the club from Oshawa and has spent much of the past two years getting to know its members and the wider Peterborough community.
He said he quickly noticed something familiar about the area.
“I know when I would travel to cottage countries and stuff before, people walk a little slower,” Mitchell said. “They hold eye contact a little bit longer. They ask questions that they care for the answers to.”
He has found that same sense of connection in Peterborough.
“I just find a level of care and welcome to the community that I could see myself here for a long time,” he said.
That may be one of the reasons the club feels like such a natural fit for him.
Mitchell still gets out to play when he can, managing about 10 to 15 rounds a year. He used to compete and admits he still has the competitive itch, although staff and younger members have been happy to remind him that he isn't quite as competitive as he used to be.
Golfers with the gary dalliday caring for our community golf tournament make their way around the Peterborough Golf & Country Club during a busy day on the course. (Photo by Scott Arnold)
His favourite hole is the 18th, where the clubhouse comes into view and the design forces golfers to make a decision off the tee.
It is a fitting choice for someone thinking about what comes next.
The course carries the influence of Stanley Thompson, the clubhouse and property carry more than 100 years of history, and the club continues to build on both while looking toward the future.
founded in 1897, The Peterborough Golf and Country Club is looking toward its next century while continuing to welcome golfers to its historic course. (Photo by Scott Arnold)
