SPORTS FLASHBACK 2004: Steinbach Fly-In is the legacy of the city’s earliest golfers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2024 (257 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Today’s championship layout at the Steinbach Fly-In Golf Course is a monument to the perseverance of those early Steinbach golf club members whose first course was more functional than fashionable. The most difficult phase of any enterprise is in the starting, and, in 1954, they certainly did start something. At the time, little did they know just how huge an impact their efforts would have on their growing community.

Much of the credit for the construction of a new and expanded Steinbach golf course must go to the man whose brainwave it was to have a course where people could fly in, play a round of golf and then fly out again — after purchasing a car or two, of course.

It just happened A.D. Penner had a construction company at the ready to do the excavation, along with a dozen or so like thinking local pilots, who would help him bankroll his dream.

But building a golf course is one thing, and running it successfully is another altogether, and it is here that the golf club executive and staff come to the fore.

The new course, which officially replaced the old one, when Manitoba Premier Ed Schreyer cut the ribbon in 1971, was only the first phase of A.D. Penner’s dream.

With a clubhouse devoid of all the amenities offered by every Winnipeg golf club, the arrival of a flamboyant club professional helped the course move forward. Larry Robinson arrived 25 years ago to launch the club’s second phase, which included a new clubhouse and a new front nine.

Over the years, Robinson became a one-man band in the area of public relations, promoting the game through tournaments like the Auto City Pro-Am, development of a program of local leagues and summer programs for young golfers, and an expanded pro shop.

Through it all, he was one of the most convincing lobbyists, along with A.D. of course, for a new clubhouse. In the background, but usually supportive, a group of dedicated board members quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, made things happen.

Spending money was never easy for this group, and sometimes, things like a new irrigation system or expansion from nine holes to 18 didn’t happen as quickly as A.D., Rob Fast, Larry Robinson, and most of the members hoped.

But in the end, to the benefit of local golfers and their community, it would appear the outspoken mayor always would get his way.

Greens supervisor Rob Fast and his crew now work out of a maintenance shed which doubles as a kind of airport office, just off the 17th tee, where it served for years as the shared clubhouse for the golfers and the pilots using the airport.

Golf is a game for all ages. It has often been said every golfer should be able to shoot his age — if only he lives long enough.

The score has little to do with the enjoyment of the game, and once bitten by the golf bug, it is always fun to take the motorized golf cart out for a round, no matter what the age or the score.

So maybe, just maybe, this older high-handicap golfer would be wise to dust off those clubs occupying a corner of the office at The Carillon. If enough hints are dropped, Robinson may just extend an invitation to play a round, with the promise of a photo or two in the next issue of course.

What better way to spend an afternoon than in the pleasant surroundings of the Steinbach Fly-In Golf Course, in the company of witnesses, when you manage to sink that elusive hole-in-one.