Huron Oaks—you won’t find it on any of those top courses in Canada lists.

But for Mike Weir, an eight-time PGA Tour winner and the 2003 Masters champ, it is an important place indeed.

“It is where I grew up playing,” Weir said from his home in Utah. “And I was always playing against guys who were older than I was and I’m not a very big guy, so they were all bigger than I was. I needed a great short game just to keep up.”

Weir, 49, returns to the area to visit his parents a few times a year, but hasn’t played Huron Oaks in recent years. Still, he recalls the course fondly, even if there have been changes since he was a junior golfer at the facility.

“The front nine is scorable, and the back nine is tighter and a lot more difficult,” he says. “I learned how to shoot low there.”

Gator. Magoo. Hutch. The Gov. Those were the nicknames of Weir’s buddies when he played at Huron Oaks. Steve “The Gov” Bennett was Weir’s early instructor at Huron Oaks, assisting the young golfer as he improved as a teen. Bennett’s short game was also very strong, Weir says, and it rubbed off on the impressionable young player. Weir would also spend hours on the chipping green, making bets against other young golfers on a notoriously tricky surface.

“That green isn’t there anymore, but it was tough,” Weir says. “You had to hit great chips to hold it.”

Bennett showed Weir how to score—the golfer would record a 63 as a 16-year old, though he still couldn’t top Bennett’s course record 61—a skill Weir would take with him more than a decade later when he cracked the PGA Tour.

The lucky golfers who won the contest will find Weir has spent a lifetime playing pro-ams with amateur players. That’s given him some unique insights into the challenges of everyday golfers when they have the opportunity to play with the pros. And maybe the Masters Champ can even give you a few pointers on your game.

“A lot of them, even good golfers, are really nervous,” Weir says. “I try to crack a joke, or if they are a beginner, I try to help with their fundamentals. Maybe they roll in a long putt and help the team.”

As for Weir, he’s nearing the PGA Champions Tour, where the over-50 set play their golf. But he’s not through competing, splitting 2019 between the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour.

“My game is really pretty close,” Weir says. “I’m really paying attention to my short game because I’ve probably overlooked that while working on my swing. But it is really in good shape right at the moment.”

Teeing it up with a legend—and the best male golfer Canada has ever produced—is a rare opportunity indeed. Hitting the fairways of his home course, where he grew up playing—well that’s an extraordinary opportunity. 

Congratulations to our Father’s Day Faster Winners!

Grand Prize winner: Marc Foulon

Secondary winners:

James Ahm

Stan O’Neil

Dale Mills

Kim Mills- Oneill

Steve Macrae

Andrew Badeau

Britt Halcro

Tyler Mossey

Dale Smith

Brian Vanderheyden

Greg Stewart

Chris Mearns

Shane   Mccormick

Gilbert  Sin-Chan

Brad Miazga

Brenda Pilon

Todd Wharton

Mohammed Sheikh

Cam Almasy

Matt Owens