When he found out that he was part of the 2020 Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame class in both the athlete and builder categories, Martin Ring was taken aback by the news.
“It’s pretty humbling,” Ring said.
“I know that Ron Stewart nominated me and I’m just grateful that someone like Ron, who’s already inducted into the Prince Albert Sports H11all of Fame (in 2002) and the Saskatchewan Golf Hall of Fame (in 2013), thought of me as perhaps being one of his equals.”
Unlike most golfers, Ring’s competitive career didn’t start until his late teens and early 20’s when he entered the City Open for the first time at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course.
“I played a little bit as a junior but I didn’t enter any tournaments, so I’m kind of an anomaly,” Ring said.
“Once I played in the City Open, I was hooked on the game and I just kept working hard at it. I spent a lot of evenings at the course just chipping and putting…and I just loved it.”
Since taking part in the City Open, an event that he won in 2013, Ring has gone to capture eight men’s titles at Cooke, four Lobstick tournaments at Waskesiu, the Northern men’s tournament in 2000 and the Northern senior men’s tournament in 2018.
“I think the tournament that stands out the most for me was winning the provincial men’s amateur at Cooke in 2014,” Ring said. “I was 51-years-old at the time I thought that winning that tournament was starting to get out of reach, especially with all of the young guys that were coming up through the ranks and competing at the event.
“I caught lightning in a bottle that week and I was able to play some of the best golf that I’ve ever played over the course of four rounds.”
Ring has also played a huge role behind the scenes in the local golf community, as he’s been as a chair for provincials and national tournament at Cooke and has also been involved in several capacities at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Centre.
“I think a lot of that comes from my upbringing with my parents (Ralph and Carole),” Ring said. “If you are going to be involved in something, it makes sense to be involved at an executive or organizational level, and it just felt natural to do that at Cooke.
“To have the opportunity to host the Canadian Club Champions’ Championship in 1999 and see so many golfers come to Prince Albert was really neat. We got to do that again in 2004 with the Canadian Ladies Amateur Championship and it was a little bit different for me in 2009 when we had the national mid-amateur event here, as I was able to play in it on my home course.
“I was also involved as the junior golf coordinator from 2004 to 2007 when my son Trevor was in the program at Cooke, and it’s been really great to see so many young people get involved in the game here locally as some of them have gone to post-secondary opportunities.”
Ring has also been involved in the local hockey scene as he coached minor hockey from 1994-2004 and has served as the colour commentator for Prince Albert Raiders radio broadcasts for over two decades.
“Brian Munz was the announcer for the Raiders at the time and we had gotten to know each other from when he would come up to Waskesiu to cover the Lobstick,” Ring said.
“I was walking into the rink one night when he came up to me and said ‘my colour guy is sick tonight. You know hockey…why don’t you come on the air with me.’ I never really looked back from that moment and I’ve been able to work with Brian, Drew Wilson and now Trevor Redden.”
The most memorable moment for Ring during his time in the broadcast booth came in 2019 as he had a bird’s-eye view of the Raiders’ run to their second Western Hockey League title.
“It was a dream season,” Ring said.
“I’m not necessarily in the media per se, but to get that opportunity to go on the road through the playoffs and then head to the Memorial Cup in Halifax to stand shoulder to shoulder with a lot of the big names in hockey was pretty neat.”
