Andrea Moss
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
SaskToday.ca
YORKTON — York Lake Golf Course has officially reached its century mark, commemorating 100 years of community endurance, local sports history and adaptation since the initial property acquisition in May 1924.
The centennial celebrations included a community barbecue, a ceremonial cake cutting and many golfers out hitting the greens. For the remainder of the week, visitors can explore a historical gallery inside the clubhouse displaying vintage archival photographs and regional newspaper clippings detailing the facility’s long history on the Prairies.
Weathering financial and environmental storms
The club has survived significant hardships over its 100-year history. The 1930s Dust Bowl dried the irrigation lake, forcing a temporary move to sand greens until the club reorganized as the Southwood Golf Club in 1937.
Following a post-Second World War slump, the property was leased to the Knights of Pythias for five years to avoid closure. A permanent safeguard arrived in the mid-1950s when the land title went to the Crown for York Lake Park, legally requiring it to remain a public golf facility indefinitely. Volunteers later expanded the property to 18 holes in the late 1980s.
Severe weather struck again between 2010 and 2012 when consecutive floods ruined the back nine, triggering a 2013 bankruptcy. The course survived because York Lake Regional Park waived lease fees while members volunteered full time on a skeleton budget. After operating strictly as a nine-hole venue for nearly a decade, the club reclaimed three flooded holes in 2019, creating Saskatchewan’s second 12-hole golf layout and repurposing the remaining space into a unique 12-hole foot golf course.
The golf course owes much of this rich legacy to dedicated longtime players like Bill Sinclair, who has been teeing off at the club for roughly 60 years alongside his frequent golf partner, committee chair Tom Seeley. Sinclair has witnessed the course evolve through historic floods and numerous transformations, volunteering his own time to assist with at least four major renovations over the decades.
“When we first started out here golfing, there was only sand greens out here,” Sinclair recalled, reflecting on how much the landscape has shifted over six decades. “There were no grass greens.”
Fuelled by grassroots volunteerism
To prevent the course from shutting down permanently during the 2013 crisis, a new volunteer board stepped in to restructure the club’s finances. Board member Rick Schrader introduced a creative lifetime membership program, selling four individual and four couple memberships to immediately generate $80,000 in upfront capital to clear the outstanding debt. Schrader also leveraged his business network to establish corporate sponsorship and advertising packages on carts and tee signs, establishing a stable financial foundation. It was a critical turnaround, with organizers noting how close the facility came to disappearing, moving from the possibility of the padlock going on the gate to a completely self-sustaining, financially sound operation.
The survival and daily operation of the property remain a testament to local dedication, with community members acknowledging that the facility relies 90 per cent on volunteer labour to maintain the grounds and clubhouse.
“This course wouldn’t even be open if it wasn’t for the efforts of Donna [Liebrecht], her sister, her family and other volunteers,” noted Seeley, York Lake centenary celebration committee public relations chair. “Absolutely wouldn’t be open.”
Building the next generation of golfers
A major highlight of the club’s modern success is its thriving junior program, which has grown from a single one-week camp into a massive summer initiative. Key volunteer Donna Liebrecht recalled the early days of trying to establish youth programming under the guidance of local golf professionals.
“When we first started volunteering here that was 12 years ago, I think we had four junior members maybe,” Liebrecht shared. “This year we have over 80. It’s building the future of the golf.”
The popular program now runs separate camp weeks divided by age groups, guiding children from ages seven to 16 through morning instruction, skills clinics and lunch. Due to long waiting lists, the club has even expanded to offer additional one-on-one lesson slots to accommodate the growing demand.
The community rallied behind this next generation of athletes during the centennial kickoff event. Harvest Meats donated all the hot dogs for the community barbecue, and a silver collection taken up during the lunch raised $528. Every dollar from the collection will go directly into funding the junior golf program, ensuring the club enters its second century with a stable operational future.
