johnwhite1

Who Am I?

I was born August 11, 1957 in St. Catharines, Ontario and have lived here all my life. I was introduced to golf at the age of 7 by my father, George White, a three handicap at one point . I dabbled in golf for a few years and I remember stopping in the summer at Pinewood Park in North Bay and play the wonderful par 3 course on our way to and from Timmins.

I really got interested when I joined the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club at the age of 11 and after a couple of years met a number of young golfers that had the same interest. It was a great place to learn the game with many talented players at the club.Players like Dave MacKenzie (Ontario Junior Champion-1972), Dave Hanson, Ron Laugher, Ron Nemcko, Rob Graham etc.  Bruce Murray was the pro and assistants like Roy Sheridan and Rick Hill made it a cool place. Fred Reynolds ran the junior program and provided us with many opportunities to play competitive golf.

My first breakthrough I remember was winning a bantam championship at the club shooting 88, the first time I think I broke 90 and my picture was in the paper with Stan McLeod, a great junior golfer at the time. Next I remember winning the Niagara District Bantam Championship at Lookout Point shooting 75, beating the likes of Jay Evelyn and Jamie Kavanaugh. That year also, I was tied for low qualifier for the Ontario Junior with Rick Suja. With these early successes, I developed a passion for the game but through my middle teens, I didn’t really feel I reached my potential, mostly myself to blame.

I played some good golf though, winning Zone and SOSSA championships and a 3rd at  OFSSA and I played in a number of Ontario Juniors and Canadian Juniors. My junior career highlight was when I was medalist in the U. S. Junior at Crag Burn and played in Nashville, and made it into the match play portion although losing my first match on the first extra hole.

I attended East Tennessee State for one year as a walk-on and played with such players as Mike Hulbert, 2-time winner on the PGA Tour, Rick Smith of teaching fame and Alan Strange, Curtis’s twin brother. When I came back from the first year, I decided to attend Brock University and while there we almost won the OUA championship, finishing second and I was second individual.

I decided to turn pro in the spring and went to work for Attila Becsy at Twenty Valley Golf & Country Club and stayed there for two years. Attila is still one of my prime mentors and friends. I then completed my apprenticeship in the CPGA under John Irwin at the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club where I had grown up as a kid and learn a lot from this fine professional and great player.

After getting my Class A, I embarked on a short playing career which started when I traveled to Australia and New Zealand with fellow professional Don Wedderspoon. It was quite a trip and while not financially successful, another major highlight of my career was playing in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne. We were very fortunate to have the backing of a lot of the members at St. Catharines Golf & Country Club and others. People like Chuck Smith, Don Beaton,  Archie Katzman and Albert Aldelstein to name a few. That summer which I believe was around 1986, I did also play on the Canadian Tour. After little success, I decided to get back into the golf business and landed a teaching job at Brock Golfland and worked there with Walt and Ken Windjack. There my passion for teaching was stirred a bit and after leaving and going to work at Willo-Dell at my first head professional job and subsequently moving to become the first head professional at Rolling Meadows for 3 years I ended up back at Brock Golfland for another year.

The turning point in my career was an opportunity presented by Brian Antonsen, owner of Beechwood Golf & Country Club. I had volunteered to do the junior program and when he realized he wanted someone to assist him in running the club, I was hired on as the clubs professional where I have remained for the past 27 years. Brian was instrumental in providing me with time to start the Niagara District Junior Tour, which ignited my passion for teaching all the more when I saw the progress and the talent that a lot of the players had.

I have developed a passion for teaching this great game of golf and have had to work with many fine students and teachers. I do remember when I was a young man reading a physics book that had golf related information and I have been on and continue on the quest of learning new things about golf. I spent some time with the great George Knudson, and hold many esteem teachers and players in high regard. Bruce McCarrol, Ken Tarling, Bob Panasik, Bob Beauchemin, John Irwin, Attila Becsy, Bruce Murray and the list could go on and on. Also the many teachers and writers that I have met through their books and I would say it is over a 1,ooo books that I have read to help develop my skills as a teacher.

I am also blessed with a wonderful family that supports my efforts and are a joy to be around. Wife Donna, Daughters Jenny, Courtney, Kaylee, Emily, Son Bobby, Granddaughters Samantha, Brooke and Harper and Grandsons Timothy and Tommy.

  • 2004 Ontario Teacher of the Year for Juniors
  • 2006 City of St. Catharines Sportsperson of the Year
  • CNC trained
  • Founder and Organizer of the Niagara District Junior Tour for the last 28 years.
  • Regional GAO Team Niagara Coach
  • Brock University Men’s & Women’s Coach
  • 4 Time Senior Player of the Year NDPGT 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • 2017 Chuck Smith Sportsperson of the Year
  • 2018 Inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame
  • 2021 Inducted into the Niagara Golf Wall of Recognition