The CFLOAA Annual Golf Tournament sponsored by Manulife was held on a very sunny July 31 at the Hylands Golf and Country Club. We were very fortunate with the weather since this July was the rainiest July in Ottawa in over 100 years! Everyone enjoyed the golf and, most of all, the camaraderie.
The CFLOAA/Ottawa Redblacks Legacy Game Weekend delivered a memorable blend of connection and celebration, beginning with Friday’s Annual Golf Tournament, continuing through the Ottawa Redblacks Legacy Game at TD Place, and wrapping up with Saturday’s Alumni Lunch at Hometown Sports Grill.
The golf tournament also recognized the 50th Anniversary of 1976 Ottawa Rough Riders Grey Cup win, and the 10th Anniversary of the 2016 Ottawa Redblacks Grey Cup victory. Videos of those games were shown on a screen during the lunch thanks to Warner Miles (who also organizes all the Alumni communication).
Alumni from the Rough Riders, Renegades, and Redblacks enjoyed a great day on the course and then camaraderie over lunch. The golf event was again co-ordinated by Board member Gary Page, Dan Dever was also on hand for the Registration to greet all the golfers. The morning began again with Tim Hortons coffee and Timbits donated by Alumni member Bill Houldsworth and his family (owners of 2 Ottawa Tim Hortons).
Jeff Avery (President of the CFL Ottawa Alumni Association) was again our superb MC. Jeff was one of 6 former players from 1976 Grey Cup team (Avery, Art Green, Tony (the Catch) Gabriel, Peter Stenerson, Bill Hatanaka and Bill Robinson) who joined us for golf. Golfing from the 2016 Redblacks Grey Cup team were Henry Burris, Jonathon Rose, and Abdul Kanneh. The Redblacks supported the event with a foursome that included Henry as well Adrian Sciarra and Shawn Burke.
There were three speakers: –
Art, who came up from Atlanta for the Legacy celebrations with his wife Adrine, spoke about how important his time was as an Ottawa Rough Rider and the lifetime memories he has including his two Grey Cup wins in 1976 and earlier in 1973. He also acknowledged the iconic Catch in 1976 (Clements to Gabriel) and told us he remembers Tony saying in every huddle “I’m open throw me the ball”!
Pat Stoqua’s foursome including Bruce Walker, Greg Clarke and Tim Robinson again had the lowest score. The LOFT (Lack Of Fing Talent) ‘winning’ foursome was a Redblack Alumni foursome of Jonathon Rose, Abdul Kanneh, Dominique Rhymes and Sherrod Baltimore. They were not great golfers, but they had a wonderful time on the course!
The individual hole prize winners were: –
The 2026 raffle was very successful thanks to 60 donated raffle prizes highlighted by 2 OTTO’s Club packages from the Redblacks ($542 each), an Executive Golf 2026 membership ($649), an Eagle Creek foursome (with carts) from ClubLink ($450) and donations from the Canadian Pro Shop Online ($345). Other items for the Raffle and for the on-course contest winners were donated by Mortgages Made Easy (Richard Hanoski), MCAP, TSN, BLG Law firm, St. Louis Ribs (Kanata South), Local Heroes, Hometown Sports Grill, Molson Coors, Promo WRX, Convergint, Ken Vargo, and Stu Cameron.
A huge thanks to Dick Dinelle and his daughter Lisa, for selling the Raffle tickets. The 100 prizes for the Raffle and the on-course contests were co-ordinated by Jim Cain. The Raffle table was well organized with signage plus Raffle item lists were on every lunch table. A real positive was Lisa helping the winners to select the most appropriate item from the prize table.
Funds from the Raffle go to support the football programs at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, and to the Support Fund of the CFL Alumni Association. The Support Fund offers financial support to CFL alumni who are experiencing financial hardship due to a medical condition or the sudden loss of income.
A great time was had by all!
