Hollinger Golf Course celebrates 100 years in Timmins

The Hollinger Golf Club in Timmins is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

It was on Aug. 9, 1922, when the club took over the nine-hole course from the Hollinger Mine, who built it in 1919 as a way to attract people to the city.

Since then, it's undergone many changes.

In 2021, the original nine-hole course was replaced with an 18-hole, full bent grass course, the only one of its kind in northern Ontario.

Another change came in 2008 when a local physician bought the club and, more recently, promised to build a clubhouse that would keep the operation open year round.

“Doctor Kos ... mentioned that the members for all their support over the years, they deserve a new building that they can be proud of and a building that can host (events) and that makes us more than just a golf course whether it’s weddings, events, conferences," said Taylor Dupuis, manager of the Hollinger Golf Club.

Dupuis said building upon its growing junior membership base would also help ensure the club's longevity.

“Only about three or four years ago, our junior membership was at three junior members and today we have over 60 junior members," said Dupuis.

"This is the future of the club."

Ben Hamelin is one of those junior members. He's nine years old, but he's been golfing at the Hollinger since he was four.

“I like when I swing my golf club, it feels nice and I like when I get holes in one," Ben said.

That's a good thing as he and the other juniors will be wanting to get in on more 'Golf Canada' sanctioned events in their home town, such as the one hosted by the club for the first time last summer.

It was a NextGen championships tournament.