The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Curt Lawrence is living a dream as the golf pro for the Phantom Lake Golf Club. Born and raised in Flin Flon, Lawrence has been running PLGC for a year now after spending 15 years in Nipawin. In Nipawin, the 39-year-old was in business for himself as he worked at the Evergreen Golf Course. During his first year at PLGC, Lawrence had a simple goal. "I just wanted to get through and get my feet wet," said Lawrence, who has his CPGA card. "Get reacquainted with my membership." This year he's looking to have the best year ever and wants it to be a fun and safe place. Having 533 members will help, though it makes running the club a challenge. It's dealing with the people that he loves. "The people are friendly and outgoing and easy to get along with," he explained. "It makes being here easy." His customers bring variety and he enjoys helping their game. "I love giving lessons," Lawrence said, sitting in the lobby as members come and go. "It's one of my favourite things to do." In helping their game, he helps them have success on the greens. They have returned the favour with comments about the course. "The feedback is incredibly positive," he said. Lawrence likes that Phantom Lake is playing like a golf course and you want to hit the fairway. "It hasn't always been this good," he said. PLGC, in his opinion, is a colourful course. "I really enjoy it. I like the terrain. It's really like no other," he said. "It's a short one, but tough." Lawrence said it's the terrain and rocks that make the course challenging. "It's in the best shape it has been in." For that, Lawrence credits his staff, and Brett Stephenson, who has lots of experience. The only unfortunate thing is that Lawrence doesn't get to enjoy it like the golfers do. "Golf is secondary when it comes to running it," he explained. "I miss playing it Ð don't get me wrong. The bad part is you don't get to play as much."
