Whispering Hills Golf Club - Company History

Introduction
Established in 1925 as Saugeen Golf Club, a private 9 hole club, Whispering Hills Golf Club is Grey-Bruce's oldest premier 18 hole championship golf club. Whispering Hills is proud of it's classic, traditional-style golf course, which has hosted and supported thousands of fundraising and competitive golf tournaments since it’s inception, with well over 1 Million rounds of golf played. Whispering Hills has brought up an immense number of junior golfers over the years, who have gone on to become excellent players and have been employed at numerous golf courses throughout Canada and other parts of the world.

1925 - 1965
In 1925, the original course named Saugeen Golf Club began as a private 9 hole family retreat, owned by a famous lawyer and Senator in the Federal Govenrment, Mr. William Brunt. Mr. Brunt and his brother Chick Brunt alternated running the golf club each year. It was a private club only for personal friends, invited guests and family of the Brunts.

Mr. William Brunt was involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident in 1963. The family only operated the golf course for 2 more years after his death, then decided to sell the golf course. A gentleman by the name of Mr. Ralph Campbell from Toronto, Ontario purchased the golf club from Mrs. Helen Brunt in 1965.

1965-1969
Mr. Ralph Campbell was well known for building "Duffin's Creek Golf Club" (now called Annandale Golf Club) in only 4 months in 1960. He was involved in building golf courses in the Toronto area prior to purchasing Saugeen Golf Club in Hanover in 1965. After purchasing the golf club from the Brunts, he built and opened what is now the front 9 of Whispering Hills and built the south Club House addition as well. The golf club also became accessible to the public in 1965 and was no longer a private club.

1969 - 1972
In 1969, Mr. Jerry Peterson, from Durham, Ontario, purchased the golf club and wanted to make the club private once again, but could not get enough members to go completely private. The club became semi-private instead, with emphasis to members. He built the bar in the Club House, finished the locker rooms and re-built four greens and lengthened the course. He also built the Pro Shop and hired a Golf Professional to manage the club. Mr. Peterson operated the golf club as a very high-end exclusive club. Mr. Peterson had health problems and sold the club to Mr. Keith Stein in 1972.

1972-1976
Mr. Keith Stein came to Hanover from Wheatly, Ontario in 1972. He changed the name from Saugeen Golf Club to Whispering Hills Golf Club, as there already was another golf course in Port Elgin, Ontario with the same name; Saugeen Golf Club. It was confusing to the O.G.A. when Mr. Stein entered golf tournaments to the Association's yearly tournament schedule, thus being the reason for the change. In October of 1976, Mr. Doug Day came up to Hanover with a German real estate agent named Otto, from Streetsville, Ontario. Otto played golf and was a member at Hornby Tower Golf Club in Milton, where Mr. Day and his wife worked. Mr. Day was the Head Professional and his wife Veronica was the Front Desk Receptionist & Secretary. The real estate agent's in laws lived in Hanover and Otto visited Hanover on a regular basis and knew Whispering Hills was up for sale. Otto told Mr. Day the course was up for sale since he knew Mr. Day was looking for a course to buy at that time. He mentioned it to Mr. Day in October of 1976 and on a cold, rainy Wednesday in October, Otto drove Mr. Day up to Hanover to take a look at the club. Meanwhile, Veronica (then pregnant with son Andrew) worked in the Pro Shop at Hornby Tower, covering for Mr. Day while he was away looking at the club. Mr. Stein drove Mr. Day and Otto around the course in his station wagon, showing them the course. Mr. Day made an Offer To Purchase immediately that Wednesday night and the offer was quickly accepted that Friday by Mr. Stein, as no locals in the area believed that the club was worth what Mr. Stein was asking and weren't interested in purchasing the property.

1977 - Present
On February 25th, 1977, Mr. Doug Day and Mrs. Veronica Day officially took possession on the closing date. It fell on one of the biggest snow storms of the winter, taking over 5 hours to drive up from Milton, Ontario, which is usually just an hour and 45 min drive. Mr. Day came up with brother in law Joseph Cavilla and best friend Roly Evelyn and spent one week trying to make the place livable, before the rest of the family arrived from Milton. Mr. Day's wife Veronica and their 3 young children, Kimley, Darrell and Andrew, came up to Hanover in March of 1977.

Watching their 3 children grow up and become involved in the business has been an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience for Mr. and Mrs. Day over the past 29 golf seasons. Veronica Day is the President & CEO of the club. Son Darrell began work at the club very early and became Assistant Golf Course Superintendent in 1992. He later become the General Manager & Golf Course Superintendent in 1994. Darrell designed the new official company logo for Whispering Hills in 1995. Darrell launched the official Whispering Hills Golf Club.com web site to the Internet in 2000 and is currently the Vice-President & General Manager of the company. Darrell has been the Authorized Custom-Club Fitting Specialist for PING Golf for the area since 2000. Andrew Day is the Touring Professional of the club and currently holds the course record of 63 (8 under par).

Whispering Hills Golf Club Celebrating 80 years of golf By Derek Lester Local Sports - Friday, August 12, 2005 @ 09:00
*Doug Day, left, was 31 years old when he bought Whispering Hills Golf Club, the same age Darrell, right, is now.* *Photo: By Derek Lester*	HANOVER — Many things have changed in this region during the past 80 years, but one thing that has remained constant is that golfers have had a place to play just west of Hanover. Whispering Hills Golf Club is celebrating its 80th anniversary after opening in 1925, and originally being called Saugeen Golf Club. William Brunt was the first owner of the course, which started as nine holes and was used as a family retreat where his family invited people to play.
In 1965 Ralph Campbell took over the course and made it into the 18-hole golf course it is today. The back nine were the original nine holes of the course. Also in 1965, an addition was built onto the clubhouse, which was the old farm house, to include new locker and club rooms. Jerry Peterson was the next person to run the golf course, taking it over in 1969, the same year the pro shop was built. He wanted the course to become an exclusive country club as he had high-end ideas, but he ultimately sold the course to Keith Stein in 1972. Stein changed the golf course name to Whispering Hills Golf Club (WHGC) in 1972, and promoted the course to competitive golfers, whereas it had been used more as a social event previously. Stein also encouraged junior and beginner players, and started more tournaments. In the fall of 1976, Doug and Veronica Day visited the course, and on Feb. 25, 1977, they purchased it, carrying on where Stein left off — promoting the game to junior members, and having more tournaments, encouraging local companies to host tournaments for their employees. “To carry it over 80 years is an accomplishment,” said Darrell Day, Doug and Veronica’s eldest son and vice-president and general manager of WHGC. Doug is the CPGA professional and secretary-treasurer and Veronica is the president and CEO. When the Day family took over the course, they built the entrance into the course, enlarged the greens, moved and planted numerous trees and added a number of sand traps. All this work made the course more challenging as tree lines narrowed the fairways and became hazards, along with the 46 sand traps. Recently, however, Doug has made grass traps because, “I find that grass traps are more challenging around the greens now.” After purchasing five more acres of land, hole 9 (which runs along the highway) was extended 120 yards this year to total 382, and now has a dog leg right from the back tee off (front tee is only 185 yards to the pin). Doug said the par-four ninth hole is now the toughest hole on the course. The course employs seven people, and Doug still cuts the greens and does maintenance work. Doug said despite working 100 hours per week at the course, he still got to see his family grow up. “The best part is the family is together 24 hours a day,” he said, adding that he purchased the course for the love of the game. “It’s something I love, it’s all I’ve ever known. The first time I walked into a pro shop, I said ‘I want to be a pro,’” Doug said. “It was never for financial gain. Some days I hoped the day would never end, whereas some people say they can’t wait to retire.” Today WHGC is a rarity as it does not have outside revenue, it has survived with one income coming solely from the course. On Feb. 13, 2004, WHGC was recognized with other businesses within the Municipality of Brockton that had been open for at least 50 years. Now that the family has grown up, Darrell has chosen the business side of golf and works at WHGC while Andrew chose the playing side and is a tour pro on the Great Lakes Tour. “He (Doug) didn’t push us into anything, we made our own choices to be where we are today,” Darrell said. Darrell has a goal to continue the family business, and the success rate of his parents, which has had some obstacles. Doug said one problem they have faced is being surrounded by farms and every so often cows have been known to wander over and damage the course. In 2000, WHGC started offering golf year round as they purchased the indoor golf simulator, which operates from October to April. It started with six courses, but now offers 20 courses from around the world, and is $30 for 18 holes. Darrell said future plans consist of general improvement on maintenance and improvement on customer service. “We’re not just selling golf, we’re selling enjoyment.” Darrell added that the keys to their success have been consistency and making members and non-members feel welcome. “Here we’re personable, we deal one-on-one and hands-on — everyone is accessible all the time at the course.” Darrell said. “Everyone golfing is top priority, no one is treated different.” John Rixon of Hanover was a member of WHGC from 1949 to 2004, and has golfed occasionally this year. The 83-year-old said his favourite memory of the course was “when I was 80, I had an eagle on the sixth hole.” WHGC offers an unlimited golf day pass for $20 Monday to Friday and $25 on weekends and holidays. After 3 pm, these rates drop by $5. The club also offers a weekday green card for Monday to Friday members, as well as full memberships.