Gar Hamilton - Tee Time Tips

story Mike Beggs photography Steve Uhraney

He’s one of just four head professionals in the 105-year history of Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.

However, after 23 years at the helm of this prestigious club – which has hosted six Canadian Opens, and three Canadian Amateur championships – Gar Hamilton has announced his retirement, effective December 31, 2011. He leaves behind a legacy as one of Canada’s top competitive, and club pros.

A recent inductee into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame, this gentlemanly North York native spent three years on the U.S. PGA Tour, made 13 Canadian Open appearances, and claimed four Canadian PGA Club Pro championships and one Canadian PGA Senior champion. In his time at Mississaugua, he has toiled hard to promote the game of golf; and he ranks as one of the Ontario Golf Association’s leading ambassadors.

“Gar is a versatile, outstanding golf pro, and a pleasure to work with,” says the club’s general manager Ian Scott.

“I think (his notoriety) definitely adds something to the club. People say, “Oh, Mississaugua, your pro is Gar Hamilton.” It’s a very big plus from a marketing perspective.”

So, for one final season, Hamilton will run his award-winning pro shop, oversee the club’s lessons and clinics, help coordinate the “very, very active” events schedule, and sit on the Greens Committee for this par 72, 7,200-yard course, set in the Credit River Valley.

His stay at Mississaugua has been, “fabulous”.

“It’s a great golf course and country club, the venue for all those Canadian Opens,” he comments. “Great history, great tradition.”

“I think the best thing about the course, it’s the kind of place you never get tired of. Mississaugua presents a challenge. It’s always interesting, and beautiful.”

Hamilton surfaced as a rising star, by winning the 1966 Ontario Golf Association Junior Boys championship. He earned a golf scholarship to Indiana University (where he led them to a Big 10 title, and earned a Business degree), before stepping onto the Canadian Tour and snagging Rookie of the Year honours. From there he moved up to the celebrated PGA Tour, alongside Canadians like George Knudson, and Bob Panasiuk. He played there from 1976 to 1978, before losing his tour card.

“I had a great time on the tour,” he relates. “But I was 30 years old. I had a goal at that age to start to be established as a businessman. I didn’t want to be one of those guys hanging around for years and years.”

In 1980, he achieved Class A Head Professional status. He spent the next eight years at Horseshoe Valley (Barrie), before his “dream job” at Mississaugua opened up in 1988.

At 61, Hamilton has retained his competitive edge. In 2007, he finished an impressive seventh at the AT&T Senior Open at Essex Golf & Country Club near Windsor, going up against some of the game’s big names in this PGA Champions Tour event. And in 2009, he qualified for the U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana – marking quite the homecoming for him.

He will captain – and coach – the Ontario team in the 2011 Titleist Cup matches against Quebec, this summer at the refurbished Toronto Golf Club in Mississauga.

Hamilton and his wife Nancy live in Oakville, and winter in Florida. He will remain with Mississaugua Golf and Country Club in a “pro emeritus” capacity.

“I will represent the club at tournaments, and add some counsel when required,” he says. “I won’t be hands-on.” GL

GL Chipping is an overlooked part of the game, is it not?
GH It definitely is, when you consider your short game – chipping and putting – in relation to your overall score; it’s a minimum of 50 per cent. The average guy has 35 putts per round, and is hitting 10 to 15 shots from close in, but not on the green. You look every week; the guys you see on Sunday (in the hunt for the PGA tournament win) are the guys playing the strong short game.
Most people tend to spend less time on their short game than their long game. It should be 50-50.

GL Is this something they should work on at the range? It seems most people want to buy one of those big drivers and just hit that?
GH Yes. This is the best way to warm your muscles up. Start with a sand wedge, to lock into a rhythm for the whole day.

GL And chipping is a bit of a subtle art?
GH You have to develop a touch, and that takes time. It’s a touch or a feel. Some people are a little more naturally gifted than others, but if you’re given three or four basic techniques (you can do it). When I see most players they have a poor setup. The setup positions are quite key.

GL Could you briefly explain those techniques?
GH The basic technique is, in your setup 60 to 70 per cent of your weight should be on your front foot. The hands should be equal, or slightly ahead of the ball. Essentially, you’re simply putting with a lofted club. It’s a slightly descending blow, and brushing the grass. The toughest part of chipping, or putting is to make sure your hands remain solid through the shot, and do not break down at contact…That throws the clubhead to the ground behind the ball – the dreaded chunk shot.

GL And from there?
GH You’ve got to read the terrain you’re on (uphill or downhill? fast or slow?), choose the right club, and pick a spot you want the ball to land and then run it to the hole like a putt. There are two schools of thought. Some people get very good with a certain club and use it all the time. I pick what I think is the correct club each time.

GL What advice do you have about chipping out of bunkers?
GH It’s a little bit of a (science). You have to work your feet down into the trap, and then you have to take the right amount of sand (to get the ball out and onto the green). This is the only shot in golf you purposely hit the ball fat. So there’s more feel in this shot than any shot in golf. The technique involved in your setup position is very critical – open to the target, the clubface open at the angle of attack. It does involve probably more practice than any other shot in golf, because there’s more feel involved – nerves and everything else get in the way. (But) the guys on the tour they don’t mind being in bunkers at all. The sand is more consistent than a bad lie in the rough. And the sand wedges (on the market) have improved tremendously.