The following article was prepared by Ottawa area golf historian Joe McLean with research material provided by Martin Cleary formerly with the Ottawa Citizen Sports Department, and now as a freelance sportswriter profiling Ottawa area athletes in his High Achievers online articles.
As you will see in this article, we have had to rely on archived material on Frank Corrigan from the Lisgar Collegiate Yearbook – Vox Lycel, Canadian Golfer Magazine, and Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Journal newspapers.
At the young age of 53 on February 17, 1967, Francis (Frank) Joseph Corrigan passed away in hospital after a fall down some steps in Montreal, Quebec. Frank was survived by his wife Evalina Clark and their two teenage sons, James and Kenneth.
Most current golfers would not know the name Frank Corrigan but in the 1930s and 1940s, Frank was THE name player in Eastern Ontario and Quebec playing out of the Chaudiere, Glenlea, and Rivermead golf clubs. He also participated in numerous Canadian, Ontario, and Quebec Amateur Championships.
Looking back through the historical records of amateur golfers from the Ottawa area, we would like to make a case for Frank Corrigan being named Ottawa’s #1 amateur golfer over the last century.
Let us introduce you to the late Frank Corrigan.
Frank was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1914 to Ambrose Eugene (A. E.) Corrigan and his wife Rosemary. He also had two brothers, Stanton and James, as well as three sisters, Rita, Rosemary, and Ruth.
Growing up, his life appears to be normal as he was a member of the boy scouts along with his brother Jim. His high school days at Lisgar Collegiate were filled with social interactions and sports as well as academics. Frank played on the school’s basketball and rugby teams. He served on the advertising committee for the Lisgar Yearbook – The Vox Lycell, on the decorating committee for the Lisgar Dinner Dance, and at different times was President of the Lisgar Boys Athletic Association and the student President at Lisgar.
The following excerpts were written by Valentine Barrow and appear in Lisgar’s Yearbooks.
Frank was president of the school and president of the students’ council (14th year); the council met first Monday of each month in the library with its 19 members of staff and students; Frank also was on the school’s concert committee as the students’ council rep; he helped organize “a most delightful dance party” in the boys’ gymnasium on Dec. 22, 1931, he was part of the decorating quartet “in flags, red and green streamers, and a profusion of gaily decorated Christmas trees,”; “he has shown fine executive ability,” and “Frank takes to Form V Maths like a fish takes to water.”
“While listening to the radio, we are thrilled by the announcement that Frank Corrigan will give the first of a series of television broadcasts over the Canadian Broadcasting system on ‘The Golfer and his Problems.’”
Frank also was strong in other sports: football and basketball; he was a member of the senior rugby team, and a stellar kicker on the Senior Rugby Association team at Lisgar, which practiced four to five times a week in the fall; at the end of the senior basketball season, Lisgar placed second, beating every team except Glebe (dropping two close decisions to the new Canadian champions); as a basketball player, Frank was “a very capable” centre.
Golf
The first known association with the game of golf for Frank was the opening of the Chaudiere Golf Club in Aylmer, Quebec on July 21, 1923, when he and his brothers Stanley and James caddied for the featured foursome. Two of the original club directors, Sir Robert Borden and P.D. Ross joined the Honorable Martin Burrell, Parliamentary Librarian, and Judge F.R. Latchford, Ontario Chief Justice in the first foursome.
It just happened that Frank’s father, Ambrose Eugene (A.E.) Corrigan, a prominent Ottawa sportsman and business executive formed, owned, and operated the Chaudiere Golf Club (now known as the Chateau Cartier Golf Club) until 1936.
BUYS OLD EDDY FARM FOR NEW GOLF COURSE – Fine Site of 157 Acres Ready in 1924 read the news article on page 16 of April 19, 1923, Ottawa Journal. The article continued: Mr. A. E. Corrigan, managing director of the Capital Life Assurance Company, yesterday completed the purchase of the Eddy farm on the Aylmer road, adjoining the Country Club property and near to the Royal Ottawa Golf Club.
The property contains 157 acres exclusive of 300 feet reserved to the Country Club and six acres adjoining and including the old Eddy homestead recently improved. The price paid by Mr. Corrigan is said to have been around $500 per acre. There is a river frontage of 3,800 feet and some 50 acres are south of the Hull Electric Railway track, which runs through the property. (Note – along the Ottawa River)
Mr. Corrigan states that he has purchased the property with a view to establishing a new golf course. If the scheme is proceeded with a club will be incorporated at once and work in connection with laying out a course be begun. Mr. Corrigan believes that the links would be ready for golf in 1924 as the land is of a type that makes its conversion comparatively easy. The land is rolling with a number of natural hazards.
As for the need of a fourth golf course, it is pointed out that there are long waiting lists at both clubs on the Quebec side of the river and numbers of Ottawa men and women who would like to play the popular game have been deterred in consequence.
It is curious that the Rivermead golf course was originally one of the farms of the late Mr. E. B. Eddy.
July 21, 1923, Official Opening of the Chaudiere Golf Club Course
Naturally Frank, along with his brothers Stan and James, took up the game and by the age of 14, Frank was listed as a player in the 1928 Ottawa City and District Championship. In 1929, Frank played in the Invitational Tournament at Rivermead, and in a September 12th, page 14 Ottawa Citizen article on the tournament, Frank was mentioned – “…youthful Frank Corrigan of Chaudiere, taking the second 36-hole net prize.” He also participated in the Ottawa City and District Championship and was on the Chaudiere Interclub team that played at Arnprior where he took three points. In 1930, Frank, now 16, was the winner of the Chaudiere Club Championship Borden Cup, a feat he would repeat in 1931 and 1932. It goes without saying that Frank also participated in the Ottawa City and District Championships in 1930 and 1931.
1931
In 1931, Frank got the year off to a good start by equaling the course record of 73 at Chaudiere and he also won the 1st Ottawa Interscholastic Championship H. Blade trophy on his home course and was named Junior Champion of Ottawa. His Lisgar team also won the team portion of the championship.
Later, in August, Frank entered and qualified for the Canadian Amateur held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately, he was eliminated in the first round of match play. Later in August, Frank finished in fourth place among the amateur golfers in the Quebec Open and the next day he was the low net winner for thirty-six holes in the Quebec Amateur, both events being held at the Summerlea Golf Club in Montreal.
Frank Corrigan, Lisgar President, was the headline in an Ottawa Journal article on September 15, 1931, page 11. In the article, Frank’s years at Lisgar Collegiate were outlined.
Frank Corrigan has had a particularly brilliant career in his five years at Lisgar, being an athlete of note as well as standing high in his academic work. He is taking his upper school work in two years and has completed one year, and on his graduation proposes attending Toronto University.
In 1930 Frank was a clever member of the Lisgar junior interscholastic basketball team which was runner-up for the city championship. He was also kicking half-back of the junior football squad, president of the Lisgar Athletic Association last year, while he is also a discus thrower of ability.
Frank defeated his brother Stan six holes up with 4 to play to win the Chaudiere Club Championship.
Frank was mentioned In the September issue of Canadian Golfer magazine on pages 388/389 – Frank Corrigan, of the Chaudiere Golf Club, Ottawa, who made such a sensational debut at the Canadian Amateur a month or so ago, has been reduced to a handicap of five, which is a remarkable compliment to a 18-year-old player.
1932
Although Frank did not repeat as the interscholastic champion at McKellar Park golf club, he and his teammates Norman Campbell, Lorne Cox, and Edward Bothwell from Lisgar Collegiate won the team portion of the competition and the A. C. Brown Trophy.
Walter Gilhooly in his July 21, 1932, page 21 “IN THE REALM OF SPORT” column praised Frank Corrigan.
FRANK CORRIGAN WINS DISTRICT TITLE
Frank Corrigan, youthful Chaudiere star, paced his way yesterday to a decisive triumph in the City and District Golf Championships. That enviable title has been sought for and held by the greatest golfers that Ottawa has ever produced, but never has there been a player of the years and comparatively short experience of the 18-year-old Corrigan to win it.
Throughout the long 36-hole test this lad played with all the assurance of a veteran. Unhurried and unflurried he went about the business of adding the score that brought him to the front ahead of players, many of whom were essaying major golf titles when he was making mud pies on the corner lot.
The victory of Corrigan climaxes a splendid season in competitive golf and is an earnest of what may be expected of this young man in the future. In the recent Canadian Open, he was the first of local amateur ambitious, and in the Quebec Open, he finished second among the many amateurs who debated that particular affair.
In temperament, ability, and style Corrigan has everything that goes to make a successful golfer, and if he can keep on improving as he is today he will undoubtedly add to the laurels that he won at the Chaudiere yesterday.
Along with his Gerald Lees Trophy win in the Ottawa City and District Championship, Frank was a member of the Chaudiere team along with J.H. Brown, R.A. McDougall, and Dr. Harry Smith which won the team competition and the Finlay McRae Rivermead Team Trophy.
Adding to his 1932 resume, Frank was named as an alternate to the Province of Quebec Willingdon Cup team that would finish second once again to the Ontario team at the Lambton Golf Club in Toronto. Frank would qualify for match play in the Canadian Amateur at Lambton but be defeated by Ross ‘Sandy’ Somerville in the first round.
Ivan F. Tyler, golf writer for the Montreal Herald in his August 23rd, 1932 column had the following to say about Frank Corrigan’s play in the Quebec Amateur at Senneville Golf Club where Frank finished in a tie for 4th place. – “The schoolboy warrior from Ottawa took the low gross prize for eighteen holes with a brilliant 74 in the morning. Frank Corrigan is one of the finest young golfers ever to appear in Montreal. In his own quiet way he picks off birdies and eagles almost at will. He is only eighteen years of age, but played as an alternate on the Quebec team this year in the interprovincial matches and his score proves the committee who picked the team knew their business.”
Frank played all four rounds in the Canadian Open at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club shooting 77, 80, 84 & 84 for a total score of 325 ending up in a tie for 58th place as an amateur.
Frank was the winner of the Chaudiere club championship for the third consecutive year.
Frank and his father A.E. Corrigan were the winners at Royal Montreal in the Province of Quebec Father and Son Championship. They would also continue their winning ways the following three years and then again in 1937 for their fifth championship.
Later that year, Frank, playing for the University of Toronto golf team, finished third in the University golf championship.
1933
Because he had graduated from Lisgar Collegiate, Frank could not participate in the 1933 Interscholastic Championship being held at the Chaudiere Golf Club but a newspaper article lists him along with Jimmy Sim, a professional at the Chaudiere, as the organizer of the championship.
Early in June, Frank started his 1933 competition season at the Kanawaki Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec winning the Amateur portion of the eighth Annual Province of Quebec Spring Open. Frank was honored for his win the following week at the Chaudiere Golf Club by 150 members at a banquet. Sir Robert Borden presented Frank with a set of travel luggage for his trip to the Canadian Amateur being held in Vancouver, B.C. in early July. Because of a conflict with this trip, Frank would not be able to defend his club championship at the Chaudiere. These conflicts would occur for the remainder of Frank’s time at Chaudiere.
Frank joined his Quebec Willingdon Cup teammates Gordon Taylor, E.A. Innes, and Carol M. Stewart in Vancouver and in Cup competition they finished third behind British Columbia and Ontario.
On his return to Ottawa, Frank was the winner of the Ottawa City and District Championship at the Rivermead Golf Club. Not only did he hoist the Gerald Lees Cup for the second year in a row, but he also assisted his Chaudiere teammates – Max Pollard, Ed Martin, and Dr. Harry Smith, in winning the team competition and the Rivermead Cup.
A Province of Quebec Golf Association field day was held at Chaudiere in early August and Frank was the winner along with Rivermead Assistant Professional Bobby Alston with scores of three over par 73. Golf professionals participated in these field days for their own purse.
1934
Home for the summer from his University of Toronto studies, Frank was pleased to hear that the PQGA had reduced his handicap to 4, the lowest in the Ottawa District. In his first event at Chaudiere, Frank posted the low score in a competition between old and new members of the club.
Frank started well in 1934 with his wins in the Quebec Spring Open championships. That’s correct, I said championships. On page 18 of the June 18th Ottawa Journal in an article written by Bill Westwick the headline read, Corrigan Makes Sweep of Both Quebec Spring Tourneys.
Completing a sweep of the two Quebec Spring tournaments, Frankie Corrigan, cool and steady young star of the Chaudiere Golf Club on Saturday posted a 36-hole total of 152 at the Ottawa Hunt Club and for the second year in succession won main honors in the amateur tournament. Demonstrating all the skill and golfing resource that carried him to a splendid triumph over a mixed field of amateurs and pros the day previous, Corrigan again set a pace for a field of 60 competitors on Saturday that placed him four strokes ahead of his nearest rivals, Gordon B. Taylor, former Canadian amateur champion from Kanawaki, and Jack Archer, bronzed young amateur from Forest Hills.
This was a major accomplishment, winning both titles and defeating full fields of top amateur and professional golfers in the process.
More praise was forthcoming. In his Realm of Sport column on page 16 on June 19th, Walter Gilhooly wrote, Basil O’Meara, writing in the Montreal Star, repeats the opinions of Sandy Somerville, former United States and Canadian amateur golf champion, and Arthur Macpherson, Marlborough professional, on Frank Corrigan, who won the Quebec Spring Open and amateur titles over the week-end.
When Sandy Somerville saw Frank Corrigan play the first time he predicted he would be one of the coming Canadian golfers in a few years. Frank still trudges to school with text books under his arm, but he is forging to the fore as he showed Saturday when he added the Quebec spring amateur to the open. His double victory was one of the most slashing triumphs achieved by any golfer in Quebec in recent years. Arthur Macpherson, of Marlborough, who on Friday played almost flawless golf from the tee to green, but whose putting was away out of line, was high in his praise of Corrigan, declaring that his recoveries were really marvelous on several occasions. Apparently the young Chaudiere star who keeps very strong self control under pressure is headed for higher things.
For the third year in a row, Frank hoisted the Gerald Lees Trophy for his Ottawa City and District Golf Championship on the Royal Ottawa Golf Club course.
Walter Gilhooly, in his page 16, July 19th Ottawa Journal column wrote, “To shoot smart golf is not easy at any time, and if you can’t believe this ask any one of thirty or forty million who are trying to play the game. Yet it is easier to batter par when a player is seeking a title rather than defending one, and there is no better proof of Corrigan’s talents, than that with the chips down his irons ring most true. He may not climb to any tall tops of greatness this year, but it seems inevitable that one day he will achieve the pinnacle of Canadian amateur golf. He has the temperament, the skill is gradually developing, and the glorious boon of youth is on his side.“
In Province of Quebec field days, Frank was a winner at Mount Royal and Chaudiere, second at Rivermead, and tied for second at the Ottawa Hunt. In Metropolitan Cup action at Laval-sur-le-Lac Frank finished in a tie for third place. Frank and his father A.E. Corrigan, for the third straight year, won the Quebec Father and Son championship at the Summerlea course in Montreal. At the Quebec Open and the Quebec Amateur, Frank was well back in both fields. Before the Canadian Amateur held at Laval-sur-le-Lac Frank was named to the Quebec Willingdon Cup team which would go on to finish third behind B.C. and Ontario.
Frank was also named to the Province of Quebec Lesley Cup team participating in matches at Pine Valley, near Philadelphia (Clementon, New Jersey), against teams from the Metropolitan (New York), Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania Golf Associations.
Locally, Frank played on the Chaudiere team that finished second in the first Intersectional matches played in Ottawa under the Province of Quebec banner. Royal Ottawa won the Intersectional competition on their home course.
Frank finished off the 1934 season with a second-place finish while playing for McGill in the intercollegiate golf championship at the Lambton Golf Club in Toronto.
Canadian Golfer Magazine Editor-in-Chief H. R. Pickens Jr. asked four elite amateur golfers the following question: What is Fight in Match Golf?
Frank Corrigan’s response: Fight in match play golf is really a mental attitude. It is a combination of confidence in your shots and a willingness to play more daring golf. A fighting golfer never really believes he can be beaten until the last putt is down. This feeling of confidence enables a player to perform shots under pressure which might be very surprising to him at another time. It also enables one to “open up” and play more chance-taking golf. You have noticed how a man fighting from behind in match play strikes every shot right for the pin and strokes every putt for the back of the cup. These are the main characteristics, but we must not disregard such things as “breaks”, which often start a player from an impossible situation and gives him the required incentive to fight through to victory.
1935
After a very successful 1934 season of golf Frank Corrigan entered the 1935 season holding the low handicap of 3 in the Ottawa District and in the Province of Quebec along with Gordon B. Taylor, Edwin Innes, Jack Cameron, and Hugh B. Jacques, all of Montreal, Quebec.
Looking very much to defend his two Quebec Spring Open titles at Mount Bruno in Montreal, Frank ended up well down the list in the Open tournament and rebounded to a 3rd place finish in the Spring Amateur tournament.
Frank fared well in a competition to win a spot on Quebec’s Willingdon Cup Team along with Watson Yulle, Carroll Stuart, and Hugh Jacques. The team finished fourth in competition at the Canadian Amateur Championships at Ancaster, Ontario behind teams from Ontario, B.C., and Manitoba.
In individual competition at the Canadian Amateur, Frank qualified and was victorious in his first match with Lakeview’s J.P. McConvey and then lost on the 21st hole in a tight match to Lambton Golf Club’s Fred Hoblitzel, winner of the 1935 Ontario Amateur. It was a bitter loss as Frank was three up with five to play and then his putting stroke disappeared.
Back in Ottawa, Frank tied for second in the PQGA field day at the Royal Ottawa won by the Ottawa Hunt Club’s Joe Lamb and then in the City and District Championship he tied for third place and had to give up the Gerald Lees Trophy which he had held in his possession for three consecutive years. Next up was the PQGA field day at the Rivermead Golf Club where Frank finished in first place. Frank also played on the Chaudiere Intersectional Team that finished in 3rd place.
Frank won his first major title in August when he won the Metropolitan Cup at the Kanawaki Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec, a match play competition, for the first time. In only its second year of existence, the Metropolitan Cup was a gift of the Metropolitan Golf Association of New York, to mark the friendly relations for many years between the Quebec and New York associations.
Unable to back up his Metropolitan Cup win, Frank finished in a tie for second place in the Quebec Amateur.
In the September 36-hole Seigniory Golf Club (Now Chateau Montebello) Invitational, Frank finished in fifth place behind Jack Cameron, a former Rivermead Member, and 1924 Canadian Olympic Champion hockey team goalie, turned National Hockey League referee.
A few days later, Frank teamed with his father A.E. Corrigan to win the Quebec Father and Son Championship at Senneville for the fourth consecutive year, this time in a playoff.
In a September, 1935 Canadian Golfer article titled Family Combinations in T. High’s Jots From The Canadian Golfing World And Elsewhere, the Corrigan Family was profiled.
Of the strictly amateur father and son teams the Corrigan family have dominated rather consistently in the East during the past few seasons but the Ottawa pair have been hard pressed by the Fenwick’s of Montreal and the Rankin’s of the same city. The Father and Son title of Quebec has been held rather consistently by this group.
In the case of the Corrigan family a rather unique situation exists. Of course Frank Corrigan is known as one of the best golfers in the East, but even more impressive is the fact that he is a member of a golfing family of eight. There are three sons and three daughters all who play the game rather well. Mr. Corrigan, too, is a most enthusiastic golfer so that it is possible to see Mr. Corrigan and his three sons start off in the morning for one foursome and a little later see a female foursome doing the same thing. Mr. Corrigan issues a worldwide challenge to any team of eight all in the same family four girls and four boys. And right off hand we’ll bet on the Corrigan’s.
On his return to Ottawa, Frank continued his winning ways with another PQGA field day win, this time on his home Chaudiere course.
Miss Joyce Wethered, acknowledged at the time as having no peer among the world’s leading women golfers, was on a Canadian tour and she participated in a scheduled exhibition match at the Rivermead Golf Club in Aylmer, Quebec. Joyce partnered with Frank Corrigan in a match watched by over 700 people against Rivermead professional Jack Littler and Mrs. W.G. (Alexa Stirling) Fraser, defending Canadian Amateur Ladies Champion from the Royal Ottawa Golf Club.
Bill Westwick, covering the exhibition for the Ottawa Journal, wrote in his September 14, 1935 article on page 26, Graced by the presence of His Excellency, the Governor General, Lady Bessborough and Lord Duncannon, the exhibition was one of the most thoroughly enjoyable events of its kind in Ottawa golfing history.
At the end of the day after Joyce had shot a 73 (two strokes over men’s par and three under standard figures for ladies) and Frank a 74, they won the match on the basis of low ball and aggregate. Mrs. Fraser and Mr. Littler scored 83 and 75 respectively.
Further action in September saw Frank play once again on the Quebec Lesley Cup team at Oyster Harbour, Massachusetts, and on a Quebec team to play the British Ryder Cup team at the Royal Montreal Golf Club.
A new event for the PQGA was initiated at the Chaudiere Golf Club. Organized by A.E. Corrigan, the new Father and Three Sons championship for the new Timmons Trophy saw the Corrigans (A.E., Frank, Stan, and Jim) finish in third place.
Frank closed out the 1935 season with a win in the Intercollegiate Championship held at the Senneville Golf Club which assisted his McGill team in winning their third straight Intercollegiate Team Championship. Frank had transferred from the University of Toronto to McGill in the fall.
1936
According to an article in the January 11 Ottawa Journal on page 24, Frank was promoted to the McGill Senior rugby team from the Intermediate team.
Frank Corrigan graduated from McGill University in the spring of 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors. His brother James also graduated from the University of Toronto with an honor degree of Bachelor of Commerce. It is unknown whether Frank joined the work force but in the 1939 obituary notice for his father AE Corrigan, it is noted – … he later founded the firm of A. E. Corrigan and Sons, Limited, in partnership with two of his three sons, when the Capital Life was taken over by Confederation Life.
According to the January 1936 edition of Canadian Golfer Magazine Frank finished the 1935 season ranked as the #14 amateur golfer in Canada.
Regardless of work, Frank went on to play a full golf schedule in 1936 with mixed results.
Frank accompanied Bobby Alston, professional at the Chaudiere Golf Club to the Quebec Spring Open contested on the Islesmere Golf Course in Montreal. While Mr. Alston went on to win the Quebec Spring Open, the best Frank could do was tie for 10th place among the amateur golfers.
The remainder of the month of June can be considered a success as Frank won two PQGA Field Days at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club and the Rivermead Golf Club. In a practice round at St. Andrews in Toronto, the site of the 1936 Canadian Open, Frank was able to shoot a wonderful score of 68. Off to the Duke of Kent in Quebec, the best he could record was two rounds in the 80s.
Another disappointment for Frank was his score in the qualifying round for the Metropolitan Cup at Beaconsfield which wasn’t low enough to qualify him for the match play rounds.
Frank was able to secure a spot on the PQGA Willingdon Cup Team although he had to miss out on the City & District Championship in Ottawa because of a conflict in dates. The Quebec Team would go on to finish second to British Columbia in the Willingdon Cup competition at the St. Charles Country Club in early August. In the Canadian Amateur competition, Frank was able to win his first two matches with Ken Smith from Regina and Phil Farley from Montreal before being eliminated 1up by Robert Reid of Regina.
Frank lowered the competition record to 69 when he won the PQGA Field Day at his home Chaudiere Golf Club on his return from the Canadian Amateur. Shortly after, Frank was the low qualifier for the Quebec Amateur at the Marlborough Golf Club in Montreal but he would eventually lose out to Phil Farley from Montreal (3 & 2) in the championship final.
In the Father and Three Sons competition in Montreal, the Corrigans (AE, Frank, Stan & Jim) finished in 4th place. Early in September, Frank finished 4th at the Seigniory Invitational. Then it was off to the Canadian Open in Toronto although to do so meant that Frank and his father would not be able to defend their PQGA Father and Son Championship. Frank’s mid-70s scores at the Canadian Open placed him in a tie for the low amateur with Winnipeg’s Bud Donovan in the championship.
Frank, on his return to Ottawa, was able to assist the Chaudiere Intersectional Team to their first win in the third year of competition for the PQGA Group 5 Intersectionals.
Another Quebec Lesley Cup Team position was awarded to Frank in early October.
According to the January 1937 issue of Canadian Golfer Magazine, Frank finished the 1936 golf season ranked No. 5 in Canada despite a slow start to the golf season. His Quebec scoring average of 77.6 (12 tournaments / 931 strokes) placed him in 4th place for elite players.
The Chaudiere Golf Club, owned and operated by A.E. Corrigan & Associates, was sold to the Sun Life Assurance Company in 1936. They operated the club until J.P. Maloney purchased it in 1938.
1937
In May of 1937, the RCGA adopted the 14-club rule for tournament play in Canada. The rule would be in effect for all golfers at the Club level beginning in 1938.
Frank Corrigan started 1937 in good form, winning the PQGA field day on the Rivermead Golf Club course.
Walter Gilhooly, in his In the Realm of Sport column on page 20 of the Ottawa Journal wrote under the heading FRANK CORRIGAN SHOWING FINE FORM – During the past winter, Frank Corrigan added 15 pounds to his frame, and judging by his game at Rivermead yesterday, that extra weight won’t have any adverse effect on his play. On the other hand, it may prove just what he needed to give his woods and irons a little extra punch.
Frank would go on to win PQGA field days at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club and the Chaudiere Golf Clubs as well as the Gatineau and Cataraqui Whig-Standard Invitationals. Adding to that record locally, Frank was the winner of the Ottawa City & District Championship for the 4th time at Rivermead. The Chaudiere Team of E.D. Martin, O. Nolet, and Max Pollard along with Frank won the bragging rights for the low team in the City & District. The Chaudiere Intersectional Team with Frank participating was victorious at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club over Rivermead, Royal Ottawa, and the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Clubs.
An exhibition match was held on July 30th with Ken Black partnering with Rivermead Professional Jack Littler against Frank and Chaudiere Professional Bobby Alston. No results were found on this match.
The PQGA published their revised handicap list for provincial players and Frank was among eleven players to carry the lowest handicap of 3.
In Provincial competition, Frank finished in 8th place at the Duke of Kent competition over the Kent course at Montmorency Falls, Quebec. In Quebec Amateur qualifying, Frank finished in a tie for 2nd place and went on to lose in the quarter-finals to fellow Willingdon Cup team member Guy Rolland. In the Willingdon Cup competition at the Ottawa Hunt, Frank along with his teammates Phil Farley, G.B. Taylor, and Guy Rolland were able to hoist the trophy after a one-stroke victory over the team from Ontario. Unfortunately, Frank was eliminated in round 1 of the Canadian Amateur Championship by Bert Barnabe from the Rivermead Golf Club. After qualifying for match play competition for the Metropolitan Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Frank was eliminated in the 2nd round of competition by Bill Taylor from the Summerlea Golf Club. In the Father and Son Championship, Frank along with his father emerged victorious in taking home the Fuller Trophy for the fifth time. In the Father and Three Sons Championship, the Corrigan team lost in a playoff on their home course. Frank was named to the Lesley Cup team for the competition at the Laval-sur-le-Lac Golf Club. The Quebec team was victorious over teams from New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Francis Ouimet, the winner of the 1913 United States Open, was the captain of the Massachusetts team.
1938
Jack Koffman, in his July 21st column in the Ottawa Citizen wrote – Frank Corrigan spent much of March in hospital recovering from illness. There was no further explanation. Frank apparently had recovered enough to get his competitive golf season going at the Quebec Spring Open although there is no record of his score.
Frank finished in a tie for 8th place in the opening PQGA field day at Rivermead, but he would rebound in winning the Ottawa Hunt & Golf and the Chaudiere PQGA field days.
After qualifying in 3rd place for the Quebec Amateur Championship at Elm Ridge Golf Club in Montreal, Frank went on to win the Championship 2up over his nemesis Phil Farley from the Marlborough Golf Club and winner of the 1936 and 1937 Quebec Amateur Championships. Along the way to the final Frank defeated W.K. MacDonald from Granby (5&4), Eddie Innes from Islesmere (3&2), and in the semi-final Carroll Stuart from Mount Royal (3&2).
Based on his play, Frank was named to the PQGA Willingdon Cup Team along with Phil Farley, Jack Archer, Bill Taylor, and Gaston Ouellette from Rivermead who was also the current Quebec Junior Champion. The Quebec Team would lose by one stroke in a six-hole playoff to Ontario at the London Hunt & Golf Club.
Individually in the Canadian Amateur at the London Hunt & Golf Club, Frank lost in the 2nd round of match play to junior golfer Johnny Richardson from Calgary, Alberta. Frank had won his first match (6 & 5) over Rivermead’s Bert Barnabe.
A fifth Ottawa City & District Championship was won by Frank at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club and judging by his 11-stroke advantage his second win in a row wasn’t even close.
Frank’s final win of the 1938 season in early August was on the Cataraqui Golf & Country Club course when he won the Whig-Standard and Eastern Ontario Championships.
Despite his stellar golf season, Frank was not named to the Lesley Cup or Metropolitan Cup teams from Quebec.
1939
At some point during the 1939 golf season, Frank Corrigan along with his father and brothers moved across the Aylmer Road from the Chaudiere Golf Club to play out of the Glenlea Golf Club in Aylmer, Quebec. It is unknown why this change was made but what is known is that in 1936 the Corrigans had given up ownership of the Chaudiere Golf Club.
Frank started his 1939 golf season once again with a handicap of three, the lowest in the Province of Quebec along with 1938 Willingdon Cup team-mates Jack Archer and Gordon Baxter Taylor.
At the Glenlea he was low gross in the Open Division of the United Commercial Travelers event. Later in June, he followed that up with a win in the PQGA field day at Rivermead.
A July 5, Ottawa Journal article stated that earlier in the summer Frank had announced his retirement from competitive golf.
Apparently, he had reconsidered, for early in July, Frank qualified for the Quebec Amateur at Summerlea and then defeated EA Weir from Summerlea and RA Ellis from Kanawaki to reach the semi-final round. Frank lost to the eventual Quebec Amateur Champion Roland Brault from Cowansville, Quebec in the semi-final round.
The Chaudiere Golf Club won the Intersectional round held at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club with Frank on the team. Rivermead was the only other Club represented in the 1939 Intersectional competition.
For business reasons, Frank did not attend the 36-hole tryouts for the Quebec Willingdon Cup team at the Mount Bruno Golf Club. It also appeared that Frank was holding out for one of the two spots selected by Quebec officials. In a July 17 Ottawa Citizen Article titled Corrigan Not Likely To Try Out For Cup Team, Frank indicated that he could not afford the trip to the Cup trials, pointing out that he had traveled to various events played in Montreal and that the committee was familiar with his abilities and record from previous seasons.
In the Ottawa City & District Championship held at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club, Frank along with Ken Findlay from the Mississippi Golf Club in Carleton Place finished in a tie for first place with two-round scores of 155. In the ensuing playoff, Mr. Findlay emerged as the City & District Champion by posting a score of 76 to Frank’s 77.
It was noted in the July 27th edition of the Ottawa Journal on page 18 that Frank, registered from the Glenlea Golf Club, had finished in 2nd place in the Glenlea Open to Gus Mullen from the Gatineau Golf Club. AE Corrigan was also listed on the prize committee for the event, so it appears the Corrigan family had officially crossed over to the Glenlea Golf Club.
In early August, Frank played in the Whig-Standard Eastern Ontario Championship at Kingston Cataraqui but was unable to defend his 1938 championship. He finished in a tie for 2nd place.
Later in August and then playing out of the Glenlea Golf Club, Frank was the winner of the Gatineau Invitational. A few days after his win, Frank tied the amateur record at the Gatineau Golf Club with a score of 69. Gus Mullen had set the record score as a member at Gatineau and the professional record was 68 set by Gatineau Professional Rube Mullen.
Frank also set the amateur record at Glenlea with a score of 69 in September tying the score previously held by Glenlea Professional Bobby Alston.
In the final PQGA field day held at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, Frank finished in a tie for 8th place. Frank did not participate in the 1st Ottawa City and District Match Play Championship played on his home Glenlea golf course on September 9th and 10th.
Frank Corrigan was the winner of the club championship at Glenlea in 1939.
Frank’s father, A.E. (Gene) Corrigan passed away on December 2nd.
ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1939, CANADA ENTERED WORLD WAR TWO Tournaments that Frank played before the war were canceled for the duration including the Canadian Amateur (1940-45), the Canadian Open (1943-45), the Quebec Amateur (1941-45), the Quebec Spring Open (1943-45) and the Ottawa City & District Championship (1942-45 & 47). WORLD WAR TWO IN EUROPE CAME TO AN END ON MAY 8, 1945 AND LATER IN AUGUST, 1945, IT CAME TO AN END IN THE PACIFIC |
1940
Before the golf season started, Frank Corrigan was in the news as a director of the Glenlea Golf Club and holder of the lowest Ottawa District handicap of 3. Also announced was Frank playing in PQGA Events as an out of club Member of the Rosemere Golf Club in Montreal. For local events, Frank was listed as playing out of the Glenlea Golf Club. This author has no idea why this distinction was made by Frank or the Province of Quebec Golf Association.
In the first PQGA Field Day of the year held at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club, Frank was listed in the newspaper as Corrigan of Rosemere picked up. Frank was victorious in the second PQGA Field Day held at McKellar Park and tied for second at Chaudiere. Frank failed to qualify for the Quebec Amateur at Laval-sur-le-Lac.
In local events, Frank finished in 6th place in what was known as the war-time City & District; won the 8th Annual Glenlea Invitational, and tied for 3rd at the Gatineau Invitational. He also repeated as the Glenlea Club Champion. All proceeds from the Ottawa City & District Championship were directed to the war effort through the Red Cross.
Capping his 1940 season, Frank was low qualifier and Ottawa City & District Match Play Champion. Frank won his first match by default over C. McConnell from Chaudiere and then defeated Lyn Stewart from Glenlea (4 & 2) and King Finnie from Royal
Ottawa (2 & 1). Frank won his championship with a 4 & 3 win over Oliver Nolet from Chaudiere.
According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen on August 28, page 10, Frank Corrigan joined the 3rd Division Signals – N.P.A.M.
An article in the September 16th Ottawa Citizen titled WORTHY CHAMPION gives a better description of the event and the champion: The second annual match play tournament held at the Glenlea Golf and Country Club carries no particular title. In fact, no one appears to be certain just what championship the competition represents. When the event was first held in 1939 it was merely for the City and District crown. This year it has been billed in some quarters as the Eastern Ontario title tournament.
But, no matter what weight it carries, this tournament has a real champion. A good golfer finished on top when long-hitting Jimmy McLaughlin carried off the honors last year and another worthy golfer became head man when Frank Corrigan won yesterday’s final from Oliver Nolet, recently crowned Chaudiere Champion.
Frank doesn’t play as much golf these days as he did in previous days. The Glenlea star could stand more competitive golf than he has had in recent years, but he was in fine form in this latest match play affair. He started by leading the qualifying field on Friday and was the man to beat from start to finish.
Clarification: The tournament was and still is the Ottawa City & District Match Play Championship for the Glenlea Trophy, donated by Lyn Stewart.
Closing off the season, Frank participated in the Arctic Open in late November at the Glenlea Golf Club. Proceeds from the event were donated to the Red Cross.
The Chaudiere Golf Club was purchased by Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Booth. The property was until then rented from the Sun Life Company by the Club
1941
It appears that Frank Corrigan was winding down his competitive schedule in 1941 even though he headed the Province of Quebec handicap list along with five others in Quebec. Frank’s handicap of three was the best in the Ottawa area. The speculation is that work was taking precedence over golf. The Quebec Amateur was canceled because of insufficient interest and locally Frank did not participate in any PQGA field days or invitational tournaments.
Although he wasn’t eligible for the trophy in the Ottawa Council of United Commercial Travelers tournament held on his home Glenlea course, Frank was low gross in the tournament as a guest.
Glenlea Golf Club members played in an interclub invitational at the Renfrew Golf Club and Frank posted the low score.
Frank’s first and only major competition in 1941 was the Ottawa City & District Championship held on the Royal Ottawa course. After the first round, Frank was tied with a group of others with a score of 81, well behind the first round of 73 posted by G.F. (King) Finnie from the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Frank’s second-round score of 75 was low in the afternoon and placed him in 7th place for the championship.
Bill Westwick in his Realm of Sport column in the Ottawa Journal wrote: Corrigan is not playing anything near the amount of competitive golf he used to. (July 15, page 16) and Frankie Corrigan, who was tops around here for years, wasn’t disappointed with his opening round of 81. “I’m enjoying golf these days”, quoted the five-time winner of the title as he strode out to chalk up a final round 75.
Frank did not defend his Ottawa City & District Match Play Championship held at the Glenlea Golf Club. Two Glenlea Members fought it out in the championship final with Dr. Ross Larmour defeating Lyn Stewart 2 & 1.
1942 – 1945
With World War 2 in progress, Frank appeared to play little competitive golf in the Ottawa area while still a member at Glenlea.
He did play in a PQGA Field Day at Gatineau in August of 1942 and finished in 4th place. He did not play in the field days at Chaudiere and the Ottawa Hunt or the City & District Match Play Championship. The City & District Championship was also canceled.
In the May 5, 1943 (page 22) edition of the Ottawa Journal, there is a note – Frank is returning to the Glenlea and plans to take part in all the major tournaments here this year. However, there is no record of Frank playing in any of the PQGA Field Days held at the Ottawa Hunt, Royal Ottawa, or Rivermead that summer. Frank must have been employed in the Civil Service as he played at Gatineau in the Civil Service Recreational Association golf tournament with a handicap of 5 shooting 83.
There are no newspaper reports of Frank participating in any Glenlea GC events, PQGA Field Days, or other competitive events in 1944 and 1945.
1946
Frank Corrigan was back in the news in 1946 and he played as a member of the Rivermead Golf Club in Aylmer, Quebec.
In the first “peacetime” PQGA Field Day held at the Royal Ottawa, Frank finished in 3rd place. Bill Westwick wrote in his Ottawa Journal column on June 13, page 20 – Frank is making a comeback to the tournament play he dominated for so long. He played very little during the war years.
Frank also finished in 3rd place in the “peacetime” PQGA Field Day held at the Rivermead Golf Club.
The Ottawa City and District Championship was held at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club. The tournament had been discontinued in 1942 because of the war. Frank finished in a tie for 5th place.
Frank was the winner of the club championship at Rivermead Golf Club. This championship was added to his club championship wins at Chaudiere and Glenlea which now totaled six. He played on the Rivermead Intersectional team that placed second to the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.
The Ottawa Civil Service Recreational Association golf championship was held at the Gatineau Golf Club and Frank was the winner of the low gross RA Cup and he assisted his Department of Reconstruction and Supply team in winning the CD Howe Shield for first place in the team competition.
In the Province of Quebec Metropolitan Cup Match Play Championship, Frank qualified but was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
1947 – 1949
Frank continued his membership at Rivermead Golf Club from 1947 – 1949 and was a member of the Club’s winning intersectional team in 1947 and the 2nd place team in 1948. He participated each year in the club championships but never got past the semi-final rounds.
Outside the Club, Frank qualified for but lost in the first round at the Quebec Open in 1947. He successfully defended his R.A. Championship and led his Department of National Revenue Team to the championship winning the C.D. Howe Trophy. At the Gatineau Golf Club in September he had the low gross score in the National Revenue Department tournament.
Frank and Ken Shakespeare were ineligible to win the 1948 R.A. Golf Tournament slated for Gatineau as they had already been a winner according to an article in the August 12, page 9 Ottawa Journal. Strange but there is no further explanation for this decision.
Later in 1948, Frank entered the City & District Match Play Championship but records show that he defaulted in the 1st round to Don Cordukes with no further explanation.
Frank did shoot the low gross score in the men’s closing tournament at Rivermead.
In 1949, apart from being eliminated in the 3rd round of the club championship at Rivermead, there is little recorded information on Frank’s activities.
The 1950’s and 1960’s
From 1950 to 1953, there is little mention of Frank’s golf activities with the exception of him being listed on the Rivermead 2nd place intersectional team in 1952 and the winning intersectional team in 1953. Also in 1953, Frank played in the Alexander of Tunis shooting 81 and 76, finished in the prizes in the City and District, won the consolation final in the Rivermead Club Championship, and in the Quebec Amateur played at Rivermead, Frank was defeated in round 1.
Marjorie Evalina Clark and Frank were married in the sacristy of St. Joseph’s Church on Saturday, October 6, 1951.
For the remainder of the 1950s and also in 1960, it would appear that Frank stepped away from golf to be with his family as mentioned in Eddie McCabe’s 1967 tribute story on Frank.
Frank was mentioned in newspaper articles on the R.A. Tournament in 1961 when he finished 3rd and 1962 when he finished 3rd.
Frank Corrigan passed away on February 17, 1967.
Eddie McCabe, in his February 18, 1967, Ottawa Journal column on page 9 titled “One of Ottawa’s Best Frank Corrigan Dies”, talked about Frank’s stepping away from the game of golf.
Corrigan was one of the finest iron players you’d ever see, crisp and strong and decisive, and even in recent years, when he was just “fooling around” at Larrimac, playing maybe half a dozen rounds a summer, he could still hit those irons.
But after the war, he started to work and he got married and had two sons, and his wife was saying last night “He just decided he couldn’t play golf and be with his family. So he just gave up the golf.”
A player as gifted and skilled as Frank Corrigan was had to love the game, and yet he packed it up completely.
He had a summer place at Gleneagles, and he batted around Larrimac occasionally. Other than that, he kept his pledge.
His boys are now in their early ‘teens and just any time now, Frank had intended re-joining Rivermead and getting the boys into the game.
Players from his era speak of him in terms approaching awe. He was not only a fine shotmaker, but a hard competitor, and he won just about everything he put his hand in.
On the subject of Frank Corrigan’s wins, we offer this partial summary.
Beginning in 1930 through 1947, Frank Corrigan won a minimum of 42 events outside of wins at Chaudiere, Glenlea, and Rivermead golf clubs where he was a member at different stages of his life. Many of his wins were championships. Not included in his 42 wins are his 6 club championships.
Documented wins on Frank Corrigan’s resume include 1 high school championship, 5 City & District championships, 1 City & District Match Play championship, 5 Quebec Father & Son championships with his father Ambrose, 2 Quebec Amateur Spring Opens, 1 Quebec Spring Open, 15 Province of Quebec Field Days, 1 Metropolitan Cup, 1 Intercollegiate championship, 5 Invitationals, 1 Quebec Amateur, 2 Civil Service Recreational Association (R.A.) championships and 2 United Commercial Travellers’ championships.
Frank also participated on numerous teams representing his golf club in Intersectional matches as well as the Province of Quebec in Lesley Cup and Willingdon Cup matches. The Lesley Cup was an international competition between teams from Quebec, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania Golf Associations. The Willingdon Cup competition was held annually at the Canadian Amateur Championships between Provincial Teams. Frank played on 10 intersectional teams, 4 Lesley Cup teams, and 7 Willingdon Cup teams between 1932 and 1948.
Once again it is apparent after looking back through the historical records of amateur golfers from the Ottawa area; a case can be made for Frank Corrigan being named Ottawa’s #1 amateur golfer over the last century.
FOOTNOTE
Frank’s wife Marjorie Evalena (Clark) and his sons James and Kenneth are now deceased, but we would like to hear from any relatives of the Corrigan family. Joe McLean can be reached at josephmclean@rogers.com.
