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Veteran golfer reflects on club anniversary

With a spring in his step, Patsy Caravetta hops up the steps and into The Free Press office, eager to talk about his favourite subject; golf.
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Patsy Caravetta in his home. Phil McLachlan/The Free Press

With a spring in his step, Patsy Caravetta hops up the steps and into The Free Press office, eager to talk about his favourite subject; golf.

Look back: Club sweetheart reflects on the decades

There aren’t many people more enthusiastic about golf than the 89-year-old, who wakes up before the sun every morning to be the first on the course.

As the first rays of sun start to creep over the mountain peaks and Patsy watches the frostbitten greens start to thaw, he feels fantastic.

“It’s the most beautiful spot you can imagine, that golf course,” he says, referring to the Fernie Golf Club. “It’s just a pleasure to play on it.

“It’s well kept, beautifully groomed, and some holes you feel like you can reach out and caress the mountains.”

Patsy has been around almost as long as the Fernie Golf Club, which turned 100 this year. The long-time golfer has been a member of the club for 54 years. He says that the golf course turning 100 is no small feat.

Patsy remembers when he first started playing golf. He was 35 years old, and at the time was playing baseball and hockey.

“I quit all that, so I started golfing,” he said. “And I haven’t improved very much since then either.”

Every morning Patsy gets up to play with three close friends, whom he has been playing with for years. For him, playing with the people you enjoy spending time with is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game of golf. The second best part about the game is spending time outside in the fresh air, surrounded by the mountains.

Since his retirement from barbering, Patsy finds that he’s most happy on the course. He also finds that the excitement he felt at the age of 35, lives on.

“I really enjoy playing golf, there’s no two ways about it,” he said. “I look forward to it just as much as when I first started.”

Patsy remembers back in the day when sand greens were still commonplace. Instead of finely trimmed grass, the putting green would be made of sand. The sand was mixed with car oil that golfers would save until spring.

Wherever your ball landed on the ‘green’, you would mark the spot, pick up your ball, take a pull bar and draw a clean path to the hole. Once you dug the sand out of the hole, you would replace your golf ball and putt.

In the 1960s, the Fernie Golf Club consisted of only nine holes, with sand greens. The membership numbers were small, and was mostly comprised of businessmen. This has changed over the years, and membership saw a massive boom when grass greens were first introduced in 1970s.

Asked what golfing brings to a community, Patsy said it brings so much. The beautiful setting attracts people from far and wide to the little mountain town of Fernie.

Getting up to play golf isn’t always easy, but Patsy says it’s important to do so.

“You can’t just sit in a chair and wither away,” he said. “You’ve got to keep going.”

The closest Patsy has ever come to a hole in one was eight inches away, on hole 11.

“They’re hard to come by, you better believe it,” said Patsy with a laugh. “You’ve got to be pretty lucky.”

One of the biggest lessons that Patsy has learned throughout his 89 years is somewhat relatable to golf; perseverance.

“Sometimes things don’t go right in life. Different problems, serious problems. You have to persevere, pick up (your) things, and continue on.”



Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
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