Ed Ryan

When Ed Ryan arrived in Antigonish, he and the golf club decided on a one-year agreement, giving each the opportunity to evaluate the others potential. Now this outgoing and family oriented golf professional is happily residing in the busy university town, with his wife and three children, and enjoying his nineteenth season as professional at Antigonish Golf & Country Club.

Born in New Glasgow, Ed and his family soon moved to nearby Stellarton, He was the youngest of five boys, in a family of eight; he has an older sister and two younger sisters. As in most large families, sports played a large part in the Ryan household. Although he played little league baseball and soccer, Ed’s sports passions soon developed into hockey in the winter and golf in the summer.

“My father played a fair bit of golf at Abercrombie and about the time I was nine I started to go to the golf club with him and my brothers,” remembers Ed. “ I played all my junior golf there and when I was in high school I started working at the pro shop for longtime Abercrombie professional, Terry White.”
Graduating from Stellarton High School in 1978, Ryan moved on to Dalhousie University in Halifax.

“ At first I hoped to become a dentist, but, once I decided on a professional golf career I switched courses from science to business. I also continued to play hockey, first with the Junior A, Halifax Lions and then in my final year at university, I played for the Dalhousie Tigers.” He graduated with a business degree, with a major in marketing

Continuing to work at Abercrombie during his summers, Ed entered the CPGA apprentice program under head professional White in 1981.

“Terry was very supportive of my decision to pursue the business of professional golf and I continued to work for him for another three years.”
When the professional’s position opened at the Antigonish Golf Club, Ed applied for the job.

“I had an interview in February of 1985 and the club and I agreed on a one year term, to see how things would go, and I’ve been here ever since.” At Antigonish, Ryan supervises all the golf operations, including the pro shop, marshals, starters and food and beverage, which include the kitchen, bar and the beverage cart.

“I have great co-operation from my board of directors at Antigonish. From the strategy planning sessions to the daily operation, we work together, very closely. The directors have been very supportive of me and the projects I have introduced during my years here, especially the junior program, where we have enjoyed a lot of success.”

Working with junior golfers is a favorite part of Ed’s job. “What a gratifying experience it is to watch these little kids come out on the practice range, swing a lofted club for the first time and get the ball in the air. The look on their faces is priceless! From the beginners, to working with the elite juniors, I just love it. It’s fun and very rewarding to know that you have taught them something that they will enjoy their entire lifetime.”

In 1998 Ed was honored by the Canadian PGA as the Junior Leader of the Year for Canada. He was also elected Club Professional of the Year in the Atlantic Zone in 1999.

To achieve success in a golf operation it is extremely important to have a leader who is trained in all aspects of the golf business. CPGA professionals have an abundance of theses qualities, which make them strong managers. “ You have to be able to operate, promote and establish new programs for the benefit of the golf club and help increase its revenues, all the while being diligent in managing expenses,” outlines Ryan. “In the Canadian PGA, we have a strong network of professionals, across the country, who perform similar tasks to ours. It’s a tremendous depth of experience and knowledge on which to draw. We share ideas, solutions to problems and best business practices. These all contribute and benefit the facilities where we work.”

A friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff is also an indispensable tool in achieving success in a golf operation.

“I have always said that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” continues Ed. “Our golf operations and food and beverage staff of fifteen all play a big part in the success of the operation at our club. My sister-in-law, Gisele Ryan, has worked with me at the club ever since I came to Antigonish. She does such a great job and adds so much experience and continuity in customer service. I’ve also been very fortunate in having some great assistant professionals work with me over the years. Jamie Pyke has been with me for three years now. He has been tremendous with the junior program, helping increase it’s value to the juniors and the club.” Other assistant professionals who have worked for Ed, over the years, are Kathy (McIsaac) Sutherland and David Synishin.

Ryan is a member of the CPGA Atlantic Executive Committee, on which he has served for many years in various portfolios, including President. He has also served as Atlantic representative on the CPGA national board of directors. Currently he serves as Chairman of the Membership Services Committee in the Atlantic Zone.

Ed finds that the average golfer is more knowledgeable and more demanding than they were nineteen years ago. “With all the information that is available to golfers today, it is so important that the golf operations staff keep up with all the new products and the latest information out there,” observes Ryan. “We all have to be able to carry on a conversation with these people, who are very knowledgeable, on all the products we are trying to sell or are hoping to sell. It is much more demanding than it used to be. Right from the beginner to the experienced player they want more information. You have to be able to give them the information they need.”

As for finding time to play a game or two, Ed admits that most of his golf is played in the spring and fall although he does try to squeeze a few golf tournaments in when his schedule permits. “We’re so busy in mid season I don’t get many opportunities to play and I try to share my non-working hours with my family as well.”

Ed and his wife Cathy, who teaches grade six at St Andrews School, both moved to Antigonish at about the same time. Originally from Sydney Forks, she moved there to teach school and met Ed while taking part in a ladies golf clinic at the club. The couple resides in town with their three children, daughter Molly 12, and sons Daniel 10 and Neal 8.

In the wintertime, Ed is part of the local CJFX radio-broadcasting team who cover the St. Francis Xavier University X-men and Antigonish Junior A Bulldogs hockey games. “Broadcaster Kenny Farrell and I go on the road with the university team and the junior hockey team, when it comes near the play-offs,” says Ryan.” I’ve been doing this now for fourteen years. My first broadcast was in the Dalhousie University arena. During the game there was a brawl, with a twenty-minute delay in the play. I had to fill the dead air, as there was nothing going on. As anyone in broadcasting can appreciate, filling air time when there is no action is not an easy thing to do, so my first experience in broadcasting turned out to be interesting to say the least – sort of initiation by fire!” he laughs. “I’ve always loved hockey and this keeps me very much involved.”

Ed still plays old timers’ and gentlemen’s’ league hockey two or three times a week. He also enjoys coaching. During his first year in Antigonish, Ed coached the junior B Bulldogs, and this past winter he coached the Atom AA Bulldogs. “Just like working with the juniors at the golf club, it’s a fun experience to coach kids in that age group.”

Ryan, who has three holes-in-one in his career, considers one of his most memorable moments, in playing golf, was when he won the CPGA Atlantic Assistant Professionals Championship at Lingan in 1984. He also shares great memories with Cathy and several other Atlantic pros and their wives, who journeyed to Boston in 1999 to watch the Ryder Cup matches at The Country Club in Brookline. “Anyone who watched those matches on television would have to agree that the drama at that event was electrifying, and being in the middle of those excited galleries, we really got caught up in the moment. It was an unbelievable experience.”

Ryan thoroughly enjoys his association with the Antigonish Golf Club and living in the active university town. “We couldn’t have found a better area to live in and raise our family. With the university and so many other activities there is plenty of opportunity for participation and entertainment for all of our family to enjoy. We are very happy here.”