History of the League

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As of 2021 the league will be in it’s 65th year. There has always been a myth the league was created by Mr. Mundie but in fact named in his honour. Thank you to long time Putter player and gentleman Mr. Gavin Speirs who found this information for me. I hope you find it a good read.

Respectfully,

Jay Doyle

Mundie Putter League promotes fellowship.

Circa 1982- Manitoba Golf Journal

Mundie Putter League promotes fellowship... the matches are played on Monday evenings and there are many who believe the competition that features team match play is called the "Monday" Putter League.

The name is really the Mundie Putter League and it is named in honor of the late Jim Mundie, a well-known local golfer and golf official. The league was started in 1957 with four teams and has grown to encompass a complement of 16 teams for the past three seasons, including a team of juniors entered by the Manitoba Golf Association.

The Mundie Putter league evolved from an idea by a transplanted Scotsman, John McLellan, in conversation with Roy M MacDonald and Bill Corner, members of Southwood Golf Club, they invited representatives of three other clubs - Dick Quinton from Niakwa, Herb Foster from Pine Ridge and Harry Critchley of Charleswood - and those four clubs made up the first year of competition. Pine Ridge emerged as the initial winner of the league.

In 1958, Elmhurst and St. Boniface joined the league, then Glendale and Rossmere were added in 1960 and Assiniboine and Breezy Bend made it 10 teams in 1962. St. Charles became the 11th team in 1963, then Wildewood made it 12 in 1965. Transcona and Bel Acres in 1967, the Manitoba Juniors in 1979 and the Winnipeg Canoe Club in 1980 brought the quota up to 16. The junior team was entered with a view to providing an extra level of competition for the rising golf stars and officials have been happy with the experiment so far.

The aims and objectives of the Mundie Putter League have remained constant throughout the 25 years of the league's existence.

The principle behind the league is:

1. To foster competitive golf among the competing teams and players before the start of the regular Manitoba Golf Association tournaments.
2. To promote friendly rivalry and good fellowship among competing golf clubs.
3. To maintain the match play game as an integral part of competitive golf in Manitoba.

Elmhurst has been the dominant force in the league's first 25 years, winning 14 times. Niakwa claimed the title three times, Pine Ridge, Southwood, and St. Charles each have won twice, and single victories have gone to Rossmere and Breezy Bend. The league has opened on the last Monday of April each year and has never missed an opening, though golfers have experienced snow and cold weather on

more than one occasion. The league schedule and playoffs wind up before July 1 each year.

The first trophy (below) for the Mundie Putter League was Mr. Mundie's prized "Calamity Jane" putter. When the league had just started in 1957, John McLellan wrote to his friend Percy Huggins, well-known golf columnist of the Glasgow Evening Times, and related how the league had started, based upon the idea and success of the " Brand Putter League" in Scotland. Through the publicity of the Glasgow Evening Times, Bertie

Brand was so flattered, he wrote to the Winnipeg group and promised to send them a prized possession of his own. It w as a spoon, 150 years old and used by his great-grandfather. Acting as courier was Reid Jack, then British amateur champion, who was coming to Winnipeg to play in the Canadian Amateur Championship on his way to Walker Cup matches in Minneapolis. In 1961, the Bertie Brand spoon and Mr. Mundie's "Calamity Jane" were mounted on a beautiful base to form the official league trophy.

Stephen Andrew Bannatyne won two Manitoba amateur golf championships and played on seven teams (including two Manitoba winning foursomes) and is also recognized for his work as a builder of the sport of golf in the province for his 25 years of operating the Mundie Putter League.

Born in Winnipeg Sept. 23, 1949, he started his golf career at Rossmere Country Club in 1963 and has been a member of St. Charles Country Club since 1975.

He was a member of the Manitoba Junior Men's team in 1966, 1967 and 1968, with the l967 team the first from Manitoba to win the Canadian title. He won the 15 year-old category in the provincial junior championship in 1965.

Bannatyne won the Manitoba Men's Amateur championship in 1972 and 1974 and he played on the Manitoba Willingdon Cup teams in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1975. The 1974 team, with Gavin Speirs, Ted Homenuik and Barry McKenzie, was the first Manitoba team to win the Willingdon Cup.

In 1973, after a tie for low Canadian (fourth overall) at the Canadian Amateur championship, he was selected to play on the two-man team playing in the world international Dominican Invitiational in Santa Domingo, where he finished second. He was also runner-up in the Canadian Mid-Amateur championship at Elmhurst in 1992.

He is saluted for his work with the Mundie Putter League, which features inter-club competition and has been directly responsible for developing the competitive and matchplay skills of many of Manitoba's top players over the years. Bannatyne was in charge of the operation for more than 25 years.

In 1969, Bannatyne caddied for professional George Knudson, who lost to Roberto Di Vicendo in a Shell Wonderful World of Golf competition played at St. Charles Country Club. Knudson was among the first inductees into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame.

Steve is an inductee into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Inc., September 24, 2012.