Even after 80 years, golf is still a lot of fun!

Golfers aged 80 and over are very numerous at the Bouctouche Golf Club.

According to Maria Allain, manager of Golf Bouctouche, 18 members aged 80 or over, three women and 15 men, play on the club’s course, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.

“We have a special price for people 75 years and older. Surely we must be in our fifties”, said the manager for 29 years at Golf Bouctouche.

At 88, Grande-Digue’s Ron Léger is the club’s oldest.

“I’m very lucky,” he admits frankly.

Try to play golf three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“I don’t play on weekends, I want to leave that in the hands of the workers,” he said. It’s the only time they can play. I’m retired, I give them the field.

“I started playing when I was 16, at Lakeside in Moncton,” says the man who settled on his grandparents’ land in Grande-Digue.

Ron Léger is now content with a nine-hole course.

“I find it less tiring. In my last nine that I played, I did 44”, she says not without pride.

Activity allows you to get out and get some fresh air.

“Win or lose, it doesn’t matter, do your best. It is my joy of living, as long as you have fun, ”says the one who does not like to play with someone who is too competitive. His faithful associates are Roger Gallant and Rodrigue Langis.

“Roger will be 80 on August 15,” he reports with a smile, and I think Rodrigue is 75. They are all youngsters playing with me.

Sport helps you keep fit. “He walks to his ball, hits his ball, comes back and gets on,” explains the man with his own cart.

“The Bouctouche Club is a good club. it’s friendly. We’re very lucky,” she admits.

Five people have been members of the club since its inception, in 1982, namely Donald Duplessis, André Léger, Anita Léger, Jean-Louis Cormier and Laurie Boucher.

“Five times a week”

At the respectable age of 86, the former mayor of Bouctouche, Laurie Boucher, is still a fan of the Greens. She was gardening when we contacted him on the phone. She is also one of the pioneers of the Golf Bouctouche.

“I built the land in Bouctouche,” he said. I also bought the land. A farmer had it. It was understood that he was going to sell it at the same price to the Chamber of Commerce”, says the man who has always been involved in his community.

The octogenarian does not hide that he loves competition.

“Last year I brought 85, 86 or 87 cards pretty regularly,” he says, for an 18-hole course.

“In principle, I play five times a week, early in the morning. I finish around 11 am, 11:15 am,” adds Mr. Boucher.

“I’m 83 years old and I play golf seven days a week,” reports Donald Duplessis. I happen to play 18 holes.

He was also present at the season opener on May 6, alongside Rocco Pisegna. The two often play together with David Comeau, who is 80 years old.

Until five years ago, Donald Duplessis covered the 18 holes on foot, without a cart.

“The guys I was playing with had cards and I was walking. They were wasting their time on me. I finally boarded with them,” she admits with a laugh.

“We are always the first to leave in the morning,” reveals Donald Duplessis. If it gets wet, we don’t go there. It used to be that we played in the rain, but when we started to get older, we stopped that, ”he says jokingly.

“I like to play golf, I like the game, the company of the boys. He talks, laughs and gets angry”, admits Donald Duplessis, who will play until he is 100 years old if he stays in shape.

His friend Rocco Pisegna plays five times a week.

“I take a cart because when I get home I have a lot of work,” says the 84-year-old golfer.

“I think it’s the best sport in life that you can play with the whole family, with anyone and at any time,” says the man who started playing golf at the age of 58.