Hi everyone, welcome to Sudbury Interviews.

Today we have John Downs, a PGA Golf Professional of Canada and now the Operations Manager of Golf Sudbury.

Here in Sudbury they run a series of golf courses.

Before we begin, you can find us on Sudstown Sudbury's Top 10 conversations.

Hey John Downs, how you doing?

Good, Danny, how are you?

Very well.

Thanks for coming on.

I was, I was bugging you for a little while to come on.

You finally said yes.

Yeah, not a problem.

So tell us how you learned to be a golfer.

How did you learn to play golf?

Well, I was always athletic when I was a kid.

I, you know, I played junior, I played junior hockey, football, junior baseball.

So I, I've done a lot of things in sports.

I played golf.

It was, wasn't my passion at the time.

And then when I was married, I moved to Nobleton.

I was I was lived on Nobleton Lakes Golf Course and I started playing Nobleton Lakes Golf Club there and ended up becoming a pro at that time.

So what stood out with golf out of the other sports?

Oh, well, it's a passion, right?

I think it's an addiction for a lot of people.

As you see today after the COVID, COVID-19 dilemma that happened back in 2020 or whatever, you see people getting more and more people.

They didn't, couldn't do really too much at that time other than golf.

And by doing so, they became, yeah, you know, it's an addiction.

They they what you can, you'll never be satisfied with golf.

It's the most humbling game.

You want to play, but it'll also your you have your moments, right?

And those moments keep you coming back.

So so how did you learn actually how to play though?

Like what did you have to do to become good?

Well, I ended up playing when I was younger adult play a little bit of time, but I had, you know, I was, I'm pretty coordinated and all that, but I, I don't know if you ever heard of Sandra Post, she was LPGA pro on tour and I ended up getting some lessons from her regarding the short game.

And that's where I really started excel at.

I would spend hours on the putting green.

I'm not a long drive hitter at that, but I used to be a very good short player, short game player and very good putter.

Obviously you lose a lot of that when you start in the industry and you get the jobs that I get now.

It's more or less running the business for our owners, right?

So the short game is is what exactly?

The short game's like you're chipping, you know, 100 yards in around the around the green, getting the ball close to the hole, trying to save.

You're trying to save, right?

It's all recovery, right?

So if you don't have a short game, then the recovery is a major part of the game to score proper.

Do you think that golfing is a fun game or is it more about like strategy?

It depends on what level you want to take it at.

Like I have fun now.

I enjoy going out playing some games.

I don't play much, but I I just go out and have fun and and try and you know, better myself all the time.

But I mean, obviously that doesn't work that much anymore.

But there's also it also, it all depends what events you're playing too, right?

A lot of guys are very competitive and ladies, but there's also a fun aspect to it too.

You you're never going to be satisfied playing the game, that's for sure.

That's true.

The one time I golfed, Oh my God, it was not fun because I was.

I was terrible and I was in the Bush all day trying to find the ball.

It wasn't fun at all.

So the best part of best part for that for you, Danny would've been probably played in a scramble tournament.

So you have 4 guys you're playing with and you just take the best ball.

We wouldn't have to really worry about you.

They're taking one for the team, right?

Exactly.

So are you happy with with your with your career and that you're retired from that now?

Well, not, you know, I've never retired, but I mean, I don't play.

I mean, I'll never play the competitiveness.

I used to play when I was younger, right?

But when it comes to my career and all that, what I do, I love, absolutely love being in this industry.

I love golf.

I love the people.

And I just feel that it was a great fix for me, fit for me.

So you wound up in Sudbury.

Tell us a little bit about that story of how you.

Ended up here.

OK, well, little, little OK, this is an interesting part.

So I've been, I was in the industry.

I, you know, I was at Knowlton Lakes, I was the head pro at in Innisfil.

I was then I got a job at Deer Creek, which was a 45 hole facility and 50,000 square foot clubhouse and I was the tournament director there.

So Tom or not, who's our GM here, hired me there to be the tournament director.

And when I got hired on, I mean, it was a big job and I've put over 200 tournaments a year.

They're very, you know, this was before golf started.

This was before COVID, right?

So golf wasn't at its best, but I would fill that place up with tournaments.

And Tom and I worked really well as a team and very, we're very successful there for the five years we were there together.

And Tom came up here as GM at Idlewild.

I went to Welland after that and I was a director of operations at that golf course.

I had a 36 hole golf course and you know, the clubhouse there obviously was pretty big clubhouse, but I spent a year and a bit there and then I kind of walked away from there, wasn't too happy there and then ended up called me.

He was up at the Sudbury for like 5-6 years and he asked me if he could help, I could help him out over at Idlewild.

So I, I said sure, what do you want me to do?

He said food and like a food and beverage manager and I went, Oh yeah, sure.

I've never was a food and beverage manager, but I got to learn that pretty good and I really enjoyed myself there.

There's no question about it.

And then like, I didn't even know what a Jacuzzi board was.

So to be honest with you.

So anyways.

But I got pretty good understanding the business and knowing it.

So then ended up staying two years there, which I loved.

They were really good to me there.

I have only, you know, almost respect for all the people that I met there.

Then Tom came over here as AGM at Golf Sudbury and asked me if I, you know, come over and help out here, you know, more in the business that I'm used to, like, you know, the golf I or so I'm overlooking actually golf food and beverage, back shop, you know, tournaments, all that stuff.

But I said, yeah, I mean, I wasn't sure at first 'cause I really enjoyed myself, but I made the, the choice of becoming, I talked to Sam Yani, who's, he was the owner here and he's a great guy.

He's he's a big supporter of Tom and I for sure.

And then we work hard and we get this job done and we're growing the business for sure.

So does a typical golf course have 18 holes?

You mentioned something about 36 holes.

Well, actually golf courses have 18 holes.

That's a standard.

But I mean there are golf course that have, I was at a golf course, like I said, Deer Creek and Ajax had 45 holes.

So when you have to, you have to really learn T sheets and how they operate, right.

So I don't want to go through all that takes a little bit of time, but you get really good and then we get tournaments in there.

You got to learn how to put the tournaments in there.

That's not affected.

Your whole job here in this golf industry is maximizing your T sheets.

You understand the T sheets wherever you are and you maximize it, it's only total revenue you're looking at, right.

So that's, that's one thing Tom and I believed in and, and made sure we, we, we maximized our T sheets for sure.

And we're doing that here too.

So golfing in Canada, is there a course or a couple of courses that stood out for you or what it what's one of your favorite ones that you've ever?

Played golf courses Golf course.

Yeah.

I played, I played all over the place, but I played the Old Course in Scotland which is the which is the most famous golf course.

I played all the Dunhill, Dunhill Cup courses there.

I played the Kings Barnes that I played producey.

So I was fortunate enough to play those courses, and to me that's pretty hard to beat, you know what I mean?

Yeah, it must be Scotland.

Yep.

Played in Bermuda, I played in Florida, I played the yeah, yeah.

So yeah.

Have any of the courses here in Sudbury?

Has anybody ever did a hole in one?

Many, many people have hole in ones.

Really.

So it's a common thing.

It's not really common because it is, it's difficult, but you know, there's always someone I always see, you know, once every two weeks, maybe 3 weeks, get a hole in one, you know?

Wow, really?

Yeah, that's surprising to me because you hit the ball from the starting point and it goes right in the holes.

One shot.

Yeah, well, I've had three in my career.

And you know, I always say to people like I'm not a type of guy that gets totally excited about about it because I believe that no matter how well you hit the ball and you, you, you know, you're know, you're online, it's still got to roll the right way.

So you know what I mean?

So you still need the break and you still need a, you know, a little bit of luck, right?

For sure.

And the wind is a factor, I would imagine.

Oh all.

The time.

Yeah, if it's either with you or against you kind of thing or.

Yeah, you know, you have to understand how to play the wind for sure.

Is there a lot of intuition involved?

What do you mean by that?

But like with golfing, being a golfer.

Intuition.

Yeah, like.

Like a reading between the lines, kind of like, I don't know, you know what I mean?

Well, let's put it this way, you always have to remember you have to know what your clubs do.

So you could you could be a hundred 110 yards away and say, OK man, if I go pitch and wedge or whatever, lob wedge, I got to give it a full 100 yards.

Do I want to do that?

Then you got to say no, I don't want to push it because I'm pushing it.

I might not get there.

I might be if I don't hit it right, I'm not going to get there.

So then you're going to have to understand to use a three quarter swing on a Fission Ledger or something, you know, So you have to adjust that way and you have to understand if you know how to do three quarter swings, half swings, all that stuff, then you become a really good golfer.

OK, I didn't even know there was such a thing.

I don't know anything about golf.

It's not always full swings.

Right.

And what about like putting?

Is there an art to that?

Well, there is an art, I mean you.

I practiced hours and hours when I was younger to become a good putter and I totally believe in I still love it.

I still love the putting game.

That's probably my strengths right now.

If I ever play, which I don't play much, but I I could be on pretty quick with my putting, which makes me happy, right?

But at the end of the day, the practicing definitely need be, but I always pick it.

The hole's not always your your target.

You know what I mean?

If you're going downhill or whatever you target might be way before the hole, you got to pick a spot there that you want to get to that spot and let it release to the hole.

If it's something, if you're going uphill, you're going to pick something behind the hole and you got to say that's my target and try and aim for that target that's behind the hole and you get the ball there.

Right.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, I still think driving the the cart is the funnest part.

Yeah, well, we got to watch out for that.

Sometimes people have too much fun in those carts.

Oh really?

I can imagine.

Yeah, the carts are expensive.

Well, this summer I'm staying on a campground some of the time and there's there's some golf carts in there as well.

Well, you learn how to drive them there then.

Yeah, Yeah.

So here's a question that I ask every guest.

It's called the daily segment.

And the question is, what is one thing that you feel would make Sudbury greater?

Oh, that's interesting.

I'm I've only been here for about four years or this is my fourth year in Sudbury, but to make Sudbury greater as a city.

Yeah.

Take care of people.

Take care of people.

There's a lot of people that are down and out here.

We, they need help, Someone needs help and I notice that everyday I see it.

That's up to the government to help.

Yeah, that's a good answer.

Nice and short form boiled down.

Yeah.

I mean the core.

I think, I think, I don't think anyone wants to live the way people are living, right?

So that's not the, that's not the maximum.

I mean, just going to be honest what I see.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

So what?

So coming back to golf for a minute here, what what's the the purpose of the game is to do the par or the birdie?

Can you explain those to us real quick?

So you have par, threes, fours and fives, right?

So you're all ideal, ideal score would be parring those holes.

You get birdies while you're really good player.

If you get bogeys then you're going the wrong way.

The bogeys are one over, double boogeys, 2 over triples, 3 over da da da we have.

You have the pars which are even par.

So if you get a 4345 on those holes it counts as even par 345.

If you get under par, you might go.

A birdie is 1 under, an eagle's two under.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

So it goes in that way that way.

Those are really good shots.

Then the birdies those.

Are very good, yeah.

You want them if you could, you want them all the time.

That's great.

Yeah.

Nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Golfing.

Yeah.

That's it.

Sounds like a fun thing to do.

I I haven't really figured it out myself personally, but.

Now you got to play the scramble.

There's there's time left there.

Maybe there's some hope left.

Just go and enjoy yourself, that's what it's all about.

Don't put pressure on yourself.

Is there, is there an age factor with golfing?

Like does it, you know how athletes it's, you know, hockey players, they're young.

No.

With golf, is it like?

That no, no one thing about golf, the game of golf.

You could play with someone young and I'm like, I'm older now, but you know, I've played with young guys, older guys, all that stuff.

It's a great it's that's why the great the the game is great.

Ladies, guys, all that stuff.

It's a great game because anyone could play it.

You have you could play with any age and you still are working for the same goal.

Sounds perfect.

Well, yeah.

Thanks for your time.

Sudbury interviews, everyone.

I want to thank you for your time and your expertise, John.

Thanks, Danny.

I appreciate your time and we'll we'll see you.

We'll see you soon.

Take care.

Absolutely, Danny, take care.

Bye bye.