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tribune january 27 1988 a9 ralsoavailabgatl canadian owned and dpfr atfn ufa am e ultrahartj laurie buckland one of the finest athletes to come out of stouffville high is now the golf professional and sports director at aurora highlands golf and country club the 40yearold father of two says the position is so much fan it hardly seems like work lauries pa rents mr and mrs len buckland reside at 135 main street east stouffville bruce stapley golf pro laurie buckland a success story by bruce stapley laurie buckland has the look of relaxed confidence that goes with making a living at something one really enjoys theres a vibrancy to his man- ner that makes you wish you could tap into his energy source laurie a onetime stouffville dist secondary school athletic prodigy is the golf professional and sports director at aurora highlands its an ever- expanding operation that offers its members the best of the sport ing tnd fitness world i consider myself fortunate admits the former sdss athlete of the year- its been a great experience when lstirie first arrived at aurora highlands back in 1966 he didnt expect to stay more than a year hes now in his 21st year laurie is solid proof the athletic grads of stouffville high can make it in the real world hopefully ill be around for awhile yet he says with a smile the 40yearold father of two was a member of the much- heralded group of six that formed the nucleus of so many championship teams at sdss in the 60s the six are still talked about to day by the then physical educa tion director jim rehill like several others in the group laurie took six years to complete the fiveyear high school academic program it was almost as if we wanted to hang around an extra year he laughs we were having so much fun we didnt want to leave a couple of the six top athletes did manage to graduate in five years laurie recalls mr rehill didnt get to them in time ironically laurie credits his academic ineptitude as being a big part in his winding up at high lands when i finally finished grade 13 i missed out on french this meant i couldnt go on to universi ty so i figured id just work a year then go back and tackle it i went to the pga office and noticed a job opening in aurora i signed on as an assistant golf pro he recalls from there laurie advanced to a class a professional in 1970 after being named assistant golf pro of the year he now holds the rank of an al golf pro a title that goes with the position of a profes sional at a recognized club lauries association with club general manager bruce butter- worth led to several other in terests including assistant mana ger of the richmond hill curling club ownership of the aurora tigers hockey club part nership in a sporting goods store and increased prominence on the local sports scene however with aurora high lands becoming a yearround op eration laurie withdrew from these extracurricular activities so he could concentrate on golf- related business i happened to come along at the right time he says the owner was beginning to upgrade the club and branch out into things other than golf consequently laurie has be come well versed in areas such as merchandising accounting and yes public speaking hes even played a part in land develop ment the site now includes 400 homes and 150 luxury condos with the golf course winding its way through the subdivision theres a lot more to being a golf pro than just playing golf laurie insists sure you have to be able to play well enough to command the respect of your members but im basically an ambassador whose job entails serving the members golfing needs laurie has a staff of eleven in the pro shop to ensure the fitness clubs squash courts pool and ten nis facilities are properly looked after were a lifestyle kind of club says laurie many of our members live in the homes and condos we built the pro shop alone registers up to 300000 in sales a year lauries quick to admit that golf remains the no 1 attraction its become such big opera tion he says theres a corpo rate identity to the game now an awful lot of business is done on the golf course because of this laurie ex plains its important that a pri vate club like aurora highlands maintains a thriving image towards this end laurie and his staff organize the annual pro- am tournament and other major events such as the ontario pga championship the cpg a seniors championship and the ontario jr girls championship plans are in the works for another 18hole course says laurie you can never stand still thats why i love this job so thompson 9 mm 67th of fine furniture now in full swiivc featuring gibbard legacy dining room bedroom and occasional tables in solid cherry or solid mahogany substantial savings now on thomp sons entire stock of fine quality brand name furniture manufactured by gib- bard andrew malcolm roxton simmons barrymore kaufman cooper sebastian nadeau and many other top canadian companies 50 room settings featuring wall units bedroom suites dining room suites sofas chairs sofa beds and occasional tables special savings on lamps by stiffel westwood singer and engel as wen as pictures and giftware mttedeuvemr ttrms cutt visa ok hasthccako fine furniture thompsons 16 yoixge st south aurora 7279428 onrtttwhsoayarfdminiir till 9 pm- saturday 7iu 5 prices effective in all departments until saturday january 30 1988 only savings indicated are off our own regular prices we reserve the right to limit quantities assorted flavours hodman much theres always so much going on i hardly feel like im working at all long hours are all part of the position he insists this isnt a problem wife renee whom he met when she was a club member has been very understanding about his off beat schedule when we started dating it wasnt uncommon for me to pick her up at 11 oclock at night he remembers does laurie ever see any of the old boys he used to chum around with at sdss i run into jim rehill every now and again he replies i still consider him a close friend and then there was the old boys reunion honoring mr re- hills retirement as phys ed head this featured the battle of the decades they called us the old guys laurie chuckles but we really thought we had a chance of win ning it all they nearly did laurie re members taking the first two games then father time took over he recalls however when it comes to his personal career as aurora high lands golf pro and sports direc tor lauries discovering some things improve with age miracle food mart disposable diapers pkg or 32 36 48 or 60 or pkg of 32 or 28 ultra ground from 100 beef lean ground beef 417 kg fresh chicken leg quarters mb product of usa fresh broccoli each partly skimmed 2 fresh milk 4 litre bag plain bravo spaghetti sauce 796 ml tin dempsters 100 whole wheal or white sandwich bread 675 g loaf shopsys corned beef or pastrami sliced or shaved plus hundreds of specials from our flyer and instore