Graham Cooke, Wally Crouter, Herb Page and Stephen Ross welcomed into Ontario Golf Hall of Fame

Uxbridge, ON (May 10, 2012) - The 12th annual Ontario Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on Wednesday night, welcoming Graham Cooke, Herb Page, Stephen Ross and Wally Crouter into the Hall in front of 150 guests at Wooden Sticks Golf Club in Uxbridge.

Hosted by CTV Toronto anchor Ken Shaw, the ceremony highlighted each of the inductees' accomplishments and contributions to the game of golf, and featured an opportunity for each to share memories from their careers with the audience. Several current Hall of Fame members were also in attendance, including World Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Stewart Streit, Richard Grimm, Gary Cowan, Kelly Roberts, Mary Ann Hayward, Gar Hamilton, Warren Sye, and Stu Hamilton.

Canadian and Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member and well-known golf journalist Lorne Rubenstein was on hand to present Crouter with the inaugural Lorne Rubenstein Media Award, established to honour members of the media that have made significant contributions to the game of golf in Ontario.

Crouter, 89, is best known as the beloved morning voice of Toronto's CFRB 1010 where he spent more than 50 years on air before his retirement in 1996. As an avid golfer, Crouter's love of the game was well known to his listeners and he could often be found on the course with golf legends such as Sam Snead, Al Balding, Moe Norman, and Arnold Palmer. The Aurora resident is credited with helping to raise millions of dollars for charity through many different endeavors including his fundraising golf tournaments.

Montreal's Graham Cooke, originally from Ontario, became the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame's 58th inductee and spoke about his lengthy career as a golf course architect and standout amateur golfer. As president of Graham Cooke & Associates, he has designed and overseen the construction of over 100 golf courses and has provided golf course design and renovation services for over 600 clients located around the world. As a competitive golfer, Cooke holds the record for the most national events won by a male amateur, with six Canadian Mid-Amateur titles and four Canadian Senior Amateur titles. He is a two-time Canadian Amateur runner-up and also holds four Quebec Amateur titles and two Quebec Senior titles. Cooke was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

Longtime Kent State University Director of Golf Herb Page, originally from Markham, reminisced about the 30-plus years he has spent leading collegiate golfers at Kent to an unprecedented 77 tournament titles. He has led the Golden Flashes golf team to three top-ten national finishes and three NCAA regional titles, and has mentored 87 All-Mid-Atlantic Conference golfers, 21 All-Americans and 19 golfers who have been selected as All-America Scholar-Athletes. Just prior to making his way north to the ceremony, Page led his team to their fourth straight Mid-American title with a 40-shot victory in Illinois over the weekend. Page works tirelessly to develop his athletes while serving as a fundraiser and ambassador for the game of golf and many of his athletes have gone onto great success on the professional stage including 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis. With a long history of recruiting Canadian athletes to Kent State including Nationwide Tour player Jon Mills and current team members Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, Page has made his mark on the golf community both in Canada and abroad.

Dundas resident Stephen Ross, a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, has made outstanding contributions as a leader in the Canadian golf industry. Over a 30-year tenure at the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada), Ross served as Director of Amateur Tournaments and Rules and Director of Amateur Status and Handicapping before moving into the position of Executive Director in 1989. He played a prolific role in raising the association's profile on a national and international level while growing the Canadian Open, expanding the amateur competitive circuit and introducing the CN Future Links program. He led the organization through its Centennial and amalgamation with the Canadian Ladies' Golf Association, and has established himself internationally as a highly respected member of the golf community.

The Ontario Golf Hall of Fame was established in the year 2000 to help perpetuate the memory and acknowledge the contributions and accomplishments made by Ontarians to the game of golf. Inductees in the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame have made an extraordinary provincial, national or international contribution to the game of golf in Ontario in the form of golfing accomplishments, an illustrious golf-related career or some another exceptional contribution to the sport.

The Ontario Golf Hall of Fame is maintained by the Golf Association of Ontario and is housed within the clubhouse at Wooden Sticks Golf Club in Uxbridge. Following Wednesday's ceremony, the Hall now has 60 members, with the class of 2013 set to be announced in fall 2012.