Sid Puddicombe’s dream to play in the National Hockey League was shattered by a broken wrist that cancelled his appearance on Broadway with the New York Rangers.

But Puddicombe, now 70, is living testament that if you dream long enough, good things happen.

Jack Dagley photo, for Business Edge
From superintendent to developer, Sid Puddicombe has been a driving force in Alberta’s golf industry for 54 years.

For 20 years, Puddicombe and his three sons – Grant, Tod and Mark – have been developing, designing and upgrading golf courses around the world in the family business known as Sid Puddicombe Associates, based in Nisku, near Edmonton.

But now the seeds have been sown for Sid Puddicombe’s lifelong dream to own his own golf course – Redtail Landing is now under construction near Edmonton International Airport.

The new course, with a pricetag of $6 million, is set to tee off next season. Puddicombe, whose family will be Redtail’s majority owner, is already champing at the bit in anticipation of the opening of his pride and joy.

“We’ve just seeded all 18 greens – it’s going to be a beautiful course,” gushes the one-time centreman, sounding like he’s just been called up to the big leagues.

1. What was it like growing up in Saskatchewan in the ’30s and ’40s?

“I started working at the Saskatoon Golf & Country Club when I was 15 for 90 cents an hour. My friend Vic Howe, Gordie Howe’s brother, and I both had aspirations to be in the National Hockey League like Gord. So the only thing we thought we could do to stay in shape was to work at the golf course because at that time they mowed greens with hand mowers. So that’s what lured us there, knowing that it would help us get in shape for hockey. I didn’t have any money as a kid. You had to work for everything. My father (Joseph) was a caretaker at a senior citizens’ home.”

2. How do you reflect on your seven-year career in the minor pro ranks?

Jack Dagley photo, for Business Edge
Golf course developer Sid Puddicombe has worked with his three sons to carve out a new 18-hole track at the Edmonton International Airport.

“When the New York Rangers called me up, I broke my wrist the game before, and that was my last chance. But I enjoyed those years. There were only six teams in the NHL then so you had to be awful good to make it. I played old-timers hockey until 10 years ago.”

3. Who has had the greatest influence on your career in the golf business?

“It was John Steele, who was a golf superintendent in Winnipeg. I was fortunate enough to win the John B. Steele Award, the distinguished service award for Canadian superintendents.”

4. What did he teach you?

“The biggest thing he taught me was the art of greenskeeping. When I became superintendent at Riverside (in Saskatoon), I spent a week with John at St. Charles Golf Club in Winnipeg to learn about the business.”
5. To what do you attribute your success in the golf business?

“My biggest thing in the golf industry is to end up with the perfect course at the end of the summer. I reached a point where I thought I had a course in Edmonton that was as close to perfect as I thought it could get, but it was still only 98 per cent. That was Mayfair Golf & Country Club. My standards are very high. I never did hit 100 per cent.”

6. What’s your favourite course to play?

“I recently played Eagle Ranch (a course at Invermere, B.C., built by Sid Puddicombe Associates), and I would think that course is about as close to 100 per cent as you’ll ever get. I looked for little things and I couldn’t find anything. That’s my favourite by far. It’s a player-friendly golf course.”

7. Tell the story of how Sid Puddicombe Associates got
started in 1982.

“When I was a superintendent at Mayfair, I started to do consulting at other courses, so I started a consulting business. My son Tod was a superintendent at Bearspaw Golf & Country Club, Grant was a superintendent at the Hinton (Alberta) course and Mark was a heavy-duty mechanic. One Christmas, the boys were all home and they said: ‘Dad, we’d like to start a construction company.’ I said, ‘I’ve already got a company and you could become the principals of the company.’ ”

8. What led you to move to the company full time in 1988?

“The boys came to me at Mayfair and said they wanted me to join them in the business. I wasn’t too happy at Mayfair then. I told the boys: ‘You can’t afford me.’ They said: ‘You come with us and you won’t have to worry again. We’ll take of you.’ I handed in my resignation at Mayfair and we haven’t looked back since then.”

9. What’s it been like working with your sons?

“It’s been absolutely great. We all bring something different to the table. We discuss everything when we draw up plans for a golf course. I can truthfully say we’ve never had an argument that’s created any problems. People marvel at the way we get along. Everybody’s got a job to do and we follow it to a T. It’s amazing how well it works.”

10. Are you still working full time?

“I get up at six in the morning and can’t wait to get towork. I just love it so much.”

11. What was the inspiration for launching the Redtail project?

“About three years ago, Grant said: ‘You know, Dad, I think we should build our own golf course, because we’ve done work all around the world, but we’ve never done anything in our home town to show the people what we could do.’ It turned out that (Edmonton International Airport) had just enough room for a golf course, so we struck a deal with them and we’ve never looked back.”

12. How is it going to feel when you finally tee off at Redtail next year?

“I’m just dying to hit a ball out there. It’ll be a thrill of a lifetime.”

13. What makes this layout so special?

“It’s special because we’ve designed it, we’ve constructed it and we’re going to own it (along with 13 minority owners). It’ll be a championship (rated) course. It’ll probably be one of the best courses in Western Canada. We’ll have 10 lakes on the course. You’ll have to think your way around this course. You can’t just lash it out there, because you’ll get into too much trouble. Hopefully, this’ll finally be the 100-per-cent course I’ve been striving for.”

14. What’s the most important lesson the golf business has taught you?

“You learn how to deal with people. People management is the toughest thing in our business.”

15. What’s your outlook for the golf-development industry?

“New construction of golf courses has slowed down quite a bit, but the renovation of existing courses has just taken off. It’s gone haywire and it’s continuing. That’s because courses have to keep up with the new courses coming onstream or risk losing their membership.”

16. What makes this business so gratifying to you?

“It’s something in your blood where you want to do the best possible job you can. It’s a good feeling seeing
people enjoy these courses.”

17. What’s your view of the corruption and scandal in the corporate world?

“It’s certainly going to put a damper on funding for businesses. It’s scary because every time you pick up a paper, there’s a big company going down the tube. I don’t know where it’s going to end.

“I see George Bush saying that they’re going to put them in jail, but that’s not going to stop anything. It’s hard to believe how greedy some of these guys were, like Bernie Ebbers (former WorldCom CEO and a former Edmontonian).”

18. What’s your business philosophy?

“I think my three sons and I think exactly the same way. We say: ‘We’ll do it once and do it right’ instead of doing it half way and coming back to fix it later on. So we set very high standards. I think what’s most important is that you have common sense. I think things out before I open my mouth, and I view things from a common-sense perspective.

"Sometimes, I just think I’m lucky, but then I realize that it went right because it was thought out properly.”

19. What’s your life’s greatest regret?

“I guess not making the NHL. Because when you’re a young kid, you dream about those things and you work and work and work and yet sometimes you just don’t have it.”

20. How long will you remain president of the company?

“As long as I can keep going, as long as my health is good and as long as the boys will have me around, I guess I’ll be here. I have no plans of retirement at all.”

IN PROFILE: Sid Puddicombe
* Born/raised/age: Canwood, Sask; Saskatoon, Sask.; 70.
* Title: President, Sid Puddicombe Associates.
* Family: Wife Rosemarie, sons Tod, Mark and Grant.
* Career: Sid Puddicombe has been in the golf course business for 54 years, beginning his career in Saskatoon. He was superintendent of Mayfair Golf & Country Club in Edmonton from 1968-88 and he has been president of Sid Puddicombe Associates ever since.
* Awards: Puddicombe was the first Canadian recipient of the Score magazine Golf Superintendent of the Year in 1988 and has won the prestigious John W. Steele Award for distinguished service as a Canadian superintendent. He is a charter member of the Canadian Golf Course Superintendent Association.
* Claim to Fame: Puddicombe played professional hockey in the minor pro ranks for seven seasons.
* Boyhood Idol: Gordie Howe.

THE COMPANY: Sid Puddicombe Associates
* Brass: Sid Puddicombe, president; Grant Puddicombe, managing director; Tod Puddicombe, projects co-ordinator; Mark Puddicombe, manager, construction services.
* Profile: Sid Puddicombe Associates is a family-owned and operated business that specializes in the design and construction of golf courses. Since the company was established in 1982, it has worked on more than 50 projects in Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and Japan with an emphasis on development or redevelopment of existing courses.
* Links: The company’s current major project is the $6-million development of Redtail Landing Golf Club, 6.5 kilometres south of Edmonton, a public facility slated to open next season. Among the high-profile courses the company has worked on are Eagle Ranch (Invermere), Dinosaur Trail (Drumheller) and McKenzie Meadows (Calgary).
* Address: 502 12th Ave., Nisku, AB T9E 2N9.
* Phone: 780-955-8906.