It may have taken a little less than a decade for the Northern Golf Association (NGA) and Golf Ontario to work through the tedious process of mending fences and restoring trust, a journey that would lead to a critical partnership forged through a Memorandum of Understanding in 2018 that would ensure the growth and prosperity of the sport in Northern Ontario.

At the end of the day, that still allowed for the celebration of 90+ very good years for the NGA – along with a challenging decade or so – last week. One hundred years were feted by many of the greatest names in Northern Ontario golf and their families, one and all gathering at the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club last Thursday, on hand for the inaugural class of the Northern Ontario Golf Hall of Fame as part of the NGA Centennial Celebration (1926-2026).

No less than ten worthy inductees were honoured in either the player or builder category, with several having passed on while others were in attendance, enjoying all that the festivities had to offer.

A native of Sarasota (Florida) who spent 30 years of his life in the Tri-Towns region, Bruce Helbig forged a career in the golf industry all while establishing himself among the very best golfers to ever compete in Northern Ontario. “The best of my golf experience will always be in Northern Ontario,” said Helbig, who now resides year-round in Mobile, Alabama.

“I have friends here today that I haven’t seen in 25 or 30 years and the interactions are as though we have never been apart. The people of Northern Ontario are fabulous, absolutely wonderful.”

Having crisscrossed North America many times over, with golf seemingly part of travel plans more often than not, Helbig has developed quite an array of acquaintances in what he noted might be the most social sport on the planet. “The tentacles of golf are everywhere,” he said.

“People know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. It’s six degrees of golf.”

Bruce Helbig is certainly no stranger to Sudbury, having played in the final of the Idylwylde Invitational on eight separate occasions, three of those battles coming against fellow inductee Vince Palladino, the man who has captured the event more often (seven times) than anyone in the history of the Invite.

“I always took a ton of pride about being from the north,” said Palladino, whose impressive golf resume includes a great deal of success on the amateur circuits, a four year NCAA career with the Ohio State Buckeyes and no less than six NGA titles – with his son (Vincent Jr) following in his footsteps as Northern champion in 2025.

“The guys who came out of the north and played provincially and nationally, we know how good the players are here.”

For as much as there are inherent challenges with living in the north, Palladino is both of the belief and living proof that talent, hard work and determination can overcome the barriers.

“Clearly we have a shorter season, but I truly believe in a lot of the programs that we have here in the north,” he said. “And as time has moved on, the junior category has become more welcomed. Clubs now realize that they are the future of the game.”

Still, for as much as Palladino has channeled a good portion of his energies these days into coaching and giving back to the game, the man who compiled a phenomenal streak of qualifying for championship flight play at the Idylwylde Invitational in 21 straight years in which he competed is not about to set aside his ultra competitive drive, just yet.

“Friday (qualifying round) at the Invite is the toughest day of the year, no matter where I have been playing,” he said. “I still believe that if I can get through Friday, I can still win the Invite.”

One of the earliest golfers to be emboldened with that type of mindset was North Bay native Bill Morland, who hoisted the Inco Trophy on four occasions (1949, 1955, 1957, 1959), his brother Dave walking off as tournament champ in the very first edition of the Idylwylde Invitational in 1948.

“Golf was our life,” said Barb Wellard, one of six of Bill’s children, an outstanding Northern Ontario golfer in her own right and the family representative at the ceremony on Thursday. “It was just always part of our life.”

For as much as both Bill and Barb were completely in their element on pretty much any golf course, almost never did this occur simultaneously. “With my dad being a competitive golfer, I hardly ever played a round of golf with him,” said Barb – the exception being a time that she was allowed to the part of “The Game”, a Thursday summertime tradition in North Bay as she prepared for Senior Amateurs.

“I think his biggest sense of pride was bringing in very, very good golfers to the North Bay Invitational,” said Wellard, reflecting upon the legacy of her father.

In a somewhat similar vein, Carolyn and Cathy Crang, daughters of inductee Phyllis Hughes-Crang (passed in 2025 at age 90), took time reminiscing about their mother and a sport that truly meant the world to her. “Her biggest thing was being a role model,” said Carolyn. “She would always talk about the new young golfers coming in and what they brought to the game – and how she wanted to help them.”

“Getting women involved was really important to her,” added the Crang siblings. “She really enjoyed that.”

While several of the inductees were central to the early days of the NGA, current regional chair Owen Rigg of Timmins might be the man most responsible for the entire evening even being possible. Competing on a golf scholarship with the Long Island Blackbirds (NCAA - 2006-2009), the now 40 year-old Regional Chair for the NGA had returned home following his time in New York.

“I really wanted to get involved, so I approached Archie Berube (long-time NGA chair and HOF inductee),” said Rigg. “We started thinking about how we were going to start reestablishing a relationship with Golf Ontario and Golf Canada. We had just 12 member clubs – and only six were fully affiliated (in 2009).”

Currently, there are close to 40 clubs in Northern Ontario that are part of the family that reunited in 2018. “I think it’s a testament to those efforts that led us to tonight, telling the stories of the first hundred years and talking about the next 100 years.”

“I think we caught a lot of people’s attention tonight.”

The inaugural Class of 2026 inducted into the Northern Ontario Golf Hall of Fame is comprised of: George W. Lee; John Knox; Robert Gardiner Lee; Bill Morland; Phyllis Hughes-Crang; Jim Lamontagne; Bruce Helbig; Vince Palladino; Bob McMenemy; Archie Berube.

Much of the legwork for the evening was done by St Charles College graduate and current Regional Manager - Northern Ontario for Golf Ontario, Riley Bridge.