Humility suits Goodbrandson to a tee Longtime golf instructor off to greener fairways after rewarding career By: Jason Bell Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 Last Modified: 9:09 AM CST Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 08/12/2020 (1436 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Garth Goodbrandson could have pulled from his golf bag of memories a story about himself Wednesday when challenged to choose the highlight of a long and notable career in the game.

He had permission to leave his comfort zone and be self-centred for a change.

The Winnipegger might have gone with his 2016 induction into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame, perhaps, or his long friendship with a true Canadian legend, the late Moe Norman. Worthy of mention was that exceptional week at Southwood in 1986 when he stuck around to play on the final day of the Manitoba Open, or tours around world-renowned Florida tracks such as Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass during the winter months.

Nope, those memorable moments didn’t make the cut.

Instead, and without hesitation, he acknowledged the thrill of watching the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s golf team celebrate a home-course victory at the Canadian university/college championship in 2014.

That sums up Goodbrandson — the coach and teacher — to a tee.

“When we built the Bisons team, we always did it with Manitobans. We’ve never recruited outside the province. We wanted to do it with good people, and all we asked of them was to work hard and prepare for tournaments. We had great people on the team before that, but the beauty of that group in 2014 was they were the hardest workers you’d ever seen,” Goodbrandon said.

“We tried to increase that intrinsic motivation, tried to be good role models, tried to give them lots of opportunities, independence and other things to build confidence. In 2012 and 2013 they dominated at U.S. tournaments… they practised all winter at the Golf Dome and were so ready for Southwood in 2014.

“Playing (the national championship) you couldn’t ask for a better situation. To watch them win in front of friends and family was amazing.”

“Playing (the national championship) you couldn’t ask for a better situation. To watch them win in front of friends and family was amazing.”

Goodbrandson coached the U of M men’s golf team from the very beginning in 1999 until the fall of 2019, ending a part-time gig that holds a special place in his heart. Now, after 16 years as a club professional and 23 more with Golf Manitoba as the organization’s director of player development, he’s retiring at the end of the month.

He took direct aim at Freedom 60 and stuck it close to the pin.

“I always said I wanted to retire at 60 and am fortunate to be able to,” he said. “I probably worked a job-and-a-half the last 15 years, and I was busy with my own kids (Samantha and Dale) and their activities, too. I’m looking forward to having more time for myself and my wife, Lisa. I haven’t played as much golf lately as I’d like to, so I plan on doing more of that.”

It’s well-deserved relief for a fellow who introduced the game to thousands of young people, during his time at Tuxedo, Halcrow Lake (The Pas), Breezy Bend and Minnewasta (Morden), and then with the provincial association, starting in 1997. He grew the game locally through golf-in-schools and rural-instruction programs, while also gaining a reputation as one of Canada’s top-level coaches.

“He’s one of the smartest people I know when it comes to teaching. He maybe doesn’t have the university or high level of education, but Garth has a doctorate in how to treat people,” said Derek Ingram of Winnipeg, head coach of Canada’s men’s golf team. He and Goodbrandson started the Bisons golf program.

“It was never about winning with Garth. It was about developing good people first and good golfers second. He’s been a huge influence on my life, and I know there’s a long list of people that would say the same thing.”

“He’s one of the smartest people I know when it comes to teaching. He maybe doesn’t have the university or high level of education, but Garth has a doctorate in how to treat people.”
– Derek Ingram, head coach of Canada’s men’s golf team

Goodbrandson coached more than 20 provincial teams at national events such as the Canada Games since 1998 and was on Golf Canada’s coaching team from 2004-07. He was named Canadian university golf coach of the year in 2014 and received the City of Winnipeg’s Outstanding Achievement Award the same year.

He was also honoured as the PGA of Manitoba coach of the year three consecutive years (2017-19) and was the recipient of Sport Manitoba’s male coach of the year award earlier this year.

“Coaching was always a passion of mine, whether it was getting new golfers into the game or working with players who were maybe a little more experienced,” said Goodbrandson. “I have great memories of golfing when I was younger, playing 36 holes a day with my buddies at Southwood. As a coach, I wanted to give back some of those memories to the people I helped along the way.

“I’ve done a lot of reflecting lately. Both my parents (Siggi and Isabel) were both caring and empathetic people, always doing what they could for others. So, when I look back now, it was so natural for me to get into teaching and coaching. I always wanted to make the game more fun. When you see people enjoy the game more and improve, that’s the best feeling.”

Josh Wytinck, a member of the Bisons’ 2014 national championship squad, said his former coach placed the importance of character, positivity and hard work well ahead of winning.

“Those are the things he was most proud of with our team, and that’s probably why I’m so proud of him. He stuck by those beliefs and led by example. If you talked to anyone who played multiple sports but was coached by Garth, they’d probably consider him their all-time favourite coach,” said Wytinck.

“He was 100 per cent built to be a mentor and a coach. Whoever hired him to work for Golf Manitoba made a good decision, one that paid off tenfold because he did an unbelievable job developing our players.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell

Jason Bell
Sports editor

Jason Bell wanted to be a lawyer when he was a kid. The movie The Paper Chase got him hooked on the idea of law school and, possibly, falling in love with someone exactly like Lindsay Wagner (before she went all bionic).

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