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The Huron Expositor, 1997-07-23, Page 6at�� Istr !I.4th! Kid' makes North Americas Sall of Fame GREGOIRCAJAPIIRLL Expositor Staff Fred Harburn of Seaforth was as good as they got when it came to horseshoe pitching in the 1930s, the first decade of. the Canadian champi- onships. The 86 -year-old finished mainly ftrct, the other times second, every year from 1931 to 1942 at the old Dominion of Canada Horseshoe Pitching Tournament, then held in Toronto either at the Royal Winter Fair or CNE. He won the Canadian championship in 1932, '33, '36, '37 and '42. Sunday he was inducted into the Horseshoe Pitching Hall of Fame at the world tournament now being held at Kitchener -Waterloo Memorial Auditorium, the first time the annual event has been held outside the United States in 79 years. He is only the sixth Canadian so honoured of the 130 or so National Horseshoe Pitching Association Hall of Fame members. Not all of these were players, many are in other categories such as builders. Harburn was induct- ed into Ontario's horseshoe pitching hall of fame in 1989. They, called him "The Kid from Cromarty" when he first won the Canadian title at age 22. Fred says there was a time. from about 1930 to 1935. "when 1 was just as sure 1 was -going to win as I was I would eat breakfast the next morning." He recalls getting a kick out of hanging around the horse- shoe pits in Seaforth and Dublin back then, not exactly advertising who he was, until someone would ask him to play. and he'd whip all corn- ers. Th ;t go' them talking. RINGING AN EGG At exhibitions. an assistant with quick hands at the other end of the pit would give a shout. and Fred would ,pitch. Then the lad would pull the peg and replace it with an egg while the shoe was in the air. Harburn could ring it every time without breaking. Fred was born on a farm in Cromarty but moved to Stafla in 1942 where he lived for most o.f his life. ,He moved to Seaforth eight years ago. His wife Pearl (nee McNichol) died in 1993 and Fred now lives alone across from the high school, on Chalk Street. The Harburn* lived next to the horseshoe pits south of the Staffa Township Hall, now the township hall, where horseshoes were a big thing back then. Competition was fierce and those pits were lit well into many a night. He says he first got bit by the horseshoe pitching bug after he saw a Canadian champ put on a show at Hensall when he was 15 or 16 and then went and bought a pair of pitching shoes for $2. He pitched' every day, which was "easy being a farmer's son," maybe 1,000 shoes at a time, "whenever I got the chance," he says. Looking back, he thinks consistency was his strong point, his horseshoes came at you same delivery, same height. same speed every time. 80 TO 85 PER CENT And he had world-class aim, averaging 80 to 85 per cent ringers in his prime, when he was hot, sometimes 90 to 95 per cent, he said. Wellesley's now deceased former world champion. Elmer Hohl, was inducted into the Horseshoe Hall of Fame in 1969. He had arms as big around as my logs, Harburn, who beat him more than once, remembers. Fred says Hohl, a fellow called Dean McLaughin from Oshawa and he were the big three in the game back then,. a step ahead of the rest, in a class by themselves. . He can remember playing 14 ends and never counting with these guys, all ringers. The last time they played together in a tournaanaaa a>ttil three tied with one tars. McLaughlin is Mill alive, now 75, and Harburn was hoping he'd see him Sunday. The gasses took a long time with so many rimers. Harburn recalls. an hour for a game was not uaoommoa. Harburn's brother Ernie drove him to Sunday's pre- sentation, ro-sentation, where Fred had to make a little speech. 'Very "hale." "I'm not much of a speech man," he says. SEVEN YEARS There are 1,740 competitory; in the world tournament now going on at Kitchener - Waterloo, everythingfrom seven per cent to 80/85 per cent ringers, says Bernie Bretz, first vice president of Horseshoe Ontario. He says this provincial group has been tryieg to ger Harburn in the Hall for seven years, and he is more than deserving of the honour now that be is in. Fred says there wort all kind of old newspaper accounu in displays at the banquet, and he saw that one he still likes, the one about "The Kid from Cromarty...." Harburn says he got out of thc horseshoe pitching when the war came. The best he ever did in the world ebampi- onships was 14th, but he didn't go to many because they were always in the U.S. and it was too hot. He says he needs his naps now, at his age, and was wor- ried he might get too tired with the trip to Sunday's cer- emonies. $W everything wean wall. He and his brother plan to go back down to the worlds on 'Thursday to watch the bettor players. the 90 per centers and up. Maybe McLaughlin will be there. Fred's wife and four chil- dren are dead. Harburn was also quite the fiddler until aelativoly recent- ly, and both horseshoe and fiddling trophies abound at his cosy Calk Street home. He is also fond of playing cards, at the Legion and with the gang that used to play at Town Hall before it was ren- ovated, but now slaps the trumps down in the mornings at the local arena. FRED HARBURN of Seaforth, formerly of Statfa, could ring an egg with ease. Canada well represented on LPGA tour hosts the Canadian Open on the PGA tour each September. (This year the Canadian Open goes to Royal, Montreal Golf Club). It will be interesting to see how the ladies handle this Jack Nicklaus designed test of golf. There will be a cut after Friday's round and then the top 70 and ties will finish out the 72 -hole event. Something else that you should know is that the DuMaurier is a major on the LPGA tour and all the great players will be toeing it up. The ladies love to come to Canada and try to add this event to their list of accom- plishments. The defending champ is long -hitting, Laura Davies. Sorenstam, the num- ber one female player in the world will be there. Akhough the names may not be as familiar to golf fans as the men's names, I'm sure many of you will recognize names like Nancy Lopez. Joanne Cantor, Jan Stephenson, and Australian sensation, Karrie Webb. I have saved the best for last because the Canadian contingent will be awesome. Lori Kane is making a teal name for herself this year on the LPGA tour. She's Canadian. Dawn Coe -Jones will be there - remember she won the Tournament Players Championship in 1996. Then there's Nancy Harvey, Lisa Walters, Barb I3unkowsky- Scherback (who will be play- ing very close to her family's course in Burlington), Karen Mundinger, and many more. Couthund on Page 13. Picking the winner and top finishers in the major cham- pionships on the PGA tour has become a ritual at the local golf club. Participants pay an entry fee and are allowed to choose five play- ers on their team. Points are accumulated based on the place that the players finish in the field. Low score wins a percentage of the "kitty." The first pool was for the Masters and we had over 30 participants with yours truly winning first prize. Then we did the U.S. Open and we had over 40 entries. Doug Elliot took first prize with his team of five. Last week we did thc LPGA for the first time and had a pool for the U.S. Ladies Open. Only 13 people took part with Mary Doig being the winner. This week we just finished the British Open on the PGA tour and ended up with a fair entry although the winner hasn't been determined. at the time of this writing. You may wonder where all this is leading. Well, I fothnd it very interesting we had so few participants for the LPGA event. The comment I got froth most people was, "f don't know any of the play- ers, so I don't know who to pick." A very interesting dilemma. The LPGA has been in the shadow of the PGA Tour for many years: PGA events are televised almost *very weekond,and ibe names and favor of Tiger %Ws, 4tog Norma, ,lftddy Couples. held Nick Fakb beoume familiar to Jolters and non -golfers alike. The Tartan. Chameleon Golf Notes by C.A. Doig Along came the Senior PGA tour and this bumped the LPGA even deeper into the shadows as Chi -Chi, Lee, Arnie and the 50 -something's stole the show. Even the Nike and European Tours seem to get more exposure than the LPGA. Did you know that if Annika Sorenstam was play- ing for the same size purses as the players on the men's tour, she would have earned more money this year than Tiger Woods? Did you know that Canadians are better rep- resented on the LPGA tour than on any other main tours? Did you know that next week the best lady golfers in the world will be just down the road at Glen Abbey in Oakville? Well now you know and you can find out even more about these great players by attending the event or watching,i1 on tdk- vision. The DuMaurierClassic will be held at Glen Abbey begin- ning on Thursday, July 31. • There is a pro -am on Monday, a practice round on Tuesday. another pro -am on Wednesday, and then the competition begins on Thursday and runs through to Sunday. 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