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INUVIK
The Road's End Golf Course continues to be a draw for golfers, and Inuvik residents are benefiting from the towns's attraction.

Golf pro and two-time Stanley Cup champion Jaime Leach, right, gives some tips to Stephen Robertson at the Road's End Golf Course in Inuvik on July 29. Leach was in town for two days to give lessons and help build the golf community in the NWT. He also visited Fort Smith and Hay River. - Samantha Stokell/NNSL photos

For the second time in two weeks, a golf pro has visited the three-hole golf course and driving range to give the town's golfers lessons on how to improve their game. On July 29 and 30, two-time Stanley Cup champion turned golf pro Jaime Leach visited Inuvik, thanks to the Aboriginal Sports Circle.

This is his second trip North to teach golf and Inuvik marked the end of the trip, after having visited Fort Smith and Hay River.

"Who would have thought there were so many golf courses in the NWT?" Leach joked. "I came up here to promote the game of golf, get new golfers out and help people with their game. It's better for players the more instruction they have."

On July 18 and 19. trick golfer and pro Todd Keirstad put on a show and gave tips to golfers, too. The two weeks of lessons have helped Inuvik resident Jordan Bourque with his game. He's played for two years and hasn't had a lesson previously.

"It's awesome. The more people we have coming up here, the better," Bourque said during Leach's lesson July 29. "(Leach) has given a lot of tips, how to hold the club, the distance away from the ball. It's helped a lot and is keeping my ball straighter."

Leach, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992, has been a golf pro and Canadian Professional Golf Association member for the past five years. He's always played golf, and took up a friend's offer to work as the assistant golf pro at a Winnipeg golf course.

Leach and his father – another Stanley Cup champion Reggie Leach, who played with the 1975 Philadelphia Flyers – run Shoot to Score. The organization teaches hockey skills and hopes to strengthen community hockey players, especially in aboriginal communities. The Leaches are the only First Nation father and son to have their names carved on the Stanley Cup. They're from the Cree-Ojibwe First Nation of Berens River in Manitoba.

"We hope to get them started in the right direction. It's a youth development program for positive life choices," Leach said. "Especially for juniors, golf teaches a lot about life. You got to play by the rules and be honest. You have to govern yourself and are responsible for calling the shots."

While Leach enjoys both coaching hockey and teaching golf, he finds golf easier.

"In 10 to 15 minutes I can make you a better golfer. In golf you see more results quicker," he said. "You play against yourself and you want to get better and improve and I hope that's what people come away with. It's one shot at a time."

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