LOSSA Renames Golf Championship in Honour of Wilson Paterson

Lake Ontario Secondary School Athletics (LOSSA) hosted its Annual General Meeting, announcing a proposition to pay tribute to the late Wilson Paterson by renaming the LOSSA Golf Championship in his honour. Now called the Wilson Paterson Championship, this tribute honours Wilson’s extraordinary contribution to growing the game of golf amongst young aspiring Junior golfers in Durham Region.

Wilson’s passion for the game included developing one of the top golf courses in Ontario and growing the game at both the professional and junior levels. Dating back to the early 70s when the Canadian Tour (now known as PGA Tour Canada) was in its infancy, Paterson supported the tour by offering the golf course for their spring and fall qualifying school, which saw aspiring international golfers compete to earn playing status. Later, only the fall “Q-School” continued, but this fall tradition occurred annually for 36 years. During this time, the club saw many tour pros that would compete on the PGA Tour, including notable players such as Kirk Triplett, Dave Barr, and Ian Leggatt.

Wilson also helped establish the LOSSA golf championship, which has provided thousands of High School golfers an opportunity to compete against local Durham schools. In the early 90s, in addition to the two-day LOSSA Championship, Wilson would canvas the local Golf Clubs to donate golf passes to create a fall Match Play championship amongst the LOSSA High Schools – an annual event that continues today.

The Paterson family of Royal Ashburn Golf Club – Scott and Dave – speak to their father’s impact and legacy on junior golf development in the Durham Region. “It is an honour to have our dad memorialized with LOSSA renaming the Championship. We both played on our high school golf team and can speak firsthand to how many kids have been introduced to golf. Dad loved introducing Juniors to the game. You’d often find him on the range talking to the Junior golfers, helping with their swing, and working on their game. The renaming of the LOSSA Championship really is an honour and one we are all very proud of.”

The inaugural Wilson Paterson Championship is set to take place at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club on Tuesday, October 3rd & Wednesday, October 4th, 2023.