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Kevin Dugas‘ story is a golfer’s recipe for success. Dugas started early and played constantly. There was no driving range at Clare Golf Club (where Dugas’ mother worked), so he just played. At five, he’d watch the pro teach and watch clinics. Dugas even caddied a bit as a kid.

It was at seven years of age that Dugas started playing officially, under the tutelage of junior coordinator Dave Gaudet. By age nine, he was playing from morning until dark, 45 holes many days – and when not playing, he was chipping and putting. Dugas would leave home and hit a five iron all the way to the club. That early concentration on the game helped Dugas develop into one of the golfing greats of Nova Scotia.

At 12, he won the provincial midget (14 and under) championship. At 13, he shot par on the Clare course. At 16, he was juvenile (16 and under) champion and two years later, in 1982, tops in the junior ranks. A year before, at 17, Dugas won the Canadian Junior championship, holing a three-footer on 18 of round four to tie, and then winning on the second extra hole. He was the first and only Maritimer to win the title since Lee Windsor of PEI took it in the 1950s.

Before he was 20, the man who says he never “over-thought the game” was 1984 provincial amateur champion, a title he never defended because he turned professional later that year.
He attended the University of South Florida in Tampa for a year but received little instruction and felt he was wasting his time. He turned pro after the amateur in 1984.

Since 1985, Dugas has won 16 Professional Golfers Association of Canada Atlantic championships. He most recently claimed the 2014 PGA of Canada Atlantic Assistant Professionals’ Championship. He’s won two national titles Canadian PGA Assistant Pro honours in 1987 and 1992.

Dugas has been head pro at Magnetic Hill club in Moncton; assistant pro at Truro Golf Club, Country Meadows in Moncton, and Carmen Creek in Fredericton; and has been a teaching pro at Montague Links, Dartmouth, where, today, he is superintendent of operations.

Quiet and unassuming, on and off the course, his demeanor is perfect for a champion – deep concentration and unflappability. In 1992, Dugas claimed the low round of the day for all competitors in the PGA of America Assistant Professional Championship with a 67. Basically self-taught and committing the effort, Kevin Dugas is one of the finest golfers produced in Nova Scotia.

 

Annual Program Induction Article

by Joel Jacobson 

Start early in life. Hit a zillion balls, mostly on the course. Practise a bit but play more. Have a role model or two. And, in Dugas’ case, have a mom who works at a golf club and gets you in easily.

“There was no driving range at Clare Golf Club when I was a kid,” Dugas remembers, “so I just played. At five, I’d watch the pro, Gordon Shaw, teach and I’d watch clinics.

My idol was Lee Trevino and I saw him on TV as often as possible. I even caddied a bit.”

It was at seven vears of age that Dugas started playing officially, under the tutelage of junior coordinator Dave Gaudet. By age nine, he was playing from morning until dark, 45 holes many days – and when not playing, he was chipping and putting with his junior starter set of two woods, four irons and a putter.

He laughs. “When I left home, I’d hit a five iron all the way to the club. I had three golf balls and never lost all three en route.”

That early concentration on the game helped Dugas develop into one of the golfing greats of Nova Scotia. At 12, he won the provincial midget (14 and under) championship. At 13, he shot par on the Clare course. At 16, he was juvenile (16 and under) champion and two vears later, in 1982, tops in the junior ranks.

A year before, at 17, Dugas won the Canadian Junior championship, holing a three-footer on 18 of round four to tie, and then winning on the second extra hole. He was the first and only Maritimer to win the title since Lee Windsor of PEI took it in the 1950s.

“When I was nine or 10, Id always play against the course, not against my opponent,” Dugas says today. “I always look at it that my best game will beat anvone.”

It usually does. Before he was 20, the man who says he never “over-thought the game” was 1984 provincial amateur champion, a title he never defended because he turned professional later that vear.

He attended University of South Florida in Tampa for a year (Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame inductee Gordie Smith was there at the time), but received little instruction and felt he was wasting his time. He turned pro after the amateur in 1984.

He continued to play – and play well. Since 1985, he’s won 16 Professional Golfers Association of Canada Adantic championships. He most recently claiming the 2014 PGA of Canada Atlantic Assistant Professionals Championship. He’s won two national titles – Canadian PGA Assistant Pro honours in 1987 and 1992.

“No one in the Maritimes has been more consistent and dominant in the game of golf,” says Smith, now general manager of Ashburn Golf Club. ” Kevin has always been a great ball striker, and that coupled with terrific mental toughness has led him to victory many more times than any of his peers.

Dugas has been head pro at Magnetic Hill club in Moncton; assistant pro at Truro Golf Club, Country Meadows in Moncton, and Carmen Creek in Fredericton; and has been a teaching pro at Montague Links, Dartmouth, where, today he is superintendent of operations.

Quiet and unassuming, on and off the course, his demeanour is perfect for a champion – deep concentration and unflappability.

“For me, the game is more mental. If you can set your mind to it, you’re OK. I can still hit 17 or 18 greens a round and strive for a few birdies.”

He notes his father, Maurice, and mother, Hazel, didn’t play golf much while he was growing up but were there to encourage and support him.

He praises his mother as his main influence. “She worked at the (nine-hole) Clare course and that was way in. I remember when I first broke 50 (for nine holes). I was nine or ten and she challenged me to better it each time out. At the end of that season, I was in the high 30s. Four years later, I was playing, and beating, older guys. By 13, I was shooting par with a handicap of zero.”

In 1992, Dugas claimed the low round of the day for all competitors in the PGA of America Assistant Professional Championship with a 67.

Basically self-taught and committing the effort, Kevin Dugas is one of the finest golfers produced in Nova Scotia.