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Winning closest-to-the-pin contests were Bill Chapman, Craig Pultorak, Paul Harding, Ellis Noyes and Slattery. John Turczynski, Tyler Klash, Brett Casavant and Matt Slattery finished as the runner-up team at 60.

With a terrific 14-under-par scramble score of 57, the talented team of Dave Drake, Mark Manca, Elliot Drake and Geoff Tobia won the Birdies for Heroes Tournament last Friday at GMGC. “That whole day at Portsmouth was my crowning moment as a pro.” Birdies for Heroes supports Mission 22

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“I remember hitting my second shot on the first hole to about two feet for a birdie, and that got me going,” said LeBlanc, who was honored that same year as the NEPGA Assistant Pro of the Year. In a field that included the best professionals in New England, including future Champions Tour multi-winner Dana Quigley and PGA Tour winner Bob Menne, a Gardner native, LeBlanc fired a 3-under-par 68 to win low pro medalist honors. When asked about his playing career over the years as a golf professional, LeBlanc quickly recalls one special round in 1988, when he led a pro-am team from Worcester CC to victory in a New England PGA tournament at Portsmouth CC in New Hampshire. “I owe a lot to former Gardner pro Ivan Bourque, who gave me my first golf lessons, to Mike Egan, who gave me my first job in golf, and to my parents who introduced me to the game,” said LeBlanc, the son of Barbara and Chuck LeBlanc, who coached the Gardner High golf team for decades and was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. 1 on a terrific 1977 Gardner High team that went 19-1 and included such talented players as Pete Sabettini, Jim Rohr, Keith Anderson, Jeff Prinn and Tim Cormier.Ī two-time GMGC junior champion, LeBlanc was the medalist with a 77 in the 1977 league championship held at his home course. Over the years as a golf professional, LeBlanc has worked at Westminster CC, Indian Ridge CC in Andover, Hawthorne CC in North Dartmouth, Worcester CC, Miacomet on Nantucket Island, The Shattuck GC in Jaffrey, N.H., and Ellinwood CC in Athol.Īfter he left Ellinwood, LeBlanc served as the bar manager at the Napoleon Club in Gardner for several years. That didn’t happen, of course, but from that first weekend at Pleasant Valley, I always wanted to be involved in golf in some way.” “From that point on, I wanted to become a golf professional, and, like a lot of us, I wanted to play the Tour. “I remember walking near the clubhouse with my father, and the very first PGA golfer I ever saw in person was Sam Snead on PV’s practice putting green,” said LeBlanc. Reflecting on his long love affair with golf, LeBlanc remembers attending the PGA Tour event at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton when he was 13 years old. High school sports: Who are the top high school golfers in Greater Gardner? Here's a look at four.

LeBlanc, who holds a lifetime PGA member card and also offers golf instruction in classes at Mount Wachusett Community College, said that teaching the game has always been one of his passions. Quabbin Regional golf coach Lisa Paakkonen, whose team practices and plays home matches at Quail Hollow, said “Jim is so accommodating, so helpful to our kids, and he has a great knowledge of the game.”

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