Ian Stone calls East Park Golf Gardens a blue-collar London Hunt Club.
"I'd never been to East Park before we bought it," says Stone, who heads a family group that acquired the golf course and fun park facility in 1988. The group has also owned Maple Ridge Golf Club since 1990.
"I just fell in love with the beauty."
It may be a stretch to be mentioned in the same sentence as London Hunt and Country Club -- one of the finest golf courses in Canada -- but in some ways East Park resembles the Hunt.
East Park, like the Hunt Club, runs alongside the Thames River and the fairways are tree-lined from start to finish. While there can be no comparisons to the playing conditions and quality of holes at the Hunt, the natural beauty at East Park is everywhere you look.
Many golfers who have played at East Park have left impressed by the setting.
A new irrigation system installed last year will only enhance the course's beauty and conditioning in future years.
East Park has been called "an executive course" because it measures only 4,146 yards and features 11 par-3s, six par-4s and one par-5 for a total par of 62.
Calling it an "executive course" may be an unfair description because East Park's par three holes are difficult and will test a golfer's mettle.
Many local golfers have cut their teeth here. Moe Norman holds the course record of 57.
When East Park opened its doors in 1963, the ownership group was headed by London homebuilder Roy James and his son Roscoe, along with partners that included Moe Sifton, Brayl Copp, Col. J. Gordon Thompson, Gord McLean, Earl Lyons and Jim Windsor. Former Sunningdale assistant pro Bob Martin was the first managing professional.
Martin spent his summers at East Park until 1978, the year he started full-time operation of his store, Bob Martin's Golf on William Street. He agrees with Stone's description.
"Roy James kept it in pristine condition for the public," Martin says. "He always made the point he didn't want a lot of big tournaments, just small ones so he could always make room for daily green fee players."
Martin remembers planting trees with Roy James.
"You could see across most of the course when we planted the trees. It was well-thought-out.
"We didn't have fescue grasses or tough things. We wanted to keep play moving. At some of the courses today, they wonder why play is slow. There's no magic to it. If you make it too tough to find the ball, it's going to be slow."
Martin says the owners originally planned to duplicate East Park in four corners of the city. The plan didn't materialize but some members of the group opened the North London Golf Centre on Adelaide Street North.
More than one million golfers have played East Park over the years. Millions have enjoyed the park facilities.
Of course, East Park is much more than golf after 41 years.
Neil Kapp has been managing partner of the facility since the ownership change in 1988. Brad Cameron is superintendent of the golf course. Joe Edmonds teaches the golf lessons. Sari Shatil, a physiotherapist and daughter of Ian Stone, operates a therapeutic golf rehabilitation program for six weeks every summer to assist people with physical limitations such as car accident victims.
Her husband, Alon Shatil, is the park manager.
In the early years, there was the golf course, a driving range, picnic grounds and miniature golf course.
Today, there are two miniature golf courses, rock climbing, video games, picnic grounds, a water slide, batting cages and a go-cart track.
Next month, East Park is opening up the refurbished 55-foot high, five-slide tower purchased last fall in an auction when Wally World Water Park closed.
East Park also bought naming rights from Walt Spivak and is now billing itself Wally World at East Park. The next phase will be a splash pad and possibly a "lazy river" or wave pool.
This year, 70,000 are expected to visit the facility.
Source: London Free Press (Ontario, Canada)