AMSLER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-07-26 published
AMSLER,
Ernst▼
It is with great sadness that the family announces the passing
of Ernst "Ernie"
AMSLER at Southlake Hospital on Tuesday, July 24,
2007, with his devoted wife and twin sister at his side. Ernie
leaves behind his wife, Pia, a woman who filled his life with
love and companionship, and sons Daniel and Roland. His loving
memory will live on forever in the hearts of his sister Erika
and her husband Tomas
WINIKER, nephews Thomas and Michael, niece
Christin; brother Kurt and family; sister Erna and family, including
sister Palmina, Daniela and Mischa and families, in Switzerland.
Ernie will be greatly missed by all his Friends and the entire
staff and management at Angus Glen Golf Club, who are greatly
saddened by the loss of their head Greens Keeper and Director
of Agronomy. Ernie's hard work and efforts in the growing and
maintenance of the grounds at Angus Glen have helped to make
it the success it is today, including being voted the Best New
Golf Courses (South and North first and second respectively)
in Canada by Golf Digest, hosting of the 2001 Women's Canadian
Open, the 2002 Telus Skins Game, the 2002 Canadian Open (South
Course), and the 2007 Canadian Open (North Course). Although
Ernie was unable to attend the Canadian Open, he was there in
spirit and his staff continued to uphold the standards set by
Ernie. Ernie could always be found somewhere on the golf course
with his faithful canine companion, Chip. Ernie was loyal and
true, and all his Friends feel blessed to have known him. He
will be dearly missed by all. Visitation will be held at Chapel
Ridge Funeral Home, 8911 Woodbine Avenue (4 lights north of Hwy. 7),
Markham (905) 305-8508, on Friday, July 27th between 7-9 p.m.
and on Saturday, July 28th from 2-4 p.m. The Funeral Service
will be held at Angus Glen Clubhouse, 10080 Kennedy Road (north
of Major Mackenzie Drive), Unionville, on Monday, July 30th at
1: 00 p.m. The family would appreciate donations in Ernie's memory
to the Canadian Liver Foundation.
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AMSLER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-08-09 published
First to show and last to go, he was king of the course at Angus
Glen
head groundskeeper at the site of the 2007 Canadian Open believed
the maintenance of a golf course was about three things: drainage,
drainage and drainage -- that and hard work
By Lorne RUBENSTEIN,
Page S8
Ernie AMSLER loved the outdoors and could take apart and repair
any machine, anywhere. He couldn't have found a more suitable
job than looking after golf courses, where it's crucial to understand
grass and machinery. He spent his days, and many of his nights,
tending to both with abiding care.
Where Mr. AMSLER grew grass, golf courses and golfers always
benefited. The Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ontario, which
hosted the Canadian Open on its North course last month, was
no exception. As director of agronomy, he was responsible for
the care and maintenance of the North and the South course, which
was the site of the 2002 Canadian Open.
In 1991, he was right there for the formidable task of turning
a former horse farm into Angus Glen. Every year, golfers play
90,000 rounds at the club's two courses, which became popular
during Mr.
AMSLER's tenure for daily-fee play and corporate tournaments.
He and his staff kept the courses up and running and in immaculate
condition even while golfers were playing, which he managed by
staggering the maintenance work so that scarcely a stroke was
disturbed. Mr.
AMSLER was on the property most days by 4 a.m.,
three hours before he expected his staff to arrive. He was the
first to show up and usually the last to leave.
Mr. AMSLER loved nothing better than to get up on a bulldozer
or some other piece of machinery to do the hard work of construction
and grunt work that a good course demands. Course maintenance
is all about three things: drainage, drainage and drainage. Whenever
it rained, Mr.
AMSLER had to restrain himself from immediately
getting on a machine and digging a ditch. When the South course
needed a couple of new teeing areas before the 2002 Canadian
Open, he built them himself. Just before this year's Canadian
Open, he realized that a large hill on the North course's 18th hole
made a cart path there dangerous. He fired up the bulldozer,
scraped off the hill and laid down asphalt. Presto, he had made
a hazardous area safe. Over the years, his willingness and ability
to do the hard work saved the club hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ernie AMSLER grew up in Schoenenwerd, a small town halfway between
Zurich and Basel in northwestern Switzerland. One of his first
jobs as a youngster was helping to deliver groceries by truck.
He had been fascinated by cars since an early age, and soon became
an expert at repairing them. He was particularly taken by Volkswagens.
His interest in cars broadened after he came to Canada in 1966,
and eventually he was buying and restoring such automobiles as
Mini Coopers and Mercedes.
Mr. AMSLER first lived in the Toronto area with his sister Erika,
who had preceded him to Canada. He'd enjoyed skiing in Switzerland
and soon took to Canada's vast spaces and the idea of making
an impression on the landscape. His first job was in landscaping,
where he learned to wield the heavy machinery that became the
instruments of his craftsmanship. He subsequently worked at various
golf clubs in southern and south-central Ontario, including Windmills
Golf Club, Port Carling Golf Club, the Mandarin Golf and Country
Club in Markham, and, finally, Angus Glen.
"He could do anything with machinery," said Gordon
STOLLERY,
the owner of Angus Glen. "It didn't matter if it was a bulldozer,
a back hoe or an aerator -- he knew how to work it. Ernie was
also a true gentleman, by which I mean a gentle man."
Notwithstanding his courtly manner, Mr.
AMSLER was as demanding
of his staff as he was of himself. Angus Glen employees knew
he monitored them to make sure they carried out his orders. At
the same time, he was willing to admit when he made a mistake.
A stickler for keeping the equipment in top shape, he took particular
care that his staff cleaned the machinery at the end of each
working day. It was important, for example, to make sure that
gaskets were dry; otherwise, a fire might start.
So it was that one day Mr.
AMSLER, in his take-charge way, used
one of the bigger machines to cut the high fescue bordering the
fairways. At the end of the day, he parked the machine in a back
barn and, somehow, a fire broke out. Mr.
AMSLER had neglected
to do the proper cleaning. He told his staff, "You see, this
is what can happen when we don't do the proper cleaning."
Another time, Mr.
AMSLER was on a machine called a Bobcat when
it hit a gas line. Everybody in the vicinity withdrew, fearing
for their safety. He calmly fixed the line, and was soon asking
where everyone had gone.
As much as Mr.
AMSLER expected to be in charge of everything
on the course, it wasn't always possible to exert the same kind
of control off the course. In December of 1999, his son Daniel,
who was born with cerebral palsy that affected one side of his
body, was in a serious car accident. He was driving on Highway 403
when a ladder fell from a transport truck ahead of him. He swerved
to avoid the truck and his car flipped twice. Daniel's right
leg was mangled, and he spent the next 2½ weeks in a Mississauga
hospital. Mr.
AMSLER visited his son every day.
Meanwhile, he continued to put in long days and evenings at Angus
Glen.
With
Chip, his border collie, on the seat beside him, Mr.
AMSLER
made his rounds driving a golf cart as if at a speedway.
Five weeks before this year's Canadian Open, Mr.
AMSLER became
ill and was admitted to hospital where he was visited, among
others, by Kevin
THISTLE, president of Angus Glen. After undergoing
some tests, Mr.
AMSLER was discharged, but he wasn't expected
back at work. Inevitably, he showed up at the club. Mr.
THISTLE
asked him what he was doing there, and got the expected shrug,
as if Mr. AMSLER were saying, "This is where I belong." It was
clear, however, that he was ill and Mr.
THISTLE later insisted
that he go home. "I almost had to issue a restraining order."
Even so, Mr.
AMSLER did manage to prepare some fields for a temporary
pavilion needed for the Canadian Open, and rode a bulldozer for
three days in 38-degree heat.
Before long, he was readmitted to hospital, unhappy to be away
as the Canadian Open drew near. Nor did he like being away from
a new facility he was building for Mr.
STOLLERY in nearby Goodwood.
Yet, in a way, he never did leave his work. From his hospital
bed, he placed orders for sand for the new golf course.
"Ernie loved being outside," Mr.
THISTLE said. "That's where
he most wanted to be. You'd see him at night, driving around
the property, and in the morning, he'd meet the same guys for
coffee before he'd come to the club. I lived right beside his
office when I first came to Angus Glen. He'd come in at four
in the morning and honk his horn to wake me up."
The 2007 Open went on without Mr.
AMSLER, although much of the
credit for its success went to him. At the end of every tournament,
the Professional Golfers' Association Tour issues a report on
the host course. In advance of the tournament, Professional Golfers'
Association Tour agronomist Jon Scott evaluated the work done
at Angus Glen's North course to prepare for the Canadian Open
and gave credit to "one of the greatest grass growers I've met
in the business, head superintendent Ernie
AMSLER."
Ernst AMSLER was born December 4, 1940, in Schoenenwerd, Switzerland.
He died of complications from a liver-related condition at Southlake
Hospital in Newmarket, Ontario, on July 24, 2007. He was 66.
He is survived by his wife, Pia, and by his sons Daniel and Roland
from an earlier marriage to Therese
LEDREW, with whom he remained
a close friend. He also leaves his sisters Erika and Erna, and
his brother Kurt.
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AMSLER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-09-10 published
AMSLER,
Ernie▲
I would like to thank family, Friends and neighbours for the
caring thoughts and memories during this difficult time of my
husband's passing, and to express my deep appreciation for all
those whose affections and concerns have comforted me in this
time. Thank you to all those who sent cards, flowers, prayers
and donations to The Canadian Liver Foundation in Ernie's memory.
I would especially like to thank Gordon
STOLLERY for his generosity
and support, Kevin
THISTLE and all the people at Angus Glen for
all their kindness, caring and thoughtfulness and giving Ernie
such a beautiful funeral service and tribute to his career at
Angus Glen, and Don
McINTYRE, without whom I could never have
gotten through these difficult times. There are angels among
us, and God bless each and every one of you.
Thank You - Pia
AMSLER
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