Gina Hosie came rather late to the game of golf, but she’s more than made up for it with her passion for the sport.
The Women’s Golf Program Director at the Victoria Golf Club was living in the UK in the mid-1990s when she met and married her Canadian husband who introduced her to the links. “My husband is an avid golfer so I got hooked on the game through him,” recalls Hosie, today a class ‘A’ PGA professional with more than 17 years of coaching experience.
Moving to Canada, Hosie discovered Georgian College’s professional golf management program “and I decided to make a career out of it.”
In pursuing her newfound passion, Hosie represented Ontario several times, and at the collegiate level won a gold medal at the CCAA National Championships.
After working at several Canadian courses, Hosie spent a year at Loch Lomand Golf Club in Scotland, home to some of the world’s greatest courses and at the heart of golf’s heritage.
Moving to the West Coast, Hosie has called Victoria Golf Club home for three years this spring, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ve played some of the greatest courses in the world and Victoria Golf Club still takes my breath away,” she says.
While there’s still room for growth for women in the industry, Hosie has enjoyed a rewarding career that continues to present new goals.
“Female pros are a minority in the business but I look at the opportunities golf has given me and feel very fortunate. Golf has opened up a lot of doors for me,” Hosie says.
She remains drawn to the challenge of the game.
“I played a lot of sports competitively as a teenager,” says Hosie, whose other pursuits included competitive tennis, rugby and basketball. “With most of them I could pick up the game fairly quickly but then I found golf and it wasn’t so easy.”
And then there’s the social aspect of one of the world’s most popular pastimes – one that works for children right through to seniors.
“Some of the closest friends I have are people I met on the golf course,” Hosie says. “You can learn a lot about somebody after four hours on the golf course.”
After playing more of an administrative role in previous positions, Hosie is enjoying teaching more. She runs a program to help players “get golf ready” and notes the course welcomes non-members for lessons. “I love the opportunity to help people enjoy the game more through coaching and working with them to improve their skills.”