Behind this goalie is an avid golfer
Grant Fuhr honed quite the swing while off the ice, now using it to give back
Grant Fuhr earned many honours during his hockey career.
The 53-year-old retired NHL goaltender from Spruce Grove, Alta., backstopped the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s to four Stanley Cup titles. He was also in goal for Team Canada’s dramatic1987 Canada Cup triumph in Hamilton.
The six-time NHL all-star and 1987-88 Vezina Trophy winner was generally regarded as the best goaltender in the game for the better part of a decade. Fuhr played at a time when being a goalie could be a thankless existence — goals were scored by the bushel-full — but his calling card was making a key save at a critical time. That quality allowed the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers to play the type of runand-gun style that defined hockey during that era.
For all the acclaim he garnered during his hockey career, Fuhr was honing his skills away from NHL arenas, which has paved the way for his post-goalie occupation as director of golf at Desert Dunes Golf Course in Palm Springs, where he lives.
“I used to play golf a bit with my dad growing up,” says Fuhr. “But I started to play a lot when I played junior hockey in Victoria.”
Then in his late-teens, and living in the lone place in Canada where the climate allowed you to tee it up year-round, Fuhr’s golf ability really blossomed.
“We weren’t old enough to get into the bars, so you had to do something,” he quips.
Now a highly regarded golfer, he’s even teed it up in a few professional touring events, and is in his fourth year at Desert Dunes.
Golf, in fact, was where Fuhr first crossed paths with Joe Carter. The two men met even before Carter’s time in Toronto with the Blue Jays, while the slugger was playing for the San Diego Padres in 1990.
What followed has been a two-decadelong friendship, one that grew during the season-plus when both men were playing in Toronto. This year is Fuhr’s second appearance at the Joe Carter Classic, a commitment that fits with his belief in helping others through various charitable causes.
“If you’re able to give back, and you have the time, it’s something you really should be doing,” Fuhr says of the role, both official and unofficial, that retired athletes often play in charitable causes and generating the vital media attention that funds them.
A person of mixed race at a time when the NHL was almost exclusively white, Fuhr has perspective on the sport’s attempts to appeal to wider communities.
“You have to remember I was the guy behind the mask, so I was lucky,” says Fuhr, in reference to overcoming obstacles as he was coming up as a young player.
Fuhr worked for more than a year with the NHL’s diversity and community outreach program. He’s gratified by the increase in diversity among kids playing hockey at all levels. “You can never do too much,” he says. Through it all, Fuhr said much of his role in growing the game in non-traditional communities and markets has been through his presence in celebrity golf tournaments.
“A lot of times, I would be the only hockey guy there at various tournaments, representing our sport to different fan bases,” he says.
“I’ve always considered that an important role for me to play.”