Looking for the perfect gift for the golfer in your life, or a great way to save on next season’s rounds? The 2026 Links Fore Lungs Golf Book is now available, just in time for the holidays!

This year’s edition includes:

✔ 100+ Buy-One-Get-One (BOGO) green fee offers

✔ Exclusive deals at courses across all four Atlantic provinces

✔ Savings that easily pay for the book in just a few rounds

As a Golf Nova Scotia member, you receive exclusive pricing:

🎁 $35 per book

🎁 3 books for $80 – ideal for stocking stuffers, host gifts, and golf buddies!

To order:

Call the LungNSPEI office at 1-800-451-2221 and provide your Golf NS membership number.

All proceeds support vital lung health programs and services across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, making this a gift you can truly feel good about giving.

Learn More Want to see participating courses and offers? Curious about how LungNSPEI is supporting people right here in Nova Scotia?

Click here to learn more.

Don’t miss this chance to Swing Fore a Christmas Win!

Follow LungNSPEI for updates and giveaways!

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The Story of Professional Golfer Lawrence “Butch” O’Hearn

For generations of golfers in Nova Scotia, the name Lawrence “Butch” O’Hearn carries a special resonance, part lore, part legend, and entirely earned. The boy who grew up behind Brightwood Golf & Country Club’s second tee would go on to carve his name into Atlantic Canadian golf history as the first and still the only Nova Scotian ever to earn a PGA Tour card. His journey to the highest level of professional golf wasn’t crafted in academies or under celebrated instructors. His accomplishments were carved by deep family roots, unwavering competitive spirit, hard work, and a relentless love for the game. 

Image by the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.

Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame

Butch O’Hearn is one of eleven children, four boys and seven girls, raised in a house backing onto Brightwood’s No. 2 tee. The course wasn’t just nearby; it was the family’s extended backyard. “We used to play three, four, five, six, seven,” O’Hearn laughed. “There was no fence back then, so we’d sneak on. Seven years old, just kids playing golf where the clubhouse couldn’t see us.” Brightwood wasn’t simply part of his childhood, it was where he spent all of his time. By age six, he was swinging clubs, and at the age of ten he became an official member of the club. Caddying soon followed, and with it, the foundation of his game. 

Back then, there were no swing coaches, no structured junior programs, no YouTube tutorials. “I learned all by myself,” he said plainly. But his siblings, especially his brothers, provided fierce competition and inspiration. Their skill, their reputation, and their love for the game created an environment where young Butch thrived. Many of his siblings and family members were very accomplished golfers who excelled in the sport. Butch’s aunt Maggie McNeil (O’Hearn) became the very first female golf professional in Canada in 1927. In her early days, she was a caddie herself at Brightwood and later became a teaching pro at the Nova Scotia Hospital, where a 9-hole golf course had existed around the grounds.  

His natural talent bloomed fast. At the age of seventeen, he won the Nova Scotia Junior Championship, a year after making the provincial junior team. At the age of eighteen, he repeated as junior champion and claimed top provincial honours again. He quickly transitioned to men’s amateur competition, making the 1962 and 1963 Willingdon Cup Teams and winning both the 1964 Dartmouth Open and the Maritime Amateur Championship. Despite the achievements, O’Hearn’s path to professional golf was anything but conventional by today’s standards. In his early twenties, nudged by Brightwood’s golf pro, Sam Foley, he made a decision that shocked even his mother. “I told her, ‘Mom, I’m quitting school.’ She said, ‘You’re what?’ I said, ‘I’m going to Florida.’ She told me to go ask my father and yeah, well, I had an old car, and I took off and just left.” Butch did what very few young Maritimers had ever done at the time: he got in an old car and drove from Dartmouth to Florida, despite never having left the Maritimes before. 

While in Florida, he worked at a golf course and played whenever possible. Fate soon stepped in when a Denver businessman spotted his potential. “He said, ‘You want to play golf for a living?’ I said yes. Next day we signed a contract. He paid me every week, bought me a car, and I went around playing tournaments.” After early attempts at qualifying school, O’Hearn returned home, found his game again through long practice sessions hitting 400-500 balls each day over the hill at Brightwood. Determined to compete on the Tour, he returned. In 1964 he turned professional. Butch added that, “back in those days qualifying school was a competition over eight consecutive days, it was a grind. In 1968, he finished 11th out of about 150 players at PGA Tour Qualifying School, comfortably inside the top 30 who earned their PGA Tour cards. 

At that moment, the kid from Brightwood made history: the first Nova Scotian ever to hold a PGA Tour card. A distinction that, over 57 years later, remains solely his. Butch didn’t realize at the time how unprecedented it was. “I thought somebody else must’ve done it before me,” he said. “A couple years ago, I found out, nobody had.” The PGA Tour of the 1960s was grueling. There were no guaranteed starts. No player perks. No private jets. You traveled by car, slept inexpensively, and had to qualify each week just to tee it up. If you didn’t qualify, you drove to the next event. If you didn’t make the cut, you earned nothing. Still, he made his mark. His best finish was 28th in a professional tournament, one in which he recorded two holes-in-one in the same week. He accumulated six aces in total across his career. 

Although he lost his PGA Tour card after the 1968 season, common in that era, he went on to compete on the Canadian Tour and remained one of the most accomplished golfers the region had ever produced. After stepping away from the tour grind, life brought O’Hearn back home. He worked at the Austenville Owls Club as a bartender and caretaker, raised a family, and became a steady presence once again around Brightwood. He never sought the spotlight. He never boasted. In fact, it was not until decades later that he fully realized the magnitude of what he had achieved. The Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame inducted him as an athlete in 2000. A recognition well deserved for a champion career that began with sneaking onto golf holes after school. 

Today, at 81, Butch O’Hearn still lives near the fairways that shaped him. He remains a living piece of Canadian golf history. His story is equal parts talent, determination, community support, and Maritime grit. In an era without modern coaching, without financial backing, and without a roadmap to professional golf, Butch carved his own path straight to the PGA Tour. From the boy behind the second tee, to the first Atlantic Canadian to ever carry a PGA Tour card, his journey stands as one of the greatest underdog stories in Nova Scotia sport history. His advice for any young Nova Scotian golfer aspiring to become a PGA or LPGA member, believe in yourself and if you want to do it, do it. 

Kaydem Al-Samawi, Golf Nova Scotia

December 4, 2025

Looking to get more involved in the game you love? Now’s your chance to give back to the game of golf and play a key role in delivering world-class provincial championships across the province.

Golf NS Rules Officials enjoy:
The opportunity to give back and support the growth of golf in Nova Scotia
Golf Nova Scotia clothing for on-course officiating
Being part of a welcoming and passionate community
A chance to increase your Rules of Golf knowledge through education and mentorship
Honorarium provided for your time at championships

Whether you’re experienced or just eager to learn, we’ll help you get the training you need.

Interested? Contact:
Sara Wilson, Executive Director
executivedirector@nsga.ns.ca

Join our team and make an impact on the fair play, professionalism, and success of golf in Nova Scotia!

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE LEVEL 1 EXAM: https://www.randa.org/en/rules-academy

RULES OF CONTEST

Golf Nova Scotia is excited to launch the 2025 Rules of Golf Contest, running from November 5 to December 5.

HERES HOW TO ENTER:
1️⃣ Register for the R&A’s Level 1 Rules of Golf course, available online here or through the Golf Canada App.
2️⃣ Pass the Level 1 Exam with at least 60%
3️⃣ Download your certificate and email it to intern@nsga.ns.ca to be entered into the draw.

Bonus Entries x3: Purchase a Rules of Golf book

Two lucky winners who successfully complete the exam will receive a Golf Nova Scotia Prize Pack! Want to study up? You can purchase a Rules of Golf book directly from the Golf NS office.

Let’s see how many Nova Scotians can earn their Level 1 certification this year and take the next step toward Level 2!

📅Contest closes: December 5, 2025
🏆Winners announced: December 10, 2025
Good luck, and happy learning!

Contest ends Dec 5th at 11:59pm. The winners will be contacted from the official Golf Nova Scotia account. Golf Nova Scotia will not be contacting anyone until after December 5th, please be cautious of scam accounts. Entrants must be living in Nova Scotia. Contest open to Nova Scotia residents only who are members of Golf Canada. Please note when you register to participate in the R&A Rules Academy through the Academy’s R&D Rules website, your contact information and other relevant information, including exam results, will be shared with Golf Canada. Golf Canada reserves the right to use this information to communicate with you about rules training, golf education, volunteer opportunities and golf events. We will use this information to promote and develop golf in Canada.