Debbie Pyne has been cleaning out her office at British Columbia Golf as she prepares for retirement. As you can imagine, after nearly a quarter-century on the job, she collected some stuff.
Much of it is destined for the recycling bin. But not everything. Especially not the box that contained thank you cards from many of the players, young and old, she helped along the way as BC Golf’s managing director of player development.
Those she’ll hang onto forever, along with the many memories attached to them. “I have been doing some reflecting because I’m cleaning out my files here,” Pyne, who leaves BC Golf at the end of June, said in a recent interview. “I have a bunch of thank you cards from way back in the day. There’s thank you cards from the senior women, thank you cards from the juniors. Those mean a lot of to me because they kind of validate all the good work we’re doing.”
In recent days, Pyne has been receiving more thank yous as word of her retirement spreads. More cards, text messages, emails and phone calls from people like Christine Wong, the Richmond pro who Pyne first met nearly 25 years ago.
Wong was just beginning her golf journey back then as a young junior. She went on to win two B.C. Women’s Amateur Championships and four individual titles during a stellar collegiate career at San Diego State University.
BC's 2012 Women's Amateur Team (L-R): Megan Osland, Soo Bin Kim & Christine Wong
Now an accomplished pro who runs a golf academy at Savage Creek Golf Course in Richmond, Wong said Pyne had a profound impact on her development as a player. “I remember meeting Debbie at my first B.C. Junior Girls Championship when I was about 10 years old,” Wong said. “So I have known her for nearly 25 years. Everything that I have accomplished and done, she has helped provide that opportunity to be where I am now.
“Debbie is an amazing leader, she is an amazing person. She has been my support person for golf and non-golf related things as well. She’s like my go-to person. She is like part of my family. I wish her all the best as she retires from BC Golf.”
Pyne was executive director of the B.C. Ladies Golf Association when she first met Wong. She had moved to B.C. from her native Nova Scotia in 2002 after working in the parks and recreation field for more than a decade.
Growing up, Pyne was an accomplished field hockey, softball and basketball athlete. She was also a recreational golfer. Pyne had moved west with the plan to pursue a Masters degree, but was offered the job of running the BCLGA. The BCLGA-BCGA merger became official in 2004 and followed a couple years of difficult negotiations.
When that merger was concluded, Pyne and Kris Jonasson, then the executive director of the BCGA, had to decide who was going to do what. The board had proposed that Pyne and Jonasson serve as co-executive directors, but both knew that was a recipe for disaster.
“Kris and I had this one-on-one meeting, and he said, ‘what do you think?’” Pyne recalled. “And because of my sport and recreation background, I said why don’t we create a player development division. Kris said brilliant idea. So we decided he would be the face of the organization and I would work behind the scenes in player development.”
Pyne Works With Young Players In The 'Classroom' Portion Of A Development Camp At Northview GC In 2018
Pyne’s player development portfolio included grassroots initiatives to introduce youngsters to the game. Her Playground to Fairway program reached more than 80,000 school kids. In recent years, Pyne has focused more on the competitive side of the game. The hard work of Pyne and her colleagues has resulted in British Columbia golfers winning numerous individual and team national championships.
Pyne championed the recent Team BC initiative that identifies promising junior golfers and provides them with top-level coaching and support. BC Golf now has five regional development squads — Okanagan, North Shore, Metro, Vancouver Island and Fraser Valley— and each has dedicated coaches. Memberships in these squads can serve as a pathway to inclusion on Team BC.
“We created the Team BC program three years ago,” Pyne said. “We created a couple of regions and did a soft rollout, saw some success and kept building on that. We are up to five regions now and 32 players.”
Matthew Steinbach worked closely with Pyne when he was golf participation manager with BC Golf. Steinbach left BC Golf to become full-time golf coach for Simon Fraser University and returned a year ago to succeed Jonasson as BC Golf’s chief executive officer.
“Debbie’s impact on BC Golf, the BC Ladies Golf Association and the broader sport community in British Columbia has been profound,” Steinbach said. “Her leadership helped shape many of the foundational programs that continue to influence golf in our province today — from grassroots participation initiatives reaching tens of thousands of students through Playground to Fairway, to Team BC performance programming.
“Debbie connected with volunteers and those in the sport community across the province, and I know many, myself included, are incredibly grateful for her dedication to growing the game, supporting people, and creating opportunities for generations of golfers.”
In 2023 Pyne was honoured as part of Sport BC’s prestigious 'In Her Footsteps. . .Celebrating Women in Sports' recognition program. In 2010, The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport named Pyne as one of the most influential women in sport.
Debbie Pyne (Far Right) With (L-R) Ann Holmes, Kathy Stecyk & Elizabeth Dunn At The 2024 BC Summer Games
Pyne is grateful for the last 25 years and cherishes the connections she has made with players of all ages. “That’s what I will remember most, the people,” she said. Pyne is proud to have seen so many British Columbians use golf to earn athletic scholarships and then blossom in careers outside the game.
Coquitlam’s Jessica Potter, a past Canadian Women’s Amateur champion, got a scholarship to the University of San Francisco and is now a doctor. Port Alberni’s Christina Proteau attended the University of New Mexico and then the University of Victoria. Several provincial and national golf titles later, Proteau is now a British Columbia provincial court judge after working for many years as a crown prosecutor.
“I’ve known Christina since her college days at New Mexico,” Pyne said. “She approached me as a first-year student and said, I want to go to the University Games, but I don’t have any funding. Do you think you could help me? She sent me a note the other day inviting me to go fishing with her and her boys.”
It’s those types of connections that Pyne will take into her retirement. She plans to spend the summer in Nova Scotia with her mother, who is now in her mid-80s. She’ll make good use of the cottage she has in Nova Scotia, but British Columbia will remain home. “This will be my first summer vacation in a long time,” she said.
It’s a vacation that those whose lives were touched by Pyne would say is well earned.