Cliff Rae

Cliff Rae was born in Montreal, on August 30th, 1928. He was educated in Greenfield Park Royal George School, and St. Lambert High School. He moved to Toronto in 1948 and began his career in purchasing while taking courses at University of Toronto. He then returned to Montreal in 1953 and began working for Lines Bros. LTD as a purchasing agent up until 1964. He left Lines Bros., and was hired by Cameo Crafts as a purchasing manager until his retirement in 1984, though he still worked as a technical coordinator for Cameo Crafts out of his home until 1986.

Cliff’s interest in golf began as a caddy at the St. Lambert Golf Club. The first tournament he won was a Caddy Tournament. He recalls they were not the best, and all shot over 100. After his return to Montreal in 1953, he joined the golf course in Rouses Point, New York where he met a former assistant Pro who helped improve his game. Although his chipping and putting were good, his driving was rather erratic. He played in many tournaments in and around the Rousses Point area and finally won his first tournament in St. Albans, Vermont.

Cliff organized Cameo Craft’s Golf Tournament for seven years, and won it each year. Cliff also played in the tournament run by MacTac of Toronto and won there a number of times. He also won the purchasing Agents Tournament three consecutive years.

Cliff met Dorothy MacLeod in Montreal and was invited to spend the weekend at her parent’s farm in Dalkeith in order to attend the Highland Games. Cliff considers himself fortunate that this led to a marriage not only to Dorothy, but also to Glengarry County.

In 1965, Cliff joined Glengarry Golf Club. The late 60’s and early 70’s were the best years of golf for Cliff. He was the club champion for numerous years: ’67,’69,’70,’71,and ’72. He played in many tournaments such as The Club Championship Glengarry Open, which he won five times. He also won many tournaments in this period sponsored by Molson and O’Keefe. It became obvious that his driving had improved dramatically.

Cliff was elected president in 1973 and 1974. He worked with Red McHugh to purchase the land for the additional nine holes, and in the following year worked with Richard Bellefeuille to put in the pumping station for these nine holes. Cliff also spent three years working as the Pro Shop Manager.

As arthritis has since made it difficult for Cliff to hold a golf club, he now no longer competes but continues to play for his own enjoyment.