DENIS RACINE: Cancer Claims Island Golf Organizer

Denis Racine, manager and former Director of the Canadian Tour's annual $200,000 Times Colonist Open golf tournament, died Saturday, January 18, of cancer.

By Cleve Dheensaw,
Times Colonist;
With files from Ron Rauch

Denis Racine, manager of the Canadian Tour's annual $200,000 Times Colonist Open golf tournament, died (January 18, 2009) of cancer.

Racine, former director of communications for the B.C. Buildings Corporation, had been a director of the Times Colonist Open for 10 years before taking over from Brian Hobbs as its manager.

"It's a huge loss. Denis was a special kind of guy, a keen sportsman and a big part of this community," said Keith Dagg, vice-president of the Times Colonist Open.

"The cancer came quite quickly. It's a shock."

Racine was involved in golf for more than 30 years.

"You have to be able to work with sponsors, the business and golf community and the volunteers. You need to make changes as you go along," Racine once said, in describing the myriad challenges of his position as manager of the Times Colonist Open, an event several pros have used to springboard to the PGA Tour.
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Editor's Note:
"Denny will be sorely missed by the Tour, by all the players and by all who knew or ever met him," said Canadian Tour Commissioner Rick Janes. "This is a terrible loss to us all."

Racine and his tournament team together with the Canadian Tour have elevated the purse for this year's Times Colonist Open by $50,000 to $200,000, making the first stop in Canada on the Canadian Tour one of the strongest fields on the Tour.
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The native of Lachute, Que., Racine worked in Ottawa for several years for the federal government, before coming to Victoria in 1991. Wherever he went, he took his love of golf with him. A competitive amateur - he won the National Press Club Open in 1982 - Racine also had stints working in a number of pro shops.

He said his father introduced him to golf when he was a teenager.

"I just loved it and haven't looked back," Racine once said.

Despite their grief and the sudden loss of leadership with Racine's death, the organizers of the Times Colonist Open will continue the task of organizing for this year's tournament.

"Right up to the end, he wanted to be out there organizing and kept asking how things were going. That's how passionate he was about sport in our city and the Open in particular," said Dagg.

Racine is survived by his wife Louise, daughters Ladena and Genevieve, son-in-law Neil Tran and grand-daughter Syan.

Memorial plans have yet to be announced.