If you are a golfer in the United States, you may never have heard of Nick Weslock, but if you’re a Canadian golfer, you know that Nick was one of the most celebrated Canadian golfers. Known as “Nick the Wedge” for his wedge game, Nick was also an engineer.

Nick is a Canadian Hall of Fame Member winning more amateur tournaments than anyone in Canada. Nick and I became friends through Moe. Many of the rounds I played with Moe I also played with Nick. Nick was 74 years old when I met him.

During one round at Royal Oaks in Titusville Florida, Nick’s approach shot stopped 30 yards short of the green.

His next shot was a perfectly nipped wedge shot taking two hops and spinning two feet from the hole.

“I guess that’s why they call me Nick the Wedge,” he said as he slowly walked back to the cart.

Nick was an excellent man and a good friend to Moe. They took care of each other in the later years of Moe’s life.

Here is information about Nick from the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Nick Weslock

Born: December 13, 1917

Death: October 27, 2007
Place of Birth: Winnipeg,Manitob
Category: Amateur Golfer
Year Inducted: 1972

One of Canada’s most prolific championship golfers, Nick Weslock dedicated his life to competing in the amateur ranks and succeeded at every age category. He won the Canadian Amateur four times and captured the Ontario Amateur eight times over four decades while finishing as low amateur in the Canadian Open on eleven occasions. A seven-time winner of the Ontario Open as an amateur, Weslock also represented Canada on several international teams, including the championship-winning Americas Cup, Commonwealth Championships, and New Zealand Centennial tournament squads.

Nick Weslock’s Record:

Teams:

• Canada’s Americas Golf Cup Team seven times

• Canada’s Commonwealth Team five times

• Canada’s World Amateur Golf Team three times

National:

• Winner Canadian Amateur Championship: 1957, 1963, 1964, 1966

• Low Amateur Canadian Open Championship: 1947-1949, 1962-1968, 1970

Provincial:

• Ontario Amateur Championship: 1944, 1950, 1958, 1961-1962, 1965, 1969-1970

• Ontario Open Championship: 1946, 1949, 1959, 1962, 1964-1965, 1969

• Ontario Senior Champion:1969 and 1970

• Low Amateur in the Canadian Open: 1947, 1949-1950, 1962-1970.

• Runner-up Ontario Amateur Championship: 1943, 1945, 1951, 1953, 1964, 1971.

• Member of Ontario’s Willingdon Cup Team twenty-one times

Other Items of Note:

• Nick Weslock was a Member of Canada’s team that competed in the Humberto Almedia Cup Tournament and Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1970.

Here is the story about Nick from the Globe and Mail. Credit: Lorne Rubenstein,

Globe and Mail Update

Published Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, 1:43 PM EDT, Last updated Friday, Apr. 03, 2009 11:58AM EDT

Nick Weslock, one of Canada’s finest amateur golfers, died Saturday night of an aortic aneurysm at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Ont.

Weslock, a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, would have turned 90 on Dec. 13th. His wife Elsie predeceased him eight years ago. The family held a private service yesterday.

“He had an incredible life,” Weslock’s daughter Sheri-Lee said. “If he wasn’t putting or hitting balls, he had a fishing rod in his hand.”

Weslock won four Canadian Amateur championships, the first in 1957, and played in four Masters. He won eight Ontario Amateurs, from the 1940s into the 1970s, and won seven Ontario Opens. Weslock was the low amateur 16 times in the Canadian Open, including a third-place finish in the 1947 Canadian Open. He also won six Canadian Senior Amateur championships and 11 Ontario Senior titles. He was a member of the Ontario and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Weslock was born in Winnipeg and lived there until he was five years old when his family moved to Windsor, Ont., where he caddied at the Essex Golf and Country Club for famous tour pros such as Al Watrous and Walter Hagen.

He later moved to Burlington, Ont., where he and a partner started a business selling products that helped companies automate. Weslock was a lifelong close friend of the Canadian legend Moe Norman, who died in September 2004. He was a member of a variety of clubs, including Essex and the Burlington Golf and Country Club.

Known as Nick the Wedge for his short-game prowess, Weslock was an avid student of the game who kept meticulous notebooks and scrapbooks. He played golf as recently as last week.

“I had a chance to speak with him before he passed away,” his daughter said.

“He told me, ‘I’ve had a good life.’”