It turns out 75 other people may have had the same feelings Master Corporal (retired) Mike Carver had: they all turned out May 19 to play golf with a common community.
Kingston’s Paragon Golf and Country Club hosted the first round of Emeritus Golf’s Maritime circuit, a seasonal schedule just in its second year, offering competitive and recreational golf for serving and veteran first responders and their families.
Carver, who released from the military in 2016, spent 17 years of his career with 14 Construction Engineering Squadron in Bridgewater. In 2018, he started golfing. He then spent two years “sitting in my garage, wondering where I could golf with people like me.”
He found the volunteer-run, non-profit Emeritus Golf organization operating in Ontario, but there was nothing similar in the Maritimes. Carver is now the Maritime director for the growing organization.
“In 2023, we launched the Maritime program, and 2024 was our first season – we had five events, with 23 members turning out.”
In 2025, participation grew: eight Maritime events, with 69 members attending the various days of play. May 19, more people turned out in the Paragon field than had ever registered as Emeritus Maritimes members; in fact, there are already 130-plus members on board for the 2026 season.
“We’re all seeing lots of people coming out we haven’t seen in years,” Carver says. The golf events are specifically set to be mid-week, with great rates; and members can count their three best scores from any of the Maritime tournament dates in either the competitive or recreational final season standings.
“They’re 50-cent trophies,” Carver says, describing the program’s real prize as peer support.
“If you’ve had a chat with someone while you’re out there, great; if not, you see other people out there like yourself.”
14 Wing Greenwood Colonel Luc Vachon had to fight a circuiting CP140 Aurora overhead through his welcoming comments: “a fly past – not planned!
“But – exactly on time, on target!”
With an appreciative crowd gathered for the shotgun start, Vachon described his own preparations for retirement this summer: “hobbies, connections, friends, finding new things…. It’s golf today, yes, but it’s connecting, keeping relationships going to sustain ourselves: paramedics, RCMP, firefighters, military – the whole team.”
Vachon said he appreciated the chance to learn more about Emeritus Golf and its emphasis on camaraderie; based on his end-day 94, +22 over the winner, the field could see him out again, working on his game as he settles into a non-military lifestyle.
To find out more on the Maritime – or Ontario – 2026 Emeritus Golf circuits, event dates and registration information, visit https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/12251913081302558138
14 Wing Greenwood Colonel Luc Vachon, left, and Emeritus Golf Maritime director Michael Carver get set for May 19 play at Paragon Golf and Country Club in Kingston. The serving and retired first responders and family-focused organization has grown in leaps and bounds since its inaugural 2024 season.
