Growing up in the small-town of Faulconbridge, New South Wales, just west of Sydney, Australia, Gwen Davies would spend many of her early childhood days in and out of hospital after her left leg was amputated shortly before her third birthday due to complications at birth. Simply learning to walk on a “peg leg” was challenging enough, while competing in sports of was considered a pipe dream.
That same little girl would have never imagined years later moving to Calgary, taking up golf, and embarking on a 25-year competitive golf career that would see her go on to win the Canadian Amputee Golf Championship a record 18 times, but that’s exactly what Davies did.
Recognized and inducted as both a golfer and builder by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, Davies learned to overcome barriers throughout her life and career. She managed shopping malls throughout southern Alberta on behalf of the Glemon Corporation for many years, while at the same time raising two children – Gary and Shellie – and supporting her husband Malcolm’s start-up business through the 1970s and 80s.
Davies learned to ski in the winter months at Paskapoo Ski Hill (now WinSport), before turning her efforts to golf after the family joined Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in 1984. Besides her record number of Canadian Victories, Davies also won the Ladies Amputee British Open in 1995 and the World Series of Amputee Golf in 2002.
As an effort to the give back to the community that had given her so much, Davies founded and then served as President of the Canadian Amputee Golf Association for a quarter century until 2017. She joined the Alberta Amputee Sports and Recreation Association in 1989 serving as Secretary, President, and Executive Director over the next 25 years. And Davies also volunteered with Skate Canada at the local, provincial, and national level from 1979 to 2006.
Davies passed away on Nov. 30th, 2020. She lived a life that proved no obstacle is too big to overcome, no challenge too daunting.
https://calgaryherald.remembering.ca/obituary/gwendalyn-davies-1081068913
