The name Ralph Bagley has been synonymous with the sport of golf in Manitoba for more than five decades.
Born in Winnipeg on January 6, 1928, Bagley started his journalism career by writing a weekly sports column for the St. James Leader while attending high school.
His full-time link to news and sports reporting began in 1944 at the Winnipeg Tribune, and over the years he gained experience at the Minnedosa Tribune, the Dauphin Herald, CKDM Dauphin, CKRC Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Free Press, where he covered the golf and curling scenes from 1954-59.
After stints at Stovel-Advocate Publishers and the Neepawa Press, he returned to Winnipeg in 1968 to rejoin the Free Press. He served in a variety of positions before he became assistant sports editor in 1981, followed by10 years as the golf and curling writer-columnist until his retirement in 1993.
As a golf volunteer, he served on the executive committees at Elmhurst and the Canoe Club, and while on the Manitoba Golf Association council was editorial director of the Manitoba Golf Annual which was first published in 1980. That was the forerunner of the present Golf Manitoba Journal, the association’s annual publication of which he now is the editor and publisher.
In 1998, when the Manitoba Open was dropped by the Canadian Golf Tour, Bagley chaired a committee that extended the Open for four years at John Blumberg and Transcona. He also wrote golf articles for Backspin magazine for 10 years, has served for 30 years on the selection committee of the Labatt Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year Award, and as a director of the Grey Owl tournament at Clear Lake for over 40 years.
Bagley is a past president of both the Manitoba and Canadian Curling Reporters, and served two separate terms as president of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. He was inducted into the MSSA Media Roll of Honour in 1990, is an honourary life member of the Manitoba Curling Association, the Manitoba Curling Past Presidents Association, and the Manitoba Golf Superintendents Association.
Ralph is an inductee into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Inc., September 24, 2007.