Ryan Corbin
We called him “Corby”
My Son
By Anne “Ryan’s Mom” Corbin
Ryan was born in Brampton, 1988. His golf story started in Campbellville, ON.
Like most golf moms, golf clubs, balls and posters of Tiger were the aesthetic in our home. Golf clubs could be found leaning against a wall in most rooms. Golf balls would be rolling through doorways, down stairs, past hallways, often coming to rest on the floor vents. I knew that each shot was for a dramatic win.
It wasn’t long until we built Ryan a few golf holes in the yard outside. Ry loved it. After school, he would stay out there as long as his dad, George, and I let him. Along with his older sister, Carrie, we lived a country lifestyle, spent mostly outside with campfires and family. Of course that was after the driving range shut down for the day!
When Ryan was 12, we were out for a drive one day. We happened to pass the Toronto International Center and decided to stop in and check out The Golf and Travel Show. Little did we know this pit stop would carve Ryan’s path in life. He saw an area that catches every avid golfers eye: an indoor range with a golf simulator, lined with the latest-and-greatest clubs. It’s the only thing Ry (and probably many others) wanted to do. A half hour later — after Ryan wrapped up his final second on the simulator— we were approached by a young man saying he had been watching Ryan.
Enter Sean Foley.
He said Ryan had an amazing swing for never having had a lesson, and that he would like to coach him… for free! To be honest, I didn’t trust a word of it— it seemed too good to be true. Despite my skepticism, Ryan convinced us to go to the Glen Abbey Golf Club (“Abbey”) in Oakville and meet with Sean. I saw how great he was with Ry, and so, we kept going back. For the next 6 years, I spent my nights at the back end of the range at Abbey— our ‘home away from home’— watching this special relationship blossom.
Over the years, Ry became known as “Corby”, known for his sweet swing. For the next 22 years, Sean, alongside his wife, Kate, mentored Corby in golf and in life. Ryan loved the game and the people in it. He is so missed... In the morning if I pass a golf course I know he is out there, somewhere beautiful... hitting that perfect shot and watching it land.
