Foremost centenarian Luca still hitting the links

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Ryan Dahlman

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

102-year-old Charlie Luca from Foremost, Alta. absolutely loves to golf.
“We golf every day at about one o’clock, about three or four of us,” said Luca. “It’s good exercise.”

Born December 4, 1921, in Foremost, Luca says he was involved in farming as a wheat farmer north of Foremost from 1950 to 1977, and then he got started golfing when he was in his fifties. He got involved in golfing after he bought some golfing equipment from a hardware store which no longer wished to sell it. After that, Luca says, he would play occasionally on Sundays, but after he retired from farming, he began to travel to many places including the Pacific Rim, Japan, Mexico, Bali, and the South American Agricultural Tour.

Luca says that he also travelled to Africa and worked in Africa from 1983 until 1994 and returned in 1997 as a grain buyer for a co-op that was in Botswana and managed by a grocery store. Luca says he still keeps in touch with people there through video messenger.

“The store wanted someone to sell their grain, someone with a farm background, so they asked CUSO, a Canadian volunteer organization,” said Luca. “I applied for it, and I got it, and they sent me over there. The co-op gave the money for buying the grain, but exporting and selling it was difficult. All our grain was bagged in 70 kg or kilogram sacks, and it was pretty heavy. We took some into the local trading center, which was about four hours away by truck.”

Eventually, at age 65, Luca began to approach the game of golf more seriously. That approach, Luca says, includes playing in local senior’s tournaments all summer and when the weather is good. During the winter, Luca says, he travels to El Centro, Calif. and plays golf down there four days a week before coming back to Alberta in April. 

In addition to travelling to California, Luca also travels to Belgium every September and plays golf there, too, in addition to visiting relatives, as his parents came from Belgium and he is now the last cousin on both his parent’s sides. 

As far as spending time with family and friends goes, Luca often visits with his nephew, who lives in the area, and makes a habit of enjoying breakfast with friends at either Denny’s or Farmer Boys most every morning. 

“I enjoy my time over there as long as I feel good,” said Luca.