Any conversation about New Brunswick golf icons should include Moncton native Heather Wilbur. Though leukemia claimed her life at age 27, she dominated women’s golf in the mid-1990s. In 1994, she won the national championship with the provincial junior women’s golf team. Then, from 1995 to 1998, she won four straight New Brunswick women’s amateur golf championships, earning Sport New Brunswick female athlete of the year in 1997.

She realized her dream of turning pro with the LPGA’s Futures (Now Epson) Tour in 2000 and qualified to compete in the Ladies U.S. Open in 2001: the first New Brunswicker to ever compete at that level. Toward the end of her life, she established the Heather Wilbur Scholarships which, to date, have funded the education of 55 junior golfers. Prior to her passing in 2003, the Epson Tour created the Heather Wilbur Spirit Award, honouring the player who best exemplifies dedication, courage, grit, professional aspiration, and a love of the game; the first winner: Heather Wilbur.