From left, Chris Goodridge, co‑founder of JMG Legacy; Jennifer Yetman, director of communications at Kids Eat Smart Foundation N.L.; Krista Goulding, vice-principal of Bishop Feild Elementary; Norma Aylward, principal of Bishop Feild Elementary; Lauren Goodridge, James Goodridge's daughter; and James Goodridge at Bishop Feild Elementary on June 20, 2025.Courtesy of James Goodridge/Supplied
The organizers: James and Chris Goodridge
The pitch: Organizing an annual Masters pool
James Goodridge jokes that the best job he ever had was working in the back shop at the Bally Haly Golf Course in St. John’s.
“I used to golf a lot. I kind of grew up at one of the local courses,” said Mr. Goodridge, who is director of investor relations, business development and capital markets at St. John’s-based Fortis Inc.
Mr. Goodridge brought his love for the game to the workplace and about 13 years ago he started a Masters pool while working at the accounting firm Deloitte. The pool started with around 25 people, but over the years it grew and he added more tournaments: the PGA Championship, the US Open and the British Open.
Mr. Goodridge’s brother, Chris, helped with the organization but it eventually became a burden. Chris, who is a lawyer in St. John’s, had talked for years about donating some of the proceeds to charity. They decided to register the pool as a non-profit and donate half of the proceeds to various causes, keeping the other half for prize money.
They named it JMG Legacy Inc. after their late mother, Janet Murphy Goodridge, who was a compassionate advocate for maternal and infant health care. The pool “is still a lot of work but now I feel a lot better about things,” said James.
The pool has grown to around 4,000 participants and last year JMG donated $46,000 to several local charities including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bridges to Hope, Sammy’s Climb Higher Foundation, Special Olympics and a scholarship fund named in honour of their mother.
They’ve kept the entry fee at $25, and James and Chris continue organizing each pool and sending regular updates. This year, James expects around 6,000 people to take part and he hopes they can donate as much as $75,000 to charities.
“It’s a labour of love,” he said.
Despite his passion for golf – although playing the odd round is tougher these days now that he has a young family – James has not had much success in the pool. “I have never won one single dollar from the pools,” he said with a laugh.