British Columbia Golf's Formation Closely Tied To B.C. Amateur
(Excerpted from an article by Michael Riste/BC Golf Museum) - It could be argued that the BCGA only happened as a result of a tug-of-war over the B.C. Amateur...
To understand the history of the British Columbia Golf Association (BCGA), it is necessary to study the history of the B.C. Men’s Amateur Championship...
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Championship's roots stretch back to 1894 when a competition was held at Victoria GC open to all players who belonged to a golf club on the Pacific Coast. At the time, the few clubs that existed on the coast included Victoria Golf Club, United Services GC (Victoria), Vancouver Country Club, New Westminster GC, and the Tacoma GC. For the remaining years in the decade, few non-Victoria GC members participated.
In 1895 the Victoria GC commenced a ladies provincial competition played at the same time as the men’s. Like the men, all lady members from Pacific Coast golf clubs were eligible to participate.
BY 1900, another six clubs including Kelowna GC joined the original group. Frequently, members of the Seattle GC and the Tacoma G&CC played in the B.C. Amateur Championships. Consistently the men’s competition attracted about 24 players and the ladies about 12 players. Harvey Combe, Victoria GC’s best player, dominated the men’s championship early on, winning nine times.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP EVOLVES
By the start of World War I, the number of clubs in the Northwest had increased to about two dozen and around 1910 Senator Bostock (see story of the Bostock Cup HERE) restricted the provincial championship to BC golf club members only.
After World War I, the Vancouver clubs pressured Senator Bostock to rotate the championship amongst Colwood, Victoria, Shaughnessy, and Vancouver golf clubs. A requirement that the host club must be an 18-hole course remained in place, hence, Jericho CC never hosted the prestigious event until 1926 after it had expanded to 18 holes.
Commencing in 1919 the provincial championships alternated between Vancouver Island (the odd years) and the Mainland (the even years). Until the Canadian Ladies Golf Association B.C. Branch formed in 1933, the ladies provincial championship played their event in conjunction with the men’s championship.
THE BCGA'S FORMATION
In 1921, a number of conditions arose leading to the formation of the British Columbia Golf Association.
First, golfers in the West felt they had very little influence with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) . In particular, The Manitoba Golf Association wanted to participate in the Willingdon Cup matches and have the opportunity to host a Canadian Amateur Championship. To have a stronger voice they advocated the formation of a regional body to represent each of the western provinces' associations and urged club officials at Shaughnessy, Vancouver, Jericho, Victoria, and Colwood to form a B.C. Golf Association.
Golf clubs in B.C. however did not feel it was necessary to have their own association because of their strong affinity to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). This regional body already governed the rules, standardized the handicap system, and held the PNGA men’s and women’s championships.
But the landscape of golf in the province was also changing. By 1921, the list of courses in the province totaled sixteen (Jericho, Vancouver, Shaughnessy Heights, Victoria, Colwood, United Services, Nanaimo, Balfour, Cranbrook Grand Forks, Hedley, Invermere, Nelson, Vernon, Kamloops, and Kelowna). Clubs in various regions of the province were uniting into regional golf associations to hold a regional championship for men and women.
Vancouver GC was set to host the B.C. Men’s Amateur Championship the following year and partly in response to this growth, Club captain Mike Gardner wanted to restrict the number of players participating. He thought “the field would be more manageable if the eligible handicap was restricted to 14 and under.”
Much to his surprise, he discovered Senator Bostock still legally controlled the functioning of the event.
Gardner immediately became a strong advocate for a provincial golf body to oversee the operation of the provincial championships and on February 21, 1921 the first meeting was held to begin the process to form a provincial body that was needed... "to arrange the British Columbia Championship and to promote an Open Championship; to draft a new set of regulations governing the play for the BC Amateur Championships; to bring the different golfing bodies in the province into closer unity; and to standardize the rules and handicapping in line with the other provincial bodies in the dominion.”
The group decided to prepare a draft constitution and bylaws for distribution to all known clubs in B.C. where each club would appoint two delegates to the association.
It was planned to approve this at the BC Amateur Championships being hosted by the Vancouver GC, but not all captains from the Victoria golf clubs could attend. The Vancouver newspapers reported, “For this reason, the final formalization of the new association was postponed until the PNGA Championships at Royal Colwood in June 1922.” The attendees in Vancouver however did preliminarily adopt the constitution and elected J.E. Hall as the interim president of the new Association.
The PNGA Amateur Championships (for men and women) were held at Colwood Golf and Country Club in Victoria, B.C. It was at this championship that the British Columbia Golf Association was formally established. (City of Victoria Archives)
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE BCGA
The British Columbia Golf Association was then formally launched at Colwood during the 1922 PNGA Championships. Biggerstaffe Wilson, Victoria GC, was elected President; J.E. Hall, Vancouver G&CC Vice-President; H. Percy Taylor, Jericho CC, Secretary; and Directors were Jack Rithet, Colwood G&CC; Col. Richard Bell Irving, Jericho CC; J. Gordon Fleck, Shaughnessy Heights GC; and A.V. Price, United Services GC.
It became the policy of the Association to elect each new president for the upcoming year at the BC Men’s Amateur Championship. Usually the president of the host club for the following year served the dual role as president of the BCGA and club president.
The new association immediately opened the BC Championships to players who were members of golf clubs in Washington. The officials felt this would enhance the level of play at the B.C. Championship.
The new governing body also restricted a player’s handicap to 12 and under. To encourage players to participate from all regions of the province, the governing officials commenced the Hamber Cup Team competition. Clubs entered four-man teams into the B.C. Amateur in order to compete for this trophy. The gross score of the four players during the qualifying rounds determined the club team winner.
In 1929 the RCGA allowed provincial teams from provinces other than Ontario and Quebec to send teams to the Willingdon Cup Matches. The provincial teams competed for the Willingdon Cup during the qualifying rounds of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championships. The BCGA selected the four-man team to represent the province. In the early years, the BCGA selected the team from players on the Island and the Mainland. Consistently, the B.C. Men’s Amateur champions automatically became a team member. One player from the Island and one player from the Mainland joined the team. The other members were chosen by their results in the City Championships in Victoria and Vancouver.
THE LATER YEARS OF THE BCGA
After World War II, the BCGA introduced the BC Men’s Closed Championship that limited participation to B.C. residents only. This would enable the Willingdon Cup selection committee to identify a B.C. champion. Gordon Bowers assumed the BCGA presidency for four consecutive years, from 1948-1952. During this period to promote golf, he introduced the B.C. Junior Men’s Championship.
To promote junior programs at the club level, the BCGA introduced the Maylor Avery Cup Club Team competition. This event operated in the same format as the Hamber Cup competition. To promote golf in each region, Bowers began the process for the BCGA to assume the functions the regional golf associations performed. By 1960 the Zone system for the various areas of the province was in place. These zone committees replaced the regional golf associations.
In 1955 the BCGA became a registered provincial society registered under the B.C. Societies Act. And in 2011 the BCGA re-branded as British Columbia Golf.
About the Author: Michael Riste is the official historian for the PNGA, and is the lead volunteer curator for the BC Golf Museum. He co-authored the monumental PNGA centennial history book, “Championships & Friendships.”
See the full original article HERE