November 8th is Indigenous Veterans Day, when Canada honours First Nation, Metis and Inuit soldiers and veterans, and their long, distinguished legacy of serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

British Columbia would like to join all of our province in thanking these veterans along with noting we are free to play golf today thanks to their sacrifice.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Pitt Meadows Golf Club and the B.C. golf community are mourning the passing of longtime head professional Neil Roberts. Roberts was a fixture at Pitt Meadows for more than 30 years before retiring in 2017.

Known for his dry wit, Roberts had a knack for making everyone feel welcome at Pitt Meadows. Roberts was also a fine player. His win at the 1995 PGA of B.C. Championship earned Roberts an exemption into the inaugural Greater Vancouver Open in 1996 at Northview Golf Club in Surrey.

Team Canada At The 2021 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship: L-R Johnny Travale, Henry Lee, Noemie Pare and Savannah Grewal - Twitter Image

The 2021 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship is underway. The Spirit brings together the best amateur golfers from 20 countries and six continents for three days of competition. Two female and two male amateurs from each country will play for a "chance at gold" in five concurrent competitions.

Canada is represented by Noemie Pare, Savannah Grewal, Johnny Travale and Henry Lee who is from Coquitlam, BC. At present the men and the combined team from Canada are leading the biennial event in Texas.

The happy festival of Diwali is upon us again. Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance.

It is celebrated in honour of Lord Ram's return to Ayodhya after an exile of fourteen years. The festival is also linked to Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.

Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali is traditionally celebrated by lighting diyas and candles, praying to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh and meeting friends and family to exchange Diwali greetings and gifts.

The Smithers Golf & Country Club (SGCC) is a well-established 18-hole championship golf course which includes a practise facility, spacious clubhouse, golf shop, commercial kitchen, restaurant and bar. Picturesquely located at the base of Hudson Bay Mountain in northwestern BC, the course is typically open from late April to mid-October.

Langley's Redwoods GC Will Be Impacted By The Trans Mountain Pipeline - Image Courtesy Redwoods

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline will have a profound impact on a pair of Fraser Valley golf courses next year. 

One of them, Redwoods in Langley, plans to close for part of the 2022 season, while the other, Ledgeview in Abbotsford, hopes to reconfigure part of its layout and remain open.

“It goes right down the middle of our course,” Redwoods managing director Doug Hawley says of the pipeline. “Basically, it kind of ties our hands.” Hawley doesn’t yet know exactly when pipeline work will begin at Redwoods or how long it will take.

Recently the PGA of Canada put out a comprehensive report created by a task force that had been assembled to provide a forum focused on addressing issues that have been all too prevalent in our world and to reaffirm their position of supporting a safe, open, and inclusive environment for everyone.

Approaching The Fourth Green At Jericho Country Club Golf Course (circa 1908) - Image via City of Vancouver Archives

British Columbia Golf is pleased to share an article that will be published in the November 2021 Vancouver Historical Society newsletter, accompanying the promotion for renowned Pacific Coast golf historian Michael Riste’s lecture on Thursday, November 25th at 7:00 pm on Zoom. 

Readers are welcome to join the lecture, they would need to email the VHS (Vancouver Historical Society) to ask for the link. Instructions to register can be found at the end of the article.

(OCTOBER 26, 2021)

Golf’s new Rules of Amateur Status have been published by The R&A and the USGA ahead of coming into effect on January 1, 2022.

The work was the latest step by the governing bodies to make the Rules easier to understand and apply, and follows the modernization process of the Rules of Golf in 2019. The new Rules were informed by golfer and golf industry feedback as a part of a comprehensive review, to ensure they continue to reflect how the modern game is played by millions of golfers around the world.

It Remains To Be Seen How Busy The Border May Get With Golfers Heading South - Larry LarRose Image

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

When the Canada-U.S border was closed to non-essential traffic back in March of 2020, Nathan Vickers feared the worst. 

Vickers, the longtime head professional at North Bellingham Golf Course, wondered how his course would survive without the steady flow of British Columbia players who accounted for more than 30 per cent of the rounds played at North Bellingham.

But Vickers has been pleasantly surprised. Just like it has on this side of the border, golf has boomed in Washington state.

Night Golf In Dubai Has Inspired Night Golf In BC - image courtesy piqsels

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Delta Golf Course is anticipating plenty of demand when the club turns on the lights for night golf on its back nine later this fall.  The light standards have been installed and general manager Grant Steinberg hopes golfers will be playing under the lights starting sometime in mid to late November. “We’re in the hands of our electrician,” Steinberg says.

“He is not quite ready to have the health and safety inspectors come in and sign off on it. He’s still doing his testing and what not. He wants to make sure everything is tickety-boo before we do anything.”

Longtime British Columbia Golf board member and volunteer, Helen Steeves, passed away Thursday, October 7th, 2021.

British Columbia Golf would like to join the entire golf community in expressing our sorrow with this loss and also extend our sincerest condolences to her many friends and to her family at this unfortunate time. 

Just a few of Helen's contributions to the provincial golf association, the zone level and to her home club are outlined in this passage below as submitted by her friend and colleague, Susan Kennedy, a past ladies captain at Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club, at the time of Helen's Volunteer Service Award in 2013.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

OCTOBER 13, 2021 - RICHMOND, BC (PGA of British Columbia) - The PGA of BC proudly named the provincial recipients of the Association's 2021 Award Program during an online broadcast of the PGA of BC Awards Celebration presented by Replay Golf Supplies & Tribal held this afternoon.

Coquitlam, BC's A.J. Ewart - image courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart keeps winning at Barry University in south Florida and his game is reminding his college coach of another British Columbia recruit. 

That would be PGA TOUR regular Adam Svensson of Surrey, who honed his game at Barry before turning pro. Svensson won nine tournaments -- seven in his sophomore year -- before leaving Barry part way through his junior year to chase his pro golf dream.

Ewart, just starting his junior year at Barry, won his fourth event last week.

The R&A

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The R&A and the USGA have announced that a new Model Local Rule (MLR G-10) will be available beginning on 1 January 2022 to provide those running professional or elite amateur golf competitions with the option of limiting the maximum length of a golf club (excluding putters) to 46 inches.

The proposal was announced in February 2021, which opened a notice-and-comment period to allow the industry the opportunity to provide feedback as part of the equipment rulemaking procedures. The comments received from the golf industry, including players, professional tours and equipment manufacturers, were carefully considered before the decision to proceed with the new MLR was reached.

image courtesy Golf Canada

Via Golf Canada

Oakville, ONT. – With ongoing developments around COVID-19, Golf Canada along with the Golf Coaches Association of Canada (GCAC) has cancelled the 2021 Canadian University/College Championship. The competition was rescheduled to take place in late October, after being postponed from its original date from May 31 – June 4.

From left, Jack Croucher (Jim Gibson Patron of the Year), Robert Clarke (Jim Gibson Scholarship), The Four Jack Podcast (Arv Olson Media Personnel of the Year), Larry Ramstad (PGA of BC Community Leadership Bursary), Kevin Stinson (Stan Leonard Player of the Year) and Alec Hubert (Dunc Sutherland Distinguished Service Award) have all been named recipients in the PGA of BC's 2021 Awards Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 6, 2021 - RICHMOND, BC (PGA of British Columbia) -- The PGA of BC is proud to name four recipients of the Association's 2021 Awards, as well as this year's PGA of BC Community Leadership Bursary and Jim Gibson Scholarship beneficiaries. These awards are designed to recognize leaders in the golf community exhibiting qualities such as volunteerism, selflessness, passion, and dedication to the game.

These honourees, along with the recipients of 11 other Association awards, will be recognized during the 2021 PGA of BC Awards Celebration presented by Replay Golf Supplies & Tribal, which will be broadcast online at 12 p.m. PT on Oct. 13.

British Columbia Golf would like to offer our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Lynne Marie Jeannette Powlik who passed away peacefully on the afternoon of September 27th,  at the age of 77. 

Obtaining her National Status as a golf rules Official, her valuable rules knowledge was an asset to many BC Golf tournaments. Lynne was given the Volunteer Recognition Award in 2011, and certainly was deserving for her work with British Columbia Golf. Lynne was also a member of the Fort Langley Golf Ladies Club for years, and was very giving of her time and support to the club.

Scott Vannatter (L) Is Seen Here With Fellow Volunteer Ray Flynn. Scott Was A Long Time Volunteer & Rules Official For BC Golf 

British Columbia Golf was saddened to hear of the passing of long time volunteer official, Scott Vannatter, at Peace Arch Hospital on the afternoon of Thursday, September 30th, 2021.

Scott was a tremendous supporter of the game of golf, especially junior golf. He acted as a BC Golf and Vancouver Golf Tour (VGT) rules official, was a Zone 3 Director for British Columbia Golf as well as a Board Member for the Player Development Trust Fund.

A good player in his own right, Scott was the 2002 Zone 3 Senior Men's Champion.

Condolences go out to Scott's family and friends at this difficult time, he will be missed. 

Please visit the Zone 3 website here to see a more detailed background of Scott's contributions to the game. Click here to see the official obituary for Scott.