Golf Stories - How to enjoy the game of golf-Kelowna BC Golf Packages-

Enjoying the Game of Golf , The Secrets !

Starting with enthusiasm when learning the game, quickly it reality hits and we realize how difficult golf is. Golf is a game of life. Just when you think your doing well you go backwards 2 steps. Somewhere along the path we usually encounter a fellow golfer who has wisdom. If we are lucky enough to realize that this information is available to us if we earn the respect of our peers & ask the right questions we can benefit and perhaps find the secret to enjoying every outing.

Respect of the game, frustration and anger often felt by golfers, love of the game, recovering from unfortunate situations, the passion of trying hard & the memories that we all visit for inspiration and satisfaction build character & are part of golf.

This story is about learning how to really enjoy the game with one basic humble thing we all must remember.

It starts in the pretty and growing city of Kelowna BC Canada, a wonderful mix of nature and modern growth with a rich pioneering history. Rated one of the best places to live in the world. Kelowna is part of the Okanagan Valley, a fruit growing region in the northern part of the extended desert that starts in Lower Washington USA and ends just north of Kelowna. A bustling new wine industry is growing at a rapid pace.

One of the great historical assets of Kelowna is the Kelowna Golf & Country Club. The course has hosted national, international and provincial golf events.

A golf course that has the magic mix of stunning beauty, maturity, consistent great conditions, majestic pine trees with ancient cliffs in contrast. Managed speed of play, great services, great membership and a great variety of personalities rich with tradition and history.

The course offers many that you get to experience large elevation changes, carries over water. You won't forget the famous Grave Yard Hole where you could drive the par 4 green, at 270 yds. Extremely narrow at the green guarded by hedges, bunkering and borders to the Grave Yard on the left. The course offers fantastic mature trees and settings that have been worked on since establishment in 1920.

I know you are wondering why this introduction but you must get to know what was appreciated so you all can understand why and how this great learning experience took place.

A father (Walt ) and son Greg were close friends to the sons brother in law Tyson, all loved golf and respected the game. The brother in law Tyson was a quite good golfer and often hovered around par. His worst enemy was having expectations to play well especially with his best friends, relatives and family. He loved the Kelowna course as this was one of his favorites. He had played some of the finest courses in the entire world including Pebble Beach, St Andrews, Bay Hill and Bell Air. He was invited to drive up for a weekend of golf, the opportunity to play with his bro in law and father & Kelowna Golf and Country Club became his biggest desire. Tyson always felt he could par the course, his game was in great shape paying off 3 hcp.

The date was set, he worked at the range for a week while playing 3 or 4 times after work.

Walt was so good at letting the younger players be themselves and when the temper and frustration surfaced as it often does he always had a way of helping his fellow player realize that he was lucky to play the game at that level and to not let the frustration get in the way of the remaining game. Should they not listen to him he would remind them that if they tossed a club they would be banned from ever playing with him again.

Tyson often tried so hard things would go sour and like many experience one feels like giving up and in the process shows inconsiderate and selfish conduct.

We all have seen it and all hope it doesn't come upon us.

It was a very hot day in summer in the high 90's the course was fast and very firm.

Tyson played struck the ball well on the front nine only to have every bad luck situation happen while putting terribly & missing all short putts. A normal score would be par to 3 over, this time it was 54 ! 18 over par, for him unthinkable.

He got very moody and responded poorly when conversing. There the group was at the snack shack with Gramps offering to buy Tyson and offer him his favorite beer Tyson remained grumpy and withdrew from interactions.

Walt didn't wait but a minute and went over to Tyson, put his arm around him and say Hey Man " Your not good enough to get mad " Tyson stood in shock to be reminded from Gramps himself to appreciate the game by the initial gesture then the follow up was accepted almost immediately.

Tyson said your right ! The thought really sunk in. "Not good enough to get mad" He felt badly as he realized he had made his most cherished fellow players feel uncomfortable and why ever get mad when it never does anything positive. He calmed down and donned an entirely new attitude.

The group teed off #10, one of the most difficult holes on the course, Tyson with a birdie on a hole where par would be a great score. He then went on to play and enjoy the day and course the way he knew he could. He showed respect for the others. He spent more time watching and enjoying the others game while taking in the beautiful and breath taking back nine, he finished the 18 with a birdie to shoot 2 under 34 on the back for an 88 to break 90 after being 18 over after nine holes. 20 strokes difference between the 2 nines !

They went into the clubhouse, drank a couple glasses of water then enjoyed a cold beer. Tyson was pleased to say he had thought that he learned a great new way to enjoy the game and would try to reflect on it in troubled moments when the demons of negativity try to prevail during a game.

Since that time Tyson has been able to enjoy the game to new levels. Consistency has prevailed over his game. Every game is appreciated and if ever frustration temped him to give in he always thought back to Walt's wise words. This would always bring his game and day back on track. He has become and advocate to teach young and fellow golf lovers how to deal with negative challenges and always remember one phrase we can all tell others.

" You are never good enough to get mad "

If you think this can help you or your friends please share this with them, this will always be appreciated by Walt as he has moved into golf in the heavens.

This is the first in hopefully many valuable stories we can share to help make golf enjoyed by all at a higher level. Please feel free to email any of your stories to us.

mailto:info@borgatalodge.net

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Out of respect for the great course that Kelowna Golf & Country Club you might want to enjoy reading the history Written by Evelyn Metke

History of the Kelowna Golf and Country Club

The first golf in Kelowna was played in 1899 on a 9-hole course located near the present day City Hall and Memorial Arena.

In 1914 the golf course moved to a new location in the Bankhead area where a 9-hole course was established. This location proved unsuccessful due in part to members leaving to join the Armed Forces to fight in World War 1 (1914 - 1918).

In 1920, the members decided to purchase and move to the present location known then as the Wolaston property. The club had 72 members at that time. Funds to purchase the property were raised by the sale of shares to members. The club was incorporated in 1920 as the Kelowna Golf Club. Play commenced on the new course consisting of nine holes with sand greens.

In 1920, it was decided to build a clubhouse on the golf course. Funds were raised, tenders called and the new clubhouse opened overlooking the lake slightly west of the present clubhouse location. The lake lot in the middle of the course was donated to the club in 1925 by Okanagan Loan and Investment Co.

In 1925, plans were made to extend the course to 18 holes. Funds were raised by the sale of debentures to purchase additional Wolaston property. A golf course architect was engaged to design the extension. The new 18-hole course with sand greens opened on March 20, 1926.

In 1957, the Kelowna Tennis Club decided to sell their downtown property and merge with the Kelowna Golf Club. Three new tennis courts were constructed at the Golf Club on the site now occupied by the clubhouse.

The need to extend our course to 18 holes was indicated by the increase in membership which occurred during 1958 and 1959 resulting in the formation of a Course Extension Committee. A new deal to supply sufficient water for an 18-hole course was negotiated with Glenmore Irrigation District in 1960. Also in that year, golf course architect, Mr. A.V. Macan, was retained to plan a new 18-hole golf course. His study proved that additional property would be required to accommodate an 18-hole golf course.

After considerable negotiation with our neighbours, sufficient property was purchased to accommodate an 18 hole golf course. The layout of the new golf course was then completed by architect Vern Macan. Special meetings of the membership were called in January 1960 to approve purchase of additional property and in March 1961 to approve the borrowing of $150,000 to cover the cost of the course extension and repayable over 25 years. The total debenture issue of $150,000 was purchased by members and their friends. The course extension, including the new property, sprinkler system, 17 new tees, 17 new greens and new fairways was completed and seeded in September 1961. The official opening of our new 18-hole course was held on June 23, 1962.

On June 12, 1966, the clubhouse was almost totally destroyed by fire. A plywood shed was set up which served as a sandwich bar for the next year.

A plan was presented to the membership in December 1966 for construction of a new clubhouse, changes to holes #12, #13 and #14 and relocation of the tennis courts. The plan was approved, financing arranged and working drawings commenced. Construction of the new clubhouse started in April and it was opened in November 1967.

A full basement was provided in the new clubhouse. The plan was to utilize half of it at a later date for locker/shower rooms and the other half for the new Golf Shop. This entailed changing the starting hole from #1 to #16. After a good deal of consideration, a decision was reached to leave the hole numbering as at present and to build a new Golf Shop building. Construction commenced in June and the new Golf Shop was opened in November 1970.

In 1976, the men's clubroom was extended to include the old locker room and provide an area for shuffleboard, pool table and card tables. The old clubroom became an area for food service and TV viewing. A new locker and shower room was built downstairs in accordance with the original plans for the clubhouse building.
Early in 1977, a completely new underground irrigation system was installed to provide automatic, nighttime sprinkling for the complete golf course including tees, greens, fairways and rough. The cost of the new sprinkling system was $210,000 and authority to borrow this sum was given by members at the annual General Meeting held on January 6, 1977.

In 1978, a completely new locker/shower room was built for the ladies section on the lower floor of the clubhouse. This relocation of facilities allowed the former locker room area on the main floor to become an extended ladies clubroom.

In 1980, a new steel Quonset building was erected for storage of our golf course maintenance equipment. In 1994, the old maintenance building was demolished and replaced with a new and up to date building which was approximately twice the size of the old one. It included washrooms for the staff and also new washrooms for members at the nearby 13th tee.

Golf Course - In September 1993, the City of Kelowna advised the Golf Club they planned to widen Glenmore Drive to four lanes and in the future to six lanes. They also advised us they wished to acquire a sizeable strip of our golf course property which bordered on Glenmore Drive plus the most southerly section of our course, which at that time accommodated our holes #7 and 8, plus half of our 9th hole.

It soon became apparent that the City was determined to acquire the portion of our golf course which they needed to widen Glenmore Drive and if necessary they would use their power of expropriation.

In 1994 our Board of Directors named a team of members to commence negotiations with City of Kelowna officials. Our team consisted of the president, three past presidents and one director, with part of their mandate to ensure that no costs would be incurred by the members of the Club. The negotiating team for the City included their land agent, their engineer for street construction and their City clerk.

Negotiations commenced in June 1994 and after many meetings a tentative agreement was reached in October 1995. A Special General Meeting of voting members of our Club was held on November 21, 1995 to approve the tentative agreement which had been reached with the City of Kelowna negotiating team. Our members voted to approve the agreement by a majority of 93%. The final agreement with the City of Kelowna was signed in January 1996.

The construction of three new holes immediately north of our #1 green commenced in March 1997. In addition, new tees and green were built for hole #1, hole #8 received new tees and green and a completely new hole #9 was built including tees, fairway and green for a cost of $2.7 million. Play commenced on the new holes in May 1998.

Clubhouse - In 1996, serious consideration was given by our Board of Directors to the need to upgrade and expand our clubhouse which was 31 years old. The building was badly in need of repairs such as a new roof, upgrade of mechanical, electrical, fire protection with a new sprinkler system and other building components to satisfy the B.C. building code and City building regulations.

In addition, activity in the clubhouse had increased significantly during the past 10 to 15 years. The number of Club tournaments had increased in order to serve our various member groups such as senior men, ladies and senior ladies, men's section, mixed tournaments and junior tournaments. All of these activities involve the use of the clubhouse for registration, lunch, dinner and prize presentations. There had also been increased demand from members to hold their wedding receptions and banquets, annual staff parties, etc. in their clubhouse.

With the increase in clubhouse activity, there became a need to provide space for use by members who are not participating in the Club function but still want to have some undisturbed areas where they can entertain friends for dinner or a few cocktails. This will now be available in the mixed lounge and in the dining room.

A committee of nine members was appointed by the Board of Directors in August 1997 to study the need for and to develop plans to improve the clubhouse.

Discussion groups were organized with the members to obtain their ideas of what the club should have. The ideas presented were developed into three concept plans and presented to the original discussion groups. Following these meetings, modifications were made to the plans and a questionnaire was sent to every member seeking their opinion on four different proposals, which included a new clubhouse option.

The results of the survey were analyzed and then a 17-page brochure was prepared in April 1998 containing complete detail on the proposed clubhouse renovation and mailed out to all voting members. A Special General Meeting was held on April 27, 1998 at which the proposal was outlined in full detail. The large attendance of voting members approved the proposal by an 85% majority, which included financing for the renovations of $2.1 million.

An architect was selected, tenders were called, a contractor chosen and construction commenced in November 1998, with completion in the spring of 1999.

This calendar of events in the history and development of our golf course is abbreviated, but we hope you find it interesting. In reviewing the records of past years, it is very obvious that the members of today are indeed indebted to those members who, over the years since 1920, have devoted their time and money to purchase and improve the beautiful property we now own, enjoy and know as the Kelowna Golf and Country Club.

History Written by Evelyn Metke