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Super Spotlight By Jim Myers Oldest Club in the West Offers Look Back Robertson reflects on keeping Victoria Golf Club at its best M y goal of discovering the oldest golf club in the West presented one immediate hurdle. First I had to find it to be able to detail the history of golf and turf management in North America. After some research I landed on a remote part of the West. The name of the club is Victoria Golf Club on Vancouver Island. It's not easy to reach. Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is situated off the southwest coast of British Columbia. Visitors from the lower mainland of BC travel to Victoria by ferry from the BC Ferries' Tsawwassen terminal in Delta. Sailing time is 90 minutes for the 27-mile distance across the Strait of Georgia to the Swartz Bay terminal, 20 miles north of Victoria. Visitors from the United States can 16 www.westernturfmag.com journey to Victoria via ferry from Seattle, Anacortes in northwest Washington or from Port Angeles on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The Anacortes ferry arrives in Sidney, at the Washington State Ferries terminal, 3 miles south of Swartz Bay. The MV Coho from Port Angeles arrives in Victoria's Inner Harbour, as does the Victoria Clipper from Seattle's Pier 69. The Olympic and Saanich Peninsulas are separated by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a 17-mile stretch of (almost) open ocean. By air, visitors arrive at either Victoria Harbour or Victoria International Airport on the Saanich Peninsula, about 17 miles north of Victoria. This club is old and still feels remote today. It's amazing. I can't imagine it in 1893. Of course, you can fly there but being on an island, I went by boat out of Seattle. This is the second time I had to take a boat to get to a golf club—first in Hong Kong and now in Canada. Worth the trip The private club built in 1893 is rich in history. The links-style course sits along the ocean with a few holes inland. This club features stunning views of the Olympic Mountains, lighthouses and marine life you can spot from nearly every hole. In the early days of the golf club, livestock were used to maintain the course and burr the grass. Course ledgers display entries of payments that appeared in the books of Chinese and Japanese laborers to help maintain the course. Since there is no mention of turf equipment, these casual workers brought their own tools to work on the course. In