EARLY GOLF IN THE VALLEY

Golf in the Cowichan Valley goes back much further than the current 18-hole layout south of the city of Duncan. There was a nine-hole layout built in 1909 as part of a country club at the Koksilah Station on the E&N Railway owned by Frederick H. Maitland Dougall. After Maitland Dougall passed away, the facility went into decline.

Then under the leadership of C.H. Dickie, the local Member of Parliament, a new course was opened in 1921 on 31 acres adjacent to Trunk Road on land leased from the local First Nation Band. Today, a Starbucks Coffee location is at what was the Club’s entrance.

It is not totally clear whether Macan designed this layout but he did reference “the old and the new” (Cowichan) as his designs among his papers. The fact the course had two dogleg holes, a standard Macan design characteristic, also implies Macan’s influence. The layout also boasted a unique 160-yard par three that played from a tee built over the Cowichan River. As of 1936, the thriving club reported over 300 members but World War Two had a dramatic effect and it ceased operations in 1943. The membership, however, decided to keep together as a club and hold onto their material and assets which would be put to good use just three years later.





THE SELECTION OF MACAN

With the end of the war, golfers in the valley decided to build a new course on land they would own (the current property) and first contacted Macan in 1946 about undertaking the project.  

'Mac' - as he was known -  made an initial visit to the site in January of that year and prepared a “rough” estimate of the costs for the project…  $26,100 excluding the cost for a clubhouse.

He also included a letter complimenting them on their site selection, “A very cursory inspection was all that was necessary to satisfy myself of your site’s possibilities. I can do no better than explain what I look for, if I was seeking a golf site. Land of not too heavy a nature, avoid heavy clays at all costs, with some form of natural drainage; comparatively flat so as to avoid anything strenuous in the way of walking, but of an undulating or rolling nature with sufficient break to provide feature. An ample water supply conveniently available. In addition I would try and find a site scenically beautiful, and conveniently located to my main source of membership. If there was a definitely higher point on the ground, I would select it for my clubhouse site, provided of course I could arrange a design, which would give me good finishing and starting points. It is fair to say those who discovered this property deserve the heartiest congratulations. The site possesses in the fullest measure the desirable features for a golf course.”

The Cowichan founders believed they could utilize donations of equipment, supplies and labour to reduce Macan's estimated project costs to $20,000.

Add in $5,000 budgeted for a clubhouse and the Board began a $25,000 fundraising campaign and in June, 1947, the secretary was able to write to Mac saying, “Pleased to let you know the drive to raise the funding for our proposed golf course is progressing very well. Would you be available to visit the site to make preparations to begin construction?”

So, on August 28th, 1947 the newly incorporated Cowichan Golf and Country Club held the first meeting to elect the new Board, to begin the sale of debentures to finance the purchase of the property, and to officially hire Vernon Macan to design and supervise the construction of their new course.


THE DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

From the beginning, ‘Mac’ advised the Cowichan principals that he would “only be available on weekends to supervise their Cowichan project” as he still had a full time job with the BC Lands and Forest.

Traveling on the first morning bus from Victoria, Mac spent many weekends in Duncan supervising his project but his first order of business was the routing. Mac would always tell his clients, “I spend an inordinate amount of time walking the site to get a feel for the land”.

 

He would then visualize the best routing for the property. He believed if he made a mistake in this initial stage the club would suffer financially in the future. Mac loved to relate how he approached the initial plan for a project, “After gaining a thorough knowledge of your site, I retire to my favourite easy chair with a bottle of my country’s best and design your course in my head.”

In the case of Cowichan, Macan actually changed his original design for the property after the clearing was completed. The original plan (see above) called for an east – west layout using three triangular three hole groupings. Because of the position of the sun on these holes he changed his original idea to a more north-south layout. (See below: image left is Macan's final routing and image right is his original nine in colour with the new holes added in 1985 shown in grey)

 

 

In explaining his decision to make the change, he said, "Now that the ground has been cleared and I can see what we have in the way of features I can locate the green and tee sites on the ground and place pegs to mark them. I wish to emphasize that the clearing drawing is just that. It is not a final design for your course. When we get to the green construction I like to be on site to do the final sloping and contouring. This cannot be done on any drawing or model. The final polish is by hand raking. It would also be lunacy not to install the irrigation system for the greens before the final preparation for seeding.”

 

Interestingly, in all correspondence to the Club - without saying the reason directly - Mac would never allow the clearing drawing to be used as the course map. Perhaps he realized the holes would need to be altered as the clearing progressed.

Macan was also quite definite in his views about the time to be taken with respect to seeding. If he first visited the site in the early part of the year, the project would not open for at least two years. This was because he insisted on planting in late August or early September for a following summer opening and that all clearing and then construction must be completed before the seeding would proceed.

 

In the case of Cowichan this immediately created a conflict between Mac and the Board. The Board wanted him to prepare some holes immediately so the members could begin play and new members enticed to join. Mac immediately balked and in a letter dated August 12, 1947, he threatened to resign.

“I advised you from the start that I do not believe in spring seeding. I have maintained from the start it would be impossible to put the ground into seed this fall so that you would have something for the members next summer. Your golf course will be there for many, many years. Rushing things now, trying to do seeding this year, which should be done next year, cannot subsequently be undone. Biding your time, doing the necessary clearing after the design has been developed and working the ground next summer, so that you would have a clean seed bed (by) late August. But not only all the necessary construction work can be done on the greens – graded, drained, and topped ready for the seeding next fall.”

 

He further stated, “I am a golf course architect. I will produce a design for the best golf course I feel is feasible for your property. You must decide how to construct the course. But if you find a man who knows how to move soil I will teach him how I want the course cleared, shaped, and prepared for seeding.”

 

Luckily for all concerned, such a man could be found in the Cowichan Valley... Bill Armstrong. Armstrong, who had never worked on the construction of a golf course, proved to be Mac’s perfect person to construct the course Mac designed. 

 

 

 

 

THE FINISHED LAYOUT

In his letter to the Board prior to opening Mac praised their efforts, Mac was quite complimentary of the Club’s efforts through the process. Like many small town projects, the membership had volunteered countless hours to make their golf course project feasible. Local companies donated materials and equipment. Cowichan was no exception and he praised their efforts.

To the Directorate, Macan expressed his satisfaction with the end product, ” I am satisfied you are well on your way to the development of a fine golf course. It has been a great pleasure and satisfaction to be associated with the development. Nothing is ever perfect but I do feel when all the difficulties and problems you had to face are added up in spite of the numerous shortcomings you have a course which one day you will be very proud of.”

Opening day occurred on August 21, 1949 under showery conditions… but hundreds attended. The former Premier, John Hart officially opened the course “with a well received speech and an inaugural smack that showed every sign of having come from a man who derives pleasure for the game.” Hart was a member of both the Victoria and Jericho golf clubs. An exhibition match between two Valley sons Benny Colk and Dave Crane versus Phil Taylor, the Victoria GC professional and Ronnie Mcleod, the Banff GC professional followed. The locals won 4&3. Colk established the course record at 70.


To find out more about the history of the Cowichan GC, visit http://www.bcgolfhouse.com