Gregor Kowalski credits more than just his work on the golf course for being honoured as the 2013 Golf Superintendent of the Year.
“What you do on the golf course (helps), but it’s really what you do in the community,” he said.
The superintendent and assistant manager of Royal Oak Golf Club was recently named recipient of the award by his peers at the B.C. Golf Superintendents Association annual meeting.
“I’m from a smaller market golf course, so you don’t think of yourself like the Uplands or Victoria Golf course,” said Kowalski, who keeps the operational side of things running on the nine-hole course in west Saanich. “A lot of it comes down to (the fact that) I’m a big community supporter.”
Kowalski is also the proud co-founder of an MS fundraiser that’s raised more than $700,000 in recent years. He also spent six years as president of the Vancouver Island Superintendents Association, where the fundraiser began.
“I wanted us to do more than just meet, play golf, have lunch,” he said.
An avid golfer, Kowalski became superintendent at Royal Oak in 1998 and says he can’t imagine having a different job.
“I enjoy what I do. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
reporter@saanichnews.com
