Bragging rights and a personal parking space were up for grabs last weekend at the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship.
The championship teed off on a smoky Saturday morning for 40 members of the club. Resort manager Lee Hansen said if anything, the smoke was good for the resort, as it helped the greens retain moisture.
Club members were in good spirits as they teed off Saturday morning and took off in golf carts on their way to play 36 holes, 18 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. Hansen said the par for the championship is 71 and he was hoping someone would knock Shane Wilkie, who has won for several years now, off his throne.
Hansen was the winner of the tournament with an overall low gross score of 140 while Rob Douglas finished with a low net score of 136. The two men will have free parking spots right by the pro-shop bearing their names for the rest of the year.
In addition to the men’s club, Hansen said they had a group of 22 men from the Kootenays doing a stay-and-play weekend. The leader of the group, Shawn Minnie, said he’s been doing this informal tournament for years and inherited it from his father.
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“I’ve been doing this for 14 years. It started out as a BCR Tournament and then became just my dad and his friends before slowly turning into me and my friends,” Minnie said. “We come out and have fun. It’s awesome here because the 108 Resort makes sure we’re taken care of and have a good time.”
Minnie said they play a scramble-style team tournament where teams of four players would golf together and use their best strokes for the scorecard. The losing teams at the end of the day have to buy everyone dinner. His team, at the time of the interview, had already golfed an eagle on Hole 7, managed a birdie on Hole 8 and made par on Hole 9 so he was feeling good about their chances of winning.
All told, Hansen said they had 270 players on the books for Saturday, a record for this summer. The men’s club overall has grown by 30 percent, which Hansen attributes to a lot of young people picking up the sport during the pandemic and enjoying it.
The resort is seeing another banner year, with green fees nearly doubled that of 2020, he said.
“There’s a lot of new people taking up golf. With COVID, there was nothing to do and it’s safe out there in your own bubbles,” he said.
The resort will host the ladies’ championship this weekend.
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Lynden Jeffrey, 24, prepares to take a swing at the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Tyson Gejdoes, of the Kootenays, lines up a putt at the 108 Golf Resort. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Every year Shawn Minnie and his friends come up from the Kootenays to play an informal golf tournament at the 108 Golf Resort. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Dylan Hume makes a putt at the 108 Golf Resort. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Dylan Hume watches as Tyson Gejdos makes a difficult putt. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Dylan Hume’s putt dances around the rim of the hole while his friend Shawn Minnie watches. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Shawn Minnie makes par on a hole at the 108 Golf Resort. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Shawn Minnie celebrates making par for his team. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Members of the mens club watch a drive be made at the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Bill Munro, (left) Ron Thurston and Ron Vandermey jokingly dubbed themselves the good, the bad and the ugly while playing together in the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Bill Munro, (left) Ron Thurston and Ron Vandermey jokingly dubbed themselves the good, the bad and the ugly while playing together in the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
Ron Thurston makes his opening drive of the day at the 108 Golf Resort’s Men’s Club Championship. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)
