Signatures of Founding Members

For those wanting the 200-page version, a broad and fascinating history of Victoria Golf Club was written by Peter Corley-Smith to mark the Centenary in 1993. It contains dozens of photos, illustrations and maps and is available through the Club. This history section contains many exerpts from the publication.

Here's the short version: Formed by successful but homesick ex-pat Brits and Scots who had become the merchants and power brokers of the emerging Victoria, Victoria Golf Club was founded in Nov. 1893. They were already playing the rough, unkempt fields of the 'Pemberton Farm but now began to negotiate for permanent rights (except for the three months of summer when cattle, and later sheep, were sent to graze along what have become the fairways).

The course began as 14 holes but quickly expanded to 18 in 1895. There have been at least three different lay-outs – the one played today was finalized in the mid-1920s (after a decision in 1923 to end the practice of hitting tee shots on two holes across the ever-busier Beach Drive). Though open for play all-year-round, parts of the course have sometimes suffered under coastal storms and drainage is first mentioned as an issue in 1897. But that seems certain to be a thing of the past since the $4-million installation of sophisticated drainage and irrigation equipment in 2003.

Victoria Golf Club''s first 'clubhouse' was a storage locker – an old wooden piano-shipping crate which held a dozen or so sets of clubs. The first actual building (in which to take shelter and share a post-round toast) was erected in 1894 at a cost of $66 (including $11 for the paint!). On the same spot, a substantial new clubhouse was built in 1927 - but it burned to the ground before it opened. A second attempt was more successful and the resulting clubhouse, completed in 1928, is the core structure of what stands today - the last major renovation being completed in 1993. The club has been co-ed since the beginning - with the first Ladies Open being played in 1894. It has also always welcomed a number of 'Service Members' from the Canadian Forces at a substantially reduced rate.

From the earliest days, Victoria Golf Club produced champions. Harvey Combe, who had returned from the U.K. with 'real' golf clubs and was the club's first secretary, was also Provincial Champion nine times, his wife five times and their daughter won numerous regional tourneys. Today, club members hold national and international titles; and are regulars on the Nationwide and Canadian Pro Tours. The club has hosted the Canadian Amateur and Canadian Ladies Amateur Championships, all but one of the 80-plus editions of the Seniors NorthWest Championship; and co-hosts the oldest international golf tournament in North America: the annual interclub match with Seattle Golf Club (since 1895).