British Columbia golf history began in the late 1800s with the construction of the Jericho Beach golf course in Vancouver in 1892 (no longer operating), followed by the Victoria Golf Club in 1893.
British Columbia golf history began in the late 1800s with the construction of the Jericho Beach golf course in Vancouver in 1892 (no longer operating), followed by the Victoria Golf Club in 1893.
In the decades that followed, courses began to pop up around the province, including the Vancouver Club in Coquitlam, the Lower Mainland's oldest continually operating course, which opened for play in 1912, followed by the Qualicum course in 1913. All were private, for members and guests only.
The First World War put further development on hold, but in the post-war years, course development resumed spearheaded by a talented B.C. golfer, himself a wounded veteran from the battle of Vimy Ridge.
Arthur Vernon Macan was born in Ireland and moved to Victoria in 1912. There, he was an outstanding member of the Victoria club and won the B.C. Amateur in the same year. He then began a career in golf course architecture that would go on to span five decades.
From his initial course design at Colwood on Vancouver Island, he went on to design dozens of courses throughout B.C. and down the Pacific Coast. Clubs that bear his signature include Marine Drive in Vancouver, Gleneagles in West Vancouver, the University Golf Course in Vancouver, Gorge Vale in Victoria and the current course at Shaughnessy in Vancouver, opened for play in 1957.
In 1924, Macan was engaged by the Canadian Pacific Railway, a major Vancouver landholder, to develop an 18-hole course on a piece of property in South Vancouver bounded by 49th Avenue in the north, West 58th to the south, Ontario Street to the east and Cambie Street to the west.
They called it Langara and it was the first public golf course in British Columbia, opening for play in 1926.
Over the years as Vancouver grew so did the need for space and the club's owner, the City of Vancouver, modified the layout to accommodate the new Langara College in 1970 and a group of townhouses along 49th Avenue in 1979.
Through it all, the course has remained much as Macan envisioned it. He liked wide open fairways and believed that the new North American course designs featured too many bunkers. His aim was to design courses that allowed ordinary working people the opportunity to enjoy the game he loved.
For him, it was all about adventure and his greens were where the action was. He succeeded in creating putting surfaces with hogsbacks and undulations, dips and rises to test the skill of players of all levels.
In 1994 the course was re-built and a new clubhouse was added, but the essential character of the course remained. Now under the administration of Monaghan Golf, the team that manages Fraserview, its driving range and golf academy, their focus is on maintaining a good pace of play and keeping playing surfaces in top condition.
It had been a number of years since I had played Langara and a recent trip in late April revealed a course as lively and challenging as any course within reach of the North Shore.
It was a glorious spring Saturday, sunny and breezy, blue sky dappled with billowing cumulous clouds, ebbing and flowing on the wind. New cherry blossoms danced in the gusts and birds blissfully surfed the updrafts and eddies.
I was joined that day by a classic North Shore trio: Steve Jones, Kim Muir and Dan Foster, and we were eager to add to the first few halting steps of a new golf season.
Standing on the first tee, Macan's philosophy of openness and playability were in evidence. At 325 yards from the tips, Number One is a slight dogleg left descending the slope from the clubhouse. There were trees down the left of the fairway but sufficient property to accommodate all but the most wayward opening salvos.
A small bunker on the left front of the green was more of a distraction than a danger and the putting surface was a series of green velvet breakers, rolling away from the forward edge. It was a commendable introduction to what was to follow.
It had rained two days earlier and been dry the day before, but we were all amazed at how dry the course was in general and the greens in particular. It was early in the year but the putting surfaces were slick and what looked like a maximum two-putt could turn to three or four in a heartbeat. A twitch or slight over-roll could sail past the cup by eight feet, leaving plenty of work to do on the way Judging distances has been helped dramatically by new technology. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation has provided golfers with a free smartphone app that allows you to book tee times and lessons, keep your score and statistics, and use GPS to determine distance to the hazards and holes on all three of their championship courses: McLeery, Fraserview
It's a free download at the iTunes app store and a big From the first green to the eighth tee, Macan tightens the screws. Number 2 is a 189-yard par three leading farther down the slope, and 3 and 4 traverse west-east and east-west back up the hill. On the fourth hole, your opening shot is over a large pond, one of two water hazards on the course.
That afternoon, it was alive with waterfowl. Convoys of mallards and buffleheads scuttled back and forth, while above a bald eagle soared like a string-less incandescent kite against the clouds and bright blue sky, and a pair of coyote pups ambled playfully up the 6th fairway in the distance.
Photoshop is no match for Mother Nature.
On the 5th hole, an uphill 380-yard par 4 dogleg left, you come to one of the most interesting greens on the course. Shared with the 9th hole it's a large, multi-tiered, uphill-sloping collection of breaks and ridges. Pin placement will make your approach shot one of the most crucial on the front side and disaster is a misjudgement away.
Number 7, rated toughest on the course, is a 435-yard downhill par 4. Trees dot the left edge of the fairway with a small grove at the left and right of the landing area. The green rises up on a mound at the base of the slope and a fringe of thick tangled rough left, right and behind the putting surface awaits to grab your hosel as you try to right the ship.
On the back 9 the second most difficult hole, the 527-yard par-5 11th, runs parallel to the 7th fairway and extends, back and front, by close to 100 yards. It is another long trip and while the fairways are generous enough, the green makes up for it. Two bunkers guard the
front right and the overall lack of bunkers gives them a startling quality when they finally do appear.
Yet while Macan taketh away, he also giveth. Number 7 is followed by the benign 142-yard par-3 8th and the 11th is followed by the 180-yard par-3 12th.
For my money, one of the prettiest spots on this lovely course was standing on the tee of the 326-yard par 4 13th. The second water hole on the course, the green on Number 13 is fronted by a smallish pond that runs from mid fairway to the left boundary of the course and from the front of the green for about 80 yards toward the tee.
Bathed in golden late afternoon sunlight, it seemed the most peaceful place on Earth. Ducks and geese drifted quietly along the water and the silence was broken only by the rumble of jets from the airport in the distance and an occasional profanity.
Putting out on the 18th green, we each felt privileged to have enjoyed a round at Langara on such a spectacular day.
With its unique place in B.C. golf history, convenient location and very modest green fees (adult weekend rates are currently $46 plus tax) Langara has got to be a mainstay in your course rotation.
Give them a call or download the free app and get swinging. It's a whole new season.
