Club News
November 2021 The Beacon Newspaper
Longtime golfer is par for the course
Laura Anderson / North Shore News
Nov 27, 2019
The nine hole course at Gleneagles golf club in West Vancouver is 5,000 yards in length. At about 4.5 kilometres, that’s a lot of walking. Just ask Don Smith. Don has golfed at least three rounds every week at “the eagles,” since he joined the club 49 years ago. Don golfs with the Gleneagles Men’s Club, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Their season, like the Women’s Club, runs April through October. Don, and many other members, golf all-year round, weather permitting (which they define broadly). Don took up the sport because his son was interested. With a set of clubs for himself and another set, cut down to boy-size, they golfed at the Stanley Park pitch and putt, and at Gleneagles on weekends. Over time, the boy’s interest shifted, inexplicably, to fishing, but by then Don was hooked on golf. As a boy, fellow member Geoff Jopson learned the game from club professional Ron Fitch, who met Geoff’s father while they were serving in England during the Second World War. Terry Atkinson and his pals hitchhiked to Gleneagles to search for golf balls in the rough for re-sale to players. Terry, current president of the Men’s Club, is the great grandson of Peter Larson, without whom there would be no golf course at Gleneagles. Larson acquired the property, some 225 acres, via a crown grant pre-emption in 1902. On a piece of land above Larson Bay, bisected by Larson Creek, he planted a hay field, a vegetable garden and an orchard, the bounty intended presumably to supply other Larson holdings, the North Vancouver and the Canyon View Hotels. He built a home near the orchard about where Number 6 hole is today, marked by a few remaining apple trees. When Don joined Gleneagles, there were still some pear trees on the course. They are gone, but the apple trees, rare varieties today, live on thanks to a partnership with UBC. In 1926, the year Marine Drive was extended to Horseshoe Bay, Larson sold the property to a pair of real estate developers. General Robert Clark and Frank Merrick promoted their Gleneagles subdivision as a new concept in seaside living, complete with the golf course, which opened on July 1, 1927. The 46-acre site was fairly flat, an anomaly in the hilly terrain at the western end of the community and an ideal setting for a golf course. Inspired by Gleneagles in Scotland, course architect A.V. Macan factored in the local terrain and climate in his design. The lies are varied and the greens, though they have been extended slightly, are small. Like its Scottish namesake, Gleneagles West Vancouver is more than verdant fairways and spectacular water and mountain views. Thanks to Macan’s original design and exemplary maintenance by the grounds crew, the CPGA named Gleneagles one of Canada’s 10 best nine-hole courses. The great thing is, Gleneagles has belonged to the community since 1958, when West Vancouver ratepayers authorized its acquisition by a large margin. Communitybased programs are part of Gleneagles’ agreement with the municipality. Both the Men’s and the Women’s clubs at Gleneagles value member participation. Players act as tournament leads and weekly starters during the season. They pitch in to pull weeds and trim ivy. They also participate in a variety of community programs, including those intended to introduce young people to the game. These include two annual Junior Tournaments, one at Gleneagles and the other at Ambleside, and a program with Gleneagles Ch’axáý Elementary, next to the golf course. Several times a year, Gleneagles hosts members of the North Shore Special Olympics at rounds of golf, accompanied by members of the Men’s and Women’s clubs. Don Smith talks about repairing the greens during a round of golf. “You have the time,” say Geoff and Terry, “you’ve putted out while we’re still trying to get on the green.” “My short game was good, 50 yards in,” Don says, “but I’m old now, and … .” So says one who has scored six aces, or holes in one, during his career on the links, three of them at Gleneagles, including the most recent, in 2018. Imagine what he will accomplish in 2020, during his 50th year as a member of Gleneagles.
Don Smith has been golfing at Gleneagles golf club for almost 50 years
For the love of learning golf at Gleneagles
MARIA SPITALE-LEISK / NORTH SHORE NEWS
SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
Gleneagles student Roman Moyes gets some tips from golf club member Geoff Jopson, while fellow student Florrie Budd, principal Aron Campbell and Zona Komarnicky work on their grip on the Gleneagles Golf Course putting green. photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News
Naturally Gleneagles students should gravitate towards golf.
After all, their elementary school is right next door to a golf course with inspiring views that are second to none in Canada.
Getting kids more active and having seniors giving back – it’s a winning combination set up by Gleneagles Golf Club members who recently adopted Gleneagles (Ch’axáý) Elementary students.
It all started with an article in Golf Canada magazine about adopting a school, which caught the eye of former West Vancouver Schools superintendent Geoff Jopson and fellow golfers at Gleneagles.
Golf Canada’s Adopt a School Week, Sept. 18-22, is designed to drive interest for its Golf in Schools program, which launched in 2009 in partnership with Physical and Health Education Canada, Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada.
The program is currently offered in more than 3,200 elementary, intermediate and high schools, with more than 380,000 students getting into the game from coast to coast.
“Here we have a lovely golf course, scenic views and right adjacent to it, right off the third tee, is a public elementary school and I thought: ‘Those children should have an opportunity to learn the game.’”
“I’d be surprised if there’s any other golf course in Canada with a public course sitting right on the grounds,” says Jopson, captain of the Gleneagles men’s team.
A lifelong golfer, Jopson took the lead on approaching his former West Vancouver school district colleagues with a proposal to foster a love of the game at Gleneagles Elementary.
Jopson reports Gleneagles principal Aron Campbell was on board with the school adoption idea pretty much right away.
Campbell liked the intergenerational and mentorship factor from these experienced golfers retired from their careers and looking to volunteer, explains Jopson after getting the green light to adopt Gleneagles.
During a three-week period in April, every Gleneagles student from kindergarten to Grade 7 will walk next door to the golf course and pick up the clubs, which counts towards their physical education.
Golf Canada provides the curriculum and necessary equipment, while Gleneagles Golf Club will kick in $475 annually to help fund the school program.
The instruction will be led by Gleneagles operations manager Alex Doucette and newly appointed golf pro Andrew Black, alongside club volunteers who will help guide the green golfers along the course.
Students will then put their practise into play – with few fores, hopefully.
“(Alex’s) goal is that more and more of those kids will want to play on the course, which is right next door to many of their homes,” says Jopson.
For Jopson, who grew up in the area and picked up golf at Gleneagles as a teenager – he sees value in the sport.
“It’s a game that I think is terrific for young people – it’s social, it’s safe and it has the values of honesty and a long tradition of etiquette,” says Jopson, adding he has a personal soft spot for picturesque Gleneagles with its sweeping ocean views of Howe Sound.
Not only does the golf program offer students a chance to get outside and be athletic, Gleneagles itself has a rich history embedded on the grounds.
Near the sixth hole sits a grove of apple trees, once part of a larger orchard planted in the early 1900s by entrepreneur Peter Larson to help supply his Lonsdale hotel with food.
“So yeah there isn’t a tremendous amount of history in this still young community, but that’s a really nice piece of it particularly for those of us who live out west,” says Jopson.
Ultimately, Jopson hopes more youth pick up the game early.
And, who knows, Gleneagles might produce the next Mike Weir or Michelle Wie.
For now, one hope is to help fill the field for the two junior golf tournaments held every summer at Ambleside and Gleneagles.
Jopson sings the praises of the low-impact, social sport that gets him outside three mornings a week to meet up with fellow Gleneagles Golf Club members, some of whom are in their 80s and early 90s.
“It’s a thinking person’s game,” he says.
“You have to be thinking about the next shot, the line of the putt, those kinds of things – so in that sense I really enjoy it.”
Approaching the third green the golfers get a glimpse of Howe Sound and sometimes eagles are circling above.
“And we sort of pinch ourselves and say, ‘This is just a great place to be,’” says Jopson.