We offer here a look at 9 of the favourite golf holes found in BC’s interior according to golf professionals and executives from many of those facilities. Roy Wood spoke with Head Pros & Directors of Golf to get their input on what they consider their ‘favourites’ from their home tracks. Another 9 holes will be profiled later in the summer. - ed

By Roy Wood, British Columbia Golf

There are a number of factors that go into what makes a golf hole someone’s favourite — difficulty, risk/reward, natural beauty and much more. Inside Golf was curious about the views of folks with up-close relationships with various courses.

So we spoke with head professionals and directors of golf at a number of Southern Interior courses from the Okanagan to Kamloops, to the Kootenays. In the first of a limited series, here are responses from senior staff at nine courses. The interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

By Roy Wood, British Columbia Golf

On the tree-lined fairways of Talking Rock Golf Course, the British Columbia Golf championship season begins in mid-May, as 144 men and women over 25 embark on 54 holes of stroke play competition.

With generous maximum index requirements, the Women’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur/Mid-Master provide an opportunity for players with a range of playing abilities to enjoy the experience of a big-time tournament.

By Gord Montgomery, Inside Golf

KIMBERLEY, British Columbia — After thousands of birdies and bogeys, and almost 100 years of good and bad swings, Purcell Golf, home of the Kimberley Golf Club, is undergoing a massive facelift. Actually, it’s more of a face mulligan in a manner of speaking.

You see, thanks to the magnificent Ponderosa pine that encompass the first nine holes and cast long shadows over this pristine Kootenay area track, the grass on the putting surfaces has met its maker. So, a new nine holes have been drawn up and they’ll move down toward the St. Mary’s River, adding more challenge, and sunlight, to those areas. And put a totally new face on an old facility’s opening stretch.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KIMBERLEY, British Columbia — John Gallacher recently turned 70 so the fact he shot a four-under 68 to share the lead after the first round of the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship at Bootleg Gap Golf Course was noteworthy. But Gallacher, a two-time B.C. Senior Men’s winner from Burnaby, was more interested in talking about the golf course than his impressive play.

“I think this is the best course we have been at since the Canadian Senior was at Capilano (in 2014) or maybe since I have been a senior,” Gallacher said of Bootleg Gap after his round, which left him tied with Jim Shaw of Sooke and defending champion Norm Bradley of Kelowna.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

We’ll start with the obvious: The subjects of this story are all very good boys and girls. They are also very lucky dogs.

What a life they live. Up before the crack of dawn and free to run all day on the golf course with their owners.

Those owners — golf course superintendents all over British Columbia — are lucky as well. They get to go to work with their best friends, who often ride shotgun in their Gators when they are not racing alongside.

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ALL Vancouver Island Golf Facilities (alphabetical)