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.

Doug Hastie, BC Golf’s senior manager of field operations leading up to the event, described the championships as a chance for players who enjoy competition to test their games under tournament pressure and against a course set up for tournament play. “It’s real golf," said Hastie, “With rules officials, player announcements on the first tee, and the like. It’s a good experience... different from casual play,” he said.

“Certainly, there are players who separate themselves from the field. But that doesn’t mean [everyone else] can’t enjoy the competition.” 

For Krista Nabb, a mid-single-digit player from Vancouver Island, entering the 2021 mid-amateur at Gorge Vale wasn’t about winning the event. “By no means can I compete for the top positions,” she said in a recent interview. “For me, it’s... more just the whole experience and being able to meet other competitors. As well as just to be able to look around and see all of us slightly older people trying our best to have a good round and have some fun.

“It might sound silly, but when I show up and see the [BC Golf] flags... I just think, ‘This is so exciting.’ It’s the highest level of competition that I’ll ever reach, so to me, it’s just extra special.” BC Golf will be charged with the course set up and Hastie noted that the length for men will likely be between 6,600 and 6,800 yards and 5,700 to 5,900 for women. Talking Rock will easily accommodate the length.

Since opening in 2007, the Chase, BC, course has developed a reputation as a favourite for recreational play and serious tournament golf. Carved out of a pine and spruce forest, the par-72 track can stretch to more than 7,100 yards from the tips. 

(Image Courtesy Talking Rock GC/Quaaout Lodge)

General manager Adam Blair describes the course as, “Friendly, open, and forgiving. Everything is right in front of you. It really sets up well for tournament golf. The green complexes are very cool. Very subtle but challenging, [demanding] a lot of attention during the practise rounds to prepare for the tournament.”

Well-placed bunkers make smart tee-shot placement vital, says Blair, but the keys to scoring well over several days of a tournament are the par-3s. All four are fairly long and well protected. “Pin placements can make them a nice challenge,” said Blair, noting that, “Players who are playing the par 3s well are going to do well.”

Talking Rock has hosted a myriad of provincial-level amateur events, including the BC Men’s Mid-Amateur in 2015. The course has also been a favourite of the PGA of BC, hosting the organization’s championship in 2018 and its pro-assistant event in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

First Nations’ vision and heritage are the bedrock of the golf course and the attached Quaaout Lodge & Spa. The project was conceived in 1979 by Little Shuswap Lake Band members. The resort opened in 1992; the golf course in 2007. The band owns both facilities and the name Talking Rock was selected by the band to commemorate their ancestors’ practice of recording historic events and legends in pictographs on large rocks. Some examples still remain on the golf course.

The territory of the Little Shuswap Lake Band is called Squilax, or ‘black bear’ in the Shuswap language. Images of the black bear are ubiquitous across the property — in the designs of the logos for the lodge and the golf course, on hole signage, in the bear-shaped grass island in a fairway bunker on hole seven, and the carving at the lodge entrance.

There will be plenty of familiar faces passing by the carving when the mid-amateurs get underway in May. On the women’s side, Christina Proteau and Shelly Stouffer, who between them have won seven of the last nine mid-amateurs, have indicated they plan to attend. They missed last year’s event because it conflicted with the national mid-am.

Proteau has had a stellar amateur career, including mid-amateur wins in 2013, ‘14, ‘15 and ‘18. Calling Port Alberni home, she played for four years at the University of New Mexico, followed by two years at the University of Victoria, which earned her entry into that school’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Asked about the attraction of high-level events to more average players, Proteau said, “I think there’s something to be said for people competing in a provincial championship and just setting a personal goal for themselves. I think it’s special to compete. BC Golf tries to make the event feel special for those people playing in it for the first time and to encourage other people to come and play.”

Stouffer, who won the provincial mid-amateur in 2016 and ’19, looks forward to playing at Talking Rock, which she hasn’t seen but says she has “heard good things about it.” She regained her amateur status in 2011, having struggled on various mini- and developmental professional tours. “I tried to get on the LPGA five times, but never made it to the second stage [of qualifying].”

In the men’s event, former professional and 2021 sixth-place finisher Dan Swanson from Guildford Golf Club is looking forward to getting back to Talking Rock. “It’s such a treat. Such a beautiful course. One of my favourites,” says Swanson.

For mid-handicap players, high-end events are all about the camaraderie and meeting new people, he said, “And, maybe at their local club they are pretty good and they want to see how their game stacks up... And they get to play great courses set up for championship golf.”

Saare Adams, who plays out of the Victoria Golf Club and tied for third last year, described the mid-amateur events as “a riot.” The pace of play is better, he said. “Half the field doesn’t think they’re going to be on tour. [The event] is a little more social, but still competitive.”

For mid-handicappers, he said, some of the attraction is the travel. “[And] it’s a good deal monetarily, playing at good courses... A lot of them haven’t competed a ton and for them, it’s kind of an eye-opener. When you have a pencil in your hand, golf becomes a lot more difficult.”