Alberta 2025 – AV Macan Road Trip

On this episode we took the podcast on the road for our weeklong trip into Alberta in June 2025.  It was a pleasure to travel and play with fellow Royal Colwood members, John Story, Steve Fraser and Bill Coles.

Our trip included:

Sagebrush – est. 2009

Royal Mayfair – est. 1922

Petroleum – est. 1993

Calgary – est. 1897

Glencoe – est. 1984

Earl Grey – est. 1919

Highly recommend a visit to these golf clubs if you get a chance.  Lots of amazing golf holes, wonderful clubhouse facilities and the people are great. 
 
 https://sagebrushgolfclub.com/promo/a-place-with-elbow-room/

https://mayfair.ca/history/

https://scoregolf.com/golf-course-guide/alberta/region/greater-edmonton/edmonton-petroleum-golf-and-country-club

https://www.stanleythompson.com/about-stanley/stanley-s-courses/alberta/calgary-golf-country-club

https://glencoe.org/the-glencoe-golf-and-country-club

https://earlgreygolfclub.com/About

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Huge congratulations to Don Singlehurst, Superintendent at Royal Colwood, who is retiring after 34 years of devoted service.  Please enjoy listening to this episode of the A.V. Macan Podcast and with any luck you’ll get to know a little bit more about Don.  For instance, most people wouldn’t know that Don was Junior Club Champion at Royal Colwood and Gorge Vale in 1978!

Don’s first job in the golf world was as night waterman at Gorge Vale Golf Club in 1979.  He talks about the various jobs and the extensive training he was able to do that led him to eventually getting the Superintendent position at RCGC.

Congratulations Don and have a long and happy retirement!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Since 2003, more than $2 million has been raised through this tournament to fund essential projects that help transform Veterans Memorial Lodge into a place that feels like home. In 2025, we are committed to completing the fundraising needed to renovate and revitalize courtyards and gardens at Veterans Memorial Lodge. 

In this episode I speak with Gary Garnett (Team Navy) and Chuck Oliviero (Team Army/Airforce) about the Armed Forces Challenge portion of this tournament.  The fundraising this friendly challenge generates is fantastic.  Last year (2024) the Armed Forces Challenge raised over $40,000 and the tournament raised $200,000 in support of the Veterans Memorial Lodge. 

Thursday June 5th is this year’s tournament and anyone wanting to make a donation is encouraged to visit the following link:
https://www.broadmeadcare.com/donate-charitygolftournament/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

The Dr. Bryant event at Royal Colwood is the first Men's Division competition of every year.  It features play in Chapman or Pinehurst stroke play, two players play as partners, each playing from the teeing ground and each playing the partner’s ball for the second shot. After the second shot, partners select the ball with which they wish to score and play that ball alternately to complete the hole.

Dr. Bryant was Club President at Royal Colwood GC in 1942 and the trophy we play for was first awarded in 1937.

List of Guests:

1:33 – 3:43                Gordy Scutt

3:44 – 8:22                Joe Frenette and Sean Pierce

8:23 – 14:10              Blake Roney & Taylor Afseth 

14:11 – 19:06            Jeremy Cook & Tristan Story

19:07 – 22:06            Andre Valade & Don Parker

22:07 – 26:59            Jeff Bishop & Stu Eager

This year’s final two teams were:

Ryan Stinson & Mark Stinson vs. Jonathan Mactinger & Michael Houston with the team of Ryan and Mark Stinson claiming the 2025 title.  Congratulations!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In this episode of the AV Macan Podcast, we talk to two of the dedicated Beekeepers who work at Royal Colwood GC.  This group of volunteers is better known as the “Bee Team” and they mind the beehives on the property.

Amy Archambault and Kody Mitchell will help us understand how much effort is required by the volunteers and how much they know about the process of ensuring the Royal Colwood Bees are healthy and productive.  Our team of volunteers has a Bee Mentor, his name is Don Lambert, Vice-President of the Capital Region Beekeepers Association.  

Enjoy learning about the life cycle of our Bees!

https://capitalregionbeekeepers.ca/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

To start 2025, I sat down with two long-time Royal Colwood members (Adam Trevor – 25 yrs and John McMillan – 48 yrs to chat about the coming year.  We found that even though we wanted to talk about 2025, we still talked about the past!

John remembers watching the 1976 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship held at Royal Colwood and the battle between Jim Nelford and Rafael Alarcón.  That was the 2nd straight Canadian Amateur win for Nelford, Alarcón later won the 1979 event in Brantford Ont.

Royal Colwood also hosted the 2013 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship where Eli Cole defeated both Corey Connors and Taylor Pendrith by 1 stroke.

2025 will see lots of good golf at Royal Colwood and foster strong camaraderie amongst the members.

Happy New Year!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In this episode of the podcast, you’ll meet Ewan Baldwin of Royal Colwood, he’s 14 years old and the 2024 BC Golf Association Zone 5 Junior Golfer of the Year.  He’s also a 3-time Junior Club Champion and undoubtedly a golfer you’ll be seeing in the future.

It’s nice to hear from young adults enjoying the game of golf and more importantly seeing the results of Royal Colwood’s Junior Golf Program.  Ewan plans to be on the school golf team at Royal Bay High School starting in September 2025.  This past Summer, Ewan was a volunteer Caddy in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and on the bag of Past Champion Lauren Zaretsky.  Ewan’s favourite PGA Tour player is Shane Lowry, of Ireland.

We spent a bit of time talking about Ewan’s summer of golf activity, some games were competition rounds and other games were during family vacation.  He tells us about some of his sub 70 rounds through the summer.  Ewan wants to play in the Golf Canada Junior Championship in 2025 if he can qualify and maybe even compete in the Men’s open division at Royal Colwood.

Big thanks to Matthew Baldwin for making this interview happen.

https://www.instagram.com/laurenzgolf/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Special thanks to the Members and Staff at Fircrest Golf Club for hosting the 2024 Interclub event with Royal Colwood.  This was the 51st edition of the Fircrest/Royal Colwood Interclub and we look forward to continuing the tradition.
 
Guests on this episode:
00:55 – 06:30
Steve Bowles - General Manager, Fircrest GC

06:31 – 09:37
Jim Chu - Member, Fircrest GC

09:38 – 14:27
Daniel Shepherd - Head Professional, Fircrest GC

14:28 – 23:51
Sean Lowe - Member, Royal Colwood GC
Brian Beal - Member, Fircrest GC
Sean Meehan - Member, Fircrest GC

23:52 – 32:39
John McMillan - Member, Fircrest GC
Adam Trevor - Member, Fircrest GC

32:40 – 37:16
Stan Lowe - Member, Royal Colwood GC
John Story - Member, Royal Colwood GC
Bill Coles - Member, Royal Colwood GC
 

https://fircrestgolf.com/web/pages/home

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

On this episode, we hear from Tom Martell (coordinator) about the "Train Wreck" event at Royal Colwood.  The Train Wreck is a 2 man team event, where the team collects points and tries to avoid having a train wreck (which means both players score net bogey or worse).

                   Net Bogey = 0 points

                   Net Par = 1 point

                   Net Birdie = 2 points

                   Net Eagle = 5 points

                   Net Double Eagle = 8 points

At Royal Colwood, there are 2 Train Wreck events each year, 1 in the Summer and 1 in the Fall.
Tom talks about some of the history of the train wreck and more details about playing in this fun tournament!

Congrats to the 2024 Winners:
Summer - Kent Campbell & Tristan Story
Fall - Ted Rush & Kirk Handrahan

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Short trip to Portland, Oregon for a friendly match with a few members of Columbia Edgewater, special thanks to Ky Fullerton, Evan Wilson and Erik Bjorvik for setting this up and being gracious hosts.

With the help of John Story and Bill Coles we recollected for a few minutes about our couple of days at Columbia Edgewater.  This trip supports another strong recommendation for Royal Colwood members to head to Portland to enjoy good food at "Salty’s on the Columbia River" before or after a great round of golf at Columbia Edgewater.

https://www.saltys.com/portland/

https://www.columbiaedgewater.com/golf/macan-course

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.