A.V. Macan Podcast

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As a new invitee to the coveted "golfapoolza" event I decided to collect some of the participants' comments and experiences of this long running and fun event.  The Crown Isle Resort and Golf Course is an excellent venue for group events and the weather for the end of September was pretty good!

Day 1

00:45 – 11:15 

John Story, Bill Coles, John McMillan

Day 2

11:17 – 29:05 

Peter White, Darren Anton, Jason Giesbrecht 

Day 3

29:07 – 38:53 

Stan Lowe, Craig Young, Dave Murrell

Congrats to Dave Murrell for repeating as the Golfapalooza Champion, he keeps the coveted green hat and to Alec Mackie for taking home the “tin cup” for achieving last place.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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In this episode you will hear from Max Sear, Royal Colwood’s 2026 Men’s Club Champion.  This is Max’s first Men’s Club Championship after he won a couple Junior Championships at his old club in Ontario.

Max won the Ontario Amateur in 2016 and recruited to play golf at West Virginia University – “go Mountaineers”.  He had two NCAA Individual victories while playing for the team.  Max achieved his BA in Business.

After ending his College Career Max turned professional in 2019.  He played on a few tours over the next 5 years, including 25 events on the Canadian Tour and worked hard to “Monday qualify” for 3 PGA Tour events.  Max shouts out Dr. Charles Fitzsimmons, his mental coach, for helping him win the 2024 Canada Cup.

Max talks us through his 2026 Club Championship matches.  Nice to hear how much he enjoyed playing the event and meeting lots of new people at Royal Colwood.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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2026 Men’s Club Championship – Medal Play

The Men’s Club Championship includes two rounds of Medal Play prior to the Match Play the following week.  Over 100 members from all age categories participated this year.  Thanks very much to the Pro Staff and Grounds Crew for making sure the members experienced a good challenge and fun event. 

00:42 – 05:33                 Gordy Scutt – Head Professional

05:35 – 13:05                 Lyndon Jarvis & Aaron Spargo – Associate Members

13:07 – 23:23                 Ian Fraser & John McMillan – Super Senior Division

23:25 – 35:48                 Roy Johnson & Paul Kraeling – Legends Division

35:50 – 37:13                 Wrap-up comments 

Hopefully more members will sign-up to play next year in the Club Championship.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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The 2026 Don Ross Derby was a great event this year.  Congratulations to the winners Don Gowan and Gregg Campbell.  This episode includes Don, Gregg and 3rd place winner John Story.  We chatted about this year’s event, some of the strategy, some of the fun play that we all saw and a bit of chirping where necessary!  

We also take a bit of time to talk about our favourite Royal Colwood events, some reciprocal travel golf opportunities and a little more on competitive tournament golf on Vancouver Island.

If you want to know more about the Don Ross Derby, make sure you listen to the episode with Jack Jenner (tournament creator and chair) – Season 1, Episode 11.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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The 2026 Lucifer Commonwealth Golf Tournament occurred July 5-10 in the Berkshire County area about 40kms West of Central London, UK.  The event is organized and sponsored by the Lucifer Golfing Society, founded in 1921.  The Lucifers visited Royal Colwood in September 2024 and regularly travel the Commonwealth encouraging golfers to attend their golf tournament.

The golf tournament includes 2 days of Stableford scoring rounds as well as a few optional days of Matches played with other members of the Commonwealth.  This year included an invitation to the welcome reception held at the Royal Berkshire Hotel and the Gala Dinner at the amazing Savoy Hotel in downtown London.  The Gala Dinner is a black-tie event which 250+ people attend.

If there are any Royal Colwood members who may be considering attending a future Lucifer Commonwealth Golf Tournament, I hope this podcast serves as an informative source to help you decide on attending.  

For planning purposes expect the 2027 event to begin with another reception at the Royal Berkshire Hotel on Sunday July 4th and 2 days of tournament golf on the 5th and 6th with the Gala Dinner at the Savoy Hotel on Wednesday July 7th.

If 2027 isn’t in the cards for your travel, I know in 2028 the Lucifer’s will celebrate 100 years since the inaugural tournament and I’d expect that to be a big event.

Dr. Gerry Kelly (Royal Colwood member) was a winner of this event in 2006.  

Follow the A.V. Macan Podcast Instagram page to see photos of the event.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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Thanks to Scott Noble for swinging by to talk about golf and his experiences as a member of Royal Burgess Golf Club in Scotland.

Scott is a regular user of the reciprocal opportunities between our clubs and loves to return to Royal Colwood.  He likes our layout and the challenges that our greens present to golfers of all levels.  Scott got the opportunity to play in the June Men’s Sponsor Night and really enjoyed himself.  He noted that it was nice to see the members “Toast the King” at the dinner.

The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh is a Scottish golf club, which holds claim to be the oldest golfing society in the world, with references to it being instituted in 1735 dating from 1834.  The club enjoys a parkland course located in Barnton, Edinburgh that was designed initially by Tom Morris and Willie Park Jnr, with subsequent revisions by James Braid. Notable members have included Jack Nicklaus and Bernard Gallacher alongside a host of royals, aristocrats and socialites.  The Society has had its current 'Royal' status since 1929, when King George V ordered the name be changed from The Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society to The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh.

Keep an eye out for Scott around Royal Colwood or make sure you connect with him if you’re ever in Edinburgh.

https://www.royalburgess.co.uk/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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Thanks to Dave Murrell and Jeff McArthur for sharing some memories of “Pedro” Peter Faulkner. We lost "Pedro" in April 2026.  Dave became friends with Pedro 40+ years ago and Jeff first met him in 2014 when he moved into Sooke.  Peter was sometimes called “Newf” by many of his hockey friends.  

We got a chance to chat about many of his friends from all walks of life.  Pedro seemed to have such a positive influence on so many people.  Thanks to Marv Halgren (Royal Colwood Member) for having such an influence on Pedro’s Law Career and keeping him out of jail!

Enjoy some stories about Pedro’s sense of humour and his love of golf.  I’m sure Pedro is up above us and he’s pulling for the Habs.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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Learn a bit of Royal Colwood history on a new episode of the A.V. Macan Podcast with guest Mr. Richard “Dick” Austin.  Dick has been a member of Royal Colwood since 1978.

The Sayward Cup is named in honour of our co-founder and first Club President, Mr. Joseph A. Sayward.  The Sayward Cup was created 26 years ago (by Dick Austin) to recognize the contributions of the Sayward family and to commemorate international friendly matches between Royal Colwood and Clubs from around the world.  Royal Colwood has hosted teams from New Zealand, the R&A and the Lucifer Golfing Society.  Players from RCGC have also been hosted by some of the finest golf clubs in Scotland, Ireland and England to play informal matches; the Cup has been contested over 60 times.  All of those matches are engraved on the Cup.  

Enjoy the episode.

https://www.instagram.com/av_macan_podcast/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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Bruce Brown chats about the Ukraine fundraising event held at the Royal Colwood Golf Club on 7 March 2026.  Over 100 gracious and supporting people attended this event which will help send a blood transfusion unit for children to Ukraine. 

So many local businesses and community members stepped up to sponsor and donate towards this worthwhile cause.  What a great meal and inspiring video tribute to help get everyone in the mood!

Anyone interested in supporting the cause is asked to visit the website and donate:  https://vancouverislandsupportsukraine.ca/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

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The Sayward Cup is named in honour of our Founder and first President of Royal Colwood, Mr. Joseph A. Sayward.  It was the brainchild of Mr. Richard Austin, a past Captain, after a visit by a team from Royal Aberdeen in September 2000.

Since that inaugural international match, we have had the pleasure of hosting teams from New Zealand, The R and A, and most recently, The Lucifer Golf Society. Over the past 25 years, RCGC has been fortunate to be hosted for informal matches by the finest clubs in Scotland, Ireland, and England. This trip marks our 7th journey 'across the pond'. The Sayward Cup has been contested 60 times, with each match commemorated on the trophy.

The 2025 Sayward Cup Tour made stops in South London and Kent areas for more friendly matches.  Big shoutout to this year’s Captain John Ainsworth for leading the tour. 

Thanks to Don Bull and Doug Sear for taking time to chat about the 3 off-day games we had on our trip.

We played: Mannings Heath, Piltdown and Princes Golf Clubs.

https://www.manningsheath.com/

https://www.piltdowngolfclub.co.uk/

https://www.princesgolfclub.co.uk/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.