these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

time. He also was the man who donated
the Stanley Cup, the much sought after
Ice Hockey Championship trophy.
Vancouver’s climate is considered
moderate oceanic. This translates to
summer months that are typically dry,
often resulting in several weeks/months
without rain, to winter months where it is
not uncommon to have two inches of
rain every day for two to three weeks.
The north shore, where Seymour Golf
and Country club is located receives, on
average, ninety inches of rain a year.
Temperatures are similar to the UK and
Ireland throughout the year, with slightly
warmer summers.
Seymour Golf and Country Club
Seymour Golf and Country Club is
situated in North Vancouver,
Golf
approximately twenty-five minutes drive
from the city centre. The lease for the
existing property, which is 180 acres, was
signed with the municipality of the
District of North Vancouver in June
1953. The agreement with the district
had one major condition which would be
of considerable benefit to the club
throughout its early years. The club was
to be a private organisation, but the
public would be allowed to play on
Mondays and Fridays with a percentage
of the proceeds of each green fee going
to the district. This condition still
remains in the current lease, so the club
is essentially a semi-private Country
Club.
This allows the club to generate a
steady stream of revenue in the summer
months through green fees, which helps
to finance a higher quality product for its
members on the other five days. I have
worked at a number of clubs throughout
my career, including TPC Sawgrass and
Congressional Country Club, and
Seymour is by far the busiest club, with a
one hour start ahead of golf every
morning for maintenance, and tee times
booked solid right through until 5.00pm.
Construction on Seymour G&CC
started in the autumn of 1953, with an
ambitious stipulation from the district
that it must be open for play by July 15th
1954. Its premature opening on that date
took years to erase the notoriety of
jungle rough, swampy fairways and
abnormally high counts of lost balls.
In 1969, North Vancouver District
offered to build a new back nine for the
club in exchange for some prime
residential land that the club owned. The
back nine changed substantially from its
original design, and was eventually
reopened for play in late 1972.
In 2004, the front nine were renovated
following a redesign by Ted Locke. The
work included new USGA greens on
Eoghan Buckley
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 PC 15