crayfish in the ponds and streams.
“Do you eat ‘em?” I ask club professional Jim
Goddard of the crayfish.
“Darn right,” replies Goddard.
Goddard says Cordova Bay recently underwent
a “tree program” which was, efectively, to get rid
of them. Those that remain are sparsely placed and
more than pretty decoration than something to get
in the way of your ball. Detritus is cleaned out of
rough. You won’t lose a ball here unless you hook it
OB into cedar forest. They don’t want you to lose a
ball. They want you to be happy.
It’s rainy and misty this day, with lift-clean-and-
place in place. Towels are worn on belts. Locals
apologise: “It’s not normally this wet.” But it’s fine.
It’s just damp. And our divots are like great thick
beaver pelts, flying in the fog.
And so we wander about in the rainy wet mist
and fashion fun golf shots, and watch the ball shoot
into the low fog like hail stones into
cotton-fog. Super fun.
Next day we drive by a statue of running man
Terry Fox (a hero, Google him), onwards past
what was once the world’s biggest totem pole, and
through coastal streets where fine old houses have
views of Washington (USA) across the Juan De
Fuca Strait. We slice past Clover Point where in the
gold rush there was a saloon and lots of fighting,
past Foul Bay (which is really quite nice) and hug
the coast by Trial Bay. And we cruise into Victoria
Golf Club. And for no reason I can really put a
finger on, I love it instantly.
What is there about it? Something old world.
Something ... rustic. It’s been around since 1893.
It heads out from the clubhouse to the coast and
under the nests of massive bald eagles. Greens are
bordered by spiky golden heather. There’s kelp
on the rocks and the snow-caps of the Olympic
Mountain Ranges across the Strait.
And they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
VGC has small greens with tee-boxes nearby.
The fourth tee hits almost over the third green.
They efectively share a fairway, up and back. The
fifth hole, “The Bay”, whacks out across the bay andfeeds upwards to a super-fast green. The sixth has
a blind tee-shot and a blind approach bar the top of
the flag. It is a very cool, old golf hole.
And then you arrive at “The Point” – holes 7, 8, 9,- And you realise why they call Victoria “Canada’s
Pebble Beach”.
Seven runs down-hill, curves dog-leg left around
the beach, everything sloping to the coast and the
hole thereon. There’s a sharp drop-of into the sea
left though you can play of said beach, if you’re
lucky. The green is huge and undulating. It’s a
cracking golf hole.
The tee-box on eight is surrounded on three
sides by the sea. It’s a short, 105m par-3, uphill,
protected by the course’s three biggest bunkers.
The tee-box on 9 feels like you’re standing on the
deck of an old ship heading out to sea as seals and
killer whales tool about in the bay. And the 10th
takes you back of the coast, a par-4 up the hill with
death-heather left and many angles in. And the
view is one you’ll turn around and photograph.
At the halfway house we enjoy a Coors and a hot
The view of Victoria and
its picturesque waterfront.cordova bay golf clubVICTORIA golf clubgolf australia | APRIL 2018 117