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South Okanagan Photos

Town will help with national event at OGC

By ROY WOOD

Osoyoos staff will prepare a report for council outlining ways in which the town might help out the Osoyoos Golf Club (OGC) as it hosts a major national golf event this summer.

OGC general manager Doug Robb appeared before a council committee meeting this morning, outlining the event and the activities leading up to it.

The club will host the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship from August 17 through 20. The event is one of eight national championships presented each year by Golf Canada.

Robb said it’s an honour for the OGC and the wider community to have been chosen from among some 3,000 golf courses across the country. He said the local host club committee has been working since late last year and that more than 120 of OGC’s membership have already signed on as volunteers.

Robb said the tournament is expecting to have a full field of 156 players from across Canada and from the US and Australia. He said it will provide “great exposure for the area” and that many of the players are expected to bring family members with them.

The focus of the committee right now is on fundraising, Robb said. The only specific request he made of the town is that it might provide water containers for the participants and volunteers to help limit the volume of plastic water bottles that might otherwise be generated.

Refill stations will be scattered about the golf course during the event. He estimated the cost of the water program would be about $2,000.

Council was generally in favour of offering support. Mayor Sue McKortoff said the town would love to be involved and asked community services director Gerald Davis to prepare a report to “look at what we can come up with” to help the event be a success.

The championship includes trophies in four age-based categories — over 25, over 40, over 50 and over 60. Competition will take place August 18-20, with a practice round on August 17. All play is on the Park Meadows course.

The OGC’s other 18-hole course, the Desert Gold, will remain open for public and member play.