The ‘California of Canada’

The bounty and beauty of Victoria, British Columbia, is long lauded as a leading outdoors haven for North of the Border visitors.

Such popularity extends from the capital city’s charming downtown and adjacent Inner Harbour to a vast spread of playable natural beauty framing the entirety of Vancouver Island.

The area’s eponymous, 13-course Golf Trail serves as thesis of the unique region’s all-seasons playground, which enjoys a ubiquitously mild climate. Situated on the outcrop of Canada’s West Coast (and a mere hundred-plus miles from Seattle), the year-round guest destination is deeply committed to a continuous calendar of environmental stewardship.

Broadly exampled …

Victoria’s Climate Leadership Plan (2018) serves as both conscious compass and road map to reducing community-wide emissions by 80 percent. By 2050, the plan is missioned to take the region to 100 percent renewable energies.

From climate initiatives to courses, the golf scene across the Greater Victoria hub is seeing superintendents and golf managers continuously maintaining grounds on par with the city’s commitment to sustainability and natural spaces.

At Victoria anchor property Bear Mountain Golf & Tennis Resort, the aesthetic 36-hole-spread across 800 acres of oft-elevated play practices its perched preach.

“Victoria as a whole is a very environmentally conscious area, and that extends from ride-share programs to public transit, charging stations and a lot of grant programs in place to eliminate more drivers of fossil fuel vehicles,” Bear Mountain superintendent Bill Quin says. “And the city has made efforts with overpasses and whatnot to basically stop crawling traffic, and that has worked with great success.”

On course, Bear Mountain’s own environmental initiatives complement the city’s efforts. The property is working to obtain Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary certification and, in recent years, an Audubon-influenced case study of a Coho salmon release project on the grounds was deemed a triumph.

“For four years, we worked with a local hatchery, where they raised the juvenile Coho,” Quin says. “They came up here with a massive tank of 5,000 Coho. The Osborn Pond on the 15th hole of our Valley Course has a fish ladder in the back of our dam, and basically, that waterway works its way to a connected creek. Once those salmon were of age, they accessed the ladder and headed to the creek and then continued on their life cycle. Very, very cool and really hoping it’s something we can reinstate. It was a real success and we still see Coho in our pond five years later. And there are a handful of eagles in the area and, on occasion, we’ll see one heading for the salmon.”

The experiment was also a communal education.

“We reached out to some of the local elementary schools, so around 100 kids with their teacher were here for the release and to learn about the program,” Quin adds. “And I think they really got a different vision of what a golf course is and how environmentally friendly and sustainable golf courses can be.”

Furthering the shared vision of courses as communal spaces, trails along fairway borders are a common sight across Victoria’s golf grounds.

“Many of the courses in our area have trail systems around their courses,” Quin says. “The trails are around the perimeters, but walkers, joggers, cyclists and golfers are all sharing the green area.”

Bear Mountain’s belief system extends from the maintenance facility to the pro shop.

“This entire area is about being environmentally friendly, and the golf courses up here really subscribe to that and are very responsible stewards,” Bear Mountain director of golf Rob Larocque says. “We’ve got a lot of protective areas on our property; not cutting down natural spaces that don’t need to be cut. Just being very cognizant of letting things be wild where they can be wild.”

At nearby Olympic View Golf Club, the grounds crew is in process of updating its reservoir system to make the course 100 percent water self-sufficient in a few years’ time.

“We’re pretty much water self-sufficient presently, having built our reservoir and expanded it over the years,” Olympic View general manager Randy Frank says. “With any droughts, we may have to go on city water for just a little bit, but we’re mostly there already, year-round, working to increase the size of the reservoir so we have all rainwater capture. That, with sand, aeration, keeping the turf healthy and reducing chemicals as much as possible, it really is the way to do business in the golf industry now.”

The effort echoes the sustainable and outdoors tenor of its turf leader.

“Personally, I spend a lot of my off-work time hunting and fishing and hiking around, so I see that same outdoor value in the natural areas on our property and bordering our course,” Olympic View superintendent T-Jay Creamer says. “And we really try to enhance that nature experience. We’ve gotten rid of most course fixtures: minimal signage, minimal benches, no ball washers. And we’ve gotten away from tee signs with stickers and logos and yardage signs.”

The lack of contrived aesthetic pairs with Olympic View’s fenced-off areas and white-and-green stakes (indicating free relief) to keep ball-hunting players from disrupting natural habitat.

“Even for Vancouver Island, I think you’ll find that Victoria is even more into the environment,” Creamer adds. “And from a golf perspective, being friends with the other superintendents in our area, I think we’re all aware of our responsibilities to the environment and the value all of our courses can bring to the benefits of Victoria’s green spaces.”

Neighboring Highland Pacific Golf Course has been a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf member since 2011. The grounds’ natural spread includes ample Arbutus trees (the country’s only native broadleaf evergreen) and a seasonal birders’ report on its website.

“The certification goes along with the theme of Victoria and the core values of this property,” Highland Pacific associate golf professional Kevin Maxwell says. “It’s a badge that we’re taking the environment seriously. For locals and our visitors, this is an active, outdoorsy place, whether it be hiking, golf, water activities. And, from a natural perspective, this area is a sanctuary for so many different species.”

A West Coast influence and vibe of stewardship doesn’t stop at the domestic border.

“Up here, where we can make those environmental stands, do a better job, we challenge ourselves to do it,” Maxwell concludes. “And with our climate allowing us to be outside year-round, that’s very unique to the country. We’re like the California of Canada.”