A Century-Old Tradition Continues With Seattle-Victoria Inter-Club Matches

The Inter-Club Matches Between Seattle GC And Victoria GC Have Been Taking Place For Over A Century - Images Courtesy Facilities

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It’s not so much about winning or losing, but playing the game, which is something members of Victoria Golf Club and Seattle Golf Club have been doing at one another’s course for more than a century.

This weekend, 40 male members from each club will gather in Victoria to continue a tradition that began way back in 1903. That’s how long the annual inter-club matches between the two golf clubs have been going on.

“It is a friendly match, it’s like a friendly soccer game almost,” says Mike Parker, head professional emeritus at Victoria Golf Club. “It is nice to win, everybody tries their best to win, but at the end of the day it’s really a social day to a great extent.

“They are a nice group of people and I think one of the strengths of the matches is that the two courses are so very different. Seattle is a very tree-lined, hilly course, similar to Capilano. Our course is not that way, it’s an oceanside, more links-type layout. Their members love to come here for the wind and the experience and our members enjoy going down there.”

Parker, who retired as head professional at Victoria Golf Club two years ago, has played in the last 32 Seattle-Victoria inter-clubs. A couple other Victoria members have an even longer history with the event.

“I know one of our guys has played in 42 of them,” says Parker. “Guys often play the same opponent year in and year out for 10 or 20 years, the same two guys from Seattle would play two guys from Victoria, which is pretty cool.”

It’s a tradition that at each match the head professionals and current club captains from each club play one another. The matches are a home-and-home affair. This year’s match began June 10-11 at Seattle Golf Club, where Victoria club captain Craig Doell teamed with Victoria head pro Lindsay Bernakevitch. Doell says the history of the event, combined with the quality of the two courses, makes the event popular with members of the two clubs.

image courtesy victoria gc                                                  Victoria Golf Club

“I think just the fact that we have two of the nicer courses in the Pacific Northwest and two original members of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association is part of the appeal,” says Doell.

“It's one of these unique situations where you have this cross-border match that seems to have a lot of mystique and prestige about it and everybody is excited to play. When we were down in Seattle a week or so ago, I think we had 40 guys from our team and 40 guys from their team and it was a great affair.

“Each sides hosts it well and has their course in perfect condition for the matches. It's a lot of fun, their guys enjoy coming up and playing Victoria and being on the water it is unique, and we certainly have a fun time when we head to Seattle.”

Bernakevitch says the matches are highly anticipated by the club’s members. “Everyone puts it on their calendar right at the start of the year when the dates get released,” he says. “It is one of those things that people look forward to, there’s definitely no animosity among the membership that we give up the course for the day and have it played. It's one of the events that is truly celebrated.”

Apart from three years during the Second World War, the matches have been played every year since 1903. The Seattle Golf Club’s website boasts that the Seattle-Victoria inter-club matches are the oldest continuously played international team matches of their kind, but that fact is disputed by Royal Montreal Golf Club.

Royal Montreal, Canada’s oldest golf club, has been playing inter-club matches with The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. since 1893, according to Royal Montreal head professional Scott Dickson.

Doug Doxsie, the longtime head professional at Seattle Golf Club has played in the Seattle-Victoria inter-club matches for the past 22 years. Like others, he cites the fact the two courses are so different as one of the appeals of the annual matches.

image courtesy seattle gc                                            The 11th Hole At Seattle Golf Club 

He also suggests the event’s long history is important to members of both clubs. “The way we do the trip nowadays is fun,” Doxsie says. “We charter a bunch of float planes up and make it a weekend. There have been a lot of friendships that have developed between members of the two clubs over the years.

“The other thing is our members, and I’m sure their members feel the same way, is that it’s really cool to say you are playing in something that has been going on since 1903. There’s a certain mystique about that.”

A funny thing happened earlier this month when the two sides faced off at Seattle Golf Club. Victoria won the opening leg of the match. That rarely happens as home-course advantage has traditionally been a huge advantage in these matches.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” Doell says. “I think we have a small three-point lead heading back home this weekend. Traditionally, the home team beats up on the other team and then when you combine the two results from the home-and-home it usually ends up being a pretty close affair.”

Seattle does have a slight overall edge in the matches since the competition began in 1903, when Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States and Wilfrid Laurier was the Canadian prime minister.

“I think we are up eight or nine total matches over the whole time,” Doxsie says, before emphasizing that it’s really not about winning or losing. “Each club wants to win, but really in the end nobody really cares. It’s about the fun of it and teasing one another and having a good time.”