Days

Eleven

Courses

Eight

Cup sessions

Six

Coordinates

49°04′N 117°48′W

The Itinerary

22 September to 2 October. Six sessions decide the cup in the Kootenays. Then four of them drive east for four more courses, and the week refuses to end.

——— Kootenay leg · 23–28 Sept · · · · Rockies leg · 28 Sept–1 Oct ● Town△ Summit⚑ Course

01 — Three things that shape itRead before you plan anything

Daylight is the constraint, not stamina.

Sunset in Rossland falls from 18:46 on the 23rd to 18:29 by the 1st, with usable dusk to around 19:15. That puts the last realistic eighteen-hole tee time in a cart at 14:30, and it is why every thirty-six hole day begins at eight in the morning rather than out of cruelty.

An hour disappears on the drive east.

Cranbrook is Mountain Time and observes daylight saving. Creston sits on Mountain Standard year-round and matches Rossland. Book every Kimberley and Cranbrook tee time in local Mountain time.

And the altitude.

Ten yards or more on every club. Expect two days of overclubbing, followed by a period in which several men quietly conclude they improved over the winter.

02 — Day by day22 Sept — 2 Oct

Tue 22 Sep

Vancouver

Tom · Gus · Liam · Guy · Alexei

Evening

London to Vancouver, landing early evening. Airport hotel on the SkyTrain.

Check the hotel shuttles to the South Terminal. Pacific Coastal flies from a different building to international arrivals and sorting that at 08:00 is a bad way to start.

Dinner

Into the city.

Jack to send recommendations.

Wed 23 Sep

Arrival & the combine

Everyone

09:15

Vancouver to Trail. Lands 10:30. Jack collects. Bags down in Rossland by 11:15.

12:00

Nine holes at Redstone. Optional

For anyone who slept on the plane. Off by 13:45 with time to eat. They have been up since 04:00 UK time.

14:30

Men's night. Eighteen holes. Club medal, three flights, 8th Man candidates in.

Finishes about 18:30 against an 18:46 sunset. Prizes at 19:30. No cup points. This is the scouting round and both captains are watching.

Evening

The draft. One pool: the seven Masturds and the 8th Man roster. Two captains, alternating picks.

The 8th Man can go first. He can also go last. Everybody watches.

Thu 24 Sep

Castlegar

Everyone

08:00

Leave Rossland. Thirty minutes.

09:00

Castlegar Golf Club. Session 1. Four-ball match play, 90%. Two points. Cup

Tight, tough, and the first course nobody knows. Off by 13:00.

Afternoon

Free. Hike or a lake, weather depending.

Nancy Greene Lake is 25 minutes up the highway and flat enough to walk off eighteen holes. Champion Lakes is about 40 if anyone wants to swim.

Evening

Dinner in Rossland.

Fri 25 Sep

Redstone, twice

Everyone

07:30

Redstone. Session 2. Greensomes, 60/40. Two points. Cup

Both partners drive, take the better one, alternate in. Off by 11:30.

12:30

Wolf with Jack's Friday group. Social

Fifty cents a hole, cash, nothing to do with the cup. This is where the lads actually meet the locals. Done by 16:30.

Sat 26 Sep

Balfour & Nelson

Everyone

08:30

Leave Rossland. An hour fifty via Nelson.

11:00

Balfour Golf Club. Session 3. Singles stableford match play, 95%. Four points. Cup

6,400 yards of Les Furber above Kootenay Lake. Jack's favourite course in the region. Off around 15:15.

17:00

Marzano, Nelson. 153 Baker Street.

Book ahead. A table for eight on a Saturday will not walk in. Home by 20:15.

Sun 27 Sep

The double

Everyone

08:00

Redstone. Session 4. Low ball / high ball, 90%. Two points. Cup

Two points a hole. One for the better low score, one for the better high. The back markers decide this one.

13:30

Redstone. Session 5. Scramble, 25/20/15/10. Two points. Cup

The designated rest session. If one captain sits a player, so does the other.

All day

Skins alongside. Social

Optional, gross or net, carry-overs on, settled in cash.

Mon 28 Sep

The decider, then the split

Everyone, then the four going east

07:30

Redstone. Session 6. Singles match play, 100%. Four points. Cup

Off by 11:30. Eighteen at Redstone is a hard finishing hole and this is where it gets settled.

12:00

Closing lunch. Trophy handed over, awards, money settled, photographs.

15:30

Tom, Gus and Liam to Trail for the 17:00.

16:00

Convoy east. Church, Mitchell, Stretton and Forton. Rossland to Cranbrook, 238 km, about 3 hr 15.

You lose an hour crossing into Mountain Time, so it is roughly 20:15 local on arrival. Creston sits on Mountain Standard year-round and matches Rossland clocks.

Tue 29 Sep

Kimberley

Church · Mitchell · Stretton · Forton

08:30

Trickle Creek. The marquee mountain track.

14:00

Shadow Mountain.

Seven courses within 24 minutes of each other. Sunset 19:25 Mountain — an hour more evening on the clock than Rossland.

Wed 30 Sep

Cranbrook

Church · Mitchell · Stretton · Forton

08:30

Wildstone. The Gary Player design and the hardest thing Guy will see all trip.

Deliberately in the morning. It deserves fresh legs and morning greens.

14:00

Bootleg Gap.

Thu 1 Oct

St. Eugene, then west

Church · Mitchell · Stretton · Forton

08:00

St. Eugene. The one famous name in the area and a different feel to the mountain tracks.

Off by 12:00 Mountain.

12:30

Drive back. 3 hr 15 plus stops, and you gain the hour. Home around 16:00.

Evening

Last supper in Rossland. Bags packed before the beers.

Fri 2 Oct

Home

Mitchell · Stretton

09:45

Trail for the 10:55 to Vancouver.

03 — Beds and flightsSettled

Rossland. Five nights. £320 each.

Split evenly regardless of room. Tom, Gus and Liam in the three-bed cabin by the course. Guy and Alexei in Jack's guest suite and the neighbour's, both free, with a contribution to cleaning.

Cranbrook, two or three nights for three. Still to book.

Out and back.

London to Vancouver on the 22nd, overnight at the airport, Pacific Coastal 09:15 to Trail on the 23rd, landing 10:30.

Tom, Gus and Liam fly home on the 17:00 from Trail on the 28th. Guy and Alexei on the 10:55 on 2 October.

Drive times from Rossland: Trail 15 minutes. Castlegar 30. Kelowna three and a half hours.