Hole 5, toward Trial Island

Likely the most famous of these tales is 'The Ghost Story' concerning the signature 7th hole. In a 1936 domestic tragedy, a local man strangled his estranged wife before taking his own life. Her body was later discovered amid the driftwood on the beach near the 7th green by a caddy looking for lost balls. Since then, numerous 'ghost spotters' have seen a "shy, lady phantom … a grayish mist in the shape of a female" rising out of the water off the 7th. To this day, when word of a ghost search goes out across Oak Bay, young people gather in the spring moonlight along the 7th fairway. The bell (signifying golfers finishing #6) is rung three times and the crowd waits. The number of sightings is often directly proportional to the 'spirits' consumed by the crowd.

Holes-in-one feature prominently in VGC lore. Among the most notable:
In the 1960s, a junior golfer's dreaded shank shot off the 2nd tee, headed straight for the neighbour's window, ricocheted off the rockery fronting the house and headed straight for the right-hand trap. However, the force was such that it hit the upper lip of the bunker, looped into the air, fell true, bounced twice and went in. The extraordinary shot gave a new meaning to Calamity. (See Hole Descriptions)

During the 2003 Drainage & Irrigation Project, the course was often reduced to nine holes, with each green having two flags (one for the first (front) nine and one for the back). VGC member Dr. Dave Zaparinuk sunk his tee shot on #7 (being played as a par 3) but in the wrong hole! Months later, while playing the 14th, Dr. Zap hit his first dangerously near the out-of-bounds hedge to the right of the green. So he hit a provisional – right into the hole. Although he found his first ball, he was ruled to have finished out with his provisional and recorded a par 3. Thus, he had two holes-in-one in one year – but neither of them counted!

For decades, the mid-winter Empress tournament at VGC drew golfing tourists from across Canada who could not play at home due to snow and ice. Guests were lured by beauty shots of sunny Victoria in February. Of course, as luck would have it, one year there was a freak snowstorm on the eve of the final round. So, competitors repaired to the Empress Hotel where carpets were arranged to make 'fairways' and rough; and pillows and cushions formed the 'hazards'. Finalists then played out the tournament using putters! The Empress can probably thus be called the only hotel in the world to have a golf tournament final played inside it.