1900 - 1910
Words in italics are quoted from the VGC History by P. Corley-Smith.
1903 - 1933 Shum Wai (Wee), probably the only Chinese-Canadian golfer in his day
When labour was required to groom the course in the early days, the workers were usually of Chinese origin; one, however, had nothing to do with the maintenance of the links. His name was Shum Wai, invariably referred to by members as “Wee”.
He had been employed as Harvey Combe’s personal houseboy; now he was engaged as a “steward” in the Club – a position he turned into something much more valuable to the members.....
.....Most contemporary members conceded that he ran the Club. He collected dues from members, green fees from guests and payments for tea, sandwiches and refreshments; he did so with such efficiency and tact that he endeared himself to everyone connected with the Club. His only shortcomings, some of the old members recalled ruefully, was his almost uncanny memory for drinks dispensed, and to whom they should be charged; and when it came to the collection of overdue accounts.
One of his most unusual accomplishments for a Chinese-Canadian at that time was to learn to play golf. On a return trip to China, when anxiety about smallpox still prevailed, he was placed in quarantine at William Head and, while he was there, laid out a three-hole golf course so that he could use his time profitably. As a result, and in due course, he became a competent golfer.
Throughout his service to the Club he “kept house” for the Combes and, after dinner was cleared away, he would report from memory all that had happened during the day so that the books could be entered up and the Club records properly maintained. Members were genuinely distressed by his passing in 1933 and as a memorial his portrait has graced the walls of the 19th hole ever since.
1906 The Committee finds a vital $50,000 within 12 hours to keep the Club alive
Relations between the VGC and, the Pemberton family had always been cordial, based on the understanding that when the time came for the family to sell the property the VGC would be given the opportunity to match the price offered. In 1906 that moment arrived.
One of the members, Harry Pooley – who was the Attorney General of B.C. – tells the story:
“A developer, Herrick McGregor made an offer for the 100 acres of $50,000. That was an unheard of price in those days, before the real estate boom properly started.
Frank Burrell was in charge at Pemberton’s office and he, in keeping with the arrangements, notified us that we must match the offer within 24 hours. We were dumbfounded. We did not have the money, and the terms were $10,000 in cash and a similar sum annually for four years at interest.
At last I had an inspiration. I whispered to the others [on the Committee] to hold Burrell until I came back. I went to the telephone and put through a call to James Dunsmuir, Victoria’s wealthiest citizen and owner of the coal mines at Extension and Cumberland.
Mr. Dunsmuir had gone to bed. He did not have a telephone in his bedroom, and I obtained no answer. Then I called the chief operator. I figured that there must be some way of reaching him if there was trouble at the mines.
“Give Mr. Dunsmuir an emergency ring,” I told the operator.
“Is it an emergency?” she asked.
“You’re darned right it is!”
She gave the ring, and Dunsmuir came rushing to the phone. I can’t say he was delighted to hear me or at my getting him out of bed; but I talked fast, and I guess to good effect – and he was a real sport – for he agreed to my proposal. It was perhaps a bit cheeky, but I asked him to lend us $10,000, and to give his word that he would let me have a cheque for the amount in the morning. I explained that I would give Burrell my personal cheque for the money – but I did not have anything like that in my account. Dunsmuir – good sport that he was – at last gave me his word. That was enough for me. I returned to the other fellows and borrowed a cheque from the bartender and filled it in for $10,000.
Mr. Burrell gave me a receipt – and the golf links were saved.”
1907 Why the Victoria Golf Club doesn’t have a crest
“In 1907, a Resolution was passed to provide for a Club Button and a ‘green coat’ as the Club colour. The Club Badge, often inaccurately referred to as a crest, was also designed and adopted. It was based on the design of an 1863 postage stamp used in the colonial period of British Columbia, with the addition of ‘G’ and ‘C’ on either side of the crown.
The Club Badge is engraved on the main entrance doors of the Clubhouse; on the trophies of 1912 and 1922; and on the World War I Memorial over the fireplace in the main lounge.”
Peter Corley-Smith, author of the commissioned history ‘The Victoria Golf Club 1893 - 1993’, felt very strongly that ‘badge’ and ‘crest’ should not be confused. The 2003 edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary gives:
Badge: “a small flat object worn to show a person’s name, rank, job, or membership of an organization;”
Crest: “a distinctive heraldic device representing a family or corporate body.”
The VGC badge does not obey the strict rules of heraldry.
1907 Rudyard Kipling, PNGA Guest of Honour, writes a short poem
In 1907, Rudyard Kipling was a Guest of Honour at a meeting of the Pacific North West Golfing Association in Victoria. It was clearly a very high-spirited occasion, judging by the poem he wrote which was published in the Colonist:
A gilded mirror and polished bar,
Myriads of glasses strewn ajar;
A kind-faced man all dressed in white.
That’s my recollection of last night.
The streets were narrow and far too long,
Sidewalks were slippery, policemen strong;
The slamming door, the sea-going hack,
That’s my recollection of getting back.
A rickety staircase and hard to climb,
But I rested often, I’d lots of time;
An awkward keyhole and a misplaced chair,
Informed my wife that I was there.
A heated interior and a revolving bed,
A sea-sick man with an awful head;
Cocktails, Scotch and booze galore
Were all introduced to the cuspidor.
And in the morning came that jug of ice,
Which is necessary to men of vice;
And when it stilled my aching brain,
Did I swear off ?– I got drunk again.
It is interesting that this poem does not appear in the “Inclusive Edition of Rudyard Kipling’s Verse”, published by THE COPP CLARK CO. LTD. Toronto.
Funnily enough, Kipling visited Victoria again three years later and extolled the value of curved roads as opposed to grid layouts:
“We went to look at a marine junk store which had once been Esquimalt, a station of the British Navy. It was reached through winding roads, lovelier than English lanes, along watersides and parkways any one of which would have made the fortune of a town.
“’Most cities,’ a man said suddenly, ‘lay out their roads at right angles. We do in the business quarters. What do you think?’
“’I fancy some of those big cities will have to spend millions on curved roads some day for the sake of change,’ I said. ‘You’ve got what no money can buy.’”
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