A.V. Macan Podcast

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode 13, Royal Colwood Professional Craig Young joins me to chat about his 23+ years at our golf club. Craig and his wife come from competitive skiing backgrounds but his summer love of golf as a kid carried through to his working life. Craig’s skiing accomplishments include competing in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary and at an FIS World Cup event in 1990 where he finished on the podium with a bronze medal.

After competitive skiing, Craig went back to school and got into his Class “A” Golf Professional training with the PGA of Canada at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Craig spends a lot of his time supporting Men’s/Women’s Division events and tournament operations as part of his regular duties. You’ll have to listen for Craig’s answer to his favourite hole at Royal Colwood – he breaks it down very well.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In 2023, Royal Colwood celebrated 100 years of Club Championships and in this episode we are joined by Aaron Butters, Club Championship Committee Chair, to talk about the successes of the event. All the Divisions had medal play competitions over the main championship weekend, and on the second weekend the Men’s Division had match play games.

Later in the episode, Aaron talks about his own start in the game in golf and will celebrate 30 years as a member of Royal Colwood in 2024. Aaron’s favourite hole from the Macan tees is #13!

Congratulations to all the 2023 winners in their respective Divisions.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Jack Jenner is the creator and still manages the Don Ross Derby at Royal Colwood.
This event is one of the most enjoyable tournaments on the schedule for the Men’s Division. It consists of 2– nine hole matches on the Friday and then 3 – nine hole matches on the Saturday; these are played in 2 man teams taking the best ball score.

The Flight winners at the end of the 5 matches (and two wild card teams) get to compete in the Derby “horse race” portion of the day. The horse race takes place over 4 holes of elimination (in an alternate shot format) and the remainder of the field places their bets and follows along through the 4 holes.

Jack and his partner Kent Campbell are previous winners of the Derby!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Alec Mackie is the Club Captain at Royal Colwood Golf Club, he is in his second year of a 3 year term. Alec has been a member of the Club since 1984 and is originally from Carnoustie, Scotland.

In fact, his first golf was learned at Carnoustie Golf Links as a young boy with hickory shafted clubs. Alec was present at the 2018 Open Championship as a volunteer. His sister and niece are both successful golfers and far better than Alec. In 1999, his sister was working at The Open as a volunteer and was a direct witness of the Jean van de Velde collapse on the 18th hole!

Anyone wanting to take on the position of “Club Captain” can connect with him for more details.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Dave Mick – Wall Of Honour - Royal Colwood Golf Club

Dave joined Royal Colwood as a junior member in 1961 and over his golfing career he climbed the steps of recognition to be forever commemorated on the Wall of Honour at Royal Colwood.

Hope you enjoy going through some of Dave’s competitive golf life with him.

Wall of Honour

Member Canadian Team – World Amateur 1978

Eisenhower Cup Silver Medalist

Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Champion 1973

BC Willingdon Cup Team Member 1971-73, 77/78

National Champions 1971-73

BC Junior Provincial Team Member 1968/69

National Champions 1968

BC Men’s Invitational Champion 1969/72

Vancouver Island Men’s Open Champion 1978/79/97

Vancouver Island Zone 5 Senior Men’s Champion 2008

Victoria City Men’s Champion 1978/79/83/86

Royal Colwood Men’s Champion 1980

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Bruce Brown is our guest on episode 8 of the A.V. Macan Podcast, we chat about the Invasive Species Removal program that he and other volunteers at the Club have been working on for the past few years. Bruce has been a member at Royal Colwood for the past 17 years and has served as the Men’s Captain. Being a volunteer at our golf course is only a small part of the volunteering Bruce has done inside and outside our community, he talks about a few of those worthy charities he contributes to. Bruce accurately predicted in this podcast episode that team Europe would win the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

Derek Senft is our guest on episode 7, he's a member of the professional staff at Royal Colwood Golf Club. Derek has 10 years experience at Colwood and previously learned some of the golf industry at Victoria Golf Club and at Cultus Lake.
Derek is big part of Junior Golf development at Royal Colwood, and he’s often seen leading young girls and boys in their exposure to the golf world. He is a graduate of the Golf Management Program at Camosun College and speaks highly of his educational experiences that the program offered.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

John Rempel is our guest on episode 6, he's been a member at Royal Colwood Golf Club since 1980. John served his country for 25 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Once John retired from the military he decided to buy a donut franchise - which eventually became John's Donut House for the next 17 years.
John talks about his many years of golfing around Royal Colwood and cool memories of watching Dawn Coe and Steve Stricker play golf.
The "Black Swan" story is also talked about as well as many other changes at the course over the years. John's favourite hole at Royal Colwood is #17.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode #5, Kevin Carrigan comes in to chat about his experiences at Royal Colwood Golf Club (RCGC). He is a “Wall of Honour” member and is previously a winner of the Men’s Club Championship eight (8) times in a row!
Kevin gives credit to Tiger Woods for creating huge interest in golf while he was learning the game as a Junior. After his high school graduation, Kevin went onto College in the United States for NCAA Division I competition. He plans to continue to compete at the amateur level and try and get back to the highest level of competition despite working full-time as a Certified Financial Planner and co-parenting his two young children.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode #4, you’ll hear from Nolan Thoroughgood the 2022 Men’s Club Champion at Royal Colwood Golf Club (RCGC). He is a home grown golfer at RCGC and has been a high achiever throughout his playing career. The highlights include winning the BC Amateur Golf Championship in 2016 (at 15 yrs old) and playing college golf in Division I NCAA for Oregon State University.
Nolan has decided not to turn pro and remain in the competitive amateur ranks – likely a difficult decision for many golfers but a mature choice for a young man with his whole life ahead of him. I’m sure we’ll see him competing at numerous future golf competitions. He achieved an Accounting Degree with a minor in Supply Chain & Logistics Management while at College.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode #3, Cynthia Adamek sits down to chat about her golfing career at Royal Colwood Golf Club (RCGC). She is the 2022 Women’s Club Champion and is a four time winner of the Championship. Cynthia grew up around Royal Colwood and spent many summers playing and competing as a junior member.
Cynthia served in the Canadian Armed Forces as a musician performing in the Ceremonial Guard during her summer postings while attending UVic. After University she became a professional musician with several different Symphony Orchestras. Currently she is a French Immersion Kindergarten Teacher at John Stubbs.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode #2, you’ll meet Rich Chlopan the Head Professional at the Royal Colwood Golf Club (RCGC).
Rich has been an employee at RCGC for 8 years and has held the Head Professional position the past 4 years. He has been involved in the golf industry since 1989. Rich is from Regina, Sask. and played Junior Golf at the Wascana Country Club.
The 2nd toast is made by Rich and is in honour of our golf course designer. “A.V. Macan”

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

In episode #1 you'll meet Winston Michell the General Manager of the Royal Colwood Golf Club.
Winston is 3 1/2 years into his role as the General Manager, he started the position at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic! He is a graduate of the Camosun College Golf Management Program.
Winston looks forward to the future at Royal Colwood with lots of new projects underway and important golf tournaments coming soon.
To appropriately kick off these episodes, Winston gives the Loyal Toast . "The King"

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

The host, Matt Waterman talks about starting the A.V. Macan Podcast.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.