Ken Mariash doesn’t mince his words as he recalls his impression of golfers when, “like any Western Canadian kid,” he played hockey and baseball before becoming a championship wrestler in college.
“I always thought they were sissies, but I found out the hard way they were very powerful athletes, and the golf gods have punished me ever since,” laughed the Bayview Place developer, whose respect for golfers on the PGA Tour Canada inspired him to sponsor the Bayview Place Island Savings Open that ends today at Uplands Golf Club.
Mariash showed them the love big-time Wednesday night at a sponsors’ reception at the Roundhouse at Bayview Place, site of his future marketplace and entertainment centre.
“Can you hear me over all these shirts? That is the question,” quipped emcee Ed Bain, surveying a 400-plus crowd of volunteers, sponsors and VIPs, many sporting the tournament’s bright yellow polos.
The CHEK News weatherman also jokingly thanked Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen for his guarantee there would be “no deer on the course.”
Security was tight at the lively event in the old Roundhouse repair shop, where a swelling crowed gathered on tracks where trains were once repaired by mechanics.
“The Bayview people wanted to make it really fun this year,” said Brink Events planner Aidan Henry. “It also gives everybody a chance to see what they’re working on.”
Bales of hay, a barbecue station and country music by a band fronted by fiddler Daniel Lapp, artistic director of Victoria Conservatory of Music’s new contemporary music school, greeted patrons as they passed a fleet of silver Porsches.
Mariash, who with his wife and business partner Patricia is a big VCM supporter, also asked Lapp to put a dance band together.
The action never stopped inside the cavernous heritage site featuring a long open bar serving local beer and wine, and Strathcona Hotel’s strategically located food stations.
“The event was to be more interactive, so you get the chance to see the cooks cooking,” said executive chef Peter DeBruyn, whose team served up albacore tuna tacos, Fanny Bay oysters, mushroom tarts, sweet soy chicken lollipops, tomato bocconcini basil skewers and bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin and pork sliders.
Oregon State University golfer Nick Sherwood was walking on air after qualifying during Monday’s rounds at Gorge Vale golf club.
“I’ve had a dream of winning a PGA tour event since I was four, so it’s more from the heart than for the money, which is a bonus, of course,” said Sherwood, 24.
The golfer played in Vancouver last week, and will continue playing in Fort McMurray, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.
“Baby steps. One week at a time, one day at a time, one shot at a time,” he said.
Victoria Open Golf Society president Rod Dewar, whose organization organizes the Times Colonist-presented tournament, said it provides a network of sponsors built up over the past few years an opportunity to do two things.
“A business can do something from a philanthropic perspective and something from an awareness perspective,” he said, adding it’s a combination that is “well supported” by many small businesses.
Few players realize this as much as Keith Dagg, the Victoria businessman who with Ray Horne, the late Ken King and John Ansell first attracted the PGA Canada tour to Victoria in 1981.
“As soon as this is over, I start seeking our sponsorships for next year,” said Dagg, who dispels any notions being around such top-flight golfers can lower his own handicap.
“Nothing improves your golf game,” smiled Dagg, who plays every Saturday at Victoria Golf Club, where he has been a member since 1967.
