The Early Years

In 1956, a group of friends and golfing buddies had a dream to build a golf course. They were Art Holden, Roy Gleig, Len Butchart, Gordon Hutton, Gordon McKay and John Gillis. Soon, meetings were held. Others became very interested. A society was formalized and in 1957, Chilliwack Golf and Country Club was born.

A site for the proposed golf course was selected. It was the 115 acre Franz Zink farm. (An additional 10 acres was purchased later.) The purchase price was $50,000. This sum was financed from the sale of shares at a price of $200 each together with an issue of debentures sold to some of the members. Additional funds were obtained from a bank, secured by the personal guarantees from Directors and some of the members. 

Course Design

The initial course design work was done by Vancouver professional Ernie Brown. Construction of the golf course began in 1957. The tees and greens were roughed in with a bulldozer donated by a local heavy equipment company. A month later, all the tees and greens were hand raked and fine tuned in a single day by a volunteer crew of 150 workers. Over 5000 trees, donated by local logging companies and the British Columbia Forest Service were planted by volunteers.

The club house was designed by the architect Albert Anderson and built by McKenzie Brothers Construction owned by Dan and George McKenzie, two members of the club. Personal guarantees signed by the McKenzie brothers, George Auld, Doctor Bob Patton and others secured the loan needed to complete the club house. Funds for much of the furniture were generated by teas, bake sales, book sales, bridge parties and other functions organized by the Ladies Section. Al Jeffery was also instrumental in raising funds for furniture and club house furnishing. 

First Election

The first Club President elected was Roy Gleig who shortly thereafter resigned to become the club's first Professional. Doctor Bob Patton, who played such a major role in the early days, replaced Mr. Gleig as President. The first Men's Captain was Art Holden. The first Ladies Captain was Kay Winch. The first Ladies Club Champion was Maureen Auld and the first Men's Club Champion was Bob Wright. 

10 Years

In 1968, the Club celebrate the 10th Anniversary with an open house. Pictured above are the Presidents that headed the Executive Board for the first 10 years of operation and helped make Chilliwack Golf Club the success it is today.