CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS AND PHOTOS

 FINAL RESULTS 2026 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP - Sept 17

2026 Birchbank Retirees Championships

Forty Retirees Club members wrapped up the 2026 season September 17 by playing in the Retirees Championship followed by a steak dinner in the Bistro.

Overall Low Gross winner was Brad Harding who won the title after a sudden death playoff with David Panton — both players shot a gross score of 76

Overall Low Net winner was Brian Austin with a net 69 score. This was Brian's first title win.

Net Winners - Net Scores

'A' Flight:

1st Rick Brown (75)

2nd Bob Elliott (76)

3rd Don Whitford (77)

'B' Flight: (tie break system used after a 4 way tie)

1st Marlin Frederick (77)

2nd Terry Brennan (77)

3rd Richard Dewdney (77)

'C' Flight

1st Joseph Gallant (71)

2nd Mark Schickler (77) via tie break after a 3 way tie

3rd Steve Hope (77) 

Closest to Pin & Longest Putt winners

KP#2 - Dave Muir

KP#7 - Ken Umbarger

KP#14 - Steve Hope

KP#17 - Wayne Weaver

LP#9 - Dave Wray

LP#18 - Marlin Frederick

PHOTOS

KP & LP Winners: Hope, Wray, Muir, Frederick, missing Weaver & Umbarger

'C' Flight winners: Hope, Schickler, Gallant

'B' flight winners: Frederick, Dewdney, Brennan (missing)

'A' Flight winners: Whitford, Elliott, Rick Brown

Overall Winners: Brian Austin (Low Net), Brad Harding (Low Gross)

Season long helpers...THANKS to Stan Trozzo, Reg Cherenko, Dave Muir, and Ray St.Jean who acted as  members of the Planning Committee. Al Piccolo (50/50 seller), Thomas Keen KP/LP pins, Bob Elliott, Rick Brown, Phil Molloy, (scoring) and everyone else who stepped up when a job needed somebody to get it done.

Plus, the behind the scenes Golf Club staff who always when out of their way to help make the ball roll into the hole (course maintenance staff), help make the social part of the events go smoothly (food & beverage staff), and help get us on the course on time (Jeff and the Pro Shop staff).

RETIREES CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP and CLOSING EVENT

 SEPTEMBER 17 - Club Championship

9:30 shotgun start — Check-in starts at 8:00

2025: Ken Swanson (Overall Low Net), Don Whitford Overall Low Gross)

The final event of the 2026 season is a flighted event played to determine the Overall Low Net and Overall Low Gross winners. The entry list is split into flights (3 or 4 depending upon total entries); each group is made up of players with matching course handicaps.

Each player's score is eligible for one of the prizes: overall low net or overall low gross or flight low net placing 1st-3rd.

Individual prizes are also available for KP and LP holes and 50/50 draw

Here are a few photos from the 2026 season:

DICE SCRAMBLE RESULTS AND OTHER WINNERS

 AUG 20 DICE SCRAMBLE RESULTS

The August family holidays, the heat, and wildfire smoke seems to have kept more than a few players from joining us for the final scramble event of the season. Only 29 players signed up for the most challenging of all our scrambles — rolling a 😋 is paramount if your team wants to take advantage of that great drive on every hole.

It would appear that most teams rolled the 🙁 because only a few teams managed to break even par.

It would appear that somebody forgot to take photos again!

RESULTS

1ST - (68) Whitford, Trozzo, Delorie, Stevens (by tie breaker)

2ND - (68) Caron, Shubert, Brown, Larmour

3RD - (69) Muir, Vecchio, Bella (by tie breaker)

KP#2:Trozzo  KP#7:Larmour KP#14:Gawryletz  KP#17:Brown

LP#9:Gawryletz  LP#18:Keen

FINAL HAT DRAW WINNER

Our last hat draw winner is Paul Troseth. Thanks to John Lattanzio for donating the hats. 

3rd Hat Draw winner: Paul Troseth

Our first 2 winners: Wayne Shubert, Stan Trozzo

RETIREES CHAMPIONSHIP AND CLOSING MEAL

Sept 17 9:30 AM shotgun start Entry fee is $25.00

Prizes for Overall Low Gross, Overall Low Net, Top 3 Net scores in each flight (up to 4 flights depending upon number of entries)

The Championship is a stroke play event, played in flights, using your most current course handicap (white tees) as of Sept 10. Make sure that you have all your scores entered into Golf Canada or Chronogolf in order to get the most accurate handicap.

Remember to start practicing holing out on the greens — those short ones should be putted instead of picked up.

AUGUST WEEK ONE RESULTS and more stuff plus photos

BRITISH OPEN WINNERS

I was able to corral the co-winners of this year's Retirees British Open to take a photo with the coveted "Not the Real Claret Jug" trophy. They had to share the 'Tee Bag' prize.

L-R Farrell McLellan, John Lattanzio co-winners for 2026

1ST HAT DRAW WINNER

All the retirees playing in our time slot, listed on the Pro Shop's tee sheet were entered into the draw and a name was randomly selected.

Our first week's winner of the brand new hat was Mark Brown. He was excited about winning but was disappointed he wouldn't be allowed to make a speech at the presentation.

Mark Brown presented hat by John Lattanzio

NEXT WEEK - RED COMBO TEES & ANOTHER HAT DRAW

Aug 13 — Hat draw #2 members who are on the Pro Shop tee sheet (show up and play) are entered into the draw for a new hat.

Aug 13 — Play the RED COMBO TEES use the scorecard to determine the correct combination of RED and WHITE tees (RED/WHITE COMBOS) for your round. It's a nice change of scenery and tactics.

Aug 27 DICE SCRAMBLE REGISTRATIONS OPEN NOW 

All the details are on the registration page CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

The paper copy will be posted on the bulletin board tomorrow — don't forget that the entry fee needs to be paid by the deadline — so sign up and pay by eTransfer right away. Entry fees are refunded if you must cancel prior to the event.

This is a team scramble event where the drive use by each team is determined by the roll of a special Dice Scramble die after all team members have teed off.

Last year's Dice Scramble winning team

THE SECRET TO GOLF - so simple really.

PGA CHAMPION

We were finally able to get a trophy presentation photo of our 2026 PGA Champion Brian Muskeyn, which meant I didn't have to Photoshop his head onto someone else's body....

Presenting the coveted Tiger Woods Bobblehead trophy to Brian is Ray St Jean.

CANADIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP ENDS THURSDAY

The 3rd event in the Retirees Majors schedule finishes this Thursday with round 3. The winner is determined using their 2 lowest net scores from Retirees rounds played during the month of June.

Players are reminded to turn in your scorecard after each Retirees round AND enter your NET score on the scoresheet — if bonus strokes were earned they should be noted on the scorecard.

Next up is British Open Month beginning July 2

Some 2 bonus stoke winners

Week 2: Lenn Delorie red socks and red shirt!

 

Week 1: Thomas Keen, Marlin Frederick, John Lattanzio

Week 1: Jim Park

REDSTONE INVITATIONAL JULY 10

Friday, July 10  Shotgun start: 9:30 am  Entry deadline: July 2

Entry fee includes Golf, BBQ lunch, prizes — Must be paid by our deadline or lose your spot.

ENTRY FEE (updated)

Walking: $75

Power Cart: $95

THE SECRET TO GOLF

After finishing par-par on my round last week, it appears I have found the secret to golf. Sorry, I can't tell you what it is.... it's a secret.

BIRCHBANK INVITATIONAL - THE START OF TOURNAMENT SEASON

TOURNAMENT SEASON BEGINS

This season's inter-club tournament season has teed off with the playing of the Birchbank Retirees Invitational held May 21. Ninety-five players from six local clubs attended and formed teams with players from the other clubs as a way to promote friendships.

Thank you to the volunteers, Pro Shop staff, Course Maintenance staff, and Bistro staff.

This would have been a photo of the winners, if we remembered to take one.

Next 2 events: 

Castlegar Invitational June 4

Redstone Invitational July 10

Results for the team event:

Results for the Inter-Club (International Trophy) competition uses the 4 low net scores for each club (must have 4 player scores to count)

GREAT DAY FOR GOLF - 2026 OPENING SCRAMBLE

OPENING SCRAMBLE RESULTS

Sunny, with blue skies and warm. Eleven teams participated in our opening scramble and lunch with every team under par for the round.

Winning this year's event with a score of 64 was the team of David Panton, Perry Hyson, Thomas Keen, and Sergio Peloso. Second, was the team of Jim Park, Rick Brown, Brian Muskeyn, and Al Holm with a team score of 65. Third place with a 68 was Bob Elliot, Ken Swanson, Joe Bella, and Tom Stevens.

(L-R) 1st place: Hyson, Panton, Peloso, Keen

KP and Long Putt prizes:

KP2 - Team 17 (Park); KP7 - Team 7 (Wray); LP9 - Team 11A (Zinio)

KP14 - Team 15 (Elliot); KP17 - Team 10A (Campbell); 
LP 18 - Team 13 (Molloy)

GREEN JACKET AWARDED TO MASTERS MONTH WINNER

John Lattanzio was present with the green jacket as the final act of winning our Masters Month competition. Last year's winner Alex Birukow was on hand to help John put the jacket on.

NEXT UP — RETIREES PGA

Thanks to Bob Elliot who volunteered to take on the job of 'scorekeeper' for the event. Be aware that the scoresheet will have some minor changes to it — only your NET score will be entered. Don't forget to turn in the scorecard after each round.

RETIREES INVITATIONAL RETURNS MAY 21

This is our biggest event of the season with entries from most of the  local golf clubs attending and 100 players. Volunteers are needed to hellp with the logistics of setting up and cleaning up so you can expect to be asked to help.

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP ONLINE NOW

Entry fee for Birchbank Retirees is $45 and covers the Asian buffet meal and prizes (Walk, own cart, lease cart - $45; riders add $20)

EARLY BIRD MEMBERSHIP DEADLINE PASSED

May 1st our membership price is back to the 2026 Regular rate of $40.00 (another victim of world inflation).

SERGE LEADS, JOHN DISAPPEARS, and the sun is back

RETIREES MASTERS this week

It was a week of change at the top of our Masters Month leaderboard. Serge Pasquali 'serged' into a 4 shot lead with a 2 round NET total of 142 over chasers Marlin Frederick and Ken Swanson at 146. 

One more round coming this week, which gives the chase group another chance to improve their total score.

Remember we use your best 2 rounds to determine your score AND you should use the same course handicap for all rounds in April. This simplifies the job of scoring — please update your course handicap when starting your first round of next month's RETIREES PGA MONTH.

2025 PGA Month Champ Mike Vlanich

EARLY BIRD MEMBERSHIP CLICK HERE TO START

Only a couple of weeks left to get your Retirees Early Bird membership ($30), price goes up on May 1. 

FYI - A portion of your membership fee and 50/50 draws is used for each of our events to reduce the price we charge for the entry fee and to cover the expenses for the meal and prizes. Our aim is to break even at the end of the season, not to make a profit.

Pay via eTransfer (preferred method) - if you did it last year it will be ready to go in your online banking

OPENING SCRAMBLE AND LUNCH CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

April 30 - 9:30 am Modified Shotgun ENTRY FEE: $30 (Pulled Pork buffet)

Check-in starts at 8:30 - be sure to check in upstairs when you arrive

Entry Deadline is Saturday April 25 at noon.

Scorekeepers needed - talk to John if you can help out.

WHITFORD & SWANSON TAKE OVERALL TITLES

 2025 RETIREES CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS    

45 members of the Retirees Club teed off Sept 18 to determine the Club Champions. Three flights of players competed for the Overall Title, Flight winners, and KP/LP prizes. 

L-R Ken Swanson (Overall Low Net), Don Whitford Overall Low Gross)

It was a fine Autumn day, with sunshine and comfortable temperatures for the full 18 holes thanks to the meticulous planning by the volunteers running the event. 

"A" Flight: L-R; Chris Vlanich (2nd), Dave Muir (1st), Bob Elliott (3rd)

Following the completion of play, the players enjoyed a steak dinner and tasty desserts as well as a refreshing beverage while having a laugh or two about how they played.

"B" Flight: L-R Brian Muskeyn (3rd), Paul Troseth (1st), Stan Trozzo (2nd)

After the event prizes were awarded, several more draws were made for prizes some provided by the Trail Hockey Club Society, 50/50 cash prizes, and additional sleeves of golf balls

"C" Flight Results *** an error was found in the 3rd place results for this flight, the correct results are as follows (new photo will need to be arranged for posting here)

1st: Merv Olson

2nd: John Newton

3rd: John Rilkoff ***

THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, helped out when asked, made suggestions for improving things, and generally made things run as well as they could for the season.

Special thanks to all the members who have learned how to check in early at our events,  how to use the online sign up link, have switched from cash only to using eTransfers for fees — it all makes our job a whole lot easier.

FINAL MAJOR WINNER PLAYS LIKE SCOTTIE, DICE SCRAMBLE RESULTS, AND Only 4 Weeks to go...

 LAST RETIREES MAJOR WINNER FOR 2025 DECLARED

Reg Cherenko ran away with the Fed Ex Cup event to win our final Retirees Major for the 2025 season and took home 'slightly' less than a $10 million first place prize. 

Huge thank you to Robin Valentine and Stan Trozzo for taking on the running of the monthly competitions — 'It was a piece of cake." was the comment I thought I heard Robin say....

DICE SCRAMBLE COMPLAINTS OF DEFECTIVE DICE

This year's event was filled with stories of possible defective dice as several teams complained of repeatedly rolling the SAD FACE. Needless to say, the top teams didn't seem to have any such issue however.

L-R: John Rilkoff, Don Szilagyi, John Lattanzio, Marlin Frederick

Results:

1st: Rilkoff, Szilagyi, Lattanzio, Frederick (67)

2nd: Cherenko, DeWitt, Piccolo, Papilion (68)

3rd: Muir, Brown, Dewdney, Newton (71*)via tiebreak

KP winners: #2- Frederick, #7- Rilkoff, #14- Burke, #17- Gallant

LP winners: #9- Brennen, #18- Burke

TIME FLIES ON THIS SEASON

Get out there, there are only 4 weeks left in the Retirees season for 2025. The Retirees Club Championship is set for Sept 18 at 9 AM (back up date is Sept 25 in case it snows on the 18th) 

Entry fee is $25.00 and includes all the golf, prizes and steak sandwich lunch.

CHRISTINA LAKE TOURNAMENT - SEPT 4 

9AM SHOTGUN, check in at 8am. The deadline has passed and the entries sent in. Here is the list of entries.

WOW, WASN'T THAT A STORM!

A POEM

Hurrah, hurrah it's August 1st,  not the first of May
The cold weather has gone away,
If you needed another good reason
To play golf today
The end of the season is only 3 months away.
(And the cold weather too)

HAWAIIAN SHIRT DAY

If you needed a reason to wear one while you play, just ask Brian Muskeyn about how well he played wearing his Hawaiian Shirt. Look for photos on our website later today.

TOURNAMENTS THIS MONTH

Retirees DICE SCRAMBLE and lunch

August 28, you can sign up online NOW and pay later in August. Details about entry fee coming as soon as John puts new batteries in his calculator and sharpens his 'figurin' pencil.

Use the ONLINE REGISTRATIONS link at the top of the screen...

BIRCHBANK MEN'S OPEN

Check the poster on the bulletin board for full details - remember that there is a Senior Division for those who are old enough....

TRAIL HOCKEY CLUB SOCIETY 

Check their poster on the bulletin board for details - support their efforts in providing bursaries and scholarships to local male and female players and officials that are moving on to further their schooling. (Even if I have never won one of their 50/50 draws at the Smokies games, yet.)

FEX EX CUP MONTH

Get ready for the last month long tournament of the year - the FED EX CUP. Robin and Stan have made a few modifications to the results sheets so be sure to take a close look once it is posted.

PS. - by this point in the season you should know how to fill out a scorecard correctly (names of players, correct course handicap for the tees you are playing, and correctly calculated net scores for all players PLUS made sure your score is entered on the list on the bulletin board)

Make a point of thanking Robin and Stan for taking on this job for the season.

SEPTEMBER TOURNAMENTS

Christina Lake Invitational Thursday, Sept 4 

That is all the detail we have at this time, I am sure they will be contacting us soon.

While you are waiting - sign up online now and pay once we get the final details. ONLINE REGISTRATIONS link is found on our website - link above

RETIREES CHAMPIONSHIP AND CLOSING

THURSDAY, September 18

Sign up now pay and pay in September once John restarts his calculator, the one with fresh batteries and finds that sharpened pencil......you get the rest.

Use the ONLINE REGISTRATIONS link found on our website (link above) - DO IT NOW before you forget why you were on the computer....

2025 RETIREES PGA WINNER

 Congratulations to Mike Vlanich for winning the Retirees PGA Month way back in May, unfortunately it took us until this week to get a photo of Mike with the PGA Trophy.... Nice Rolex watch Mike! 😜😜

2025 Retirees PGA Winner

RED-WHITE-BLUE SCRAMBLE RESULTS

 It was a fine day to play golf and 34 members teed off in this year's RWB Scramble. A couple of last minute line up changes due to an unfortunate  slippery shower accident and the teams were off.

RWB winning team: Postnikoff, Shubert, Clarkson, Hyson

RESULTS:

1ST - Bill Postnikoff, Wayne Shubert, Jim Clarkson, Perry Hyson (via tiebreaker)

2nd - Dave Muir, Mark Schickler, John Lattanzio

3rd - Scott Johnston, Robin Valentine, David Ross

KP#2 - Pat Zinio

KP#7 and KP#14 - Don Szilagyi

KP#17 - David Ross

LP#9 - Chris Vlanich

LP#18 - Mark Schickler

CANADIAN OPEN MONTH WINNER - RICK BROWN

LOOK MA, NO RAIN!!

Winning team: Shubert, Tresidder, Bain, Dewdney

 While it was exactly bright sunshine and hot, it was pretty close to perfect weather — for most golfers that means NO RAIN. It was a busy day at the course as 104 players from six local courses played in the annual Birchbank Retirees Invitational. 

RESULTS

 CLOSES TO PIN:

#2 - Ty Langton  (Birchbank)      #7 - Mark Rusten (Redstone)

#14 - Rollie Caron (Birchbank)    #17 - Sean Thornton  (Redstone)

LONGEST PUTT:

#9 - Frank Tresidder (Castlegar)   #18 - Don Szilagy (Birchbank)

TEAM SCORES (Total of 3 Best Nets) 

1st - 211 TOTAL

Rich Dewdney (Birchbank) Wayne Shubert (Birchbank) 

Frank Tresidder (Castlegar) Doug Bain (Christina Lk)

2nd - 226 TOTAL

Mike Wagg (Granite Pointe)    John Rilkoff (Birchbank) 

Norm Higgens (Castlegar)    Ernie Davis (Castlegar)

3rd - 227 TOTAL

Greg Terlesky (Christina Lk)    Bob Elliott (Birchbank) 

Stu Howes (Champion Lk)     Glen Akselson (Castlegar)

INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE CUP 

ICC is a season long competition involving results from tournaments at Birchbank, Castlegar, Colville, & Christina Lake.

Total of 4 lowest nets for each club

1st (tie) Birchbank (289) 

             Castlegar (289)

3rd Christina Lake (292)

4th Champion Lakes (309)

5th Redstone (325)

6th Colville (335)

More photos taken by Birchbank Golf Course