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).

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

RED, WHITE, BLUE SCRAMBLE RESULTS and more..

 RED, WHITE, BLUE SCRAMBLE July 23

A slight overcast kept the temperature down at least until the teams were in the Bistro after their round was over. The good weather and great course conditions saw every team score in the 60's — very rarely happens, if at all.

1st Place: (L-R) Rick Brown, Joe Bella, Wayne Shubert, Paul Troseth

1st: R. Brown, P.Troseth, W. Shubert, J. Bella (score: 62)

2nd: R. StJean, S. Trozzo, N. Molll, A. Piccolo (64)**tie breaker

3rd: R. Cherenko, F. McLellan, R. Caron, P. Zinio (64)

KP#2: Team Cherenko

KP#7: Team Cherenko

KP#14: Team Szilagi

KP#17: Team Cherenko

LP#9: Team Burke

LP#18: Team Szilagi

BRITISH OPEN MONTH WRAPS UP THIS WEEK

July still has a week to go, which means we play a rare 4th round for one of our Retirees Majors, so there is still a chance that one of those net scores in the 60's could be what you need to take the win. Be sure to turn in the scorecard and put your NET SCORE on the results sheet.

SIGN UP ONLINE FOR THE NEXT 3 EVENTS TODAY

Dice Scramble and Lunch, Christina Lake Invitational, and our season ending Retirees Club Championship. 

Click HERE for ONLINE REGISTRATIONS

JOHNSTON 2026 CANADIAN OPEN CHAMP

RETIREES CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Scott Johnston is our 2026 Canadian Open winner with 2 of his 3 rounds in the 60's (net) — nice work Scott. 

Presenting the Championship Trophy to Scott is our most senior member Tom Stevens.

L-R Tom Stevens, Scott Johnston

RED-WHITE-BLUE TEAM SCRAMBLE & LUNCH JULY 23

Online and paper sign ups are both open for this event — Entry fee: $30 — details on the online sign up form as well as the paper copy.

It is a regular scramble format except:

1.Teams all start on the WHITE TEES and use the score on each hole to determine which tee box to use for the next hole. 

2. Score a bogey (or worse) and you move up one set on the next hole, par stay on the same tees on the next hole, or score a birdie (or better) you move back one set on the next hole. 

3. All teams must use at least 4 drives from each player.

RETIREES BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 

The first round of 'The Open Championship' is done with Farrell McLellan and John Lattanzio sharing the lead with matching 65's (net). Round two will be played July 9 and it looks to be another hot one that day.

Don't forget your sunscreen and fluids — try to hit your shots toward the shady side of the fairway.

WEEK 2 OF RETIREES MASTERS and some other important stuff

 RETIREES MASTERS Fake News Headline

Scary news for this year's Retirees Masters Month, only two more rounds  to be played and John "Rory" Lattanzio tells me he is leading after last week's round. I have it on good authority that if John wins the Masters he will take the prize money and walk away from the game forever.

So get out there, play your best ever rounds and make sure John doesn't leave. ;)

REAL MASTERS NEWS

This Thursday is week 2 of 3 rounds for the Retirees Masters Month. If you choose to participate, remember we take your best 2 round NET scores to determine the champion. If you missed last week, you will need to play both of the next two in order to qualify.

OPENING SCRAMBLE AND LUNCH APRIL 30

Get yourself entered in the starting scramble and lunch. Paper sign up will be posted Monday, but why wait (or if you are away) sign up now online 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

DEADLINE TO ENTER Saturday, April 23 — Entry fee is $30 and must be paid by the entry deadline, please pay via eTransfer (preferred method)

BIRCHBANK INVITATIONAL SIGN UP NOW

Use our ONLINE Registrations link on the website (link below) to sign up for almost every tournament for this season and just wait until closer to the event to pay the entry fees. 

Full details are available if you CLICK HERE TO ENTER

MASTERS MONTH and more..

 MASTERS MONTH STARTS THIS WEEK

Last year's Masters champ Alex Birukow trying on the Green Jacket

Thursday is the first of two rounds to determine our Retirees Masters champion for this season — as always, it is your choice to participate or not. The winner will have the lowest net score for the two rounds played.

Play your round, turn in the scorecard, include your GROSS & NET scores clearly entered, THEN WRITE YOUR SCORES AND HANDICAP on the results sheet posted on our bulletin board. Please use the same handicap for both rounds.

Remember that the success of this competition requires everyone being accurate and following the instructions.

VOLUNTEER NEEDED to verify scores after they are entered on the results sheet. Check the score card score and the posted one are correct. If can help with this job please contact John or email us. (perfect job for you and your regular playing partners to volunteer for.)

RETIREES FEES ARE DUE

Your $30 early bird fee is due now — the rate goes up May 1. Please pay with eTransfer (use our email address: birchankretiress@gmail.com).

NOTE: 

If you eTransfered fees previously, it should still be set up in your banking app.

Please fill out the online registration prior to sending eTransfer or paying John. Click on the ONLINE REGISTRATIONS link at the top of this page.

ONLINE TOURNAMENT REGISTRATIONS OPEN 

Almost all the registration links are open so that you can sign up early for this year's tournaments. The our of town events do not many details yet, but I advise you to sign up now to make sure you don't miss out. 

If things change and you need to drop out that is better than trying to get in to the event at the last minute. Click on the ONLINE REGISTRATIONS link at the top of this page.

OPENING SCRAMBLE AND LUNCH - APRIL 30

Sign up online now for our opening team scramble and lunch on April 30.

Teams will be formed from the list of players who enter and pay the $30 entry fee. Total team handicaps will be as close to equal as we can make them, no handicaps will be used during play.

Teams play a scramble format from tee to green but using at least 4 drives from each player. A single team score is recorded for each hole.

Last year's Opening Scramble winning team

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK.

• THURSDAY, April 2 is the official opening of the season and we are plan to have FREE coffee and treats available for all who attend. The weather forecast doesn't look great, but rain or shine we will be there.
• Drop in for a coffee, pay your Retirees Club fees ($30), sign up for a tee time for April 9, volunteer to help out with the May 21 Invitational or any other of the monthly events.  
• If you want to continue with the Retirees Majors events for each month, then we will need a group to look after the results (April would be Masters month).

REGISTER FOR RETIREES CLUB ONLINE - CLICK HERE

** Please use the online signup links and eTransfers for payment in order to cut down on the paper work for us.

OUR WEBSITE: birchbankretireesclub.blogspot.com

 Our email address: birchbankretirees@gmail.com

Winning team from last year's 'I hope it doesn't rain' Scramble and Lunch

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

COLVILLE INVITATIONAL

 The Colville Wanderers Retirees Club Invitational will take place August 5th.

Anyone wishing to attend should sign-up as soon as possible. The deadline for signing up is July 28 but there are a limited amount of spots available. 18 golfers from each club maximum. 

You can sign-up by following this link

CLICK HERE- Colville Invitational 

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

RETIREES CLUB INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT - MAY 22

INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT READY TO GO 

One hundred four players are set to tee it up this Thursday morning at the annual Retirees Invitational. This is the first event of the season long competition to determine the winner of the International Challenge Trophy — an inter-club competition involving most of the West Kootenay Golf Clubs and the Colville Wanderers.  

It's a 9AM shotgun start, with buffet lunch, and awards to follow completion of play.

Birchbank players after winning ICT in 2022

 

DEADLINE APPROACHING

 RETIREES OPENING SCRAMBLE & LUNCH

Thursday, April 24

9:00 AM MODIFIED SHOTGUN START

• Entry Fee: $25.00 - includes golf, prizes, and lunch
• DEADLINE to enter and pay entry fee Saturday, April 18
• Sign Up Online - use the Online Registrations link at the top of this page.
• Pay Online with eTransfer (best method) or with cheque in the Pro Shop
• Tournament check-in 8:00 - 8:30 — please check in upstairs before warming up.
• Door prize tickets available at check-in