BC Golf Past President Patrick Kelly Envisioned An Indigenous Championship Years Ago
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(OLIVER, BC, May 29, 2023) — Before the first shots were even struck at the inaugural British Columbia Indigenous Championship, Patrick Kelly was ready to call the event a success.
He could see it on the faces of the 114 participants, ranging in age from 14 to 80. Everyone was smiling, perhaps none as widely as Kelly himself.
This championship likely would not have happened if Kelly had not planted the seed about 15 years ago.
“Oh man, this is just so satisfying and I am so happy,” Kelly said.
“The expressions of happiness that I am seeing and hearing from everybody are amazing. I was talking with (British Columbia Golf CEO) Kris Jonasson and he said he has never seen so many smiling, happy people at a golf tournament. And I got the same reaction. I’ve got people left, right and centre coming up and saying they are thrilled beyond end with the joy of being here.”
The 36-hole championship began Monday at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver and Kelly felt a little like a proud father. It was at the urging of his friend, former B.C. Lieutenant- Governor Stephen Point, that Kelly called Jonasson 15 years ago to discuss their idea of an Indigenous championship. Jonasson was immediately intrigued.
“I formed at that time the B.C. Aboriginal Golf Association with board members from literally every major tribe in British Columbia,” Kelly said. “That is when I approached Kris. It was just a cold call out of nowhere. I called him up and said I am the president of the B.C. Aboriginal Golf Association and he said, 'Oh, really, okay, that’s great.' I said I’d like to meet with you and talk about how we can collaborate together.
"He said that’s a great idea because literally the night before his board had passed a resolution stating that they needed to find ways to enhance the participation of Indigenous people in the game of golf . . .That was the beginning of the relationship between those of us in the aboriginal golf world with B.C. Golf. We have been collaborating ever since and it has been amazing working with Kris and his team because it takes a lot of effort to pull these off.”
Kelly went on to become a member of the British Columbia board of directors and later its president. He is also competing in the event at Nk’Mip, which is owned and operated by the Osoyoos Indian band. At Sunday night’s opening ceremonies, current B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Janet Austin presented Kelly with a Vice-Regal Commendation. It was an honour that surprised and clearly moved Kelly, a Victoria resident and member of the Leq:amel First Nation.
“It choked me up, to be honest,” he said. “It was a total surprise. I had no idea it was coming. It’s such a thrill to be recognized by the lieutenant governor of B.C. in that way. It was very touching and it caught me completely by surprise. I could barely hold it together.”
Kelly hopes this is only the beginning for the B.C. Indigenous Championship and envisions the event growing and one day in the not-too-distant future helping lead to the creation of a national Indigenous championship to be run by Golf Canada.
“There’s 12 golf courses in British Columbia owned by First Nations and we would like to circulate this tournament around all the different Indigenous-owned courses,” Kelly said. “I sense there is so much excitement here among the participants. They didn’t know what to expect here and now that they are here and see what we are doing they are just really, really thrilled to see it happening.
“So I think it is just going to grow. I have already talked with chiefs in Manitoba, they want to do it there, I have talked to some people in Saskatchewan, and they want to do it there. Ontario had their first provincial championship last year and are holding their second one right about now and the winners of the Ontario championship are going to play the winners of the B.C. Championship in a match play up at Bear Mountain (in Victoria) in September.”
Kelly hopes the event will help get more Indigenous people, especially children and young adults, involved in the game. “There is huge potential to really capture the imagination of First Nations leadership, the parents and grandparents, and I have already seen kids taking part in First Tee programs in different parts of B.C. and other parts of Canada.
"It’s so beautiful to see that, kids are just having fun, they are meeting new people, they are doing fun things, they are learning new life principles. So I think that is the beauty of the game of golf and the way Indigenous people are embracing it.”
Jonasson is delighted to see the B.C. Indigenous Championship come to fruition, but acknowledges it will take some time for him to truly recognize its significance. “I don’t know if I really understand what this event means,” Jonasson said as he watched participants head out onto the course Monday.
“I kind of thought we understood when we started to put the event together, but listening to the stories and talking to the participants and seeing how far they came from, it really strikes me that I really don’t understand the history. I am only starting to understand it.”
Like Kelly, who has become his close friend, Jonasson is confident the B.C. Indigenous Championship will become a permanent fixture on the British Columbia Golf calendar. “This event will be going for the next 100 years, hopefully it will be going for 200 years,” Jonasson said. “To be at the start of something like this is really special. I don’t know how else to describe it.”
Click below to follow live scoring.
