By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Christina Spence Proteau has lots of great memories from this past spring’s inaugural B.C. Indigenous Championship played at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver.

She’ll never forget winning the event, one that she also chaired and helped organize, but what really stood out for Spence Proteau was the tournament’s spirit.

The Port Alberni native had never seen so many smiles at a golf tournament. Participants seemed proud to be there and recognized they were helping plant the seeds for an event that will continue to blossom in the years ahead.

“Everyone seemed to have a good time,” said Spence Proteau. “I have never seen so many people just really seem to enjoy themselves at a golf tournament. Maybe I was paying attention to it in a different way because I was not just playing in the competition. But there seemed to be a genuine enjoyment.”

Spence Proteau hopes and is confident that same spirit will be on display when B.C. and Ontario meet in the inaugural Indigenous Challenge Cup later this month at Bear Mountain’s Mountain and Valley courses in Victoria.

The event will feature 16 players from each side competing in a Ryder Cup-style match play event. Foursomes and four-ball matches will be played on Sunday, Sept. 24 on both the Valley and Mountain courses with 16 singles matches contested the following day on the Valley course.

“Obviously it is competitive, but it is also in the spirit of collegiality and friendship and inter-provincial play,” said Spence Proteau. “Both sides really want to win, but it is about celebrating the inaugural events that we have had in the two provinces.”

Ontario held its first inaugural indigenous championship in 2022 and British Columbia followed in 2023 with its event in Oliver. The hope is other provinces will follow the lead of Ontario and British Columbia and a national indigenous championship will be held in the not too distant future.

Golf Canada chief executive officer Laurence Applebaum has indicated his support of a national tournament, but wants the provinces to lead the way. “It would be a goal of ours to run a national indigenous golf championship,” Applebaum said during last month’s CPKC Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.

“At the moment we are probably working more on the provincial level to get a bit of scale and participation. . .So I would likely hope in the next three to five years we’ll have a national indigenous championship.”

The idea of a B.C.-Ontario match was raised by former British Columbia Golf president Patrick Kelly during roundtable meetings held in Victoria to organize the inaugural B.C. Indigenous Championship. “We knew Ontario was having another championship this year and we just thought it would be kind of a fun component and something rather unique,” said Spence Proteau. “We don’t have enough match play.”

British Columbia’s team is comprised of many of the top finishers from the Nk’Mip event. Proteau is teamed with former Simon Fraser University collegiate golfer Kylie Jack in the Sunday four-ball and foursomes matches. Jack’s mother, Sharon Jack, is also competing for British Columbia.

“I think it’s neat her mom is also playing in the same event,” Spence Proteau said. “That is not something that happens very often at all. It is going to be a fun couple of days. Kylie has played Bear Mountain a little bit. I haven’t been down there in a while, so I am going to go down there next week.”

British Columbia’s team also features a brother act. Austin Krahn, a 16-year-old from Christina Lake who won the men’s event at Nk’Mip and then captured this summer’s B.C. Juvenile Boys’ Championship, is competing at Bear Mountain along with his older brother David.

Spence Proteau, who works as a Crown prosecutor in Port Alberni and is a member of the British Columbia Golf board of directors, has a rich golf resume that includes three B.C. Women’s Amateur championships, six B.C. Mid-Amateur titles, six Canadian Mid-Amateurs crowns and two Canadian University individual championships.

She called her win at Nk’Mip this spring perhaps the most meaningful of them all and is looking forward to another great experience at Bear Mountain. “I hope the matches are close, I hope they are competitive and I hope there is good sportsmanship and enjoyment,” she said. “If all those things happen, I think everyone will have a great time.”

See details and follow scoring from the Indigenous Challenge Match HERE.