Richmond
Thursday. July 29,1982 — THE BUULETIH 7
— i
to
es
to
WORLD WAR II was over. Hitler amd his allies were vanquished. Israel was still a far away dream and thousands of Canadians were returning from overseas.
Public golf courses were the only golf facilities open to Jewish golfers of that era. But times were beginning to change on the Vancouver golf scene, as many Canadians returning from the armed services had decided to make Vancouver their home, a good place to begin their future.
Subsequently it was the effort of this new group which organized the first Jewish goJf club in Vancouver — Gedarcrest.
Although all the golf was played at the Langara course, this small group organized many activities including their annual tournament at Peace Portal golf course, which continued to be very successful. Those days at Gedarcrest will long be remembered by that small group who started it all.
By this time an esprit de corps was developing and Dr. Max Nacht, president of Gedarcrest, appointed a group to study the feasibility of building or buying a golf course for Jewish community use.
The year is now 1949. David Sears is the new president of Gedarcrest, with Irving Ghertkow, treasurer and Hal Zlotnik, secretary.
The search continued for a piece of land' to mitiate the first golf facility for the Jewish community. Myer Brown and Alter Silverson discovered a nine-hole course in West Vancouver called Gleneagles. This course was perfect as a starter for the group, but problems developed rapidly.
Although the property could be purchased for approximately $50,000, there was a question whether the owner would sell it if it were to be used as a Jewish facility. The arrangements were made very quietly and very swiftly. David Sears arranged for the financing and Esmond Lando, who also endorsed the note for $50,000, volunteered to furnish his expertise in developing the new facility.
The first general meeting of the Gedarcrest group was called to discuss the good news. But of the 50 to 60 people who attended, only 18 members signified their intention of putting up $500 to join the Glyb.
Thereafter the first major membership campaign was launched. David Sears and Hal Zlotnik paced the streets day after day encouraging new members. The ranks grew as people like David Nemetz and Sam Rothstein, who had no intention of playing golf or socializing at the new club, put up their monies for membership only because they knew the importance of helping a Jewish venture get off the ground.
Finally, the membership reached 50 fully-paid members and the first tournament was held at Gleneagles. Much to the surprise of the entrants.
. ■' . George McNutt Aerial Pholo
OUTStANpiNG^^^^N^ Clubt^is photographed fr6in the air. Formal opemng is scheduled shortly.
when they finished the eighteenth hole they found Irving Ghertkow, David Sears and HalZlotnik waiting for them, whereupon the players were asked to endorse an additional note for $500.
This second note was required to be paid — unless the member brought in a new applicant. It was reported to be surprising how quickly the membership grew to 100 members!
Gleneagles was now established. iSocial activities began to iiidude wives who subsequently became veiy active. Moreover, construction commenced on a new clubhouse, under direction of Arthur Sereth. The ranks grew to 150 members with a new entrance fee of $750.
Gleneagles became the starting point for several of Vancouver's finest goif professionals, among whom was included David Dixoii, who actually built Gleneagles" Pro Shop with his own hands. Al Nelson and Mel White were other promir nent Pros who spent their early days at Gleneagles.
Suddenly the city of West Vancouver became interested in buying Gleneagles. After considerable nego^ tiations by Jack Bell, Alfie Evans and Sam Wasserman^ a deal was consummated.
The funds were used to purchase the current lands in Richmond.
Once again much work had t6 be done to build the second facility. Everybody volunteered to work hard on any project which they were capable of handling. For example, Leonard Fratkin spent endless hours away from his office figuring out where trees were to be planted on the nevy golf course.
Jack Bell undertook the massive Job of constructing the course, the' surrounding lakes, etc. Although Bell's company bid lower than other golf course construction firms, he even brought the final cost in at a
(Continued on Page 8)
REMARKABLE GOLF COURSE at Richmond Country Cluh, viewed from 6,000 feet in the air. The
See: FIRST JEWISH GOLF CLUB complex can be visited by contacting general manager, LyIe Karasick, 277-3141.