A lot of people have played a lot of golf over the years at Kokanee Springs. If the numbers are correct we're nearing the 1,000,000th round in the 45 year history of the resort. But who's played the most rounds? We've had groups of people who've been coming for more than 30 years, but they only play 5 to 10 rounds per visit so the most they could play would be 300 rounds. There are members who have been here for 30 years or more but none of them claim to have played more than 1,500 rounds in that time - a lot of golf for sure. Then there's the legend of Stevie B.
Steve Brandstetter- on the right - came to Crawford Bay years ago. He would save up the money he made during the winter and come to camp at the Kokanee Chalets all summer so he could play golf at Kokanee Springs. Back then he played round after round all summer long. If he ran out of money he'd go back to work and save up some more so he could afford to camp in his tent and play more golf until they closed the course in the fall. Then he decided to move out to Crawford bay and worked at the Chalets. Steve's other passion was fishing so he'd spend the evenings dropping a line in over at the Log Dump a kilometer down the road from the 5th green. Over the last 10 years Steve worked at Kokanee and was a regular early morning staff golfer.
Being an expert in a field means you have a lot of experience and/or skill in a field. Proof of Steve's expertise at Kokanee came just last year when he scored a hole in one at the second hole. To hear friends talk about it is inspiring. It was a front left pin and Steve hit a soft 5 iron. The ball carried the edge of the front bunker rolled up the first tier on the green and then back down towards the hole. John, Lance and Steve watched as the ball rolled - tracking all the way into the hole. In the book, The Outliers the author gives anecdotal evidence that shows that to become an expert in any field requires a certain amount of time (10,000 hours) for practice and skills acquisition. If you do the math 2500 rounds at 4 hours per round equals exactly 10,000 hours of golf at Kokanee Springs.
Last Saturday, about 60 friends, including a lot of Kokanee staff came to remember Steve who was taken too soon at 55 years old this month. Tears were shed and laughter emanated from the back deck at the clubhouse. The red truck was parked out back and tied to the bumper was Steve's rescue dog Gracie. He was a gentle fellow with a kind heart and a great spirit.
Final thought: A man can spend his whole life looking for the one thing that makes him happy - Steve spent most of his life doing it.
