Just 10 minutes away from our Cobble Hill Bed & Breakfast you can book a tee time at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club, 18 holes, par 71. The Club has a four star Golf Digest Rating and has a 10 stall driving range and practice putting green. Daytime green fees are in the $45-$64 range.

Arbutus Ridge Golf Club

The Cowichan Golf & Country Club on the south side of Duncan is the oldest golf course in the Valley. It has been in its present location just off the Trans Canada Highway since 1947, and is an 18 hole, par 70 course. Green fees generally range from $42 – $52. The Mount Brenton Golf Course in the mural town of Chemainus, which calls itself the Island’s “friendliest golf course”, is almost as old, having been around since 1948. This is a par 71 course with green fees ranging from $25-$45.

The newest course in the Cowichan region is Duncan Meadows on the northwest side of Duncan, along Highway 18. It has a reputation as a player’s course, with many lakes and ponds. Green fees are in the range of $40-$55 for this par 72 course. This past July, Duncan Meadows hosted the 2011 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championships.

If you continue west on Highway 18 around the south side of Cowichan Lake, you will reach the 9 hole March Meadows Golf Course in Honeymoon Bay. This is the home course of LPGA professional Dawn Coe Jones who still sponsors the junior golf tournament held at the club each year. Green fees for 18 holes are in the $33-$42 range.

Whichever Cowichan golf course, or courses, you chose to experience, you’ll find unique and different challenges on each one. Another thing you’ll find is beautiful scenic views of the Cowichan landscape, be it ocean or rolling hills and mountains. Come and play the game of golf in the Cowichan Valley, and find your choice of Cowichan Valley Bed & Breakfasts nearby to complete your stay.

On the last weekend in April, April 29th through May 1st, the 41st annual Brentwood Regatta will take place at Brentwood College School on the open waters of Mill Bay, BC.  Brentwood College rowing is well known internationally and the program has produced numerous Olympic rowers and Olympic medalists over the years as recently featured by the Rick Mercer Report on CBC Television.

The Brentwood Regatta is the largest athletic event hosted by a single high school, and I’ve heard mention that it may be the second largest  high school rowing regatta in all of North America.  It is an official event sanctioned by Rowing  BC.  Typically there are about 1500 athletes participating, plus coaches, plus parents who come to watch their kids and help out with the teams.  Numerous teams come from the Vancouver Lower Mainland area, but also from Washington State, Oregon, California, and of course Vancouver Island.  Over the years teams from Australia, Bermuda, Ontario, and the UK have also participated.  This regatta is probably the biggest event of the year taking place in the region, with Cowichan Valley Bed & Breakfasts and hotels/motels in Mill Bay, Cobble Hill, Shawnigan Lake, Cowichan Bay and much of Duncan all filling up for this exciting sporting event.  At Cobble House Bed & Breakfast we’ve had the pleasure of hosting parents from Eugene Oregon, St. Georges School in Vancouver,  Sammamish Rowing, Green Lake Rowing and Everett Rowing in Washington State.  We’re looking forward to welcoming some of last year’s parents back to this year’s event!

near the finishing line at the Brentwood Regatta

Two weeks after the Brentwood Regatta the focus shifts to Shawnigan Lake where Shawnigan Lake School will be hosting its annual regatta.  Rowing is also a flagship sport at Shawnigan Lake School, making for some real competitiveness between the two private boarding schools, which are located just a few kilometers apart.  While the Shawnigan Regatta is a much smaller and more BC centric event, it too offers high caliber rowing, a sport practiced year-round on Vancouver Island.  Canada’s national rowing team trains primarily at Elk Lake in nearby Victoria, but also comes up to train on Shawnigan Lake.  There are several regattas held at Elk Lake every year and also on the Gorge, and a small regatta at Maple Bay in the Cowichan Valley on April 16th.  The relatively mild climate on Vancouver Island is definitely a factor in making this area a prime rowing environment.

If you’re in the area for either the Brentwood or the Shawnigan Regattas, do come out and check out some terrific Vancouver Island rowing!