The Harvest Golf Club Celebrates its 20th Anniversary!

Today marks a milestone for The Harvest Golf Club, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary.  It was April 16^th, 1994 at 1:00pm, when our owner, Mr. Masayoshi Ohkubo, hit the first ceremonial shot off the first tee, officially inaugurating the golf course for play.  Early in 1991, Mr. Ohkubo

The Harvest Owners and Board of Directors.
From left to right: Darcy Alexander, Masayoshi Ohkubo, Paul Mathews, Don Murray, Shungo Ohkubo

(president of Nippon Cable) and his family were made aware of a 251 acre parcel of land that was soon to be for sale.  This land was owned by Ted Turton and his brother Chris, and was brought to the attention of Mr. Ohkubo through the initiative of long time friend and Kelowna predominant businessman, Mr. George Schurian.   The sale was completed later that summer with construction beginning shortly thereafter.  Being a golf enthusiast himself, Mr. Ohkubo conceived a vision to turn this once thriving apple and wine grape orchard and most unique setting, into a parkland style, walkable golf course that would be enjoyable to players of all levels, for generations to come. 

With construction soon to begin close friend, Ecosign President and Nippon Cable Canada Director, Mr. Paul Matews, was asked to collaborate in creating the perfect rooting plan for the land and find the best golf course architect to fulfill this vision.  Notable architect, Mr. Graham Cooke was brought on board to design the golf course.  Based out of Montreal, Mr. Cooke a former Canadian World Cup member is also Canadian Mid Amateur champion.  Mr. Darcy Alexander, who is  still currently the VP of operations for Nippon Cable Canada, was also appointed as Project Manager, while Garrett Deck, our long time Course Superintendant, acted as site construction manager.  Garrett, at the time, was in the process of completing projects for Graham Cooke at both Crown Isle on Vancouver Island and Loomis Trail near Blaine.  Jack Moss from BMR Golf was hired to shape and construct the course, while Akus Papadopoulos from AP Irrigation/Rain Bird was hired to install our intricate sprinkler system and conceptualized waterfall feature.  Interestingly enough; Akus, a water system specialist, was inspired by the many water features he had encountered on previous trips to Las Vegas, and used this inspiration to create the spectacular water features you see at The Harvest today.  Mr. Ohkubo knew that this feature would create the atmosphere and picturesque clubhouse surrounding that tens of thousands of visitors have enjoyed since.  Rough grading took five months to complete, followed by shaping and seeding, which finished in the spring of 1993.  The clubhouse and other infrastructures were built in the second half of that year, giving the golf course the opportunity to mature until opening day, providing pristine playing conditions right from day one in the process.

 

Cake presented to Mr. Masayoshi Ohkubo and his son, Shungo
at the Anniversary Celebration dinner on April 10th. 

Initially, The Harvest Golf Club’s main target market was destination golfers and guests looking for a fine dining experience. The club quickly became a place where people wanted to entertain friends, business associates or simply enjoy a nice lunch on the verandah.  The club has since evolved to a place where everyone is welcome to enjoy our gorgeous, unique and casual setting. In the latter part of 1994 a membership offering of 100 full play and 50 spousal was made available, selling out in less than 90 days.  Since then, our membership has grown, with approximately 325 adult memberships and over 475 names on its roster through shared corporate packages. Our club is also fortunate to have one of the most dynamic Senior Clubs in the Okanagan Valley.  In 2013, we hosted 43 weddings, had approximately 25,000 covers in the grille and range respectively, as well as had about 34,000 rounds played including 2000 of which were corporate.  An excess of 42 acres is still being farmed today, producing 4 different apples varieties, pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, nectarines, table grapes and 3 styles of wine grapes.  The club employs upward of 150 people in the height of the summer season, insuring we deliver the global yet unique experience that we set out to offer 20 years ago to every member and guest alike. 

The above only briefly outlines what has made The Harvest during these last 20 years, but one thing is for sure: without the continued support of our fine club members, the club would not be what it is today.  So to all club members, and foremost, to the many still with us from our beginnings in 1994, we would like to offer our sincerest gratitude for your great contribution over the years, fully appreciating the multiples choices available to you all.  We have tried to live season to season with this simple mantra, “Business only goes where invited and only returns where appreciated.” We hope we have honored you during all these years and look forward to making this 20^th anniversary season, the best yet. 

Respectfully yours,

Gilles Dufort

General Manager/Executive Professional

The Harvest Golf Club LLP