Another season is in the books at Bootleg Gap Golf Course and this years will certainly be a memorable one for a number of reasons. “It was definitely a banner year,” said general manager and head professional Trevor Simkins.

Another season is in the books at Bootleg Gap Golf Course and this years will certainly be a memorable one for a number of reasons. 

“It was definitely a banner year,” said general manager and head professional Trevor Simkins. “Probably one of the biggest years we’ve had for the last 15 years, we saw numbers on the 18-hole course and the Rec 9 that were similar to numbers when we first opened, before Shadow Mountain and before Wildstone were around. 

“So we’re seeing those kinds of numbers with two more golf courses, so there’s a lot of people visiting Kimberley and Cranbrook.” 

This past season was the first at Bootleg for new superintendent Owen Perrin, who alongside the maintenance team, had the course in fantastic shape for locals and visitors to enjoy.

“Owen did a great job with the golf course conditions and that always helps the golf experience, when you have excellent course conditions,” Simkins added. 

This year the course held the 123rd BC Amateur Championship, so the course had to be in pristine, tournament-ready shape, but Perrin proved to be up to the task. 

“A lot of pressure on his first season and he did a great job and he exceeded all of my expectations, that’s for sure,” Simkins said. “A lot of players in the BC Amateur loved the golf course, they loved the facility and definitely loved the course conditions.” 

He added that out of the over 150 players who played in the tournament, at least 100 had never been to this area before, so it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the course to a huge number of people. 

This year Bootleg was one of four regional winners for the PGA of BC’s Facility of the Year award, with the overall winner to be announced at the end of this month. 

“We’re pretty proud of that,” Simkins said. “It’s the overall course conditions to excellent customer service in the restaurant and the quality of our food, just the overall facility. So we’re really proud of all of our staff and all their hard work this season and to be recognized for that award I think is just a huge achievement for everyone who is involved with Bootleg Gap.” 

Now that the season has concluded, Bootleg’s simulator season is just around the corner, opening on Nov. 13, with the fall league starting that same day. The simulators and restaurant will be open throughout the fall in winter and available for Christmas parties and other events. 

It was another successful season for the course’s charitable endeavours as well. Every year, they host two major fundraisers, the Founders Tournament at the start and the Rec 9 fundraiser at the end, with all green fees from the Rec 9 on the final day of the season going towards a charity, with this year’s being the Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank. 

Unfortunately this year Bootleg’s last day was snowed out, but the owners, alongside the Trepanier family, are still donating $3,500. Combined with the Founders Tournament that totals just shy of $7,000 donated to the Food Bank.