Commonwealth Cup Information
The Commonwealth Cup
The Commonwealth Cup golf tournament is an annual fundraising event with all proceeds going to the children's programs at Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation and the Canuck Place Children's Hospice. The tournament is growing tremendously every year and is an event that not only Commonwealth Financial, but our entire community is proud of.
Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation
The Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation was created to provide meaningful opportunities for people to contribute in improving healthcare within the service area of the University Hospital of Northern BC, Prince George. The community has responded in a very generous way.
Since the inception of the Foundation (June 18, 1991) more than $25 million has been raised through events, lotteries and donations from corporations, foundations and the citizens of our communities. The funds have been used to assist with the purchase of capital equipment and improvements, and support of education of healthcare employees and medical staff.
We believe there is a spirit in the north which drives us to succeed - to determine our own well-being and sense of community.
We commend you for that spirit and your generosity in supporting our Foundation.
Canuck Place Children's Hospice
Canuck Place is a story of courage and vision, and a shining example of the good that comes from individuals and organizations seeing a need in their community and working together to fill it.
In this case, there was a need to provide care for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families – an option that would give families the added flexibility to access hospice care when hospital or home care could no longer meet their needs.
Aberdeen Glen Golf Course (Driving Directions)
Aberdeen Glen Golf Course is surely the north's championship golf course. This fabulous public facility boasts a testy 7100 yards from the black tees and a tranquil 5500 yards from the front markers. The course is designed as a par 73 layout. Carved through the valleys and forest just north of Prince George's city centre. Even the most experienced golfer will be impressed at this architectural masterpiece. The scenic beauty and the dramatic elevation changes ensures that you will have a memorable round. The most exciting is the spectacular signature hole #18. This outstanding par 4 stretches 455 yards where you tee off from a dramatic cliff-top towards the clubhouse below. This exciting newer golf facility is a must-play while in the Prince George area.
A Brief History of Golf
There is a general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. We know that golf has existed for at least 500 years because James II of Scotland, in an act of Parliament dated March 6, 1457, had golf and football banned because these sports were interfering too much with archery practice sorely needed by the loyal defenders of the Scottish realm! It has been suggested that bored shepherds tending flocks of sheep near St. Andrews became adept at hitting rounded stones into rabbits holes with their wooden crooks. And so a legend that persists to this day was born!
Various forms of games resembling golf were played as early as the fourteenth century by sportsmen in Holland, Belgium and France as well as in Scotland. But it was a keen Scottish Baron, James VI, who brought the game to England when he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. For many years the game was played on rough terrain without proper greens, just crude holes cut into the ground where the surface was reasonably flat!
Early golfers played at the game for many years without any thought of forming a society or club until finally a group of Edinburgh golfers in 1744 formed a club called the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. At this time, the first rules of golf, 13 in all, were drawn up for an annual competition between sportsmen from any part of Great Britain and Ireland. A few years later the Society of St. Andrews Golfers was formed and in 1834, when King William IV became the Society's patron, the title was changed to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.