The Rossland Trail Country Club
2309.0266: View over the Rossland Golf Course from the Crown Point, Columbia & Western Railway, July 23, 1966
Historical Name: Rossland Trail Country Club
Common Name: Rossland Golf Course/Redstone Resort
Location: Below Rossland between Rossland and Warfield
Date of Construction: 1922 (original course), 1928 (current course completed)
The Rossland Trail Golf & Country Club was established in May 1922 with Mr. S. G. Blayock as its first president. The first golf course was built on donated/loaned lands by the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company on the Floyd Ranch and paid a nominal rental fee of $1 per year. This course’s clubhouse was opened in July 1922 with an afternoon tea and dance at night to celebrate. The club would host the first tournament on September 16th, 1922 with an entry fee of $0.50!
Some of the key tournaments in the 1920s were:
Blaylock Cup - Ladies’ open
Directors’ Cup - Men’s open
Schwenger’s Cup - Ladies’ handicap
Warren Cup - Mens’ handicap
This first course was only meant to be temporary in nature and a new course was set to open in the future. In 1927, the new course location was chosen further up the valley and would open along with a new log clubhouse on May 5th, 1928.
“A pretty scene was enacted at the new home of the Rossland-Trail Country Club last Saturday afternoon, when the new clubhouse and golf links were thrown open to the members of the club and friends. Over two hundred were present on this occasion and the picturesque setting which the new clubhouse occupies in the valley just on the outskirts of Rossland, with the rapidly becoming perfect laid out surroundings, made a sight beautiful to the eye.”
Reg and Roy Stone
Sign welcoming golfers to the Rossland Golf Course. No date.
Roy Stone came to work for the club in the late 1930s, and his brother, Reg, joined as the first club pro at the end of the 1930s. The Stone brothers dominated the golf scene in the West Kootenays through the 1950s and 1960s, winning open events all over the region. Reg’s wife, Ruby, was also an avid golfer and won her fair share of local golf events. The Stones also founded the Rossland-Trail Open in 1946 and inagurated the first Pro-Am event in the Kootenays. In 1968, the Stones, with assistance from Peter McIntyre, expanded the Rossland -Trail club to 27 holes when they built the 9 hole Birchbank course along the Columbia River near Trail. The Stones were influential in all areas of the West Kootenay golf scene, including advising on the design and rebuilding of golf courses from Elkford to Rock Creek and many courses in between.
When the Rossland Golf Course was redeveloped in 2006, the course was renamed “Redstone” - an homage to the historic Red Mountain development and Reg Stone, the course’s early golf pro and organizer.
The Rope Tow
Following World War II (c.1946), a rope tow was set up on the steep 5th fairway to help guests pull their golf bags up the steep grade.
Do you have memories of the Rossland Golf Course rope tow? We’d love to hear them! Send them to us using the comment form at the bottom of the page!
Gael Fisher (in white) and other unknown golfers using the rope tow at the Rossland-Trail Golf Club. No date. Photo property of the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre, donated by Gael Fisher.
Pair of passes for Rossland-Trail Country Club used by Mary Brown circa 1986-87, donated by Maureen Brown.
For More Information:
Legendary Kootenay Golf Course and Resort - Redstone Resort
Rossland-Trail Clubhouse - Heritage Rossland
The Stones of Trail - BC Golf Museum
Contribute your own memories/experiences of the Rossland Trail Country Club/Golfing in Rossland:
The form below will email us your message. If you prefer to speak to us directly or have other questions or comments about this page, please call (250) 362-7722 or email the archives directly at archives @rosslandmuseum.ca.
Redstone Resort, 2015 - Image by Shelley Peachell/Tourism Rossland