The Kootenay Cup

Two captains. Sixteen points across six sessions. The Hozel Rockets arrive as holders, and for the first time in three editions somebody has something to lose.

01 — Where it standsHozel Rockets hold the cup

Lisbon finished 11½ — 6½, and it was gone by the Wednesday.

The Rockets took three and a half points from four at West Cliffs on the hardest day of the week and went five clear with three sessions still to play. Nobody laid a glove on them after that.

Liam Wilkinson captained that side and comes back to defend it. James Leigh captained the other one, won nothing all week that a scramble did not hand him, and is not travelling.

So the cup arrives in British Columbia being defended rather than chased, and the arithmetic changes with it. Sixteen points are on the table. Liam's side needs eight. Everybody else needs eight and a half.

Three things have moved since September.

Everyone who has played has got better. The field average has come down from 21.5 to 19.1. Only Guy Mitchell has gone the other way, by half a shot — and Guy Mitchell is now a captain.

The field has shrunk from eight to seven. Which is why the eighth man on any given day is somebody who lives here, and why he goes into the draft with everybody else.

The gap at the top has opened. Jack Church has gone 11.5 to 6.7. In Lisbon he shared the top of the field with James Leigh at 11.8. The next travelling player is now seven and a half shots behind him.

02 — The weekSix sessions · sixteen points

DayGolfCup

Tue 22 Sep

Vancouver. Dinner in the city.

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Wed 23 Sep

Land Trail 10:30. Men's night at Redstone — the combine. Draft that evening.

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Thu 24 Sep

Castlegar. Four-ball match play.

Fri 25 Sep

Redstone. Greensomes, then wolf with the locals.

Sat 26 Sep

Balfour. Singles stableford. Dinner in Nelson.

Sun 27 Sep

Redstone twice. Low / high ball, then the scramble.

Mon 28 Sep

Redstone. Singles match play — the decider. Three fly home.

29 Sep — 2 Oct

Church, Mitchell, Stretton and Forton east to Kimberley and Cranbrook.

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Full itinerary →

03 — The 8th ManRoster to come

Seven Masturds is an odd number and a Ryder Cup needs even teams.

So each session is made up to eight by a player from Rossland — and the 8th Man is not a guest, a marker or a make-weight. He goes into the draft pool alongside the seven, he counts for cup points, and either captain can spend a pick on him.

Which means one of them goes early, and one of them goes last, and has to stand there while it happens.

The 8th Man does not count for the singles strokeplay competition. That stays between the seven.

04 — Still openWorking list · comes off before this goes out

Challenger team name. The Rockets have a name, a captain and a trophy. Guy's side has one of the three.

The 8th Man roster. Names, indexes and who can play which day. Everything about the draft depends on it.

Tee times. Nothing is booked. Six Redstone blocks plus Castlegar and Balfour, late September, for eight.

Slope and rating for Redstone, Castlegar and Balfour off the tees actually being played — otherwise every course handicap here is an approximation.

Which tees the field plays.

Vehicles. Eight players and eight sets of clubs to Balfour and back needs two cars.

The trophy is in Nottingham and Liam is flying.

Photographs of Redstone, Rossland, Castlegar and Balfour. The itinerary is the page they read before they travel and it has no imagery of the place they are going.

Squabbit or The Loop for scoring, and the live leaderboard embed once the 2026 tournament exists.

The Redstone hole notes on the Cup page come from the group chat, not from playing it. Jack and Tim to confirm.