The Osoyoos Golf Club is hosting the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championships in August. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)

A thousand or so single-use water bottles will be kept out of the local waste stream thanks to an initiative by the Osoyoos Golf Club and the financial support of the town of Osoyoos.

OGC is hosting the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championships in August. It expects as many as 156 competitors to be walking the fairways and greens for four days in the heat of summer.

Temperatures in the 30s will require the players to consume lots of liquid, which would normally mean lots of water consumed and plastic bottles discarded.

But it occurred to OGC general manager Doug Robb recently that refillable, insulated water cylinders would be a preferable alternative to the estimated 1,000 or more disposable bottles that would have ended up in the waste system over three days of competition and one day of practice.

The town had been looking for a way to support the championship and Robb approached council recently with the re-usable bottle idea.

At a meeting Monday, the mayor and council approved $2,000 from the economic development budget to cover the cost of about 200 insulated bottles complete with Osoyoos and Golf Canada logos.

“The town has been very supportive of the event right from the beginning,” said Robb in an interview. “It’s been very gratifying.”

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He explained that there are several cold-water fountains on the golf course already and that several temporary filling stations will be set up at the scoring and pace-of-play tents during the competition.      

And not only will the competitors be well watered, they’ll have a cool memento of the event and the town of Osoyoos to take home with them.

A report to council on Monday noted: “The event will bring 150 plus golfers ages 25 and up to our local golf course (in August). In addition to the participants, we can expect family members and friends to attend to cheer on the favourite golfers at this national event.

“It is sure to be a well-attended event that places Osoyoos as a national and international destination.”

Robb is proud of the club’s selection as this year’s host: “There are about 2,500 golf clubs in Canada and only eight national events a year. So, we feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to show off the club and the town of Osoyoos.”

The championship will be played on the OGC’s Park Meadows course August 18-20. There will be an official practice round August 17. The Desert Gold course will remain open for members and visitors.

There are already close to 100 players entered in the competition and hopes are high that the full field of 156 will be reached before the close of entries on July 17.