Olympic View Welcomes New Superintendent Brett Finlayson

Brett was born in Calgary, Alberta, and cheered for the Stampeders and Flames until he was ten years old. At this point, Brett’s parents moved to Gabriola Island in BC. While living on Gabriola, Brett completed his schooling. After finishing high school Brett decided to move back to Calgary and enrolled in Petroleum Engineering. After two years in the program, Brett realized that this field of study was not for him and he moved back home for the summer to figure out what he should do next. After some soul searching and advice from his mom and dad, Brett decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and enrolled in the Turf Management Program at Kwantlen College. Brett was successful in completing the program and obtained his diploma. Upon graduating from Kwantlen College, Brett took up his internship at Point Grey Golf & Country Club. Brett completed the internship and then stayed on for another four years to continue learning and applying his new trade.

After four years, Brett got the opportunity to move to Capilano Golf & Country Club as the Environment Manager. During his two years at Capilano, he moved up to be second assistant to the Superintendent. During this period, Brett worked with some of the top people in golf management and was able to learn from the best. After two years, Brett moved on to Quilchena Golf & Country Club where he was able to apply all his golf management experience. His next move in 2011, was to Arbutus Ridge as the Head Superintendent, and finally on to Olympic View as of April 1, 2014. Brett has been involved with 6.5 million dollars of major capital renovations on golf courses and has extensive experience in the design and construction of irrigation, drainage, ponds and new holes. Brett could have as many as twenty people working for him during the peak times of summer.

A typical day for Brett would be to arrive at the course at around 5:30 in the morning and work until approximately 5:00 in the evening. The first thing Brett looks at when arriving each day is the weather forecast as this determines which jobs can be scheduled. Next, there are meetings with his assistant to review the work required and the work to be completed. Brett tours the course daily to ensure that it is meeting his high standards of quality. Brett is a hands-on kind of guy. He will roll up his sleeves and dig in to help wherever necessary. Brett looks forward to his time at Olympic View and on a personal note, has been dating his girlfriend Lynette for the past 5 years. He presently lives in Victoria with his German Shepherd, Sam.