Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting the first Beagle Classic in Vancouver, BC. This golf tournament is a friendly competition between the two companies behind Tapestry Retirement Communities; Concert Properties who developed, built, and own the three Tapestry residences and Leisure Care who manages and operates each community. Our visiting neighbors from the south included six residents from Leisure Care properties in Seattle and Portland along with Leisure Care executive leadership and managers. Their most senior player was 90 years old! Canada represented with six residents from our Vancouver properties, the general managers, and executive leadership from Concert Properties.

What’s in a name?
You might be wondering what a dog has to do with this event. Even though some golfers could have used a scent hound to track down their golf balls, Beagle is a portmanteau – that’s right. We made up our own word by blending together two other words. Beaver representing Canada and Eagle representing America.

After an early start, the weather cooperated to the best of it’s ability with just a little bit of rain (welcome to Vancouver). The rain could not dampen the spirits of the Beagle teams. With national pride on the line, participants put on their game face.

After lots of laughs, impressive shots, and hot chocolates, the six groups with competing teams of two arrived at hole 18. The sun was peeking through the clouds just in time to tally up totals. The result? A tie! Three groups won by the USA and three groups won by Canada. As host country this year, Canada will hold onto the Beagle Classic trophy until next time when the event is hosted in the USA.

The wrap-up party
The teams headed back to Tapestry at Wesbrook Village for dinner, networking, and tours of the property. Chef Shaughn prepared a custom menu for participants and everyone received Beagle Classic parting gifts. Stories from the day were shared and new friendships were built.

We were so pleased to host our American friends and look forward to visiting them next time. The Beagle Classic has stimulated a lot of interest in the next tournament with pressure for an annual event! More residents want to participate. The bar has been set here in Vancouver. We look forward to the future of this great event and ongoing relationship building. And next time maybe we need to ensure a tie is not possible… Go Canada!