Joni Martinson
Event Coordinator (Wedding & Banquet)
Our Event Coordinator has been a member of our Food & Beverage team for 29 years. While getting a degree in Education at UBC Joni worked part time as our 10th tee kiosk gal when she 1st started, then moved into the Banquet department as a Banquet Server. From there she tried her hand as a Banquet Bartender and moved her way up to be a Banquet Captain before she was asked to be one of our Food & Beverage Managers.
For the last 20 years Joni has been our Event Coordinator and enjoys planning events of all styles for the variety of clientele we have at UGC. Joni has her WSET Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits and enjoys learning about and tasting wines from around the world.
When not spending time working at UGC you will find Joni working on her fitness, traveling when time permits, golfing and spending quality time with family and friends. She looks forward to her 30th year as part of the UGC Food & Beverage Team! Cheers!
Brandi-Lyn Chapman
Food and Beverage Manager
Brandi-Lyn has been with the University Golf Club for over 7 years. Growing up in Ontario, Brandi traveled to BC in 2005 to complete a Bachelor of Human Kinetics Degree at UBC. During that time, she started at UGC as a Server in the Westward Ho Bar & Grill. After a couple of years, her role at the Golf Club transitioned to Assistant Food & Beverage Supervisor which led her to Food & Beverage Manager in November 2015. She is enjoying every minute of it, working alongside some pretty amazing co-workers!
In her spare time, it is most likely you will catch her on the golf course, running the seawall and enjoying everything BC has to offer! What else could you ask for!
Ron Gibb
Executive Chef
Our Executive Chef Ron Gibb is a transplanted Scot. Born in St. Andrews, the home of golf, he now works at the Golf Club and guess what….he doesn’t golf!
Ron worked the first ten years of his career in Europe before moving to the West Coast where he has won numerous awards and medals in his field. He is a strong believer of using local produce as much as possible.
Interesting fact – Ron has cooked for Fidel Castro, President Jimmy Carter, numerous entertainers and the Royal family.
Another interesting fact – He once set the fire alarm off while cooking an omelet at an omelet station for Prime Minister Jean Chretien!
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
TESTIMONIALS
Your satisfaction is our goal
Dear Joni: Larry & I would like to express our appreciation for everything you and your team did to make our wedding a success. Our guests loved the food, and we received many compliments on the venue. I really appreciated your flexibility and calm professionalism with executing the rain plan and that you stocked the bar with our favourite rum and took such good care of all our guests. Warm regards, Mary & Larry September 2017.
Hi Joni. We received the wedding card and complimentary dinner card last week. That was really nice of the Golf Club to do that. We loved having our wedding at your beautiful venue, your staff did such a wonderful job setting up and of course the food was amazing. We had many of our guests comment on how much they enjoyed the food items. The Sangria and punch were a hit as well. Lastly thank you so much for all your help and prompt answers to our many hundreds of questions we had for you over the last year. We felt we were in good hands in our journey into the wedding party unknown. Sincerely, Theresa & Ray August 2017
Hi Joni. John and I would like to thank you for helping us plan out the event over the past several months. You have made the process much simpler than I had anticipated. Please also extend our gratitude to the banquet chef and staff, as well as the venue managers and staff who helped make our wedding go so smoothly. We are incredibly happy with how our wedding turned out! Thank you, Doreen & John, August 2017
Hi Joni, Thanks very much for your congratulations. That is very kind of you. I’m happy to let you know we thoroughly enjoyed our wedding, and got rave reviews on the food from our guests. Everyone had a great time. The banquet staff were very attentive to accommodating our guests with special needs. I appreciated how well the rain plan worked out, and it was nice to not worry about the weather. I will gladly complete the post event survey and will suggest UGC to anyone looking for an event venue in Vancouver. We were very pleased with how smoothly everything went. Thanks again, Mary, Bride, September 2017
Joni was absolutely amazing and made our experience with planning the wedding not stressful as we felt like we were in good hands. Joni is knowledgeable, flexible, detail oriented and very clear and concise in her communication. David was very helpful and pleasant to work with as well. Everything went absolutely perfect. I feel that Joni went above and beyond to make sure we are happy on our wedding day. Bride, September 2017
If was an excellent event, from preplanning, pricing, location, free parking, food selection, food quality and quality of serving staff. Many of our guests reported that it was the best event they had attended of this type. One of our guests is a former VP of Air Canada and on the Board of directors of YVR, and he claimed that he never had such quality and choice of food such as what we had! I wish I could afford a bigger gratuity to all staff, but I am hopefully you will get more business from the recommendations of our family and friends. Mother of the Bride, July 2017
Dear Joni, Thank you for sending the photos of the set up for our July 28 reception. I just wanted to let you know it went very well. Everyone had a wonderful time and people raved about the food, and the choices of healthy food options. We were very impressed with the staff, not only you and your amazing organization, but, the service staff was fantastic. They were efficient, friendly but in-obtrusive, and flexible. The whole evening was a great success and people were very impressed with the Golf Club setting. It you need me to write up anything for you I would be happy to. I am more than pleased that we chose your facility. Best Wishes, Sylvia, Mother of the Bride, July 2017
We had a wonderful wedding at UGC. The location was convenient for us and our guests. Joni, our Event Coordinator from our initial meeting to the conclusion of our wedding was super helpful. She helped us plan the timeline of events and made sure everything was set up properly the day of. David our Banquet Captain, along with the rest of the staff were attentive and friendly. Overall, we had a great time and would definitely recommend this venue for future events. Loretta & Mitchell, November 2017
Dear Joni, Edmundo and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us. The wedding was more amazing that we imagined and it would not have been possible without you. Thank you for being so patient throughout our last minute planning and for supporting us every step of the way. It was truly a pleasure working and communicating with you. It was a dream wedding and we will cherish the memories we made at the University Golf Course for the rest of our lives. Sincerely, Lan & Edmundo
Hi Joni, Thank you so much for your help in my wedding. Thank you again! I really appreciate your help! Best regards, Phoebe (bride, October 2016)