Swinging Through B.C. Challenging Layouts, Stunning Beauty Keep Golfers Coming Back For More
Golf in Canada isn’t about target fairways, tricked-up island greens or funky bunkers lined by railroad ties.
Golf in Canada is about raw and robust natural beauty.
And anyone in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area interested in sampling what golf in Canada offers can do so with minimum investments of time and money.
A three-day swing through south-central British Columbia early this spring resulted in a memorable golfing weekend that included scenery normally confined to dreams, food fit for the finest of private country clubs and golf - plenty of affordable, fantastic golf.
My trip started with a three-hour drive to Trail and a quick trip around the Birchbank Golf Course, the newest of two courses at Rossland-Trail Country Club. From there, I made the 50-minute drive along Highway 3A to Nelson.
Following a rain-abbreviated tour of Granite Point Golf Course, I made dinner plans with the three local residents - all former hockey players - who had welcomed me into their men’s club foursome. They suggested the Lord Nelson Hotel, where the nightly pub special is a steak sandwich and the cold beverage of choice a Kokanee.
I stayed the night in a Jacuzzi suite at the Prestige Lakeside Resort, an upgrade well worth the extra money.
The most logical move would have been to hop the ferry across Kootenay Lake the next morning and play the highly touted Kokanee Springs Golf Resort. But I decided instead to drive down to Creston for a morning round at Creston Golf Club.
Following lunch, I drove back up the east side of the lake, played a wonderfully relaxing 18 holes at Kokanee Springs and spent the night at the Kokanee Lodge.
The next morning I drove back to Spokane, planning my return trip along the way.
Rossland-Trail Country Club
This unique setup features 27 holes on two courses - the original nine-hole course in Rossland and the 18-hole championship Birchbank Golf Course, just a 10-minute drive away along Highway 3A.
According to general manager Brian Miller, the courses have become a popular weekend getaway destination for many Spokane-area golfers who make the drive and play Birchbank on Saturday, stay the night and play the nine-hole course Sunday on their way home.
Birchbank, which opened in 1969, is a solid test of golf, stretching 6,489 yards from the championship tees. Dense stands of mature trees line most fairways on the front nine, giving golfers the impression that they are the only ones on the course.
But even with all of the greenery, it is impossible to miss the majestic mountain backdrops that seem to frame each hole and sap your breath quicker than a forced carry over water.
The most scenic hole is the 160-yard par-3 fourth, which features a dramatic drop from tee to green. From the kidney-shaped green, golfers get a close-up look of the Columbia River, churning just several paces away.
“There’s no prettier hole on the course,” Miller said. “And we’ve cleared out some trees and brush so the view remains unobstructed on the No. 5 tee.”
The back nine plays longer and brings water into play on several holes. It also takes full advantage of the mountain views and, like the front, gives golfers a variety of club options.
The Rossland course, like its counterpart, is beautifully conditioned and features a rustic log clubhouse. Visitors should not be deceived by its nine-hole status.
Two sets of tees offer 18 distinctively different looks and make the tight course play a respectable 6,265 yards.
Granite Point Golf Course
While not the most difficult, most beautiful or best conditioned of the area courses, this physically demanding layout was one of my favorites - mainly because of its unpretentious character.
The cedar clubhouse and restaurant were destroyed by fire last New Year’s Eve. The pro shop is being operated out of a portable trailer and the 19th hole consists of a concrete slab and makeshift shelter under which golfers can enjoy post-round drinks and snacks from the concession wagon parked nearby.
The course allows businesses to advertise on small cardboard flags stuck in the ground near each tee box. The day I played, the flags were touting a Saturday night dance at the Four Pints Pub, featuring “Buck Naked and the Jockstraps, Nelson’s best rock and roll band.”
Try to find that at Augusta National.
As it turned out, the golf course was wonderful, even if a bit soggy from a rain and hail storm that had blown through 30 minutes earlier.
With the course playing just over 6,200 yards, you don’t need your A game to tame Granite Point. But bring your imagination - along with comfortable climbing shoes.
The course features bent grass greens and relatively short but well thought-out holes that place a premium on club selection and position off the tee. It also features some major elevation changes, along with four opening holes that play up the side of a mountain.
“You don’t need a health club membership around here,” said one of the locals in my foursome. “Just join here and play three rounds of golf each week and you’ll stay in shape.”
Several holes offer views of Kootenay Lake and the Kokanee Glacier.
Granite Point won’t be the most difficult course golfers will play on their swing north of the border, but it’s one they will want to play each time they cross.
Creston Golf Club
This 6,433-yard layout is a little-publicized gem nestled amid stunning surroundings. It features three sets of tees, two small lakes and more well-positioned bunkers than most golfers would want to count.
It was windy and raining sideways the day I played, and club selection, although critical, was next to impossible.
One of the best holes is the 12th, a dramatic, downhill par-4 that stretches 353 yards from the back tees and doglegs severely to the left. Normally, a fairway wood puts you at the corner of the dogleg, but with a helping gale, you can knock a 5-iron through the fairway and into the trees. Trust me.
The spectacular scenery is provided courtesy of the Creston Valley and includes an abundance of native plants, trees and wildlife. In addition, the course is impeccably maintained and as challenging as any in the area, mainly because of its constantly changing elevations.
Several holes feature elevated tees that overlook gently rolling fairways and greens which can be unexpectedly quick and difficult to read. I left myself some downhill putts I probably could not have kept on the greens had they not been saturated.
Head pro Randy Panthon operates a well-stocked pro shop, featuring name-brand clubs and golf apparel.
Kokanee Springs Golf Resort
This breathtakingly beautiful resort layout, which was reviewed in an issue of Northwest Golf last summer, remains the must-play course on any golf excursion into southern British Columbia.
The hour drive up Highway 3A along the east side of Kootenay Lake is just as scenic as the course.
This is not resort-style golf like one might expect in Arizona, California or Hawaii. From the marvelous design of the course to the rustic nature of the pro shop, restaurant and adjacent Kokanee Lodge - which has no telephones in the rooms - rough edges abound.
But they all add immensely to a comfortable, relaxing experience that will be every bit as satisfying and much less financially taxing than a short, overpriced stay at a snooty desert resort.
“We’d like to think we offer one of the best golfing values in North America,” says Greg Garbula, who manages the course and lodge. And it’s difficult to come up with many that are better.
The course opens in spectacular fashion, with a downhill par-4 that features several flower-rimmed tee boxes. The fairways, in general, are wide and receptive - just like the greens - and the Kokanee Glacier can be seen from several vantage points, including the second and third greens.
Most golfers leave talking about the fifth hole, an agonizingly long par 4 that plays to 462 yards from the blue tees. But my favorite was the ninth, a testy 431-yard dogleg left par-4 that features a shallow, angled green protected in front by a pond.
The resort also boasts a splendid restaurant, which serves everything from juicy burgers to Cornish hen and various seafood entrees. And the Kokanee Lodge sits next to a wetlands area that produces a symphony of bird noises each morning - the perfect complement to a hot cup of coffee on the deck and a grand view of the snowcapped mountains.
1. Did you know? There are more than 80 golf courses within a day’s drive of Spokane. Go online and point your web browser to www.spokane.net/golf
2. If you go All rates are in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate varies, but recently one U.S. dollar has been valued at more than $1.30 Canadian. Each resort offers various package golf deals. Rossland-Trail Country Club Birchbank Course in Trail Green fees: $34 (day ticket, includes same-day privileges at Rossland); $20 (nine holes) Address: Box 250, Trail, B.C., V1R 4L5 Phone: (250) 693-2255 for tee times, or (800)-667-8741 for golf packages at The Uplander Hotel Rossland course in Rossland Green fees: $28; $18 (nine holes) Address: Box 250, Trail, B.C., V1R 4L5 Phone: (250) 362-5045 for tee times, or (800) 667-8741 for golf packages at The Uplander Hotel. Granite Point Golf Course Green fees: $32 Address: Box 141, 1123 West Richards Street, Nelson, B.C., V1L 5P7 Phone: (250) 352-5913 for tee times, or (250) 352-7222 for golf packages at Prestige Lakeside Resort and Convention Centre. Creston Golf Club Green fees: $32; $86.50 (three days) Address: Box 2103, Mallory Road off Hwy 21, Creston, B.C., V0B 1G0 Phone: (250) 428-5515 for tee times and golf package information Kokanee Springs Golf Resort Green fees: $39 (value season); $41 (high season) Address: Box 96, Crawford Bay, B.C., V0B 1E0 Phone: (250) 227-9226 for tee times, or (800) 979-7999 for golf packages at Kokanee Lodge