Enjoy golf, but beware of elk
BANFF, Alberta – “Any ball striking an elk may be replayed with no penalty.”
This unusual local rule is a good indication that you’re playing somewhere special when you visit the Stanley Thompson 18 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course, considered one of the most picturesque courses in the world.
Elk are abundant, and since the course is located in a national park in the Canadian Rockies, they – not you – have the right of way.
I also saw a grizzly bear entering the woods from a far distance while playing the Tunnel 9 at Banff Springs, and a gray wolf prancing happily among the lodgepole pines to the right of the first fairway on the main course.
“Our maintenance staff’s hardest job is to repair damage caused by the elk,” says Miles Mortensen, the head professional at Banff Springs. “But the course is in very good shape, considering the number of rounds played on it.”
Because of the drop-dead gorgeous scenery – the course is in a valley surrounded by three mountains and the Bow and Spray rivers – the number of requests to play Banff Springs is heavy.
Even single players need a tee time – unusual because most courses can easily accommodate a single player.
The course averages 33,000 to 35,000 rounds over the combined 27 holes in a six-month period. It opens in mid-May and closes in mid-October, or at the first snow.
Why the demand at a course so far off the beaten path? After all, Banff is 70 miles west of Calgary, and the area is more famous for its winter skiing.
Banff Springs is Thompson’s signature course, and it is internationally renowned for its beauty and aesthetic qualities.
This is one course that does not play as easily as it does on Microsoft Links software. The first cut of rough on the par-71 Stanley Thompson 18 is not so deep you can’t find your golf ball, but deep enough that it’s difficult to get the clubface on the ball.
There is no second cut of rough. It’s wilderness grass so thick and snarly that even when you find your ball – which is rare – your lie will be unplayable.
That being said, this is a must-play course. Fairways are generous and the ball sits up nicely. Sand traps are strategically placed, but can be avoided – except around certain greens that are surrounded to catch mis-hit shots. Many greens are sloped, but are slow because the grass is so lush.
“This course lets you make choices,” Mortensen says. “It’s a risk versus reward course. All trouble is clearly in front of you. If you want to be aggressive, you take the risk.”
Five years ago, he says, “The fairways were redone, and the course was renovated back to its original form to keep shot values intact.”
Three holes on the Stanley Thompson remain in a golfer’s mind long after play.
The first is the 165-yard, par-3 third (199 yards from the tips), known as the Devil’s Cauldron. This hole is ranked by Golf Digest as one of the 18 most beautiful holes in the world.
The tee area is 60 feet above the small green surrounded by six bunkers. The tee shot must clear a glacial lake, and nearby Mount Rundle attracts the golfer’s attention.
“The biggest problem with the hole is illusional,” Mortensen says. “It looks closer than it is. If you underclub, you land in the glacier lake. If you take too much club, you can land in the woods at the base of the mountain.”
The second memory is the 411-yard, par-4 14th (447 from the tips). It’s a slight dogleg right that has its own illusion; Thompson placed a series of bunkers about 105 yards from the green, and players tend to underclub.
A golfer’s attention also is riveted to the famed Banff Springs Hotel in the background, built in 1888 with the look of a Scottish baronial castle.
Another gorgeous view is afforded at the 459-yard, par-4 15th hole (480 from the tips), where the men’s tee is 120 feet above the fairway. It’s the toughest tee shot because the ball must travel 175 yards on the fly over a river – but the task isn’t as hard as it seems.
“Because you’re playing golf in a mountain atmosphere, the common rule is that you will hit your clubs 10 percent longer,” Mortensen says.
“With the vistas, trees and mountains in the background, tee shots seem to hang forever.”