Golf in Alberta and the numbers will work for you, regardless of your handicap. You can choose from more than 280 courses and get up to 18 hours daily of summer light, while enjoying relatively low green fees. It all adds up to your being able to golf pretty much anywhere you can swing a club.
The landscape is inspiring, with courses in terrain that ranges from wide prairie vistas to boreal forest to haunting Badlands to rugged mountain peaks. And these greens are easily accessible from anywhere in the world. You can fly into international airports at Calgary and Edmonton, rent a vehicle and be playing international caliber courses within half an hour, just minutes away from luxury accommodation, says Brent Ellenton, executive director of the Alberta Golf Association.
“You can play links-style courses, mountain golf courses, courses with lots of water hazards, lakes, rivers, you name it,” he adds.
Look for Alberta Golf Association member clubs here, where you’ll find the course websites, telephone numbers, details and other contact information. Otherwise, you can check out Alberta packages for golfing and spas.
Get New River Spirit
River Spirit Golf Club is a relatively new club with easy access and diverse fairways. Just 45 minutes’ drive from the Calgary airport, the four-year-old course offers spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains. Meanwhile, boutique shopping, fine dining and luxury accommodations are just minutes away in the heart of cosmopolitan Calgary. River Spirit last year earned the reputation of having the best and truest greens in the city.
“You hit it where you want it to go and it goes there,” says Cathy Burton, the club’s head golf professional. But that’s not to say the course is easy.
“What sets us apart is the change in elevation and the greens,” says Burton. “When people first drive in they think it looks pretty flat and prairie-ish. But once you begin to play, two of the holes go down into the valley. The third hole is very picturesque and you get a beautiful view of the valley below the tees. It’s a good test of golf.”
Try Unique Mountain Golfing
If valleys and views are your thing, then the Fairmont Banff Springs golf course is among the world’s most spectacular venues, set in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Canada’s oldest national park. The course is about a 90-minute drive west of Calgary.
Stanley Thompson, Canada’s best-known golf architect, designed the course in Banff National park so that its features blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment of rugged peaks and the mighty Bow River churning past on its way to Hudson Bay.
“Location and history are the ingredients that keep golfers coming back,” says Bob Burroughs, the course and grounds superintendent at Banff Springs. “We have that rugged and wispy and fescue look, a bit like what you see in Scotland in some of the dunes courses. But it’s tough to compare the two because this is a pretty unique mountain experience.”
More Stanley Thompson Courses
Like its southerly cousin in so many ways, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club also lies in a national park in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. At each golf hole players hit into a different mountain peak with spectacular views. The Thompson-designed course also offers outstanding service and hospitality.
“Three of the holes play around Lac Beauvert,” says Kevin Sebulski, head golf professional at the Jasper Park Lodge. “It’s unique how quiet and serene it is out there. You also have the chance to see elk and deer, coyotes and the occasional bear. So we have things even the most famous golf courses can’t say they have.”
Kids are allowed to play for free after 1 p.m. at the Fairmont course, provided golfing parents accompany them. In addition to low green fees, incentives like this make Alberta of exceptional value to avid golfers. It’s making the province very popular not only among Canadians, but also for visitors from abroad.
Greens Fees are Gold
“In places like Palm Springs it will cost you from $180 to $300 for green fees,” says Steve Moe, head golf professional at Calgary’s Sirocco Golf Club. “In Alberta you’re looking at $70 to $110. Yet the quality of golf in Alberta is very high. Relocate the Jasper, Banff or Kananaskis courses into Palm Springs and imagine what someone would have to pay to play there.”
This relative bargain is the product of stiff competition in Alberta. Each course tries to outdo the next, which drives up the quality of courses and clubhouses and keeps prices low. Sirocco is no exception.
Just three years old, the course this year built a brand new clubhouse with a much-anticipated new restaurant. Renowned chef Michael Noble has overseen development of the restaurant and Moe calls him the “best of the best.”
Not content to rest on its laurels, Sirocco is also setting bold targets for the future. Housing is slated for development on the property, though offset from the course.
“When you play, you won’t be hitting amongst the houses,” says Moe. “The way the golf course is designed, the course is elevated and the houses are in the valley.”
Jack Nicklaus Signature Course
Another course that’s determined not to rest on its laurels is considered by some to be the best in the Edmonton area.
Northern Bear Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus signature course. It prides itself on great golf accompanied by a second-to-none clubhouse and the finest customer service.
“If the golf course is perfect and the food is perfect and the fellow in the pro shop is rude, then that’s what the customer will remember,” says new General Manager Jim Brent. “We are the number one course in Edmonton and I want every bit of the experience here to reflect that.”
In addition to a new executive chef and fine dining menu, Northern Bear has also created a new water hazard. It makes one hole more difficult, but helps with irrigation during the dry season.
So what makes someone move to Edmonton to manage a golf course?
“The Nicklaus course is the reason why I came, to be associated with the Jack Nicklaus course,” says Brent. “I brought family out at Easter and it was sunny every single day, so that was a big winning feature. It was just a beautiful sunny day every day. Northern Bear is one of the few Nicklaus courses in Canada. His typical design philosophy forces players to think.”
“If you don’t position the ball, it can be a difficult,” adds Brent. “It makes you think on every shot.”