Vancouver Island's Golf Trail has several golf academies that are open year-round for people who want to learn how to golf and for duffers who want to improve their golf games. Each academy offers individual and group instruction, golf schools, specialized and corporate programs, conducted by expert Canadian Professional Golf Association members.
GBC Golf Academy
The GBC Golf Academy is located at the Olympic View Golf Club and Arbutus Ridge Golf & Country Club. The two scenic Vancouver Island golf courses offer qualified teaching instructors and state-of-the-art practice facilities.
Teaching programs are tailored to fit golfers' skills and abilities, from beginners to professionals. Each golf academy offers personalized individual lessons, group clinics, corporate excursions, fitness evaluation assessments and a world-class golf school.
Olympic View Golf Club scenery features the Olympic Mountains, two waterfalls and 12 lakes. Arbutus Ridge Golf & Country Club straddles Cobble Hill, above Satellite Channel and the Southern Gulf Islands, overlooking the snow-capped peak of Mount Baker.
Morningstar Golf Academy
Morningstar Championship Golf Course, located in the seaside town of Parksville, was designed by master architect, Les Furber. The challenging golf course winds around creeks, lakes and stands of pines and cedars, with a backdrop of forests and mountains.
The in-house academy at Morningstar Championship Golf Course teaches basic golf fundamentals with indoor golf lessons in a heated facility. Golf professionals teach CPGA-accredited courses for all skill levels.
The Morningstar indoor classroom and practice area are also used for swing classes, instruction with golf videos, junior lesson golf programs, golf for women who don't golf and a stay in shape for golf series.
Further north on the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, Pheasant Glen Golf Resort and Crown Isle Resort & Golf Community also offer professional golf instruction.
Nicklaus Academy of Golf
The Nicklaus Academy of Golf is located at the Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa. Golf instruction, technology integration, physical and mental evaluation, conditioning and training all incorporate the playing philosophy of Jack Nicklaus.
Golf getaways
Golf Vancouver Island offers several options for couples looking for a golf vacation package in Cowichan, Victoria, Parksville and North Island. Golf packages include lodgings, rounds of golf and guaranteed tee times. Depending on the golf getaway, add-ons may include a winery tour, dinner for two, spa treatment or theater tickets. New Vancouver Island golf courses
Golfers will find six courses near Qualicum and Parksville and another six Vancouver Island golf courses within a one-hour drive.
Brigadoon Golf Course opened in 2008. Located between Resort Row and the Parksville beachfront, the nine-hole public golf course offers par 3s and par 4s. Tee-offs are first-come, first served.
Bear Mountain Valley Course opened in 2009 at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria. The par 71, 6,807 yard, 18-hole Valley Course, with its sister Mountain Course, form the first and only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course in Canada.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Golf Vancouver Island: www.golfvancouverisland.ca
More things to see and do on Vancouver Island:
Vancouver Island Chocolate Tour
Wickaninnish Inn and Sooke Harbour House
More golf in B.C.:
Golf Courses in Okanagan, Kootenay, Kamloops, Surrey and Whistler
British Columbia Offers Winter Golf and Theatre Packages
