Canadian golf course architect Doug Carrick has designed several award-winning golf courses, including Angus Glen, Greywolf and Bigwin Island. His Carrick Course opened at the Predator Ridge Golf Resort near Vernon BC.
The Carrick Course is a renovation of the existing Peregrine golf course, with nine new holes. Located on rocky landscape beside Okanagan Lake, The Carrick Course offers spectacular views of the Thompson Okanagan region.
Okanagan golf
Many golf properties in the Thompson Okanagan region of British Columbia combine wine and golf. The Rise and The Club at Tower Ranch, for example, include vineyards and their own private labels.
The lakeside resort town of Osoyoos, in the southern Okanagan Valley, offers five golf courses. Two courses are located at the Osoyoos Golf & Country Club. Oliver, 20 minutes north, has the First Nations' owned and operated Nk'Mip Canyon course and Fairview Mountain, a difficult and dramatic mountain course. The Sonora Dunes Golf Course, near Nk'Mip Cellars, is also challenging. Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort has a spa.
Because summer temperatures in British Columbia's Osoyoos can reach mid-30 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), golfers often play the links in the morning, when it's cool, and relax on the beach or go wine tasting during hot afternoons.
Okanagan golf packages
Okanagan Golf Alliance packages feature a round of golf at three of the following Okanagan golf courses: The Harvest Club, Predator Ridge, Gallagher's Canyon and two Okanagan Golf Club courses. The golf deal includes two nights resort or hotel accommodations, with enough spare time to go to the beach.
Fruit trees line the Graham Cooke course at The Harvest Golf Club in Kelowna, BC. In spring, golfers enjoy cherry, apple, peach and other fruit tree blossoms. In fall, duffers can sample fruit from the orchards. In the Harvest Dining Room, Chef Paul Cecconi prepares dishes with produce and herbs grown on the property around The Harvest Club golf course.
Golf trail
The Thompson Okanagan Golf Trail includes 14 of the best golf courses in this BC region, including Tobiano, Talking Rock, Gallagher's Canyon, Salmon Arm and Osoyoos. With the opening of Tobiano, Talking Rock and Canoe Creek golf courses, Kamloops now has 11 championship-level courses. Because Kamloops has a population of only 85,000, it's easy for golfers to obtain tee times.
Twenty minutes west of Kamloops, Tobiano is a Tom McBroom-designed course, with ravines and holes on high cliffs above Kamloops Lake. Designed by Canadian golf course architects, Graham Cooke and Wayne Carlton, Talking Rock is located just east of Kamloops at Quaaout Resort near Little Shuswap Lake.
Canoe Creek Golf Course, in Salmon Arm, 45 minutes east of Kamloops in the Thompson Okanagan region, has scenic meadows, marshes and forests below Mount Ida. Canadian touring professional, Dave Barr, designed the 7,026 yard-course, from the championship tees (74.3 rating and 133 slope).
Canadian Rockies
Les Furber designed three golf courses in the Kootenays in southeast BC — The St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort, Trickle Creek Golf Resort and Bootleg Gap Golf. Furber, a Canadian golf course architect, studied under Robert Trent Jones Sr. and incorporated his style into the courses: beautiful white-sand bunkers, large rolling greens and holes aligned with mountain peaks.
The Les Furber Golf Trail includes two courses, designed by Furber — the Springs Course, at Radium Resort, one hour north of Kimberley, and the Golden Golf Club, one hour north in Golden. Both golf courses hug the banks of massive rivers and pass through thick woods and hilly countryside.
Helicopter golf
Western Canadian Golf Tours, in Kimberley, offers heli golf packages in the Canadian Rockies. Helicopters bring golfers to Bootleg Gap, Trickle Creek, Fernie, Kokanee Springs and St. Eugene Mission for golfing, followed by fly-fishing or a barbecue.
The ultimate golf vacation lasts two to seven days and includes guides and lodging in luxury mountain resorts.
Golf vacation specials
Resorts of the Canadian Rockies have a Summer Sizzle! golf package, which includes one round of golf at Trickle Creek Golf Resort, Bootleg Gap and the Kimberley Golf Club, breakfasts and two nights lodging in a two-bedroom condo at Trickle Creek Lodge.
Located in the Kootenay Rockies, above Columbia Valley Wetlands and Lake Windermere, Eagle Ranch Golf Resort features views of dry coulees, mountains, evergreen forests and eagles. The 6,646-yard golf course was designed by William G. Robinson.
High Country Properties offers golf packages with two nights accommodation in a deluxe vacation home, two rounds of golf with a cart, a gift card and four passes to Radium hot pools.
Greywolf golf course
Located at Panorama Mountain Village, two hours west of Banff, and 18 kilometers west of Invermere, Greywolf golf course is bordered by the Purcell Mountain Range.
Golfers playing the par-3 Cliffhanger hole at Greywolf have spectacular views from the cliff-top hole, located at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey
The 36-hole Northview Golf & Country Club is located in Surrey, just 30 minutes from Vancouver. Designed by Arnold Palmer, the challenging Ridge Course hosted the PGA Tour's Air Canada Championship when Mike Weir became champion. The Canal Course has an open links-feel, and is equally challenging when golfers use the "Palmer tees."
One hour east of Vancouver, in the Fraser Valley, is The Falls golf resort. Designed by Ted Locke and Rick Wellsby, the championship golf course offers views and 244 meters of elevation.
Sandpiper Golf Resort
Located in the Fraser Valley, 90 minutes from downtown Vancouver, Sandpiper Golf Resort is close to Harrison Hot Springs. A new golf and fishing package, called Hook, Line, & Sink It, is available for groups of four to 144.
The golf package holiday combines golf with catch-and-release fishing for white sturgeon in the Fraser River. White sturgeon is a freshwater fish that can measure up to 12 feet long and weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
The 6,500-yard Sandpiper golf course borders the Harrison River and forests of Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock. Hotel accommodations are available at Rowena's Inn on the River. Golfers can dine at River's Edge Restaurant.
Whistler golf packages
Whistler Mountaineer brings golfers on a three-hour train ride from Vancouver to Whistler in restored, open-air heritage observation cars. Whistler has four championship golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Bob Cupp.
Golfers can book Four Round Packages and Golf Whistler Passports with Golf Whistler Reservations to play the world-class Whistler golf courses — Big Sky, Chateau Whistler, Nicklaus North and Whistler Golf Club.
With the Four Seasons Elite Golf Program, golfers play three of the best golf courses in Whistler, Big Sky, Nicklaus North and Chateau Whistler, with a PGA pro. Rates include two nights hotel accommodation, breakfast, lunch, transportation to golf courses and a golf gift.
The Whistler hotel also offers a Golf Package with two nights in The Four Seasons Whistler, full breakfast daily and a round of golf each day per room. After a day on the golf course, golfers can book a golfer's massage to relax sore muscles.
The Four Seasons Whistler also offers helicopter golf on top of Mt. Currie, where golfers can hit biodegradable golf balls off a glacier.
Golf spa vacations
C&C Destination Tours, in British Columbia, offers a Whistler Spa/Golf Getaway. Packages include two nights lodging at Pan Pacific Mountainside in Whistler, a Vital Spirit Spa gift certificate for the hotel or a round of golf at Whistler Golf Club, with a shared cart.
The golf and spa package also includes a Whistler Discount Card.
Golfing for kids
The Whistler Golf Club, Nicklaus North and Chateau Whistler offer free golf for children, ages 10 to 18, this summer, if a paying adult accompanies them.
Kids' activities near Whistler golf courses include the Blackcomb Base Adventure Zone, mini golf, luge rides and horseback-riding.
GolfBC owns nine of the best golf courses in British Columbia, including Nicklaus North in Whistler and Olympic View on Vancouver Island. Seven days a week, all year long, each GolfBC course offers selected tee times when junior golfers (under 16 years old) play for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Discount golf
Big Sky Golf and Country Club, in Pemberton, near Whistler, offers golf vacation specials in spring and fall. Twilight golf is available after 3 pm with reduced greens fees. On Wednesdays and Sundays, Big Sky has a Golf & Dine deal, which includes a three-course meal and a 18 holes of golf.
The Bob Cupp designed course at Big Sky Golf and Country Club appears on the SCOREGolf Top 100 Courses in Canada list.
Women's golf
The Golf Academy at Westwood Plateau, in Coquitlam, offers golf lessons for women with its Diva Program.
Taught by C.P.G.A. Professional, Denise Whitworth, the women's golf school teaches The Foundation and The Fundamentals in four weeks of golf instruction. Women golfers learn how to improve distance, prowess and golfing skills.
Fairmont Hot Springs
Located in Columbia Valley, the three resort courses at Fairmont Hot Springs — Mountainside, Riverside and Creekside, have are owned by Ken Fowler Enterprises. A $1 billion renovation included an overhaul of the golf courses and new hot pools, hotels, restaurants, waterslides and a village at Fairmont Hot Springs.
Salt Spring Island golf
Located on Blackburn Lake, on Salt Spring Island, Blackburn Meadows Golf Club is the first entirely organic golf course in Canada. Designed by Jeff Shaw, Blackburn Meadows is a links-style golf course with nine holes and a 200 yard plus driving range. Open from March to October, it offers golf club rentals and a heritage club house.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
BC Golf: www.hellobc.com/things-to-do/golf
More golf in B.C.:
Learn to Golf Schools and Academies on Vancouver Island Golf Trail
British Columbia Offers Winter Golf and Theatre Packages
