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Four
Far Above the Floor
Tucked into the east side of the Northern Rockies
lie four stellar golf courses at three different spots spaced perfectly
apart to make for a week-long adventurE
By Jeff Wallach, For PNGA Media
Baniff Springs
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For a rollicking golf trip through the province of Alberta, fly into
Calgary in time to watch such Calgary Stampede rodeo events as the
chuck wagon races and you’ll start to think that hitting a 3-wood
into a cross wind on a narrow fairway is pretty risk-free.
Ratchet up the golf excitement by heading west into the teeth of the
Rockies on Highway 1. Make your first stop at Kananaskis Country Golf
Course, home to two of the finest Robert Trent Jones Sr. layouts you’re
likely to stumble upon in a remote wilderness.
Jones might have begun a trend of designer hyperbole by being the
first to state the oft-repeated notion that this was “the best
natural setting I’ve ever been given to work with.”
We can’t even argue, as the sublime topography here combines
views of massive snow-covered mountains with perfectly crafted golf
holes lying at 5,000 feet of elevation. Plus it’s adjacent to
the posh Delta Lodge at Kananaskis, a perfect base camp for exploring
the golf courses.
The Mount Kidd layout, named for the 9,700-foot peak that serves as
a target for the opening tee shot, is a fine 7,072-yard introduction
to the property. Just don't introduce yourself to all 142 bunkers.
Additionally, water, rocks, trees, undulating shallow greens, and
other gainfully employed design elements create a memorable golf odyssey.
Wind serves as an invisible hazard. The first par-3 on Mount Kidd
comes at No. 4 and plays 197 yards to a peninsula green splashed around
with bunkers. Double fairways offer visual treats at holes nine and
11. The par-5s give most players an opportunity to be heroic and reach
the greens in two, but the consequences for misbehaving are stiff.
Fire at Mount Kidd one more time on No. 17 -- to a fairway narrowed
by trees -- and then finish your round with 642 yards of sandy mayhem.
Mount Kidd's sister course, Mount Lorette, plays a bit longer (7,102
yards) and features larger greens -- which is good, because the course
winds around and across the Kananaskis River among conifers, deciduous
trees, 126 bunkers, and boasts 14 holes where you can hit into water.
No. 1 sets the mood with a creek right and two lakes to the left.
On No. 2 -- as on many classic Jones holes -- the farther you hit
the more accurate you need to be. When you think the first par-3 (No.
4) will bring respite, consider its 250 yards, its triumvirate of
greenside bunkers and the water to the hooking side.
The course breaks out into full splendor between No. 14 and No. 17.
The Kananaskis River bows widely right around the 523-yard 14th, then
sweeps an arc left around the 188-yard par-3 15th. It appears back
to the right and closer to the 16th, then darts and curves right again
but must be crossed on the par-3 17th -- one of Jones' favorite holes.
Jasper Park
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Following golf at Kananaskis, follow Highway 1 farther north to Banff,
home to the Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course and the Disneyesque
castle that serves as its hotel. The masterful course was designed
by renowned Canadian architect Stanley Thompson, one of Jones' inspirations.
The par-71 layout can be stretched to 7,083 yards with a slope of
142. There's also a nine-hole layout here, and both tracks play inside
the national park.
A local rule on the scorecard should help prepare you for what's to
come. It reads: "Any shot striking an elk may be replayed with no
penalty."
The entire journey around Banff Springs is wild and remote. The layout
as a whole is characterized by optical illusions created by the mountains.
When it was designed and built in 1927, it was the first course in
golf history known to have cost more than $1 million. The front nine
features three par-3s, par-4s and par-5s, and each hole is individually
named. Highlights include The Cauldron, 199 yards from an elevated
tee surrounded by spruce and fir and playing down over a boulder-filled
glacial lake to a welcoming punch bowl green backed by 3,000-foot
cliffs.
Holes eight through 14 all play along the fresh, winding Bow River.
The 14th is a highlight - literally. It essentially launches from
a mountaintop 440 yards way downhill with leg-weakening views. The
course finishes with a croissant-shaped par-5 of 483 yards.
The five-diamond Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888 (it took 18 years
to build) as a luxury stopover for passengers of the Canadian Pacific
Railway. Renovations totaling $175 million in the last decade have
returned opulence to the 770 rooms and suites. If you're headed for
the spa or one of the 12 restaurants, leave a trail of bread crumbs
or you might wander happily lost for hours.
Kananaskis
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Heading even farther up Highway 1 into the Great White North will
bring you to -- no, not the arctic circle just yet -- Jasper Park
Lodge. Since the turn of the century, the Lodge has played host
to dignitaries ranging from Queen Elizabeth to the Dixie Chicks.
Located inside Jasper National Park, the resort's 446 rooms -- including
quaint lakeside cabins -- spread across more than 900 acres.
The excellent Stanley Thompson golf course, built in 1925, spreads
across 6,662 yards. It took 50 teams of horses and 500 men to clear
timber and rocks from the site. The holes each sport individual
names as clever as "First" and as controversial as "Cleopatra,"
a 231-yard par-3 full of curves, with Pyramid Mountain as its backdrop.
As on many Thompson courses, holes frame distant peaks and shaping
mirrors distant landscape features. Wide fairways wend through pines,
fir, and aspen to large, free-flowing, compartmentalized greens.
The course opens gently until No. 4, the first par-3 -- a 240-yarder
with a narrow entry between bunkers. But the best of three par-3s
on the front comes at Cleopatra, No. 9, 231 yards downhill and requiring
a diamond-cutter's touch to drop one in over a protective bunker
to a platform green you won't want to miss.
Water first appears at No. 10, an even greater hole if you can call
up a draw. Bunkers along this hole -- called The Maze -- are designed
in the shape of a variety of sea creatures, such as the Octopus,
with 40,000 square feet of sandy arms.
But the real highlight comes on holes 14 through 16, routed around
Lac Beauvert. No. 14 crosses the lake directly. No. 15, a 138-yarder
called The Bad Baby, plays in the vicinity. Then 16 plays alongside
the lake to a green tucked in behind a corner of watery invitation.
In addition to great courses, a polite and friendly populace, and
an exchange rate that's still favorable to Americans, Canada is
nearly as crazy about golf as it is about hockey. Which, by the
way, explains why practically every foursome of Canadians is likely
to contain at least one left-hander and locals often hit with the
trajectory of a slap shot.
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Fairmont
Banff Springs
Golf Course and Hotel
403-762-2211
www.banffsprings.com
Delta
Lodge at Kananaskis
866-432-4322
www.deltahotels.com
Kananaskis
Country
Golf Course
403-591-7154
Fairmont
Jasper Park
Lodge and Golf Course
780-852-3301
www.jasperparklodge.com |
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