Canada offers another option

Published 10:28 pm Wednesday, July 25, 2007

When you think about golf in British Columbia, the Whistler area with such world-class venues as the venerable Whistler Golf Club and the nearby Nicklaus North Golf Course should come quickly to mind.

Or perhaps the Vancouver area, with terrific layouts like the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey and Coquitlam’s Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club.

Or maybe even the Kelowna area, which has also emerged as a premier golf destination with courses like Predator Ridge Golf Resort and the Harvest Golf Club.

But there is another part of British Columbia that offers outstanding golf, both for the local community as well as vacationing guests. It is the Kootenay region near the eastern reaches of the province, and while perhaps not as well known as Whistler, Vancouver or Kelowna, it surely warrants mention with the other three – not to mention consideration by folks looking for great summer getaways.

The Kootenay region is north of Idaho and western Montana, which means it’s a bit of a trek for folks from the Puget Sound area. Still, it’s beautiful country and there are plenty of resort activities for vacationers of all ages and interests.

Including, of course, top-notch golf.

Lee Ranger, the head pro at the lovely Eagle Ranch Resort in Invermere, B.C., says most of his play comes from nearby Alberta – Calgary, the largest city in the province is only a few hours away by car via beautiful Banff National Park. Only a small percentage of visitors to Eagle Ranch are coming north from the United States, Ranger said.

”We’ve been something of a hidden secret from that direction for a while,” he said. ”But this area is kind of like a hidden gem. It’s a fantastic destination.”

The Kootenay region is actually a large area and can be divided into the East Kootenay and the West Kootenay, with the Purcell Mountains forming the boundary. The East Kootenay is the larger of the two, both geographically and in the number of golf courses.

There are, in fact, two principal sections of the East Kootenay. To the north is the area known as the Columbia Valley, which includes Windermere Lake and Columbia Lake. The area to the south includes the cities of Kimberley and Cranbrook (the latter being home to the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League).

The Columbia Valley has eight golf courses, all within about 20 minutes of each other. They include Eagle Ranch and Greywolf Golf Course in Panorama, B.C., where Pete Smith is the director of golf.

”There are lots of great international-quality golf courses in the region,” Smith said. ”Just in our own area, the Columbia Valley, you could stay here and golf a different course every day for a week.

The advantage of a golf vacation to the Kootenay region ”is the different variety for every different skill level of golfer,” said Trevor Simkins, head pro at Kimberley’s Bootleg Gap Golf Course. ”There are tons of good resort golf courses, there are also some semi-private country club style courses, and there are also some par 3s. So there are courses that will fit everybody’s skill level.”

Playing golf in the Kootenay region is much like playing at the Suncadia Resort in eastern Washington, or perhaps in the Sunriver area of central Oregon. Many of the Kootenay golf courses are at 3,000 feet or higher, so there is generally mountainous terrain and higher alpine vegetation.

And, of course, terrific scenery.

Eagle Ranch, for instance, ”is nestled right between the Purcell Mountains and the Rocky Mountains,” Ranger said. ”We’re fairly elevated and it’s a beautiful setting. Somewhat of a desert climate, with temperatures around 90 to 100 degrees throughout the summertime. It’s a very lush environment for growing, so we have incredible conditions.”

Given the altitude, golf in the Kootenays is generally seasonal, and that usually begins around April and continues to mid-October. After that, the snow falls and the region becomes a skiing haven, much like Whistler or Sunriver.

And if there is an ideal time to visit, it is probably late summer and early fall, when temperatures and crowds begin to wane.

”What we find with our U.S. business,” said Greywolf’s Smith, ”is that once they come here, they come back. They really enjoy the experience.

”They find that by going through the border, they’re going to a foreign land,” he said. ”But we speak the same language and we deal in dollars, so they can have a steak sandwich and an American beer. All of that is a level of comfort for our U.S. customers, and they really do enjoy what they see and what they experience.”