This past winter was kind to golf courses.
All of the region’s courses wintered well, with several opening earlier than normal.
Just off Highway 97B beyond Salmon Arm’s industrial park, Canoe Creek Golf Course is in excellent shape for its seventh season, says head pro Jesse Crowe, noting that the last couple of seasons, the course has won best-conditioned golf course by the readers of BC Golf Guide magazine.
Highlights of the course include the pot bunkers, he says, terming them “fantastically frustrating.” Another highlight is the signature third hole, which features an “elevated par-three across water with a beautiful water feature.”
At the Salmon Arm Golf Club, general manager, director of golf and CPGA Doug Herron says the course wintered really well, allowing it to open earlier than in the previous three seasons.
The club boasts two courses, the 18-hole Champions Course and the executive nine-hole Heritage Course. A big juniors program is set to start this month and many special rates are being offered for all ages, including one for first responders. Other highlights include the Spalding Cup, the longest running amateur tournament in B.C., now in its 85th year, which goes the last weekend in May.
At Club Shuswap Golf and RV just off the Trans-Canada nearing Canoe, Bruce Barnard notes that golfers can enjoy nine or 18 holes of executive golf, or fun for the family at the 18-hole real greens Putter’s Paradise.
The club also boasts a covered and open driving range, chipping and grassy areas and a large practise green. Barnard adds that corporate and family tournaments are the club’s speciality.
At Hyde Mountain on Mara Lake near Sicamous, pro Rick Thompson says his course, too, came through the winter in great shape.
One of the course highlights is its fourth hole, called Geronimo, where golfers can tee off 240 feet above the fairways. A lot of people are wowed by the scenery, he says, with five or six views overlooking Mara Lake.
At Eagle River Golf and Country Club in Sicamous, co-owner Rick Jaeger explains the course has more than 2,400 feet on the Eagle River, as well as a creek running through the middle of the course.
It stays dry and opens early, he says, because it’s sand-based being next to the river, so moisture drains away. Several tournaments are coming up including the long-running legion tournament May 25, the chamber of commerce tourney on May 31 and the men’s open June 1.
