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Golf ThunderBay’s MunicipalGolf Course:Nice Place To PlaySee Page 8

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Golf ThunderBay’s Municipal

Golf Course:Nice Place To

Play

Continued From Previous PageMy next stop would be a 30-minute

drive east to Kananaskis to play theKananaskis Golf Course. The drive there isvery pretty, off the main highway at theend, and leads to 2 beautiful 18-hole golfcourses.

“ We have Mount Kidd to the south andMount Lorette to the north. In the late 70’sAlberta’s Premier Loughheed had a visionfor Albertans to enjoy for the years tocome though the Alberta Heritage TrustFund, a saving from the oil revenues,” saidDarren Robinson, GM of Kananskis GolfCourse. “ The courses were started in late70’s and opened in1983 with Robert TrentJones SR as the designer. He came andtoured by helicopter and thought it was thebest natural setting he had ever been givento work with. The courses were originallyslated to be built on the other side of thehighway but when he saw this site hechose it. The river runs through here and Ithink it is hard to get away from how spec-tacular the scenery is here. It is just stun-ning! From almost every tee box you are

framed with the mountains.”

There is tremendous demand for theKananskis facilities from early May toOctober. They do 55,000 to 66,000 roundsover the two courses. “ These courses are a great value with thesetting, the design and a potent $98 for ourregular green fee rate with $78 forAlbertan’s and carts $17 per rider. Ourmain market is Calgary, which is less thanan hour away. Edmonton and the rest ofthe province account for 85% of our trafficwith the rest from all over the worldincluding Europe, Korea, China and Japan.We are at 5000 feet and the mountain, MtKidd, is just under 10,000 feet. Our teetimes may be harder to get on the weekendbut you can book online or with our reser-vations office. We recommend it soonerthan later. Our weather in July and Augustis the most consistent.” said Robinson.

My day at Kananaskis was one of mybest ever on the golf course. For me settingis huge in golf and I think it is hard to beatthe natural beautiful setting of Kananaskis.

Right from my hotel room you couldalmost see my next course, Silvertip, beau-tifully framed in the window. This course

is also just a few minutes away and wouldbe my next game. Silvertip opened in 1998to a soft opening and fully in 1999. It is aprivate development spread over 600 acresand the golf course consumes just over 100acres along with wildlife corridors, real

estate and developments. The course is aLes Furber design and he calls it his signa-ture golf course. The private owner is GuyTurcotte, an oil person by trade, who alsoowns the nearby Eagle Ranch golf courseas well.

“ We sit at the clubhouse at just under

5000 feet and the peaks surrounding thecourse are 8000 feet. There are viewsacross the valley on almost all 18 holes. Itis a golf experience. You have incredibleconditioning, the dining experience andgreat service, “ said Rhett Bokitoch, Golf

Sales Manager for Silvertip and a PGA ofCanada member. The views are incredible.It is 360 degrees on every hole. We havethe Three Sisters scenes from many holes.The condition of the course is incrediblefor the terrain and weather.”

Continued Next Page

Canadian Rockies Golf Destination World ClassBY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

Page 4 JULY 2012

Above: Travis Mann, Head Golf Professional at Silvertip Resort and RhettBokitoch, Golf Sales Manager for Silvertip

Continued From Previous Page“ We are service oriented and have a

busy summer season opening mid May andclosing late September or early October, “said Travis Mann, Head Golf Professionalat Silvertip Resort who is originally fromNelson BC and had aspirations at onetime for NHL hockey. “ We are also bigon weddings and have over 115 weddings

booked for this year. The food and bever-age drives a lot of business.”

“ My first game here was one of thosegoose bump moments. It offers challengefor everybody of different abilities. Ourtee boxes are from 5000 to 7100 yards.You should play the tees for your ability.Once you find the fairway it is quite easy,but you have to get the ball in play.” saidMann.

They target 16,000 rounds and have nomembers at Silvertip so are fully public.To get a tee time is never a challenge. Thegreen fees are $155- 7 days a week all day.They also have a 9 and dine rate for $80which includes power cart, driving range,GPS and tees and bottled water for everyguest. www.silvertipresort.com orwww.canandianrockiesgolf.com

My game at Silvertip was fun playingwith Travis and Rhett. They both play thegame very well and made the spectacularsetting even more enjoyable.

It was time for me to pack up my suit-case and drive the some 20 km’s west tomy next stop the iconic Fairmont BanffSprings Hotel for my last night in the area.This stately luxury hotel is world-renowned and was a real treat to callhome. The views of the course I had frommy room were fantastic.

Steven Young is the Director at Golf atthe Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course,originally from Ottawa and then NewBrunswick. Steven was a strong juniorgolfer and worked at the New BrunswickGolf Association before moving on to theAlgonquin Hotel and then the Banff oppor-tunity came up.

“ Golf was started here on sand greenson an informal basis before the 1900’s butin 1911 organized golf began here with a 9hole course designed by Scott WThompson. Stanley Thompson built the

18-hole course. In 1888 the historic BanffSprings Hotel was built to help import thetourists. It looks like a Sleeping Buffalo,”said Young who is in his 7th year at BanffSprings. “ Stanley Thompson courses arewhat you see is what you get. The greenshave subtle challenges with some bunkersthat are fair. There are no forced carries.This is a course that has tremendous

scenery, is very well manicured and keptup given the conditions we have at thebase of a mountain covered in snow forover 7 months of the year. A really goodgolfer can play from the tips and yet anovice golfer can play from the forwardtees and enjoy the course. That is a truemark of a great facility. When you hit abad shot all you have to do is look up atyour surroundings and you will rememberwhat is really important in life.”

The Banff Springs Golf Course use anonline booking system or 1 800 number.Their agents can help you book golf, ahotel room or the spa. “ People who comehere usually like food, drink, hiking andwe have all of that. We get people from allover the world. Many have played ourcourse on the golf simulator before evenarriving.” smiles Young.

In peak time the green fee is $225 atBanff Springs, while in the afternoon it canbe $185 or later $155. A good deal is the9 and dine where you can play the tunnel 9courses with dinner for $79 or play theStanley 18 hole course front 9 with dinnerfor $89. The clubhouse is built like ateepee in recognition of the first nationswho used to migrate through the valley

and put up their tents.

My game with Steven Young at theBanff Springs Golf course was a greatexperience. You are right at the foot ofsoaring mountains on many holes and it isjust a spectacular setting. When you add inthe great service and accommodation at theBanff Springs hotel it makes for a veryspecial stay.

It was great fun for me to play CanadianRockies golf. A special thanks to all myhosts.

We really do have a beautiful country tolive in, Canada. The Banff area is placeeveryone should visit at least once in his orher life! Visitwww.canandianrockiesgolf.comfor more information.

Page 5JULY 2012

Canadian Rockies Golf Destination World Class

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Last year I had the opportunity to playMunicipal Golf Course. Thunder BayCity Council has voted to close this his-toric course so be sure to get out and playit this season!

On a sunny hot August afternoon it wasfun to play Municipal Golf Course withTom Forsythe, Director of Golf, GolfThunder Bay. Tom has been in this posi-tion for 9 years now starting here in 2003.He grew up in New Brunswick and this ishis second trip to Ontario previouslyworking at Cataraqui in Kingston as wellas at Highland Links of the Maritimes asGM. Highland Links is consistentlyknown as a top 10 course in Canada andtop 100 in the world. It is right out on theocean where you hear, see or feel the

ocean on all 18 holes according to Tom.“ We have made a few changes in some

of the operation of our three courses total-ing 45 holes -Chapples, Strathcona andMunicipal over my years here. An adultmembership is about $1400 taxes includ-ed for all three golf courses which is agood value. Daily fees are about $28 to$40 for the courses. There is usually aminimum of 27 holes available at alltimes. Our memberships have declined alittle bit but that is probably a factor of theeconomy and losing some of the jobs wehave lost in Thunder Bay. It is a prettygood bang for the buck.” states TomForsythe. “ The hot weather impacts theplay level as people don’t come out togolf as much. Once we get above 25Celsius the play level drops although Ienjoy the hot weather.”

At Municipal the fairways have beengood with the rain we have had accordingto Forsythe. Also the greens were rollingwell during our game. “ It has been a pret-ty good season at Municipal. On theweekends we see younger people comingout. In the week the older folks can walkthe course that they enjoy. It is also easierto get on the tee boxes and greens hereand there are golfers in their 80’s stillplaying here. We had a good start in thespring and the staff have been doing apretty good job here keeping the greensrolling well,” said Forsythe. “ AtMunicipal it is a shorter length course soyou are hitting a lot of wedges into thegreens. It is a good course to practice on.The greens are small as well so theyaren’t easy to hit. It gives you some con-fidence here and is great for seniors andbeginners. If you haven't tried us youshould do so. ”

It was fun to make some pars and abirdie at Municipal. It is a great confi-dence booster to be able to hit your utili-ty wedge into the greens instead of a threewood that happens at my home coursequite often. Tom and I had a great matchthat ended in a tie. The last hole proved tobe a challenge for me when I was stymiedbehind a tree on my second shot intonumber nine.

After your relaxing golf game theMunicipal clubhouse has a great deck orcool inside area to relax and enjoy a cooldrink of vitamin water or your choice ofbeverage.

New last year at Golf Thunder Bay are50 new Yamaha golf carts placed on thethree courses. They are a nice comfort-able cart. They were able to install wind-shields at no additional cost on all thecarts due to the strength of the Canadiandollar.

Make sure you get out and playMunicipal this year!

Golf Thunder Bay’s Municipal Golf Course:Nice Place To Play

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERNW Ontario Golfing News

Page 8 JULY 2012