Playing golf in Vancouver Canada (NO POLITICS!)

[noodle3872]

6 hours ago, doctorgolf said:

Depends what you want. Tower is in great shape this year. If it's windy you'll have a hell of a time. Can be fairly benign if there's no wind and you have a local to let you know when to club up (watch the false fronts). Views are incredible if that's what you're after. But it's a great 'play a couple times a year' course.

 

Harvest is a good option. Probably the best customer service you'll experience in town. Food is fantastic there as well. Course is kind of meh, wide open hit driver all day though. So it can be fun. 

 

Gallagher's is in horrible shape this year don't play it unless it's free. 

 

Shannon Lake in West Kelowna has phenomenal greens this year. A little quirky but I like the course all in all. 

 

The Bear and Quail out by the airport are ok in a pinch.

 

If you can swing it, drive out to Predator Ridge for the day (40 minute drive) and play there. Pricey, but worth it in my opinion. I like the Ridge course a little more but Predator is good too.

 

5 hours ago, myspinonit said:

Sounds like it's south of you, but any word on the two Osoyoos/Oliver courses, Nk'Mip and Fairview Mtn.?

Fingers crossed too, doing a guys trip there in three weeks (and a few more days with the Mrs. when the rest go home).  It will depend on smoke and also what Bonny and Minister Dix say further about recommended or stronger "no goes" after Labour Day. 

Boy, weird rating system in play here Doc! Not many golfers I know would rate Shannon ahead of Gallagher’s and the Bear/Quail courses. The scorching summer has hurt the course conditions. Tower is great but local knowledge is needed to score well. Predator is spectacular! Harvest is fun, wind makes it more challenging. Temperatures are a bit lower so the courses are likely going to green up and be more visually appealing. The courses in Osoyoos area are all still open and are in good shape.  

[vancouver81]

Fairview mountain is a great track, esp once you get thru the first 3 holes. 

[Shushwap]

I would play Fairview over nkmip..  I was out to nkmip early in the year and it was ok...

Shannon over bear and quail.. not for me.. not a fan of  Shannon.. playing quail in the am and Hyde mountain on  Monday 

Trying to get out to sagebrush.. Sent out a email to them today 

Tower is nice.. I would play it over harvest any day of the week 

Played gallaghers last week for the first time and it was not in the greatest shape.. save your money 

 

[doctorgolf]

54 minutes ago, noodle3872 said:

 

Boy, weird rating system in play here Doc! Not many golfers I know would rate Shannon ahead of Gallagher’s and the Bear/Quail courses. The scorching summer has hurt the course conditions. Tower is great but local knowledge is needed to score well. Predator is spectacular! Harvest is fun, wind makes it more challenging. Temperatures are a bit lower so the courses are likely going to green up and be more visually appealing. The courses in Osoyoos area are all still open and are in good shape.  

I've been a member at Gal for years and it is not worth a single cent of a green fee this year. Combination of dry weather and horrible decisions by the super have made it borderline unplayable at times. Almost entire fairways on some holes are spray painted as GUR and have zero grass growing. Every course had dry conditions in the region, and most are just fine such as Shannon and Harvest. 

 

Bear is very benign but fine. Quail is an awful layout unless you are a short hitter but then the par 3s will kill you. 

 

I didn't create any sort of ultimate ranking system. In all of their primes of course Gal is miles ahead of Shannon. Gal is my favourite course in the city not including this year and last year. I was simply pointing out which courses were in great shape right now and worth paying for and which were not.

[doctorgolf]

6 hours ago, myspinonit said:

Sounds like it's south of you, but any word on the two Osoyoos/Oliver courses, Nk'Mip and Fairview Mtn.?

Fingers crossed too, doing a guys trip there in three weeks (and a few more days with the Mrs. when the rest go home).  It will depend on smoke and also what Bonny and Minister Dix say further about recommended or stronger "no goes" after Labour Day. 

Not entirely sure on the fires near there. I've been more focused on the Mt. Law fire that got really close to West Kelowna last week. At one point the Coquihalla and 97C were closed because of this fire. Smoke has been pretty decent the last few days but can change hour to hour. Yeah COVID is a whole other mess. Kelowna and the interior in general is a disaster zone. I would say definitely wait to see what Bonnie and Dix say on Monday. We have been encouraging tourists to stay away from the Okanagan because we have so many COVID cases and also have so many people displaced from their homes due to fires whether it be the osoyoos/Nk'Mip fires, the Mt. Law fire, Lytton fire, or white rock fire and therefore need the hotel space for them.

 

You have the right idea in just keeping an eye on those situations and making an informed decision.

[KBong]

10 hours ago, Phireside said:

Fingers crossed, I'll be playing Sagebrush in the next week or so and then heading to visit an old friend and his family in Kelowna. With luck, I'll try to play a round before heading home. Is Tower Ranch my best choice in Kelowna? Never played out there before.

I await your report on Sagebrush.

Supposedly not in great shape...but they want the au natural look.

 

My friend played Tower Ranch and didn't care for it.

 

I've always like both courses...Golf BC's Quail & Bear courses.

I've never played Harvest....but it looks boring and easy.

Edited August 22, 2021 by KBong

[myspinonit]

6 hours ago, vancouver81 said:

Fairview mountain is a great track, esp once you get thru the first 3 holes. 

Agree…our courses are set, was  just checking on current conditions.  Getting to Fairview a bit early and hitting some downhillers on the putting green is enough to give you the heebie=jeebies though!

[The Beav]

Tower Ranch is a 4 hour kick in the nuts if you play without any local knowledge haha.  Fun course though and great conditions when I played there.  The amount of putts I legitimately read backwards was crazy.

 

Sad to hear Gallaghers has fallen off. 

 

Sagebrush is next up on my interior list.  Hopefully I can make it work at some point.  Hard to get on once you contact them?

 

 

[Phireside]

6 hours ago, The Beav said:

Tower Ranch is a 4 hour kick in the nuts if you play without any local knowledge haha.  Fun course though and great conditions when I played there.  The amount of putts I legitimately read backwards was crazy.

 

Sad to hear Gallaghers has fallen off. 

 

Sagebrush is next up on my interior list.  Hopefully I can make it work at some point.  Hard to get on once you contact them?

 

 

They were a bit slow to connect after the first submission through the site, but after it's been good. I gave a one week window and didn't have any problem confirming an arrival. we are just going to do the day golf. The course is closed on Monday's and Tuesday's including the lodging. I did inquire about an overnight that would have fallen on the Monday. I didn't ask why, but assume it's for the needed maintenance to bring it back after 4 years of neglect. Presumably when they fully open, it'll be a 7 day a week operation. 

[vancouver81]

Also quite interested to hear about Sagebrush. 

[Phireside]

With Hwy 5 being shut to essential travel only, it's looking less likely that I'll be able to go this weekend.

[Double K]

On 8/21/2021 at 2:31 PM, myspinonit said:

Sounds like it's south of you, but any word on the two Osoyoos/Oliver courses, Nk'Mip and Fairview Mtn.?

Fingers crossed too, doing a guys trip there in three weeks (and a few more days with the Mrs. when the rest go home).  It will depend on smoke and also what Bonny and Minister Dix say further about recommended or stronger "no goes" after Labour Day. 

I'm in Osoyoos right now. Osoyoos desert punched last week and Park punched this week. They will be good to go next week. The courses are very soft, they've been pouring water on them. 

 

Nk'mip Canyon punched a couple weeks ago so they are almost perfect. Tee to green the place is in fantastic shape. 

 

Playing Fairview on Friday. 

 

 

[KBong]

I know they are waiting on their insurance claim...but I still can't believe the bridge on the Links course is still broken and the HUGE in convenience to walk over to the driving range for hole 1 & 18 and a shortened hole #1 at Swaneset.

 

The course is tired looking....so many baked out dirt bare patches and soggy spots from over watering.

[Break68]

29 minutes ago, KBong said:

I know they are waiting on their insurance claim...but I still can't believe the bridge on the Links course is still broken and the HUGE in convenience to walk over to the driving range for hole 1 & 18 and a shortened hole #1 at Swaneset.

 

The course is tired looking....so many baked out dirt bare patches and soggy spots from over watering.

When did the bridge break?

 

[duffer987]

1 hour ago, Break68 said:

When did the bridge break?

 

March-ish. They're being cheap-o's waiting out the claim instead of fixing and collecting later.

Agree with Kbong, I'd go so far as to put the Links course on a no-go list - definitely no-go after it rains. It has soooo many dead bits, it becomes a muddy quagmire. They should at least do a lap and mark off a bunch of GUR. But then what do you expect for a course that lets cart our 12 months of year and doesn't bother with frost delays.

Resort side still in decent enough shape.

[Break68]

18 minutes ago, duffer987 said:

March-ish. They're being cheap-o's waiting out the claim instead of fixing and collecting later.

Agree with Kbong, I'd go so far as to put the Links course on a no-go list - definitely no-go after it rains. It has soooo many dead bits, it becomes a muddy quagmire. They should at least do a lap and mark off a bunch of GUR. But then what do you expect for a course that lets cart our 12 months of year and doesn't bother with frost delays.

Resort side still in decent enough shape.

I have a RedHat membership at Belmont, I know how cheapo WCGG can be.

[Phireside]

7 hours ago, KBong said:

I know they are waiting on their insurance claim...but I still can't believe the bridge on the Links course is still broken and the HUGE in convenience to walk over to the driving range for hole 1 & 18 and a shortened hole #1 at Swaneset.

 

The course is tired looking....so many baked out dirt bare patches and soggy spots from over watering.

I thought I had heard at some point there was also red tape about building over water/in water from the ecological police. Could be BS.

[Shushwap]

On 8/23/2021 at 7:22 PM, Phireside said:

They were a bit slow to connect after the first submission through the site, but after it's been good. I gave a one week window and didn't have any problem confirming an arrival. we are just going to do the day golf. The course is closed on Monday's and Tuesday's including the lodging. I did inquire about an overnight that would have fallen on the Monday. I didn't ask why, but assume it's for the needed maintenance to bring it back after 4 years of neglect. Presumably when they fully open, it'll be a 7 day a week operation. 

Interesting... as I emailed them a week ago and the response I received was they have had significant interest and they would respond soon 

I talked to a guy the other day that played there a week ago and he was not impressed and stated he wouldn't go back..

I would still like to see it with my own eyes 

[duffer987]

14 minutes ago, Shushwap said:

Interesting... as I emailed them a week ago and the response I received was they have had significant interest and they would respond soon 

I talked to a guy the other day that played there a week ago and he was not impressed and stated he wouldn't go back..

I would still like to see it with my own eyes 

Same here - I meant to get to it many moons ago now, while coming up from Gamble Sands and didn't.

I am sure coming out of their sitting derelict times + theoretically being that Whitman/Zokol went for a C&C style course, folks used to Predator, Tobiano, and those style of interior courses could think - meh, what's the big deal?

IMHO, it's the only course between Vancouver and the Rockies I'm actually interested to play. With the fires and all the rest of it, this might not be the best time to do so in fairness.

[Shushwap]

2 hours ago, duffer987 said:

Same here - I meant to get to it many moons ago now, while coming up from Gamble Sands and didn't.

I am sure coming out of their sitting derelict times + theoretically being that Whitman/Zokol went for a C&C style course, folks used to Predator, Tobiano, and those style of interior courses could think - meh, what's the big deal?

IMHO, it's the only course between Vancouver and the Rockies I'm actually interested to play. With the fires and all the rest of it, this might not be the best time to do so in fairness.

The smoke has eased off a fair bit in the last few days.. Hopefully it stays that way.. Let us know what u think of the track.. Still hoping I will get the call before the snow flies.. 

How many people did u book for.. I wonder if that's why I am getting the slow roll 

I booked for 3 

[duffer987]

27 minutes ago, Shushwap said:

The smoke has eased off a fair bit in the last few days.. Hopefully it stays that way.. Let us know what u think of the track.. Still hoping I will get the call before the snow flies.. 

How many people did u book for.. I wonder if that's why I am getting the slow roll 

I booked for 3 

Apologies if I wasn't clear 🙂

My 'same here' just applied to wanted to get a round/two rounds in - I haven't contacted them at this point.

[Shushwap]

1 hour ago, duffer987 said:

Apologies if I wasn't clear 🙂

My 'same here' just applied to wanted to get a round/two rounds in - I haven't contacted them at this point.

Ok thanx... Let me know if they get back to you... Curious if there is any room left this year... I may remove one from our party and hopefully have a better chance at getting on

[Double K]

On 8/24/2021 at 10:18 PM, Double K said:

I'm in Osoyoos right now. Osoyoos desert punched last week and Park punched this week. They will be good to go next week. The courses are very soft, they've been pouring water on them. 

 

Nk'mip Canyon punched a couple weeks ago so they are almost perfect. Tee to green the place is in fantastic shape. 

 

Playing Fairview on Friday. 

 

 

Fairview was awesome today. They've had some issues with the heat on a couple greens and fairways, so it's a little bit brown in areas. Other than that the course is in great shape. And one hell of a good test. 

 

It's hands down my favorite track in this part of the valley. 

 

Random factoid: I was partnered with a woman golfer, who played the blues with me. Great swing, 5 index. She carried her clubs!!!!! Not even joking. Anyone who has played Fairview knows it's not a walking course. Colour me impressed. 

[KBong]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:50 PM, Double K said:

Fairview was awesome today. They've had some issues with the heat on a couple greens and fairways, so it's a little bit brown in areas. Other than that the course is in great shape. And one hell of a good test. 

 

Random factoid: I was partnered with a woman golfer, who played the blues with me. Great swing, 5 index. She carried her clubs!!!!! Not even joking. Anyone who has played Fairview knows it's not a walking course. Colour me impressed. 

Played FM back in 1997...it was in great shape...I love the course and yes a bit of a walk.

 

Was the lady a past collegiate player?

[KBong]

On 8/25/2021 at 2:47 PM, Break68 said:

I have a RedHat membership at Belmont, I know how cheapo WCGG can be.

I thought WCGG stopped the Red Hat program in 2020?

I assume you play Belmont a lot because it's close to you?

 

I don't mind Belmont....I don't like the walks up the hills and conditioning can be questionable at times.

 

Does anyone know who owns WCGG?....is it foreign ownership?...what country?

 

FWIW...the pump hole on #12 on the North course at Golden Eagle burnt down last Sat....they don't know if it's arson.

[vancouver81]

Played Big Sky for the first time this weekend and was hugely disappointed. Course was in horrendous shape, every fairway (no hyperbole) had massive bare patches. Not dried up, but completely bare. I know they had some flooding at the start of the season and maybe that’s part of the issue, but they have no business charging full summer rates and not disclosing the poor conditions to the public. 
 

It was cartpath only for the “overseeding,” but there is a zero percent chance those fairways are coming back this season, and they look to have been dead for a long time. Numerous tee boxes were in rough shape as well, while greens were at least average tho far from pure. Too bad as I’ve heard great things about this course, don’t know if it’s a financial ownership thing but we also didn’t see a marshal the entire 5+ hour round. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by vancouver81

[jordan_mccomb]

Been awhile since I've seen a ranking list for the lower mainland. I know many have been in this group for a while so maybe it's not as useful, but I think a lot of us stick to our select rotation of courses. What are the top 3 public course experiences in the lower mainland you've had this year? I'll start it off:

 

1) Fraserview. I really enjoy the layout. Such a great mix of holes. The conditioning last week for the Vancouver Open was phenomenal.

2) Morgan Creek. I'm not a huge fan of running through a housing development, but there is no better conditioned course in the area. Despite not being long, it's a true test, I feel if you can play well there, you can play well anywhere. A good mix of par 3's and hole 13 may be the best hole in the Lower Mainland.

3) Meadow Gardens. May have a small bias, as I've probably played the most number of rounds here. Challenging greens and can be stretched out to 7,000 yards. Always kept in good shape, and I like the variety of par 4's.

 

Bonus. Best par 3, 4, 5

3: 17 - Canal

4: 11 - Redwoods

5: 13 - Morgan Creek

 

[vancouver81]

Fun list. I haven’t played FV this season but certainly agree with Morgan Creek. Just pristine conditions. I agree with 13 being just an awesome par 5, and posit that 12-15 may be the best 4 hole stretch in the lower mainland. 

[Phireside]

9 hours ago, jordan_mccomb said:

Been awhile since I've seen a ranking list for the lower mainland. I know many have been in this group for a while so maybe it's not as useful, but I think a lot of us stick to our select rotation of courses. What are the top 3 public course experiences in the lower mainland you've had this year? I'll start it off:

 

1) Fraserview. I really enjoy the layout. Such a great mix of holes. The conditioning last week for the Vancouver Open was phenomenal.

2) Morgan Creek. I'm not a huge fan of running through a housing development, but there is no better conditioned course in the area. Despite not being long, it's a true test, I feel if you can play well there, you can play well anywhere. A good mix of par 3's and hole 13 may be the best hole in the Lower Mainland.

3) Meadow Gardens. May have a small bias, as I've probably played the most number of rounds here. Challenging greens and can be stretched out to 7,000 yards. Always kept in good shape, and I like the variety of par 4's.

 

Bonus. Best par 3, 4, 5

3: 17 - Canal

4: 11 - Redwoods

5: 13 - Morgan Creek

 

Agree with your 1-2. I've never played Meadow Gardens. Headed to FV for the first time this year later this morning.

 

About 90% of my rounds are at MC and I just love it, even though it takes me the better part of an hour to get there.

 

As I've played Kings Links more and more, I've gained a greater appreciation for it.

[Phireside]

On 8/24/2021 at 4:03 PM, Phireside said:

With Hwy 5 being shut to essential travel only, it's looking less likely that I'll be able to go this weekend.

Unfortunately had to bail on Sagebrush. We didn't want to wait till the last minute for a status update on the Coq. Was looking forward to it.