Destination: Alberta

Whether it's a business trip to the booming oil capitals of Edmonton and Calgary or a long-awaited mountain vacation that leads you to Alberta, Canada, be certain to take your clubs along for the golf of a lifetime. Alberta offers an almost overwhelming selection of more than 275 golf courses unsurpassed anywhere in the world for natural beauty, diversity and challenge.

With so many options, it's hard to know where to begin. But a popular choice, especially with first-time visitors, is to start in Calgary and then follow a route known as the Alberta Rocky Mountain Circle Tour, stopping at several of Canada's top-rated courses along the way. The tour winds through the Canadian Rockies with visits to Banff and Jasper before completing a circular return to Calgary via Edmonton and Red Deer.

Calgary, remembered as the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics, has emerged in recent years as a sophisticated metropolis of skyscrapers, corporate head offices, shopping complexes and top-flight hotels.

A 10-minute drive west of Calgary, The Links of Glen Eagles delights golfers with ravines, escarpments, natural grasses and spectacular views of the Bow River Valley and the mountains beyond.

An hour or so away in the mountains above the town of Canmore, approaching Banff, you'll find SilverTip. Opened in 1999, SilverTip has a stunning collection of holes, almost every one offering views of the surrounding peaks.

A short drive past increasingly majestic Rocky Mountain peaks brings the traveler through the gates of Banff National Park to the famous resort town of Banff, renowned as the home of Banff Springs Golf Course. An essential stop for every golfer, the breathtaking valley design is the handiwork of Stanley Thompson, Canada's most revered golf architect.

Leaving the Banff Springs behind, the Circle Tour follows the Icefields Parkway on a 287-kilometre route that snakes through the heart of the Rockies into Jasper National Park, adjoining Banff National Park to the north.

It was at Jasper Park Golf Course that Stanley Thompson first made his mark. Opened in 1926, his stunningly beautiful layout flows with the natural contours of the land. Thompson startled the golf world by clearing gaps through Jasper's forest to point golfers toward greens aligned with distant mountains, and by whimsically patterning his bunkers after the snow formations on their peaks.

Few courses in the world rival the Banff Springs and Jasper Park for animal life. Bears, elk, big-horn sheep, mountain goats, wolves, coyotes and eagles are frequently seen at both courses.

The journey east from Jasper to Edmonton, Alberta's capital city, is a memorable ride through mountains, foothills, and finally wide open and gently rolling countryside.

About a half-hour west of Edmonton is Cougar Creek, a golf course nestled in a forest of spruce, birch, poplar and aspen that presents a championship test in every sense.

Even closer to Edmonton is The Ranch Golf and Country Club, the site of four Canadian Tour events. The Ranch's front nine is links-style in design, while the closing holes are more traditional, with tree-lined fairways and numerous water hazards.

Edmonton, Alberta's capital city, is famous for its natural beauty, friendliness and the incredible West Edmonton Mall. Located within Edmonton's southern limits is Jagare Ridge Golf Club, which offers a memorable selection of risk-reward holes in landscape ranging from wetlands to old-growth forest.

Red Deer, an energetic city of 60,000, is located 149 kilometres south of Edmonton. Twenty minutes or so north of Red Deer is Wolf Creek Golf Resort, a 27-hole links-style layout that ranks among Canada's very best facilities.

In addition to acclaimed Wolf Creek, the Red Deer area offers several more courses to tempt golfers: Alberta Springs, Pheasantback, Pine Hills, Ponoka and River Bend.

Like every stop on Alberta's fabulous Rocky Mountain Circle Tour, the choice is almost overwhelming.