Welcome to Whistler, British Columbia, the hip mountain getaway two hours north of Vancouver, Canada that's becoming almost as popular for golf as it is for its outdoor adventures. You can play 18 holes in the morning and be mountain biking down steep trails by noon. Or ride a jet boat up a secluded river in the morning and tee off at a world-class country club just hours later.
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If you're looking for an old-school layout, you're at the wrong place. In fact, you're probably in the wrong part of the world. What you'll find at the Golf Club at The Rise, in British Columbia, is four hours of golf that won't remind you of any place you've been before. Every hole is a bit of an adventure. Like a roller coaster, the ups just build excitement for the next plummet.
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The scorecard at Talking Rock Golf Course at Quaaout Lodge says something about "2,400 feet of sandy beach," which is located a few steps away from the lakefront rooms at the back of the lodge. You realize early on, however, that the total doesn't include the bunkers, which are plentiful. But the course, located near Chase, British Columbia, will not punish you.
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Long before anybody was haggling over strokes on the tee, Revelstoke Golf Club was an equestrian track. Revelstoke, the only 18-hole course for about an hour in any direction, isn't necessarily a course you would go out of your way to play, but it's a great spot to stop en route to wherever it is you're going, Wes Gilbertson writes.
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If you showed somebody a photograph of each hole on the championship course at Bootleg Gap Golf in British Columbia's East Kootenays region, they might not believe all 18 share the same scorecard. Some of the fairways are surrounded by fescue grass that sways in the wind. Others are bordered by towering pine trees that don't sway for anything. Some trace the banks of a river. Bootleg Gap offers a little taste of everything, and the result is a 7,157-yard track that's become a popular hangout for locals and is also frequented by value-seeking out-of-towners.
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The Fairmont Chateau Whistler, less than a two-hour drive north of Vancouver up the coast, is a popular retreat for skiing and summer activities. The hotel's 18-hole golf course, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club, was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., and is one of Canada's best mountain tracks. Brandon Tucker shows us more in this photo gallery.
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With towering pine trees separating most of the holes at Golden Golf Club, you'll seldom see another group. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll have the course all to yourself. With moose, elk, eagles and bears, wildlife usually comes into play. But while you might be easily distracted by the mountain vistas or your four-legged followers, the golf course has teeth, too.
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Golden Golf Club is tucked away in the Columbia Valley, nestled between the Rockies on one side and the Purcell Mountains on the other. Surrounded by untouched wilderness, the golf course's rugged terrain was also carefully preserved. Mature trees line nearly every hole and water also has a prominent presence throughout the course.
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Ask one of the locals about slope rating, and they might tell you the scale runs from beginner to the experts-only double black diamond runs. Make no mistake, Whistler is a ski and snowboard town first. When the sun finally warms up British Columbia's favorite mountain playground, however, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler becomes a world-class golf resort. Wes Gilbertson has more from British Columbia.
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The big news for spa buffs is the debut of Sparkling Hill Resort in the Okanagan Valley, a dazzling property with a must-see-to-believe spa. Sparking Hill was designed in the mold of a European wellness hotel. Guests are encouraged to come for an extended stay. Nearby, Predator Ridge Golf Resort has its own smaller, functional spa and salon, recently remodeled and run by AVEDA.
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Fairmont Banff Springs is one of two classic, Stanley Thompson-designed courses in Alberta's Canadian Rockies. Opened in 1928, the course is known around the world for one of the most exciting par 3s in golf, the "Devil's Cauldron" fourth, that plays from an elevated tee over water to a well protected green that sits right next to a jagged, rocky mountainside.
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