Best of golf and travel in Alberta's Canadian Rockies

Just west of Calgary the flat farmlands and oil fields quickly turn into the dramatic Canadian Rockies, which are home to a collection of six golf courses of varying styles. Golf here dates back to 1925, when Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course opened in Jasper National Park. It was designed by Stanley Thompson, who would build the heralded Banff Springs just a few years later.

Since then, a few other notable designers have passed through this neck of the woods, including Robert Trent Jones Sr., quoted as saying his piece of property at Kananaskis Country Golf Course, where he would build two courses, was the best piece of land he's ever worked with. Given the area's spectacular mountain backdrops and wealth of wildlife, there's seldom a dull moment on these golf courses. Architect Les Furber also lives in the area and is a member of Canmore Golf and Curling Club. He built the new mountainside Silvertip Golf Resort, the area's most severe golf course with over 600 feet of elevation change.

Here's a look at some of the best shots on and off the golf course from Brandon Tucker's recent visit to the Canadian Rockies, which included helicopter rides, bear sightings and plenty of postcard-worthy golf holes.