For Canadian Golf at its Warmest, You’ve Got to Get Off the Mainland

by Vic Williams

It’s 10 o’clock on a still, cool June evening at Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort. You’ve got a cocktail in one hand and a cigar (or the hand of a friend/spouse/partner) in the other. Over your left shoulder the Canadian sunset goes on forever in a glowing parade of cosmic color; over your right shoulder, down the coast, is the lovely city of Victoria awaiting your arrival a day or two hence. Straight ahead is the Strait of Georgia at high tide, with the jagged outline of the Coast Range beyond, and behind is a full day of early morning fishing, afternoon golf and an evening bellyful of tri-tip steak and salmon barbecued on the resort’s patio. Tomorrow brings a spa session and another round of golf, or maybe a sail, bike ride or mountain hike, topped off with another great meal and, if you’re adventurous, a pub crawl. There’s plenty of daylight and an unlimited supply of good cheer. Go for it.

Welcome to Vancouver Island, where Canadians go to thaw out in winter and tee it up year-round, and more and more Americans are visiting to chill out when summer gets serious and wanderlust calls. A flight to Seattle or Vancouver, a hop or ferry to Victoria — where Britain meets Canada’s banana belt — and you’re there in the extreme southwest corner of our neighbor to the north, a 300-mile-long, 100-mile-wide outpost of genteel hospitality and breathtaking wilderness. Welcome, indeed — very, very affordably so.

Friendliness is infectious up here. Walk into any clubhouse and you’re an instant local. Smiles stretch as freely as the beer flows, and it flows by the mega-liter from hotel bars and neighborhood pubs. The golf flows well, too, in that unhurried and open Canadian way, through dense forests, along sun-kissed hillsides and across pine-studded granite ridges. More than 40 courses are lined up and ready, most of them along the island’s eastern shore. At least a dozen of them are among the nation’s best, authored by the likes of prolific Canadian legend Les Furber, American giant Jack Nicklaus and, very soon, Australian superstar Greg Norman. They range from classic parkland-meets-forest forays such as Storey Creek halfway up the island in salmon country, to modern mountain beasts like Nicklaus’ Bear Mountain at its southern tip, with a city view that’s so good, you’ve got to make a mid-round 19th Hole stop to get it. And the vistas at nearby Olympic View are astounding, as well — No. 17, for instance, features a behind-the-green manmade waterfall that actually fits its surroundings, more of a wispy veil than a thunderous curtain.

“As far as settings, the golf is eerily representative of the entire island,” says Jason Lowe of Golf Vancouver Island, a marketing alliance. “We have so many activities that relate to the golf experience. Every golfer is looking for something different in a course. Variety is a strong point on Vancouver Island. It keeps it fresh.”

In fact, Lowe and his fellow golf-minded islanders work hard to constantly freshen their product, which leads to return business, which leads to word-of-mouth … you know the drill. Golf is yet another sport in a sportsman’s paradise, and it fits right in.

For instance, flying into Comox Valley Airport on a feeder from Vancouver can get you in on a “Fins and Skins” promotion that includes golf and a guided salmon fishing excursion based out of the Painter’s Lodge, located at the mouth of the Campbell River — world famous for its seasonal runs of Coho, Sockeye, Pink and Chum (and for many other species of fish, including halibut and cutthroat trout, in the salt waters of the Strait of Georgia). A personal guide will find where the fish are, and if you reel in a whopper, the folks at the lodge will prepare it to your specs and ship it home. An early morning on the open water, an afternoon round at Storey Creek or Crown Isle and dinner just a water taxi ride away at April Point on Quadra Island: Now you’re talking a delicious day in more ways than one.

“Some of the unique parts of what we offer, like the fins and skins angle, not every trail can offer those unique opportunities in addition to the golf,” says Trish Larsen, a colleague of Lowe’s. “And the hospitality — it’s one thing to say we have great service, and a lot of people fly that flag, but the consumers who visit give a resounding echo of what kind of hospitality Vancouver Islanders truly offer here. It’s a positive experience and people feel truly welcome.”

Larsen lives in Duncan, halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo, the island’s second-largest town, but her favorite getaway spot is a little father north, in Parksville, where Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort pampers without losing the island’s frontier mojo. Its new private spa bungalows complement the original ocean-view condos and larger log cottages with spacious and well-appointed layouts, kitchens, fireplaces, big bedside bathtubs, the whole deal, but look out the window and you’re bathed in a pristine north country glow filtered through big conifers. Make your way to The Grotto Spa, now the island’s largest, and you’ll revel in a cave-like pool before taking in a massage and settling in for dinner at the Cedar Room.

A couple kilometers south at Nanoose Bay is Fairwinds Golf & Country Club, another Furber design snaking over forested hills above a marina that can handle craft up to 150 feet long. Lakes or streams hug half the holes and the highest spots on the back nine, such as the tee at 330-yard No. 16, give great views of the strait and surrounding mountains. Book a room in the 35-room Schooner Cove Resort, get in on one of the resort’s crab feeds and it’ll be tough to move on, even if the winds of adventurism are calling.

“Not many places in the world have a hotel, golf course and 350-slip marina,” says Fairwinds’ Paul Hodges. “We’ll unload guests’ clubs off the boat and have free shuttles that run right to the golf course. They can go kayaking later in the day, take a sunset cruise, grab a massage, hit the sheets and have a good sleep.”

If it’s midsummer, that recipe should also include a sidetrip to Morningstar International Golf Course, where general Peter Dutton hosts more competitive amateur and pro events than just about anyone on the island. Recent improvements in drainage and maintenance have turned a true split-personality course into a worthwhile and winsome adversary. Most holes wind in and out of the forest primeval, while each nine’s opener and the final stretch slide heathland-style into the well-bunkered, well-mounded open. Some of the forest holes are so secluded you’ll feel as if you’ve lost your way, but stay focused; Furber (and nature) do some of their best work here.

Then again, it’s nearly impossible for either human or heavenly architect to come up short when the landscape is as spectacular as Vancouver Island’s. While the big snowcapped peaks fade into the rear-view mirror the farther south you go, the terrain remains breathtaking. Arbutus Ridge and Olympic View illustrate the point beautifully. Bill Robinson laid out both of these tree-lined treats, the former a lower-lying, closer-to-the-sea affair, the latter a bigger-shouldered circuit climaxing with the aforementioned waterfall and boasting one of the deepest bunkers in creation, at the short par 4 No. 12. Then there’s No. 17 with its waterfall — it might be the island’s prettiest hole overall — and the par-5 finisher with a monster rock guarding the left side.

“I’m a little biased, but the combination of Arbutus Ridge and Olympic View is awesome,” Lowe says. “They’re very different experiences. With Arbutus Ridge you get views of Mt. Baker and the channel, there’s a lot of risk versus reward, a wide variety of playability. Olympic View is a little more mighty in its challenge. At the same time, one of its strengths is variety. Perhaps two or three holes are alike, and that’s why people like playing it over and over.”

The same can be said for Bear Mountain, a pure Nicklaus course with big greens, wide landing areas, copious bunkering and a personality as dramatic as Jack’s major wins. It’s a new kind of Vancouver animal, part of a massive resort project developed by a group of NHL players and encompassing 1,000 acres on the flanks of Mt. Finlayson, above Victoria. The existing Mountain Course was an immediate hit after opening in 2003, and by 2008 all holes of Nicklaus’ second layout, the Valley Course, will give the project a nearly unbeatable one-two punch.

“This is the flagship golf course, so all other courses are benefiting because people are coming to play it,” says Bear Mountain representative Anthony Everett. “It just adds to Victoria, which is a pretty nice city. It won’t be long before there’s a village there, and people will be able to spend the day there, with shops and such, and they won’t even have to play golf. I never thought I would see it here.”

But see it he has, as have golfers and investors from as far away as Texas and Florida who were impressed enough at last year’s initial fractional ownership offering to plop down a healthy chunk of the $140 million committed in a single day.

“We’re getting a lot of interest from the States,” Everett says.

Why not? This is a Nicklaus course, his second in British Columbia (the first is Nicklaus North in Whistler, on the mainland), and it has that friendly yet ferocious Bear-ing that Yanks love so much. The front nine moves down and through a broad valley, and it’s gorgeous every step of the way, but the back nine seals the “wow factor” deal. The near-island green at No. 11, the bunkerless No. 12 and the waterlogged Redan-styled No. 13 set the table for the Nicklaus crescendo, which starts at the No. 14 tee, gains volume up the 5-par’s steep and bunker-riddled approach and onto its mountaintop green, then hits its highest note at the course’s shortest hole, one that doesn’t show up on the scorecard until players land safely back on earth, three equally excellent holes later.

“I grew up in Victoria, and the view from that 19th Hole still blows me away every time I’m up there,” Everett says. “Even the view from the top of Mt. Finlayson isn’t as nice as the 19th hole is. I find it incredible that we have that, and it’s on a golf course. It’s wilderness, and we’re playing golf up there. That’s pretty cool.”

Capping a round off with an even cooler microbrew in the clubhouse (a bigger, prettier, permanent facility is nearing completion), then heading down to Victoria for a night of fine dining, perhaps high tea at the Fairmont Empress and clubbing on the Inner Harbor, then bedding down at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe — sounds like the perfect end to another long, languid summer day on Vancouver Island. Only one question remains: To head north and do it all over again, or head back over the water and home.

Our answer? We’ll get home eventually. FG

VANCOUVER ISLAND
British Columbia, Canada
888.GOLF.239 | www.golfvancouverisland.ca

THE COURSES
NORTH TO SOUTH

Storey Creek Golf & Recreation Society
Campbell River
250.923.3673
www.storeycreek.bc.ca
5,434 to 6,699 yards

Fairwinds Golf & Country Club
Nanoose Bay
250.468.7666
www.fairwinds.ca
5,173 yards to 6,151 yards

Morningstar International Golf Course
Parksville
www.morningstar.bc.ca
5,882 yards to 7,018 yards

Arbutus Ridge Golf & Country Club
Cobb Hill
www.golfbc.com
5,535 yards to 6,168 yards

Olympic View Golf Club
Victoria
www.golfbc.com
5,512 yard to 6,534 yards

Bear Mountain Golf & Country Club
Victoria
www.bearmountain.ca
5,783 yards to 7,212 yards

THE LODGING

Painters Lodge
Campbell River
www.painterslodge.com

Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort & Conference Centre
Parksville
www.tigh-na-mara.com

DeltaVictoria Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa
Victoria
www.deltahotels.com