BC's Top Courses?
August 4, 2014
Jim Lee (British Columbia Golf)
ScoreGolf released their list of the top 100 golf courses in Canada for 2014. Sixteen BC courses are in the top 100 – here’s the list, with the architect and the date built:
8 – Capilano (Stanley Thompson, 1937)
10 – Sagebrush (Rod Whitman, Dick Zokol, Armen Suny, 2009)
11 – Shaughnessy (AV Macan, 1961)
13 – Tobiano (Thomas McBroom, 2007)
23 – Greywolf (Doug Carrick, 1999)
25 – Predator Ridge, Ridge Course (Doug Carrick, 2009)
26 – Royal Colwood (AV Macan, 1913)
28 – Victoria (Harvey Coombe, 1893)
33 – Big Sky (Bob Cupp, 1994)
41 – Fairmont Chateau Whistler (Robert Trent Jones, 1993)
43 – Bear Mountain, Mountain Course (Nicklaus Design, 2003)
47 – Nicklaus North (Jack Nicklaus, 1995)
58 – Bear Mountain, Valley Course (Nicklaus Design, 2008)
86 – Predator Ridge – Predator (Les Furber, 1991)
87 – Tower Ranch (Thomas McBroom, 2008)
92 – Eagle Ranch (Bill Robinson, 2000)
There is lots of room for discussion about the list and how it was derived. Everyone has their own favourites, depending on how well they played the course, their skill level and their own preferences for distance, difficulty and design.
Click here to give us your opinion on this list, and how you would rank these top BC courses. How many of the top 100 and BC 16 have you played? You can add your own favourite course to the list.
The list divides into three eras of golf course design, the classic era (1893 to 1961), the expansion era (the 1990’s) and the modern era (after 2000). Nearly half of the courses listed were built in the modern era. These were built as resort courses, or residential courses or a combination of the two. Courses in the 1990’s were largely built as resort courses, capitalizing on the rapid growth in the golf market and the availability of land outside the Lower Mainland. Most of these resort courses offer spectacular settings that can influence the perceived quality of the course but enhance the experience.
We have an article about the leading golf course architects in BC in this section of the website (News/Playing the Game). The consensus, based on the emails that I got back, was that AV Macan was the architect whose work best represented BC golf. Two of his courses show up on this list, but Thomas McBroom, Doug Carrick and Nicklaus Design all have two as well. This list doesn’t contribute to the discusson of the top architects. Take the survey to provide your opinion.
Click here to view the complete ScoreGolf list.