First Nations Courses A Welcome Addition To British Columbia’s Rich Golfing Landscape
Talking Rock (Shown Here) Along With Nk’Mip Canyon Desert And St. Eugene Are Just Three Of A Growing Number Of Indigenous Facilities In The Province - Image Credit Talking Rock
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
CHASE -- It opened quietly without much fanfare back in 2007, this golf course built by a small Indian band with big dreams. Initially, Talking Rock Golf Course seemed to almost get lost amid some of the more high-profile courses that were opening at the time in British Columbia.
“Talking Rock was one of those projects that was a bit under the radar because it was being developed at about the same time Tobiano (near Kamloops) was,” says golf architect Wayne Carleton, who along with Graham Cooke designed Talking Rock for the Little Shuswap Indian Band. “Tobiano was getting all the raves.”
But a funny thing has happened in the nearly 15 years since Talking Rock welcomed its first players. It has gone from being a course many had not heard of to being one nearly everyone wants to play. It is not a stretch to suggest that Talking Rock, located on the south shore of Little Shuswap Lake, is regarded by many as one of British Columbia’s top resort courses.
And it is part of a small, but impressive roster of courses owned by First Nation bands in B.C. that also includes Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver, owned by the Osoyoos Indian band, and St. Eugene Mission in Cranbrook, owned by four bands of the Ktunaxa nation and the Shuswap Indian Band.
“I have played all three and they are among my must-plays within the province,” says Kris Jonasson, chief executive officer of British Columbia Golf. “All three are championship golf courses, all three are fully capable of holding any championship.”
General manager Adam Blair arrived at Talking Rock about 10 years ago, when the course was still struggling somewhat to find its identity.
“There was an opportunity to really change the dynamic,” Blair says. “At the time it was trying to be like Tobiano and Sagebrush. It was lost in the shuffle and it didn’t have an identity. We took an opportunity to embrace the First Nations culture and we priced it accordingly, so really anybody could play it.”
Image courtesy Talking Rock
The 'Bear Trap' At Oliver, BC's Talking Rock GC
Thanks in no small part to Carleton’s vision, Talking Rock is playable for all levels of players. Although cut through forest, it is not as tough as it looks.
“It has that mountain-golf appeal to it,” Blair says. “One thing we always get from people is, oh, I could never walk this. But when you actually play Talking Rock it is flat except for two holes. What Wayne and Graham really did was they used the terrain well to give you that mountain course feel. Each hole is its own individual hole. You will never see other groups, but it is wide. You don’t realize how wide it is. You can hit driver, the greens are large. It is tough, but it is fair. You can go out as a beginner or an average player and spray it around a little bit and you are not going to get in that much trouble.
“And it is not like a lot of the courses that were designed in the late ’90s and early 2000s that were a little bit tricked up. Everything at Talking Rock is right out in front of you. Other than one bunker on the 17th hole, you can see everything out in front of you and there are no surprises. They did such a good job of making it a fun course to play for every skill level. That can be hard to find in today’s golf market with some of the new properties.”
Talking Rock is more than just golf. The resort also includes the 70-room Quaaout Lodge and Spa and a number of First Nations cultural experiences are offered to guests, including rock and paddle painting, Kekuli storytelling and Walk the Lands and Ethnobotany tours.
Image Courtesy Talking Rock GC
The 18th Hole At Talking Rock GC
“We are trying to incorporate more culture tours, really trying to engross people in the culture of the community, how the community worked together to survive winters and basically lived off the land,” says Blair. “We really just want it to be a destination where you can come, park the car for a few days and just immerse yourself in the community.”
The Little Shuswap Band has 354 members, with roughly half of them living on the band’s reserve. Aaron Arnhouse is a band councillor and sits on Talking Rock’s board of directors. He says the band takes immense pride in Talking Rock. “Talking Rock has helped our community grow in the last 14 years,” Arnhouse says. “It’s been a big contributor to our community’s economic development and helping our community grow in a positive way.”
Increasing numbers of band members are taking up the game and Arnhouse says the band wants to get more of its youth playing golf. “I hope in the future the number just keeps growing.” Arnhouse also hopes that one day band members will manage the resort.
That is already happening at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course, where Osoyoos band member Dave George is the longtime general manager of the course. George is also one of five co-designers of the course, which opened in 2002. It is located not far from downtown Oliver on the site of a former nine-hole course called Cherry Grove.
Image Courtesy Nk'Mip Desert Canyon GC
The 10th Hole At Nk'Mip Desert Canyon GC
Thirteen new holes were carved out of the desert and five holes of the former Cherry Grove layout were redesigned and incorporated into the new layout. Thanks in part to the COVID-induced boom in golf and outstanding conditioning, Nk’Mip has been exceptionally busy this year. About 60 per cent of its play is local, but outside play is continuing to grow.
“We are getting some grumbling from our members because they can’t get tee times,” George says. “It’s one of those things, a good thing, but also a bad thing. Bad for members, but good for our revenue.
“I think the overall conditioning of the course is one of its strengths,” George adds. “We have some fantastic holes through the desert. Each hole is picturesque in its own way and we don’t have any weak holes to speak of. We tried to bring our culture into the whole aspect of the design. We’ve got First Nations statues on the course and around the clubhouse and they gather a lot of interest from the public who come to play here and ask us what they represent.”
Image Courtesy Nk'Mip Canyon Desert GC
The course, which will play host to next summer’s B.C. Junior Girls & Boys Championships, employs about a dozen band members.
“That was the major goal of Chief Clarence Louie,” George says. “Every investment he makes in a business he does for one main reason and that is to employ band members, create employment so we can be self-sustaining. It is working out really well.”
George tried to retire back in 2007 but was lured back to the job by Chief Louie. It was Louie who sent George to a San Diego golf academy two decades ago so he could run Nk’Mip.
“I was fortunate enough to be there when Clarence was looking for somebody to send to the golf academy and I was quite involved in athletics already. He came to me and said, ‘well, you’re quite the athlete, would you be interested in going there.’ He didn’t have to ask me twice. It has been just golden ever since. I just love the position. I feel guilty working here because I get paid for doing something I love doing. But don’t tell the chief that.”
Image Courtesy Nk'Mip Canyon Desert GC
The Osoyoos band also owns the nine-hole Sonora Dunes course at its Spirit Ridge resort in Osoyoos.
St. Eugene Mission in Cranbrook opened in 2020 and was an instant hit with golfers. The Les Furber-designed layout is player-friendly, offers stunning Rocky Mountain vistas and features holes that wind alongside the St. Mary’s River.
All 18 holes at St. Eugene have been given Ktunaxa language names with phonetic spelling and translation displayed on a sign at each tee. The course is part of a resort that also includes a hotel, casino and KOA campground. It is located on the site of a former residential school, which is now part of the hotel.
Image Courtesy Tourism Cranbrook
The past two decades have presented plenty of challenges for St. Eugene. The resort was put into receivership early in its life and had to partner with bands in Alberta and Ontario to remain solvent.
“We don’t have the oil money behind us like the Prairie people do,” says Kathryn Teneese, chair of the Ktunaxa Tribal Council. “We are sort of tucked into this corner of the province and we didn’t have a lot of things at our fingertips in terms of ready cash. As a consequence, we went into court protection in 2004 and had to go into a partnership. That was challenging, but it was good in that it brought together First Nations from Ontario, Alberta and BC.”
That partnership lasted 12 years and the five original bands were able to buy out their partners.
“The fact we survived that challenge I think was huge,” Teneese says. “But then we had just gotten our property back, buying out our partners, when we got hit with COVID.”
Image courtesy St. Eugene Mission Resort
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been quite the boon for St. Eugene as it has for many courses in other parts of B.C. The travel restrictions that were in place hit the golf-rich Kootenay area hard as courses rely heavily on Alberta visitors as well as those from the United States. The course has been busy this summer since those restrictions on Alberta visitors have been eased.
The resort employs many members of the Ktunaxa bands, including teens who often get their first jobs working at the resort. Teneese envisions a day, hopefully not too far into the future, when band members can manage the resort.
“What we are really hoping is that we can find some of our younger folks getting interested in the industry,” she says. “The golf course, the hotel, the casino, obviously we have had people that work there from a maintenance perspective and all of those kinds of things, but we are really hoping we can get someone taking some turf care courses and becoming our superintendent, for example, and getting young people interested in golf as a career.
Image courtesy St. Eugene Mission Resort
The 14th Green & Pond At St. Eugene Mission GC
"We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but I will say a lot of people who in their lifetime probably never ever dreamed of either working on a golf course or playing golf are doing it now. To me that is huge.”
Teneese is one of those people. She has become an avid golfer in recent years. She often plays St. Eugene and helped organize an annual charity tournament every June on what is now National Indigenous Peoples Day.
“I think of myself growing up here in the area and golf was the furthest thing from my mind,” she says. “It wasn’t even reachable at that time. It was more of an exclusive kind of thing as opposed to where we are today where golf is I believe growing to be more inclusive.”
British Columbia Golf’s Jonasson is delighted to see First Nations golf courses becoming a significant part of this province’s rich golfing landscape.
“I understand there are 17 different golf properties that are owned by various different bands in the province, from driving ranges to full-play facilities,” Jonasson says. “And then of course they will be coming into the property at Shaughnessy and they own the lease on University Golf Course (both in Vancouver).”
Jonasson says British Columbia Golf hopes to work with bands to get more of their youth involved in the game.
“Over time what we would like to do is develop programming to get enough of their youth involved so that we can grow a generation that ultimately will take over and run these facilities,” he says. “Then they become self-supporting on their own.”