It’s Busy, But Not Too Busy, At Sagebrush
Merritt-area course being discovered by more golfers
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
QUILCHENA, B.C.(August 1, 2024) — I recently got reacquainted with an old friend I hadn’t seen in several years. I am happy to report she is doing fine after a rough few years.
Sagebrush Golf Club is as wonderful as I remember. Perched on a hillside above Nicola Lake in British Columbia’s cowboy country, Sagebrush offers a golf experience that is both memorable and fun.
It’s not quite as quiet as I remember and that’s because word is apparently spreading that Sagebrush is back, with stable ownership and a solid management team who have worked hard to get the course back to its former glory.
General manager Chris Hood, a highly respected veteran of the B.C. golf industry, is the general manager at Sagebrush and he reports that 2024 is shaping up to be a good year for the club.
“Our rounds are way up,” Hood says. “We are going to do three and a half to four times as many rounds as we did last year. And we still have the 15-minute tee times, so we’re not jamming people through from six in the morning until six at night. The first tee time is at 8. A full day for us might be 100 rounds, where last year a busy day was 40 rounds.”
Many of those who are playing Sagebrush this season are first-timers. Hood estimates that at least 60 per cent of the play this season has come from individuals playing the course for the first time. “We are seeing a lot of new people who have never been here before,” Hood says. “A lot of times we have four people walk into the golf shop and we say, ‘have you visited us before’ and they’ll tell us, ‘he’s come, but it’s the first time for the rest of us.’”
That was the case with our group. I played with three of my colleagues from British Columbia Golf who had never laid eyes on the property. They all fell in love with Sagebrush. I simply rekindled my love affair with everything about the course: its magnificent views, wide, rolling fairways, huge greens, rugged bunkers and the variety of shots its demands. Heck, I even have an affinity for the sagebrush that lines both sides of most fairways.
I like to say a round at Sagebrush is not complete without a visit to the sagebrush and my driver obliged on more than one occasion. The funny thing was I often emerged from it after not only having found my Kirkland Costco ball, but with a couple of errant Pro-V1s deposited by other players.
Even though there are more players on the course these days, we didn’t notice it. We were neither pushed from behind nor held up by a group in front of us. “We are never going to be trying to do 20,000 rounds a season or anything like that,” Hood says. “That isn’t what Sagebrush is. If we try and do that, then it’s just like every other course and you are hearing ‘fore’ and dodging golf balls. That isn’t what we want. We want it to be relaxed.
"I have used the term elbow room and that is what we want. It isn’t what we had last year with 35 golfers playing all day, but it’s not 175 or 200. Ninety to 100 is a nice steady day for us. Some people get their round in during the morning, some people do a replay round and some people just have lunch after their round and carry on to Kamloops or wherever they are headed.”
Hood thinks a rate structure more geared to traditional 18-hole rounds has helped drive more business. “We are gradually kind of changing the structure and the model a little bit,” he says. “So instead of it being the unlimited golf package that included some food and beverage and 36 or 45 holes, we have a more traditional 18-hole model where you can add replay rounds.”
The course does continue to offer stay-and-play packages at its on-site accommodation. Hood says the course is seeing more visits from golf groups on those three- or four-day golf getaways. “We have been able to take advantage of working with some tour operators like B.C. Golf Guide and B.C. Golf Safaris and capture a lot of people who are doing trips. They are going to Tobiano or up to Kelowna or Predator Ridge or whatever and they are adding Sagebrush to their itinerary.”
Sagebrush got good news just the other day when it finally received the occupancy permit for the new building at The Hideout, which is located just below the 13th tee. A new deck has been built next to the fly-fishing lake, where guests can try to land a trout after their rounds.
A big goal for Sagebrush this year was to up its food and beverage game and getting The Hideout in full operation goes a long way toward attaining that. Sagebrush also has its Ranch House restaurant on the lower floor of its clubhouse. “We have a full kitchen at The Hideout, so we can do special events,” Hood says.
“The goal is for it to be the greatest halfway hut in golf even though it’s on the 13th hole. With 15-minute tee times you can order ahead, you can tee off on 13 and come down and order a sandwich that is going to be custom made to order or a burger or a hot dog or something that is made on the grill. You can take it to go and when you finish your 18 you can drive back out and park and hang out for an hour and do some fishing and have a cocktail.”
But golf will always be the focus at Sagebrush and considerable work has been done on the course the past two years. “People aren’t going to travel here just because the food is great,” Hood says. “It’s important to have a good burger and a great steak, but they are coming for the golf, so the golf course has to be No. 1,” Hood says.
Prior to present owner Andrew Knott of Langley getting control of the property, Sagebrush had been in hibernation for several years. The course needed some tender, loving care and it’s now in excellent shape. Its huge greens — a couple of them are 50 to 60 yards long — are smooth and fast, the fairways are firming up and the bunkers are being returned to their original jagged-edged design.
Course founder and co-designer Richard Zokol still drops in three or four times a month to play Sagebrush with friends. He’s delighted to see it back up and running but hopes the new owners can find a way to return fescue grass to its fairways and tees. Bent grass has taken over in recent years, so especially in shoulder season the course does not play as firm and fast as it once did.
“Every time we over-seed, we are over-seeding with fescue, but the bent grass has been incorporated a little bit and it is hard to get it out,” Hood says. “We are going to work at that, for sure. We want it to play firm and fast and fescue is the right grass for that. . .We are really happy with the course, but no one is satisfied yet.”
As for our rounds at Sagebrush, B.C. Golf summer intern J.P. Kahlert, who in his other life is a member of the UBC Thunderbirds golf team, shot a tidy two-under 70 from the 7,400-yard back tees. As for me, I was happy to scratch out a handful of pars (from the blue-white combo tees) and enjoy the Sagebrush experience again.
CHIP SHOTS: Sagebrush was rated at No. 17 on SCOREGolf’s recently released top 100 courses in Canada list. . .Public peak-season rates run between $190 and $230. The same-day replay rate is $100. Local rates of $150 to $170 are offered to those whose permanent residence is located within 150 kilometres of Sagebrush. For more information, visit sagebrushgolfclub.com