Doug Carrick Returns To B.C. To Design Hallō Nelson Course
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Where Doug Carrick goes, great golf courses normally follow.
So the fact Carrick is making a return visit to British Columbia is wonderful news for golfers. Carrick is arguably Canada’s pre-eminent golf course architect and has been hired to do a rebuild of what is now Granite Pointe Golf Club in Nelson.
The new course — tentatively called The Dodger — will be the centrepiece of a new resort called Hallõ Nelson. The course will be the first Canadian layout to be managed by Troon Golf.
Carrick recently made his second visit to the site, where he was accompanied by Jim McLaughlin, a former Vancouver-area golf pro who is now a Troon vice president.
Carrick stresses he will be creating a new golf course on the Granite Pointe site. This is not a renovation. “It will be a complete rebuild of the existing course,” Carrick said in a telephone interview. “There are maybe five holes that will be similar to the current routing.
“We are in the early stages, but I envision something like a mountainside, parkland style of course. There will be similarities to Capilano in that it is basically on a sloping site that looks to the north and you have some great views over Kootenay Lake and the city of Nelson. There are some pretty dramatic visual elements to the golf course.”
Most of Carrick’s work has been done in Eastern Canada, but his two British Columbia creations are highly regarded. He did Greywolf at the Panorama Resort in Invermere in the late 1990s and it is now regarded as one one of the best mountainside layouts anywhere. He returned to B.C. to do the Ridge course at Predator Ridge in Vernon. That course opened in 2010 and like Greywolf has become a staple in ScoreGolf’s list of the top 100 courses in Canada.
With dramatic elevation changes and epic views, Carrick acknowledges the Nelson site has some similarities to Greywolf. It was at Greywolf where Carrick created Cliffhanger, the par 3 sixth hole that is now regarded as one of the signature holes in Canadian golf.
Carrick said he does not begin a project looking to create a signature hole. “You try and create 18 good holes,” he said. “That’s my main objective. When you get into a site like Greywolf or Humber Valley (in Newfoundland) or Bigwin Island (in Ontario) you are going to find a few spots that really stand out from a visual standpoint and you obviously try and take advantage of those things to create some drama and interest on the golf course.
“They tend to end up being so-called signature holes, although I am trying to create 18 good holes and a few that are maybe a little more memorable in terms of the scenery.”
Carrick’s biggest challenge in Nelson is space, or lack thereof. The Hallõ Nelson site includes 24 luxury townhomes that will be located on what is now Granite Point’s first hole. Carrick is trying to squeeze 6,000 yards out of the site for a par-70 layout. “That has been our marching order, try and get 6,000 yards out of the golf course,” he said.
“I am not sure if we are going to get there. We have some technical requirements for the development that we have to address that may restrict how much yardage we can get on the golf course. I’m guessing if we don’t get to 6,000 it will be in the 5,800- or 5,900-yard range. Our objective is to make it a par -70 and there is one particular hole that is going to be a challenge to get the yardage we want. There is a possibility the par might drop to 68 or 69, but we haven’t determined that yet.”
The tentative layout calls for five par 3s, three par 5s and 10 par 4s. Course construction is scheduled to begin next spring with a summer of 2027 opening date.
Troon’s McLaughlin, who ran Westwood Plateau in Coquitlam when it first opened, said Carrick’s involvement in the project helped seal the deal for his company. “I got invited to have a look at it and then one thing led to another and they were getting Doug Carrick in to re-design it and that certainly got our interest,” McLaughlin said.
“They are trying to do it at a level that fit our objective. We have been trying to get into Canada for a long time and this was a nice fit. So we are excited about it. I walked the current course with Doug a few days ago and talked about what he wants to do and it was a great experience.”
Hallõ Nelson will feature over 300 residential units, as well as retail stores, restaurants, bars, hotels, a gym, pool and tennis courts. It is being developed by Vancouver-based Hallõ Properties. Hallõ chief executive officer Farhad Ebrahimi stumbled upon the site during a family visit to the Nelson area back in 2020.
Ebrahimi fell in love with the vibe of Nelson and decided he wanted to do business there. “We are not a typical developer, so as soon as we saw this site and we found this place it was like, man, this town is too precious to mess up,” Ebrahimi said. “The recipe is Nelson and all we are here to do is extend the recreation and have more amenities, but be in line with the recipe which is Nelson.
“I refer to myself as a corporate hippie. I am in the real estate business, but I have my hippie self as well. We can not mess around with what is already perfect. All we are going to do is expand on what is already there. It is a very, very delicate balancing act and we have spent four years getting to know the community. They know our intentions are sincere. For us, this is not a regular project. This is a special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ebrahimi said local residents will be offered discounted rates when the golf course opens.
And about that name, The Dodger? Ebrahimi said it in part pays homage to a part of Nelson’s history — the significant number of draft dodgers who made the community their home after coming across the border to avoid the war in Vietnam.
(For more information on the Hallõ Nelson development, visit hallonelson.com)