Wherever you swing a your club, it is not hard to find elite opportunities in B.C. when it comes to golf.
According to , 15 B.C. golf courses warrant inclusion in a list of the top 100 courses in Canada.
Topping the list is Capilano Golf & Country Club in posh West Vancouver, which finished #8 overall.
"It鈥檚 a glorious setting with views across Vancouver Harbour to Mount Baker beyond. Capilano opened for play in 1937 after a gargantuan engineering effort by Canadian-born architect Stanley Thompson, who became one of Canada鈥檚 best-known course designers.
"The course was literally blasted from a hillside of fir trees and rocks. The large firs which now flank the sloping fairways make many of the holes appear tight and narrow, so accuracy is certainly the order of the day at Capilano.
"Thompson鈥檚 original 1937 course remains pretty much intact, one of only a few Thompson courses that has not been drastically remodelled."
Something completely different is the province's other top 10 course, 10th-ranked Sagebrush Golf Club in Quilchena, east of Merritt on the shores of Nicola Lake.
Opened in 2009, closed in 2014 due to financial difficulties and re-opened in 2021, it's noted for both its sweeping remote location spread across a 400-acre plain and its old-school golf challenges.
"This tremendous course, designed by Rod Whitman, is now fully operational once more and displaying clearly why it is ranked at number 2 in BC. The clubhouse and buildings may be unglamorous but golf enthusiasts are now once again loving the unique challenges presented by Sagebrush," reviewer Tim Elliott writes on top100golfcourses.com.
"The design style is to create an old-fashioned links, true to the origins of this great game. And how has it succeeded! Rolling fairways, massive immaculate undulating greens, good bunkering, blind shots and dense sagebrush 鈥榬ough鈥� are the order of the day, as the holes turn from side to side, up and down and don鈥檛 allow for a dull moment."
While the list offers plenty of Lower Mainland and Interior options, it also showcases some courses available to many only by ferry. Vancouver Island's Victoria Golf Club, James Island and Royal Colwood are all among the Top-36 courses in Canada.
Ranked at number 18 is Victoria Golf Club, a course steeped in history. Established in 1893 by British expats, it is the oldest club in Canada still playing on its original site.
Designed by A.V. Macan, the course is often called the Pebble Beach of Canada, and it's not hard to see why. With eight seaside holes and 13 offering ocean views, the Par-70 layout may only stretch to 6,157 yards, but the elements make sure it plays every bit as tough as longer courses.
Wind off the Strait of Juan de Fuca can shift a shot by two or three clubs, particularly on the back-to-back par threes that close the front nine, where tee boxes sit on the edge of the ocean and demand both nerve and precision.
Not far behind on the list, though far less accessible to the average golfer, is James Island at number 28.
Visible only from a distance when looking east from Island View Beach, the private course sits on a 780-acre island in the Cordova Channel.
The 18 holes are lush and lined by water, and much like Victoria Golf Club, the setting offers sweeping seaside views.
Few, however, ever get the chance to play it. Access is strictly private, making it one of the most exclusive rounds of golf in the country and a bucket-list course for those lucky enough to receive an invitation.
Rounding out the Greater Victoria trio is Royal Colwood, which checked in at number 36.
Another A.V. Macan design, it first opened in 1913 and has a heritage few clubs can match.
In 1931, King George V granted the course its 鈥淩oyal鈥� designation, one of only five in Canada to receive that honour. The course winds through stands of Garry oak and Douglas fir, with a scenic driveway that runs through the property.
At 6,721 yards, it plays as a Par-70, with just one par five on each side. From the opening tee shot, the course demands accuracy and strategy, rewarding those who can keep their ball between the towering trees.
Other B.C. courses to make the Top-100 included Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club (27), Greywolf Golf Course (30), Predator Ridge鈥檚 Ridge Course (35), Tobiano Golf Course (45), Big Sky Golf Club (76), Talking Rock Golf Course (79), Vancouver Golf Club (87), Marine Drive Golf Club (90), Predator Ridge鈥檚 Predator Course (94) and 91大黄鸭 Golf & Country Club (96).
The number one course in Canada this year was St. George鈥檚 Golf and Country Club in Toronto, which also stood as the only Canadian course ranked among the world鈥檚 Top 100.
鈥� with a file from John McKinley
