Tee It Up In Canada’s Kootenay Rockies

Home to Greywolf and other high-profile mountain layouts, the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia will again grab the golf world’s attention with the launch of Rod Whitman’s wildly dramatic course at Cabot Revelstoke. Best to beat the crowds and go now.

How lucky can one golf destination get? 

Already home to several celebrated courses, the Kootenay Rockies will see the eagerly anticipated launch of the Cabot Pacific course at Cabot Revelstoke resort in 2027. Many who have toured Cabot Pacific’s spectacular site at the base of Mount Mackenzie—including this writer—are convinced it will be the greatest mountain design since Stanley Thompson unveiled his totemic Jasper Park Lodge and Banff Springs layouts in the 1920s.

This is the second jackpot win for golf in the Kootenay Rockies. Golfers flooded into the ruggedly gorgeous southeast corner of British Columbia after Golf Digest declared Greywolf Golf Course, near the town of Invermere, Canada’s best new course of 1999. The drama-filled design by Doug Carrick is now world-famous as the home of Cliffhanger, Greywolf’s aptly named signature hole. The staggeringly beautiful par three demands a long gut-churning carry over the sheer drop of Hopeful Canyon to a green perched along the edges of vertical rock cliffs. Rugged peaks tower in every direction, evergreens strain toward the sky, and from the green, golfers can see for kilometres down an astonishingly beautiful mountain valley. All that’s missing from this postcard perfect setting is a Royal Canadian Mountie standing guard at the tee.

Visitors to the Kootenay Rockies enter an alpine realm home to four mountain ranges (the Rockies, Purcells, Selkirks, and Monashees), four national and 75 provincial parks, and—certainly not least—more than 40 golf courses. The rugged setting (encompassing the communities of Cranbrook, Kimberley, Invermere, Radium Hot Springs, Golden and Revelstoke) provides a thrilling canvas for hiking, biking, mountain climbing, river rafting and wildlife viewing. In winter, skiers from around the world challenge the slopes at the eight ski resorts scattered throughout the region.

Many visitors start their Kootenays golf odyssey in Cranbrook, home to Canadian Rockies International Airport, the largest airport in the region. Cranbrook, a city of 20,000 snuggled between the Rockies and the Purcell Range of the Columbia Mountains, is both a popular golf hub and an ideal base camp for exploring the region.

St. Eugene Resort awaits a short drive from the airport. Now owned by the local Ktunaxa First Nation, the former residential school for Indigenous children is one of the most attractive golf properties in British Columbia. The old ivy-covered St. Eugene Mission building looms over the property as it has since 1912. But instead of classrooms and dormitories, it now holds 25 beautifully appointed rooms and suites, with the remainder of the resort’s 125 guest rooms housed in an adjacent lodge-style building. The resort is also home to a 114-site KOA RV park, and the Casino of the Rockies.

But the essential attraction for golfers is St. Eugene Golf Course. The resort’s brawny 7,007-yard design serves up glorious views of the Purcell and Rocky Mountains as it gathers steam alongside the fast-rushing St. Mary River. Designed by Les Furber, who more than any other architect has put his stamp on golf in Western Canada, the challenging yet always fair layout is especially memorable on the back nine, where holes tumble and roll through rugged pine-tree terrain. Each hole at St. Eugene has been given a Ktunaxa (pronounced k-too-nah-ha) name that is displayed with phonetic spelling and translation—a fun introduction to one of the most unique and complex languages in the world.

There’s enough golf in the Cranbrook area to satisfy the most ambitious golfer. Wildstone Golf Course, Gary Player’s first—and still only—design in Canada, is a must-play. Opened in 2011, Wildstone rambles for 7,100 thrill-filled yards on the highlands above Cranbrook. Mountain outlooks (especially of Fisher Peak) and sudden elevation shifts surprise golfers throughout. “Wildstone excels in scenery and strategies,” lauded Golf Digest.

Shadow Mountain Golf Course is an even more heroically routed Cranbrook beauty. Designed by Graham Cooke and Wayne Carlton, the 7,405 design is renowned for its wildly elevated tee boxes and head-spinning views of Steeples ridge, Fisher Peak, and the Purcell mountain range. The par-five 17th hole, known as The Monster, is breathtaking. After teeing off more than 100 feet above the fairway, golfers must then studiously avoid the ponds and encroaching pines en route to a small green tucked into the forest.

How tight is your schedule? If time permits, consider lingering an extra day or two in Cranbrook. Excellent hiking and biking trails, as well as tranquil lakes and river valleys, are found just minutes from a revitalized downtown filled with heritage homes on leafy streets. The Cranbrook area also offers some of the best trout fly fishing in Canada. Lakes and streams are stocked in abundance thanks to the Kootenay Trout Hatchery.

It’s almost time to head north from Cranbrook on gloriously scenic Hwy. 95 for still more golf and alpine adventure. But first, a recommended side-trip. Just over an hour’s drive to the east of Cranbrook is wonderful old Fernie Golf Club. Opened in 1918, this easily walkable 6,556-yard design fits like a comfortable old golf glove in picturesque Elk Valley. Mature tree-lined fairways and strategically placed ponds frame mountain views. Afterwards, visit historic downtown Fernie. The former mining town is a hip spot year-round, but especially during the winter ski season. No less an authority than Rolling Stone magazine pronounced Fernie the “Coolest Ski Town in North America.” 

Like Fernie, the mountain towns to the north of Cranbrook, either on or just off Hwy. 95, each exude their own chill mountain vibe. Once voted the best small town in all of British Columbia, first stop Kimberley is home to the largest urban park in Canada. Visitors to Radium Hot Springs, named after the hot springs in nearby Kootenay National Park, enter town through gorgeous Sinclair Canyon. And Invermere, idyllically situated on the shore of Lake Windermere, gets its groove on every August during the Invermere MusicFest. 

Few courses in Canada can top the high-octane fun and challenge found at Trickle Creek Golf Course in Kimberley. At 4,000 feet, it’s the highest-elevation layout in the Kootenay Rockies. Les Furber carved his 6,896-yard course through the foothills of North Star Mountain. Beware the 451-yard dogleg fifth hole, easily the most difficult test on a demanding layout. Far more fun is the signature 174 yard 11th, where golfers hit from an elevated tee to a green guarded by three sizable bunkers. Furber’s course is the big summertime draw for nearby Trickle Creek Lodge, an 80-unit, ski chalet-style hotel.

Though thrilling, mountain golf takes a physical toll. Ideal for easing aches and strains, a mineral hot spring billed as Canada’s largest is a major attraction at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, about an hour’s drive north of Trickle Creek. To avoid confusion, it is worth noting here that the lodge-style retreat is not part of the famous Fairmont Hotels chain, but rather took its name from the nearby village of Fairmont. The resort is home to two strong 18-hole layouts, Riverside and Mountainside. A local favourite for more than 50 years, Riverside jumps the fast-flowing Columbia River six times. Mountainside, meanwhile, is an acclaimed Doug Carrick design featuring sweeping views of Columbia Lake and the surrounding Rocky Mountains.

Keep an eye out on your drive for elk, mountain goats and bighorn sheep. The Kootenay Rockies offer some of the best wildlife viewing in Canada. Grizzly and black bears roam the verdant mountain forests, wetlands and swaying grasslands. And the bird watching is brilliant. More than 150 species of birds call this these environs home, including endangered species such as the Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Common Nighthawk, and Olive-sided Flycatcher.

If possible, the golf action shifts into even higher gear in Invermere, 25 kilometres further on from Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. Upscale 179-room Copper Point Resort is home to two beauties. Copper Point Golf Club follows the rise and fall of the mountain foothills, with dramatic elevation shifts built into the design. The eye-candy signature hole is No. 15, a par three requiring a precision 110-yard carry over a ball-hungry gorge. The Ridge at Copper Point, meanwhile, is an innovative 5,072-yard Gary Browning design featuring a blend of full-length par-three and par-four holes, but not a single par-five. 

A tee off at Eagle Ranch Golf Course is equally essential. This thrill-a-minute Bill Robinson design sweeps along elevated bluffs and five times challenges golfers to carry gaping canyons.  Treat yourself to a celebratory drink at the clubhouse bar if you manage the long carry off the tee on the majestic par five 18th. And new this year at Eagle Ranch is a caddy program, one of only a few in Canada. Booking a round with a caddy guarantees a coveted morning tee time.

Invermere is also the natural jumping off point for Greywolf, the alreadly noted reigning star of the Kootenay Rockies. No trip to these parts is complete without a round at Doug Carrick’s drama-filled layout, next door to Panorama Mountain Resort. Greywolf features tree-lined fairways, almost 500 feet of elevation change, and, of course, Cliffhanger, one of the world’s most ballyhooed par three holes.

Feeling golfed-out yet? In 2027, when the world turns its eyes to the grand opening of the Cabot Pacific course at Cabot Revelstoke, golfers will eagerly put peddle-to-the-metal for the 268 kilometre drive from Invermere north-west to Revelstoke. But it’s always a trip worth taking. Possible stops along the way to booming Revelstoke include Radium Hot Springs Resort, home to two strong golf courses and restorative mineral baths; and Golden Golf Club, a classic mountain valley design in the charming ski town of Golden.

Designed by Rod Whitman, best known for his acclaimed work on the Cabot Links course at Cabot Cape Breton, Cabot Pacific is yet another link in the Cabot Collection of high-profile golf courses and resorts. Whitman’s layout occupies a magnificent bench of land high above the Columbia River. Artfully designed holes frame long views of the surrounding Selkirk and Monashee Mountain ranges, as well as a vast emerald-green wetland seen in the distance. Already the par-three eighth is touted as a potential Canadian signature hole. It’s a gorgeous brute that demands a carry of over 250 yards across a yawning gorge from the back tees.

Cabot Pacific is fueling anticipation and even excitement among the mostly laid-back citizens of a town famous as the “heli-skiing capital of the world.” Other Revelstoke tourism highlights include white water rafting on the Jordan and Illecillewaet Rivers, the hiking trails and other natural charms of nearby Glacier and Mount Revelstoke national parks, and live music in downtown’s Grizzly Plaza every night in July and August.

Happily for golfers, Revelstoke is already home to a must-play alpine valley course. Opened in 1924, Revelstoke Golf Club is a locally cherished jewel that snakes alongside a heavily timbered bank of the surging Columbia River.

Yet another postcard-worthy memory to take home from the Kootenay Rockies.