22 of 70: Victoria Golf Course, Edmonton, Alberta

View of the 1st and 9th Fairways, the University of Alberta in the background.

Today, May 26th, I enjoyed returning to one of my old stamping-grounds when playing the Victoria Golf course in Edmonton. I spent 26 years of my life teaching at the University of Alberta which we can see in the background of this first picture, out there, over the North Saskatchewan river which borders Victoria Park but never comes into play on the golf course. As a matter of fact, there are no water hazards at Victoria. Sand yes. Elevated greens also. The course is said to be forgiving but I sure did not find it so forgiving today but more on that later.

The Victoria Golf Course has a rich history going back to 1896 and has sat on the present location since 1907. It is the oldest municipal golf course in Canada and one of the busiest in the world. In a way, Victoria is where I really started to play golf in earnest. When I turned 50, I joined the Senior Men's League in anticipation of an early retirement for which I had to prepare. I even became one of the volunteer course marshals at Victoria which was a good learning experience in human interaction. I had a great time at Victoria, however, when it came time to retire we moved to the Okanagan Valley and I took my golf game there. There is no shortage of golf courses in the Okanagan and I was privileged to belong to two of them in my early retirement years. I first played the Ponderosa Golf Course in Peachland and then Kelowna Springs where I returned a few weeks ago. But back to Victoria.

View of the 17th green and the city.

The course offers magnificent views over the city to the north, the University campus on the south side, the Alberta Legislature and the high level bridge to the east. The fairways are wide but tree lined so one can still find unplayable lies and out of bounds. Some of the fairways  show signs of winter kill as there was still snow here a month ago. The greens are in good condition but slow compared to most of those I have played in the last few months. I enjoyed my outing and the company of Simon and Tom, my playing partners for the day, a father and son team, both graduates of the business faculty at the U of A. I shot a 95 today, a poor result for this course. Strangely enough, I drove the ball well but my putting was atrocious. I had six 3 putt greens which is unusual for me. On many of these occasions I was putting for birdie and ended up with bogeys. Not nice! I also had to take a snowman (8) on both the 13th and 18th. The back nine proved to be a hard walk today and I am seriously considering a return to cart golf. Leave the walking to the pros at least they have caddies. I only found squirrels on the course today and they didn't photograph well. No wildlife to share... so sad!

Overview of the well protected 15th green.