48 of 70: Coloniale Golf Club, Beaumont, AB

Coloniale Golf Club regularly gets a four star rating in Golf Digest Places to Play, and it is well deserved. Coloniale is impeccably maintained. The fairways are lush and in perfect condition, and on the day we played, the rough was absolutely penalizing. All of the fairways, with the exception of the par 3's, seemed to be a dogleg, either right or left. The greens at times give you the impression of being approachable on a bump and run, but don't be fooled, all of them need to be approached from the air. And they are incredibly fast.

 

I had been invited by Ronald Breault, a club member and long time acquaintance. To my surprise, this round turned out to be a 20 year reunion for the seven of us playing that day. We did, as for any round, celebrate difficult pars by pumping fists, and, as should be expected, moaned any three putts or triple bogeys, which in our foursome seemed to happen too frequently. But rather than revisiting and recounting each and every stroke, as in Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, our conversation explored distant and fragmented memories still echoing in us: newspaper clippings from le Franco, tales tall and short, moments of intimacy and friendship, a home of fifteen souls whose hearts still beat loud and strong. At the end of the day, golf is more than a scorecard.

 

From left to right: Richard Hébert, Paul Denis, Maurice Potvin, Gilles Denis, Henri Breault, Ronald Breault, Jean-Marcel Duciaume

 

 

47 of 70 : Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club, St. Albert, AB

View of the 8th and 9th fairways and the Sturgeon River on the left.

The Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club did not make the list of the 100 best courses in Canada, however, when it comes to the ranking by the golfers it scores an 8.0, making it one of the top courses in the province. Compare this to the Northern Bear which only scored a 6.80 which makes it an excellent local course, yet it ranks among the 100 best. Go figure! Sturgeon Valley is indeed a gorgeous yet demanding course. It plays somewhat like a links course allowing the bump and run approach to the greens.

 

I played alone for the first sixteen holes. It was seniors' day and I was asked to take my time and not play through which was fine for me. I practiced and played two balls at times. The pace was good on the front nine but on the back some of the players must have been tired as the pace slowed down to a halt on 17 where one group was on the green and another on the tee, while I sat waiting in my cart. I was joined by Sue and Don for the last two holes and really enjoyed their company, golf being after all a very social game.

 

On their way to the 18th hole, Sue and Don stopped to watch the carp.

 



46 of 70: Northern Bear Golf Club, Sherwood Park, AB

The Northern Bear Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus Signature course. On Scoregolf list of the 100 best courses in Canada it ranks as number 98, the only course in the Edmonton area to make the list. The fairways are well treed and Nicklaus claims to have placed bunkers strategically, meaning of course that none of the greens are easily accessible. The greens are also heavily undulated demanding good putting skills.

,The Bear's layout meanders around five lakes which come into play on a vast majority of holes. There is also a creek to play over a few times, and that wasn't enough for Jack so he felt the need to add a couple of ponds. All of this made for an interesting round. The best part, however, was being paired with "Pops", Bill and Shunny, three of the most enthusiastic golfers I have met of late. Their friendliness made a windy cold morning feel much warmer. I have been invited to join them at any time and I will hopefully do that when I am done with those 70 rounds. As for wildlife, I could only find the ever present Canada geese.

 

 

45 of 70:Rundle Park Golf Course, Edmonton, AB

On August 23rd, Brenda and I played Rundle Park Golf Course, an executive par 54 course suitable for beginners but also an excellent place to practice the short game. It is by no way an easy course. The holes average 169 yards, the range going from 124 to 231. The greens are fairly undulated and do require a variety of precise tee shots if you expect to score a par or better. The greens are slanted from right to left or left to right, from back to front or front to back. A weak putt will come right back to you in a hurry. A fun place to play! The fairways are the best we have played in a while in spite of the water damage caused by excessive rain.

 

We started this round well aware of an impending thunder storm but I am on a mission here and do need to get an average of three games a week if I am to reach my goal by the end of October. With this in mind, in defiance of the weather forecast, we set out to play a round ahead of the storm which was fast approaching as evidenced in this picture. We did finish 18 holes with barely minutes to spare. We could not have done that on a full length course, hence our choice of Rundle Park on this day. On our way home we were caught in the middle of the storm and pelted by hail the size of small marbles. Fortunately, the car suffered no apparent damage. As for the wildlife, it must have been hiding in the bushes. Even my trusty little marmot sought refuge in a flower bed.

 

 

 

 

 



44 of 70: Sandpiper Golf & Country Club, St. Albert, AB

Yesterday, August 21st, we played the Sandpiper Golf & Country Club. It was our own version of family day as we rarely get to play together and it was a pleasure to be joined by Travis, Brenda and Adam. Sandpiper, like most of the golf courses in the area, has suffered from the excessive rain we have had. The green keepers, however, have worked hard at minimizing the damages in their fairways and the greens are in fairly good shape. The fairways appear to be rather narrow from some of the tees, but recovery shots are usually possible from most positions in the rough. Unless, of course, you find yourself in one of the numerous water hazards, as water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes. With this crew, many a ball were sacrificed to the water gods. But water wasn't the only hazard to be found on this day.

 

Adam's balls had a propensity to seek a nest in the poplar trees along the fairways as this happened at least twice during our round. And once he even found two identical Callaways in the same nest, which Travis found utterly hilarious. You have to understand that on Travis' scorecard the + and - relates to the number of balls lost or found and has nothing to do with par. As the lounge was closed at Sandpiper after our round, we retired to Lois Hole's Enjoy Centre for a cold glass of Yellowhead beer.

 

 



 

43 of 70: Sherwood Estates Golf & Country Club, Sherwood Park, AB

View of the 1st fairway with the Edmonton city scape visible some 20 kilometers away.

On August 18th, I played Sherwood Estates Golf & Country Club just south of Edmonton. I had last played this course about twenty years ago when it was an 18 hole course cut out of some farm land. It has since become a 9 hole so-called championship course, surrounded by an extremely rich housing development. However, I was often under the impression thatsome of the fairways were still cut out of the same old cow pasture. This was most apparent on the fourth fairway, a fairly long uphill par 5 where the green side bunkers had also lost all their sand due to excessive rain. That being said, the course still plays really well.

I was paired with two very friendly golfers, Shannon and Jack who happily guided me around the course, which was quite useful as some of the water hazards are invisible until you are right upon them (which often means in them)! I was having a good round shooting 42 over 9 holes and wishing I could play 18, but this was not to be as the course was booked for a tournament. The same was happening all over Edmonton that Saturday. Lets just hope I can play as well at Sandpiper next Tuesday. The only wildlife to be seen on the course were the Canada geese and they are never welcome. Not only do they leave their manure all over the green, but here, at Sherwood Estates, they have taken to digging incredible holes into the greens, particularly on number 8. These holes have to be filled each and every week. No one knows what they are mining for! A very peculiar habit.

42 of 70: Jagare Ridge Golf Course, Edmonton, AB



View of the 18th hole from the tee box with Whitemud Creek in the middle and the clubhouse at the back.





Today, August 15th, I played Jagare Ridge Golf Course, and playing by myself I had a rather meditative round. Not that I played well, on the contrary, but it was nonetheless a peaceful and pleasant experience. Jagare Ridge is a magnificent golf course particularly when you first experience the front nine and then holes 10 to 13. From 14 to 17 the course gets defaced with a housing project in development. The 18th hole brings you back to the original splendour. But Jagare Ridge is also quite brutal. Just look at number 18 above. Even from the back tees it is only 314 yards long. But the green is well defended by the creek some fifty yards in front and two humongous bunkers right in front. Unless you are a scratch player you have no choice but to lay up.

The same pattern is repeated over and over again. I can hardly recall a single strait away hole on this course. You either have a dogleg right or  dogleg left. A downhill shot or an uphill one. You must shoot over the creek or a ravine. Course management is of the utmost importance. I have a feeling that Jagare Ridge would be appealing to the low handicappers but not as much for beginning golfers. Sure, from the forward tees (at 5087 yards) it would be manageable but very few men seem to want to play from the red tees. And from the whites it is as brutal as it would be from the blues. Ah! well, it was a nice day and I will live to play another round. And this time I was the only wild thing around so here is my artsy shot.

41 of 70: Raven Crest Golf & Country Club, Edmonton AB

On August 13th, Brenda and I Played the Raven Crest Golf Club in Edmonton's north east. In spite of a contrary weather forecast, we managed a game without a drop of rain. Furthermore Raven Crest proved to have the driest fairways in town, which was much appreciated. It is an interesting course with a good variety of fairway styles some of which have substantial elevation drops as evidenced in this picture of the 10th green seen from above on our approach shot. Raven Crest sits on the north side of the North Saskatchewan river.

On the south side of the river stood a bunch of tepees housing local children at  a summer camp. The camp, however, isn't the only thing nearby. The site of the city dump is also just across the river and with a southeast wind we were subjected to a most unpleasant smell which nearly got us to quit our round. When the wind finally subsided the mosquitoes came in droves but we were armed with Deep Woods Off and managed to finish 18 holes. We saw a few ravens on the course but the wildlife shot of the day had to be Brenda's picture of a Cedar Waxwing posted below.

40 of 70: River Ridge Golf & Country Club, Edmonton, AB

View of the 9th fairway, a sharp dogleg right over the pond.

River Ridge Golf & Country Club was for me a delightful surprise as it is unlike any other course I have played around Edmonton. Located adjacent to a major real estate development, it proved to be entirely secluded and gave you the impression of being miles away from the city. Built on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River, which is occasionally seen while riding from one hole to the next, the course offers many water hazards over 3 lakes and several ponds. The fairways are at times generous and at times quite narrow, as on number ten, pictured here with a lean opening from the tee to a narrow fairway protected by a pond on the right. Not much room for error on this 417 yard par 4.

For some reason, I was having a difficult time on the front nine, never shooting better than bogey and at times worse. When I got to the number 8 green, I found this inviting tree chair and decided to give it a try. It did pay off as I had a much better back nine which included a birdie on the par 3 fifteenth hole. I shot 6 strokes better on the last nine holes and felt much better and ready to continue on my crazy adventure. The weather was the best we have had in a long time as not once did we feel threatened by rain or thunder storm. I left River Ridge a happy golfer.

View of the 18th fairway.

39 of 70: Twin Willows Golf Club, Edmonton, AB

Twin Willows Golf Club is comprised of two separate nine holes, the first one dating back to 1948, looking fairly classical in style as can be seen in this photo on the left. The second nine, which opened in 2003, is far more modern and offers a more open concept as in European links style. One can see the difference in looking at the number ten hole above and it will be more evident in the photo of the 15th hole, posted below. Twin Willows is said to have been named after the two willow trees that still stand in the middle of the 9th fairway. However, if I recall, the front nine was originally the back nine of the Golden West Golf Course which used to be adjacent. For some unknown reasons the course was split in two thus giving origin to Twin Willows. The Golden West course has now been completely abandoned.

Twin Willows is a popular public course for many reasons: it is seen as a fairly easy course, thus its appeal to less experienced players, yet from the back tees it can still be challenging enough to the advanced players, particularly on the back nine. It is pleasant to play, again more so on the back nine. It is also highly walkable and quite affordable when playing on a multi round pass. The day I played Twin Willows we had a brief respite in this summer's stormy weather; however, as we approached the end of our round we could feel the upcoming thunder storm building. By the time we reached the 18th hole it was already rolling in on us. I barely made it back to the car before the rain started.

38 of 70: Indian Lakes Golf Club, Edmonton, AB

On Sunday July 29th, Brenda and I played Indian Lakes Golf Club in Edmonton. As you can see, from the picture on the left, the theme of the last few rounds remains the same. It seems as if all Edmonton area courses are flooded. The Canada geese are enjoying the casual water hazards far more than we did. In the background you can see the original pond wich has now invaded the fairway and the same was repeated on most of the 18 holes on the course. With the incessant rain, the water table is so high that the fairways are saturated as are the bunkers. It made for a very difficult round under these playing conditions. We headed home tired but had a few amazing pictures of both sculptures and wildlife.