Bear Mountain’s
Valley Course
L
uggage on
wheels.
Touchscreen
cell phones.
Robot vacu-
ums. Some
inventions
fall into the no-brainer category.
For golfers, the advent of the golf
trail was also an “aha!” moment.
What travel-loving golfer
wouldn’t want to grab his or her
sticks, hop in a car, and follow
a trail bursting with beauty and
birdies?
For golf nuts, the golf trail
might be the greatest thing since
sliced bread. A trail is a collection
of courses in a particular region,
which offer combined rates or
special savings. The very first,
Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones
Golf Trail, recently turned 25.
Today, there’s a trail to suit
every highway-happy hacker,
from B.C. to P.E.I. They come in
all shapes and sizes: Some are
short and sweet and need little
travel between courses. Others
are spread out, requiring lengthy
drives between birdie binges.
Alberta doesn’t currently have
an official golf trail, but you could
string together a few courses in
the Rockies to form your own.
Some trails take days, some take
weeks, but all are about the jour-
ney: The quest to experience new
courses, landscapes and cultures.
So cozy hotels, good food and non-
golf attractions are key components
of the experience.
As a golf pro, writer and
photographer, I’ve been fortunate
to travel down many golf-rich
roads. Here’s a rundown of the
Canadian trails that rank highest
on my scorecard.
VancouVer Island
Golf TraIl, B.c.
Painter’s Lodge
Storey Creek Golf Club
Crown Isle Resort & Golf
Community
Stretching from Victoria to
Campbell River, the Vancouver
Island Golf Trail epitomizes what a
Bear Mountain Resort
golf trail should offer: challenging
VIcTorIa
courses, fantastic resorts and
awesome adventures to experience
along the way.
North Island—an area ripe for
After basking in the beautiful
exploration and easily accessible
weather of Victoria and
from Comox Valley Air-
exploring her seaside
port—plan an awesome
charms (the Inner
weekend with rounds at
aMa extra
Harbour and whale
Storey Creek and Crown
AMA has the
watching are must-dos),
Isle courses, plus salmon
largest inven-
tory of hotels
start your island journey
fishing at Painter’s Lodge.
for Albertans.
at Bear Mountain.
In golf as in life, beauty
Try the 88-room
Crown Isle
With two top-notch
really is in the eye of the
Resort & Golf
Jack Nicklaus-designed
beholder. But Storey Creek
Community for
$184/night.
courses that are open
in Campbell River, with
AMATravel.ca/
year-round, the quality of
its towering trees, should
Hotels
the golf here can’t be beat.
appeal to all. And Crown
While the original
Isle, located just minutes
Mountain Course at Bear Mountain
from the airport, never disappoints
is tough-as-nails, the newer Valley
(nor do the post-round pints on its
Course, featuring wider fairways
picturesque patio). »
and dramatic downhill shots,
Cowichan Valley’s Averill Creek Vineyard
has quickly become a personal
favourite. After your last hole, set
out for the Cowichan Valley. Do a
little wine tasting between courses:
There are more than 15 wineries
tucked away in this pastoral region.
Perhaps the greatest virtue of
the Vancouver Island trail is its
four distinct sections. It’s ideal if
you only have time to explore one
or two areas, saving the rest for
a future trip. For example, in the
AMA InsIder
summer 2017
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