Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 22

At this course, it would be easier to list the holes that
aren’t exceptional than the ones that are. Where to start?
Well, the par-fours are exceptional. My favourites are
number seven (requiring a dramatic second shot that you
don’t want to pull left), number 11 (I once saw George
Knudson birdie this hole with a 2-iron and a wedge on
a 6-degree Celsius morning), number 13 (which will test
your confidence in your driver) and number 17 (water
right, trees left – where’s the fairway?).
The par 5’s are equally strong. Number four requires
three perfect shots to reach its tiny elevated green.

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Number 12, a double dogleg par-5, is an ingeniously

Photo courtesy of Capilano Golf & Countr y Club.

strategic hole.
It is difficult to make your way around The National
without posting a large number on at least one hole
-- perhaps more difficult than on any other course in
Canada. The facility rewards good golf shots and careful
course management — and penalizes poor shots and
greedy attempts at coming back after those shots. There
is no doubt that The National provides an exacting test
of your golf game on every outing.

3 |  apilano Golf & Country Club
C
Vancouver, BC | Designer: Stanley Thompson
Opened: 1937
Add Capilano to the list of postcard-perfect places
where Stanley Thompson worked his magic. The grand
clubhouse sits on the highest point of the property;

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Photo courtesy of Highland Links.

high above downtown Vancouver, the views of the
city below are striking. From this starting point, you
might think you’re in for a day of severe up-and-down
mountain golf, but Thompson got the routing right.
Over the first six holes, you play approximately 100
metres downhill. At that point, you wonder whether
the rest of the course is going to be an uphill slog to get
back to the clubhouse. Not to worry: The designer did
a wonderful job of gently working the holes back up the
slope. Apart from the par-3 ninth hole, you never realize
you’re hitting uphill.
The real difficulty of the course comes from the
sloping fairways; time after time, you are faced with
uneven stances. Another unique aspect of the course:
the towering evergreens that line many of the fairways.
The sheer size of the trees plays games with your depth
perception. While some of the par-5’s, especially the first

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Photo courtesy of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.