For years I’d heard friends rave about the pleasure of playing the Golden Golf Club but I’d never gotten there myself.

Now, I’m wondering why I waited so long.

This beautiful course, located in the heart of the scenic Kicking Horse Pass area of B.C. along the TransCanada Highway is a ‘must play’, regardless of where you live and how long it takes to get there.

Simply put, get there any way you can — it’s well worth the effort.

“It’s pure golf,” was the simple summation of the course’s GM, Patrick Chury, when asked what best describes his layout, a work of art set among the mountains.

“From the playability standpoint, it’s unique. From the environment standpoint, it’s unique. You’ll never see a house and for the last couple of years that’s what the club has been marketing.”

What you get here is simple — pure, unadulterated golf dropped into a setting that’s right out of a National Geographic photo shoot — with mountains, a roaring creek, birds, the occasional bear, other wildlife, and oh yeah, great golf holes.

What also sets the member-owned Golden GC apart from other tracks is the fact they’re actively chasing after visitors — they want people from Edmonton and Calgary and all parts of Alberta to show up on their doorstep and whale away.

“Because we’re so isolated we’re not really a destination as such,” like Radium and Fairmont courses, their neighbours to the east, Chury explained. “Everything is at least an hour away from us. But what we’re finding is people are coming and golfing here on their way to the Okanagan or the east Kootenays.”

And that’s fine with the GM and the club members, who have one of the gems of the Canadian golf scene.

From the back tees Golden plays to just over 6,800 yards while off the front tees it’s a lob wedge short of 5,500 yards. The middle tees are set at 6,326 yards, but wherever you start from, the course is fun, scenic, and peaceful.

From one hole to the next you rarely see other golfers save for the group in front of you. The natural terrain with the trees, the rise and fall of the land, and the sheer wonderment of the beauty all add up to a great day on the links that make you want to step back onto the No. 1 tee as soon as you putt out on No. 18.

In that sense, to write about one hole and how it stands out from the others is a difficult task. This is a course where each hole is different from what you’ve already seen to what you will see around the next corner.

 

The Rushing Waters of Holt Creek Can Make For A Tough Time Focusing On Your Approach Shot On The Par 4 11th Hole At The Scenic Golden Golf Club

“Once they get over the scenery, the true golfer finds with the design and layout of this golf course that there is not one weak hole,” Chury stated. “That is one thing that really comes through.

“Some golf courses are target courses with specific landing areas. This is more of a mountain tradition design which lends itself to a pleasant round.”

What the Golden GC does, Chury continued, is draw players back time and again because of all it has to offer.

“With some golf courses you play once, you say you’ve played it, but will you go back? No. This one is different. It draws people back time and time again for many reasons.”

With all that being said, there’s an even better reason for driving to, and stopping in Golden to play — the price.

With the introduction of the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) in BC on July 1, 2010, Chury and the golf club are jumping outside the box in order to bring more players into the Golden fan club.

“Competition’s very heavy,” he said about moving green fees down rather than up at his place of business. “Right now (June 28), to play on a weekend is $80 plus tax and midweek is $70 plus tax.”

Those numbers though are changing, for the better.

“The rate structure that I’m doing right now, we’re looking at tax-in now of $60, and $70 on weekends and holidays,” which is bargain basement pricing to play a penthouse-level golf course. Those fees came into effect on July 1.

Chury continued by saying at one time Golden had the reputation as being one of the best values in Canadian golf and he’s striving to regain that foothold in the market with the new fee structure

Part of that plan will also see the Golden GC celebrating their neighbours to the east with Alberta Appreciation Days on July 19 and August 16.

Overall, this is one of those courses that as a golfer you have to play at least once and hopefully you don’t wait as long as I did to tee it up at this gorgeous facility.

“It’s pure golf. There are no houses and no interruptions here. There are so many clubs where you can go and have a game of golf, but here, you have an experience,” Chury said.

“There’s a spirit and a warmth here,” which makes you feel welcome from the time you step into the pro shop until you pack your clubs back into your car, with thoughts of returning to play this magnificent course again already running through you mind.

The Golden Golf Club can be reached at 1-866-727-7222 to book tee times or on the web at www.golfgolden.com .

About the writer: Gord Montgomery is the sports editor of two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area. He has written for Inside Golf for the past three years with the majority of his coverage in north and central Alberta. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .