CALLING ALL COUNTRY AND WESTERN SWINGERS

A recent golf trip proved that the Kamloops area is a hidden gem with arguably the most diverse landscapes in Canada—from lakeside greens to cliffhanging fairways. Golf here is relaxed, and stay-and-play packages are quite a bargain compared to other regions in North America. Thanks to its semi-arid sunny climate, the area also boasts one of the country’s longest golf seasons, often lasting eight months.

Kamloops is part of the Shuswap Nation. In the native language it means “meeting of two rivers.” (South and North Thompson).

With a population of 90,000, Kamloops has a small-town vibe but with plenty of attractions beyond award-winning golf, including a burgeoning wine industry, lots of microbreweries and some fun places to eat, drink and brag about your birdies. It’s also the midway stop for the Rocky Mountaineer train so attracts lots of summer visitors from all corners of the planet.

Go Native at Talking Rock
How refreshing to discover a real aboriginal success story instead of the usual dismal gloom and doom about alcohol abuse and deplorable living conditions. The Talking Rock Resort and Quaaout Lodge in Chase is owned by the Little Shuswap Indian Band, led by chief Feliz Arnourse.

The 18-hole championship course which opened in 2007, and was designed by Wayne Carlton and Graham Cooke, meanders through a mature forest with a grand finale of the 18th fairway that runs along the beach of Little Shuswap Lake. In keeping with the aboriginal theme, a replica of a rock pictograph found in the area is located at the beginning of each hole.

Watch out for the bear on number seven! The designers have cleverly created the shape of a bear made of grass that lives in an enormous bunker on the right side of the fairway.

After your game, enjoy aboriginal-inspired meals at the lodge’s Jack Sam’s restaurant. Try the maple-glazed salmon grilled on a cedar plank, fried bannock or the elk Bolognese. And with luck, you’ll be able to experience an authentic sweat-lodge ritual or story telling sessions with one of the band’s cultural ambassadors.

Cliff hanging Tobiano
Tobiano’s reputation as one of the best golf courses in British Columbia and Canada was further cemented as Golf Digest recently listed it as one of the Top 30 Golf Courses in Canada.

Formerly the site of the historic Six Mile Ranch, Tobiano is indeed an awesome addition to the area’s outstanding courses. Avid golfer and rocker Alice Cooper put it on his top-ten list.

God clearly took His time when He crafted the gentle bluff and rugged headlands that trace the washes and swales along the shoreline of pristine Kamloops Lake.

“There is really nothing like it in Canada; there is nothing like it anywhere,” designer Thomas McBroom says of Tobiano Golf Club. “It has to be the best site that I’ve ever seen in terms of beauty and drama. With the mountains in the background, Kamloops Lake and the fissured landscape, it’s literally as good as it gets.”

I played the course last spring on a cloudless day, not uncommon in this region that is blessed with 2,050 hours of sunshine annually and very little rainfall. I concur, Tobiano is in a class of its own—arguably the drama queen of British Columbia.

Named after the brown and white painted horse of the American southwest, Tobiano mesmerizes from the first hole with an exhilarating view of Lake Kamloops and mountains and then leads you through a giddying sweep of canyons, gullies and hoodoos.

Tobiano has lots of forced carries so choose prudently from the five sets of tees. You won’t likely forget the par-three seventh hole requiring a wallop over a gully to a postage-stamp green tottering above the mirror-like lake. It’s literally hit or miss.

For a post-game chill, head down to Bruker Marina and take a pontoon cruise around Lake Tobiano with captain Kerry Wiebe.

The Dunes
Designed by Graham Cooke, the 6944-yard, par-72 Dunes is truly nature’s golf course. Lush fairways carve through the sand that was once the riverbed of the North Thompson giving way to dunes that transform into vast waste areas and challenging bunkers. The par-three 4th and the par-five 7th signature holes provide stunning panoramic views.

Eagle Point Golf Resort
Robert Heaslip designed Eagle Point Golf Resort in 1991 taking advantage of the rolling natural terrain. After a pine beetle infestation destroyed most of the trees, the owner introduced native fescues. Heaslip’s serpentine fairways twist and turn through valleys and cliffs.

Kamloops Golf & Country Club
If you want to squeeze in one more game, Kamloops Golf & Country Club is just minutes from the airport. The oldest track in the area opened in 1905 but underwent a major redesign with new bent grass fairways in 2009. The rolling fairways lined with mature trees give the course a park-like setting that invites walking. However, you might also consider “surfing” the course by renting a GolfBoard.

Best Bunks
For Tobiano, The Dunes, Eagle Point and Kamloops Golf & Country Club, Wingate by Wyndham hotel makes a good home base.

Quaaout Lodge at Talking Rock Resort in Chase, B.C. offers stay-and-play packages. Cost (based on double occupancy) for room, round of golf and cart from opening day until mid-May is approximately $250 for two.

Getting Around
If you don’t want to drive yourself, hire the folks at Tasteful Excursions. Genial owners Maatje and Gorden Stamp-Vincent will organize golf and wine tastings and give you lots of local insider tips. www.tastefulexcursions.ca

Après Swing Sips
Thompson Valley is B.C.’s newest wine region and each of its wineries have won many International and Canadian awards.

Harper’s Trail Estate Winery, named for the cattle drive “trail” of pioneer rancher Thaddeus Harper, is Kamloops’s first winery. The backdrop of limestone, hoodoos and a natural spring set the biodiversity, and the wine reflects the purity of fruit and acidity that exemplify Thompson Valley wines. I especially enjoyed their Pioneer Block Riesling. Monte Creek Ranch Winery, the biggest in the area, boasts a huge patio overlooking South Thompson River and vineyards. Privato Vineyard and Winery produces small-batch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Every second Friday in summer guests may enjoy a glass of wine and live music in their lovely gardens.

There’s more live music every night during summer in Riverside Park, located on the banks of the Thompson River. A variety of food trucks serve up good grub at affordable prices.

Beer lovers flock to the Noble Pig Brewhouse in downtown Kamloops where a selection of house-made crafts beers is on tap and wash down very nicely with the Pig’s cuisine.

Ready to pack your clubs? The folks at Golf Kamloops can put together a stay-and-play package tailored to your requests.