KAMLOOPS GOLF - British Columbia's Newest Golf Destination

By Ray Chatelin
Photos By Toshi

Like a Hollywood starlet looking for her chance to show her assets, the Kamloops high desert region has long waited in the wings for its “big break” while playing the understudy to the Okanagan. Long considered little more than a backdoor entryway to B.C.’s Central and South Interior regions, with their award-winning vineyards and celebrated golf courses, it finally appears that Kamloops’ anonymity is about to come to an end.

This largely undiscovered birdie in the world of B.C.’s par-golf destinations is already home to two of Canada’s most respected courses – Rivershore Golf Estates and The Dunes at Kamloops, for several years the host sites of the Canadian Tour Qualifying School. And three other championship-length courses - Kamloops Golf & Country Club, Eagle Point Golf & Country Club and Aberdeen Hills Golf Links - are augmented by three executive-length courses - Mt. Paul Golf Course, McArthur Island Golf Centre and Pineridge Golf Course, all of which lie within a few short kilometers of the hub city of Kamloops. But this solid core of courses marks only the beginning.

As with all golf hot spots, success in the Kamloops region lies in the convergence of a number of key factors, not the least of which are the area’s natural assets, including the climate. With only 270 mm (10.2 inches) of rain a year, 2047 hours of sun and short winters, the area’s long golf season kicks off in late-March and continues through early-November. Complementing the near-ideal weather conditions are the area’s distinctive geography and the picturesque Thompson River, which cuts a broad swath through the valley. “We have a unique geographic landscape that allows us to have courses that fit different terrain,” affirms Tammy Campbell, tourism manager for the Kamloops region. “We have desert, grasslands, alpine and pine forest courses within minutes of one another.” One of the main drawbacks to expansion of golf in the Kamloops region to date has been the lack of a major resort facility, but even that is about to change. The multi-million-dollar developments at Sun Rivers and Kamloops On The Lake are both negotiating with major destination resort hotels though both are being tight-lipped about which chains are involved in negotiations. “We’re seeing a major shift in golf identity,” says Dave Coombs, general manager of The Dunes at Kamloops. “With the advent of more private ownership of courses, there’s a move now into high-end facilities.” While there’s no question the product mix in the Kamloops region is generating its own buzz, the area still needs to aggressively sell itself to broader markets. That effort is being aided by a consortium of local courses – The Dunes, Sun Rivers, Eagle Point, Sun Peaks Resort, Kamloops On The Lake – shopping their collective assets in B.C., Alberta, and into the U.S. with a yearly promotions budget of $150,000 under the umbrella name of Golf Kamloops (golfkamloops.com). To enhance the region’s salability as a complete golf destination, the consortium has partnered with area hotels to develop attractive stay-and-play packages. And with the addition of major “name” resort-hotel properties, it’s expected marketing will be a lot easier. “Kelowna is perhaps the best example of a golf destination,” says Wayne Carlton of Graham Cooke and Associates, whose company has also designed the Dunes at Kamloops and Sun Peaks Resort courses.

“Before the Dunes was built, for example, people would play Rivershore and then head off for Kelowna. But things are changing here. With the Sun Rivers course, with the completion of the Sun Peaks back nine, and with the building of the course at Kamloops On The Lake, we now have a major golf destination in place.”

New Developments Spotlight:
One of the aspects common to both new major course developments in Kamloops is a large residential and tourism component. The trend for golf courses on both sides of the Canada/USA border is to combine as many elements as possible.

Golf courses may attract green-fee players, and on-site real estate sales may generate short-term profit, but developers now want to tap the large pool of cash from Baby-Boomers who will soon be retiring and looking for different things to do. When these Boomers do retire, say virtually every recent study, they will be active and wanting experiences besides playing a round of golf. And that’s the concept behind the Kamloops On The Lake project, one that will generate long-term sustainability and give a boost to local tourism.

While the championship course at Kamloops On The Lake (scheduled to open in May, 2007) is the marquee draw, the resort will also include a 300-room resort destination hotel and conference centre; a smaller 100-room village-style boutique hotel; a 50-guest ranch-style hotel; 962 resort residential homes and townhouses; and a 100-slip marina spread over a 405 hectare (1,000 acres) parcel of land – an area about the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park.

The project is in its initial stages, with the golf course being the second element, with construction of the Marina nearing completion. The expected cost of completing the first phase infrastructure of roads, power lines, marina, golf course, and sewers will be $56 million. But, at the end of the estimated 10-year construction plan, the development will create employment for hundreds of locals, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy.

“We’re not simply building a golf course residential development,” confirms Mike Grenier, president of Pagebrook, Inc., developers of the former Six-Mile Ranch site along Kamloops Lake and whose research shows that only 20 per cent of people who buy homes on golf courses actually play golf. “If we did that, we wouldn’t succeed. We’re giving people a variety of lifestyles integrated into an on-site community near enough to Kamloops, so people can enjoy the symphony, art gallery, and other cultural amenities. Getting the scale right, the balance of different lifestyles, is what has taken so long in getting the project going.”

Like Kamloops on The Lake, the Sun Rivers golf course is the catalyst for a community development that will include a major resort hotel and shopping centre. A co-venture between the Kamloops Indian Band and private developers, the community features fibre-optic technology, its own state-of-the-art water system, great views, and individually designed homes.

The 460-acre (186-hectare) $500-million resort development is being built around the Cooke-designed golf course that lies along the benchlands at the base of Mount Paul and Mount Peter. Homes are already being constructed around the course and the community is beginning to dominate the Kamloops north shore hillside. No definite date has been set for opening of either the hotel or the shopping centre.

New Kids on the Block:
Set among the sand dunes, dramatic ravines and varied topography along the Thompson River just outside Kamloops, the views at the new Sun Rivers course promise to be a constant distraction.

“There are very few opportunities for a golf course designer to work with this kind of generous and dramatic terrain,” admits Cooke. “If you go to Scotland, you see high mounds and a links type of land. We have that kind of look here and we were determined not to interfere with it, just enhance what was already here in abundance.”

Cooke and Carleton took into account the wind in terms of ball carry and green location. And with some 80 strategically placed bunkers and sand traps throughout the course, it tests a golfer’s ability to manage shots.

Those who played the first nine last season will find a different hole alignment now that the full course is in operation. What was the opening hole – a par-5, 493-yard dogleg – will become the eighth hole and the current second hole becomes the ninth; and the 580-yard third hole becomes the opener.

The new 10th hole, just below the clubhouse, is a 630-yard (from the back tees) downhill giant that demands a straight tee shot to a broad landing area. And as with the rest of the back nine, it is set along the slope of the land as it follows its natural contours. The closing 18th hole is an uphill adventure of 530 yards to a green tucked behind a mount on a short dogleg right.

At the same time that Sun Rivers will be taking the early golf-season spotlight, McBroom will have seeded his new course at Kamloops on The Lake. And, like Sun Rivers, the course will require little earth moving.

“It’s amazing how little land we have to move around,” says Grenier. “We originally planned three nine-hole courses, but decided to widen the fairways and expand the greens. So, we’ll have a resort championship course plus a learning academy.” The changes, he says, will give more water views along the course.”

Put together, the Kamloops-area golf courses together with the emerging resort component, promise a varied and unique golfing experience, one that will no doubt help the region step out of shadow of the Okanagan to become a world-class golf destination in its own right

Kamloops Nuggets

The Dunes
Playing The Dunes at Kamloops is like having your own golf course. Here, lush fairways carve through the sand of an abandoned riverbed of the North Thompson in a course designed to maintain a sense of absolute privacy.Wild fescue and wheat grass stand guard along the fairways, giving way to dunes that transform into vast waste areas and challenging bunkers.

The Dunes measures 7120 yards from the back, but offers three other tees that allow the course to play as short as 5442 yards. The 583-yard (whites) par-5 16th looks as though it never ends. Protected by a long lake on the right and dunes on the left, the narrow landing areas demand finesse and length on the two opening shots.

Eagle Point Golf & Country Club
Here’s a course that is often compared to Gallagher’s Canyon and Golden Golf Club. Located in Barnhartvale, 20 minutes from downtown Kamloops, Eagle Point is carved from the terrain high in the hills on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway, minutes from Rivershore Golf Club.

Its picturesque setting is punctuated by five reflecting ponds, a waterfall and 50 sand traps with fairways that meander through a Ponderosa pine forest. The par-72 course can be played from five yardage lengths: red 5,319; green 5,625; white 6,006; gold 6,349; and blue 6,762. The key to scoring well at Eagle Point - designed by Robert Heaslip in 1990 - is definitely to keep the ball in play off the tee since length isn’t necessary.

Sun Peaks Resort
The front nine of the Sun Peaks course is nestled at the foot of three magnificent mountains and if your ball tends to fly long, it’s because you’re playing at 1220 metres (4000 ft.). Major work has been done on the courses since it first opened three years ago. While it still demands accurate shots off the tees, the Graham Cooke-designed course has matured along the rising and falling landscape around McGillivray Creek. The new nine, scheduled to open in 2003, complete with a training facility, is being constructed on flatlands, in marked contrast to the mountainside front nine.

Rivershore
Rivershore Estates and Golf Links, located just 15 minutes outside of Kamloops, is a classic links-style golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and is one of the most attractive courses in the Interior. Carved from the rolling landscape, the 5445- to 7007-yard par-72 layout, with its 97 sand traps and strategically placed sagebrush, brings a variety of hazards into play. Greens are fast, with subtle, sweeping breaks. The ninth, 406-yard (whites) par-4 begins Rivershore’s “Amen Corner.” If you can walk away from the ninth, 10th and 11th holes playing bogey golf, you can consider yourself lucky.

Kamloops Golf and Country Club
The oldest golf course in the area, the 6687-yard Kamloops Golf & Country Club will remind Lower Mainland golfers of McCleery Golf Club or the Chilliwack Golf Club, with a relatively flat layout and hazards you can see from the tee boxes. The course features a real “local club" atmosphere and offers an enjoyable round for golfers of all abilities. Situated next to Kamloops Airport on the valley floor, just a few meters above the river level, the course is flat and lush with wide fairways.