Twin Lakes Golf Course introduces $10 Tuesdays

"We want to be the golf course everyone plays at least twice a year"

Twin Lakes Golf Course went rogue last year, at least in the minds of some Okanagan course operators.

The longtime fixture on the South Okanagan golfing scene introduced $10 Tuesdays with minimum fanfare. That is not a typo. Players who teed up after noon and were willing to walk paid a mere $10 for 18 holes. Adding $16.50 a person allowed you to drive the course in style in a new electric cart.

Twin Lakes is no pitch-and-putt. At 6,867 yards from the back tees it can play long, but playing from the middle tees is enjoyable for mid-handicappers and doesn’t discourage newcomers to the game.

“It’s part of a plan to make the game accessible to people of all incomes,” said course manager Kate Swanson, who is on a mission to reintroduce the course to golfers of all abilities.

“We are a community that loves golf and we want to be the golf course everyone plays at least twice a year—everyone,” said Swanson emphatically. “For an 18 hole championship golf course, our prime time rate is $59, and no charge for the cart.”

Affordable golf

Twin Lakes can be summed up in two words: value and vistas. The course is located on Highway 3A, 15 minutes from Penticton, Keremeos and Okanagan Falls, in a spectacular wild setting beneath towering granite cliffs. Observant golfers may spot a cougar traversing a ridge, as I did last spring. Luckily, the cougars and bears prefer higher elevation, unlike the marmot and deer that frequent the lower regions. Take a club when looking for balls in the rough. The South Okanagan is rattlesnake country.

The course, which has been around for 35 years, was purchased in 2008 by a private group based in Vancouver. Affordable golf and sustainable turf management are two of the owners' top priorities.  

Swanson’s mission includes bringing young golfers to the game. Players under 15 play free when accompanied by an adult.

“Our junior program costs $25, including four lessons, a T-shirt and a wind-up party,” said Swanson. “Our members volunteer their time to teach the juniors.”

The course currently has 150 members and the plan is to max out at 200, to ensure members always get tee times and don’t have to deal with a ballot system. Young adults between the ages of 20 and 35 can purchase a gold card membership for $799 that includes unlimited golf with cart seven days a week after 11 a.m.

Preserving the environment

Four years ago Twin Lakes underwent a change in direction, opting for a more natural ambience. It’s a work in progress under the stewardship of golf superintendent Alex Inglis, who came on board in 2012.

Swanson said going au naturel is part of an effort to give an old-time feel to the course while protecting the environment.

“Our main focus at Twin Lakes is to preserve, not waste. We went from gas carts to electric carts. We went from watering wall to wall to restricting watering to the fairways, tee boxes and greens.”

Twin Lakes is located on the same elevation as Whistler, making for a later start than other Okanagan courses located lower in the valley. Inglis is already working to insure the greens are pristine for this year’s April 5 opening date. His crew have cleared the snow off the greens to avoid past problems caused by the early spring melting and freezing cycle.

Excellence in customer service

Swanson is adamant that a low green fee does not translate to sub-par service. Unlike some of the pricier courses, Twin Lakes prides itself on never turning anybody away. Need a tee time in half an hour? No problem—pro shop manager Dave Roberts will work you in.

“Our goal this year is to offer one of the best customer service experiences in the Okanagan,” Swanson said. “You have to be positive to work at Twin Lakes.”

That service includes giving back to the community. The course schedules four golf-by-donation days in the shoulder seasons, with all proceeds going to a designated charity. Sorry, all the charity days are booked for 2013.

Being located in Canada’s competitive golf mecca presents its own problems for a course located at higher elevation outside of a town. Attracting golfers means thinking outside the tee box. Last September the club held a successful Golf in the Dark Night, with golfers toting flashlights and teeing off at 6 p.m. using balls with glow sticks inside. And of course there’s the annual end-of-season One Club tournament.

With the lowest rates in the Okanagan, Twin Lakes' new tag line—Why Golf Anywhere Else—is hard to argue with.