Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club

Playing Sagebrush, named the 10th best golf course in Canada, is very different than playing a traditional golf course and is a unique experience.

What would you say to a round of golf on a course that was listed as the 10th best golf course in Canada? Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club opened in 2009 and was awarded the Best New Course in Canada by both Golf Digest and Score Golf magazines. It is located 19 kilometres north of Merritt on Highway 5A, near the site of the old Quilchena Cattle Ranch. Although this is cowboy country, the word Quilchena is of aboriginal origin and means a flat place near water. The water refers to Nicola Lake, but Sagebrush is built on the nearby mountainside.

From 2002 through 2012, former PGA touring pro Dick Zokol was hired by Four For Fore Investments Ltd. to develop Sagebrush. Zokol served multiple roles, from designer to real estate salesman to chief executive officer. Sagebrush was Zokol, and Zokol was Sagebrush.

The course was modelled after successful private clubs such as the Sandhills in Nebraska and Redtail in Port Stanley, Ontario. It was a high-end golfing destination for the rich and for corporate elite, with memberships selling for $200,000 and residential lots for $500,000. Becoming a member was by invitation only. In 2012, however, the course remained largely empty, lots were not sold and Sagebrush was heading towards bankruptcy when Zokol resigned. Litigation between the two sides involving $43 million dollars continues in the courts. In the meantime, the semi-private course remains open to the public.

Golf architect

My first impression was that Sagebrush looked much like Tobiano near Kamloops or Tower Ranch in Kelowna. Zokol, Rod Whitman and agronomist Armen Suny collaborated on course design. Whitman is a minimalist, meaning that as little earth as possible is moved to create a course. At Sagebrush the best example of this philosophy is Hole 2, where the fairway follows the contours of the land down towards the lake. 

The fairways and greens are all designed to fit the topography of the landscape instead of changing the topography to fit the hole, and the design team had an interesting canvas to work with. The worst features of Sagebrush include sloping fairways, blind shots, rock outcroppings, sagebrush, fescue and native grasses. By contrast, the best features of this course are the sloping fairways, blind shots, rock outcroppings, sagebrush, fescue and native grasses.

Being a purist, Zokol wanted to create a links-style course resembling those in the British Isles. Originally, there were no yardage markers on the course or even score cards. There are open tee boxes, with 30 minutes between tee times. Even the word par is replaced with SSS, or standard scratch score. The sand bunkers are as mother nature left them, and rakes are not provided. Flag colour does not represent the traditional location on the green, so play for the middle. Zokol encouraged match play over stroke play, which historically is how the game was first played.

Playing the course

As a result of the unique mountainside landscape at Sagebrush, golfers need to play different shots, such as bump and run, knockdown shots, high fades and low draws, and they need to be good bunker players out of hard sand. Zokol often stated that there were different ways to play this course, but without his skills, I went into survival mode. Unless you are a pro, stay off the back (black) tees at 7,396 yards with a slope of 142. The course from the back tees is too difficult for recreational golfers. The whites, however, are too short at 5,573 yards. Play the blues at 6,646 yards with a slope of 136, or a combination of white and blue tees.

There are four holes that best illustrate the majority of features on the course and how to play them. This golf course is at an elevation of 2,200 feet, and the day I was there it was 33 C. The fairways were surprising lush but hard, allowing the ball to run forever with a low draw.

• Hole No. 2, par 4, 406 yards (blue tees)

This is a beautiful signature hole, with Nicola Lake in the background. The caddy sheet recommends driving the ball to the left side, as the ball will roll across the fairway. A second iron shot needs to land short and left of the green, with the ball rolling towards the flag. Master the bump and run shot to a sunken green, as it will be needed on holes 4, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 16. An iron to the right of the flag is bunker bound.

• Hole No. 7, par 5, 588 yards, no. 1 handicap hole

After a good tee shot, the second shot is risk and reward. Play it safe to the right or gamble to the left. The left side has rock, native grasses and sagebrush, with a long carry downhill to a sunken green. The right side may also result in a blind shot, so aim at the telephone pole. It is possible to reach the green in two, but again it is necessary to read the landscape and play a knockdown shot off the feeder slope to the right.

• Hole no. 14, par 5, 536 yards

Tee the ball up and hit over the fence. Uphill holes are Nos. 1, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 18 and require one more club. Hole 14 has major fairway bunkers on the left and right. My ball came out of the left bunker and rolled back down the hill. Keep the ball well to the left to open up the small green, which is guarded by snarly, unkempt bunkers. As with most uphill holes, it is usually necessary to hit past the flag.

• Hole No. 16, par 5, 608 yards, no. 2 handicap hole

The tee shot is a partial blind shot over the hill to an angled fairway, which opens to a split fairway. The second shot is usually a blind shot, with the ball having to clear a waste area and a large bunker on the left. It is possible to reach the sunken green in two, but it is a great risk-and-reward hole. The other safe option is to go for the green with a third shot from the top of the hill. If you land it short and right, the ball will run onto the green.

Unique details

Most of the greens are massive. The seventh green is 75 yards from front to back, and the 16th is the largest green at 86 yards. The elevated greens can come with false fronts and collection areas. The greens are undulating and 11.5 on the stimpmeter, bringing into play the dreaded three putt. The 13th and 18th greens seemed to be an optical illusion, where up is down and down is up.

Between the 12th and 13th holes is a pond stocked with lake trout. Golfers are encouraged to stop for drinks and food and even to try fly fishing.

Playing Sagebrush is very different than a traditional golf course and is a unique experience. Being somewhat isolated, the course offers some amenities like guest cottages and meals. Annual memberships are now very reasonable. It may be a leap of faith to play Sagebrush because of the green fees and travel time, but you'll understand their motto: Play for your Soul.