Western Canada’s inland links

“Nae wind, nae rain, nae golf”

I’m standing on the 14th tee—a par-3 that measures a whopping 270 yards—on the new Links Course at the Wolf Creek Golf Resort near Ponoka, Alberta. A 30-kilometre-an-hour wind is whipping out of the west and, to be honest, the only club that might give me enough firepower to get to the green is my driver. I select the weapon, steady myself over the ball, and make a passionate swipe at it. The ball gets up in the wind, floats there like a beach ball, and comes up 50 yards short. I can’t believe it. But this is links golf in Alberta. Anything can happen. 

When golf first began on the sandy, wind-blasted shores of Scotland, it was an adventurous, against-the-elements form of recreation. The bells and whistles of today’s high-end clubs and resorts were non-existent. It was you versus nature. Indeed, the timeless Scottish saying “nae wind, nae rain, nae golf” sums it up rather succinctly. Interestingly, in western Canada, a place far removed from the authentic Scottish game, there are a number of places where the timeless qualities of links golf can be experienced.

Wolf Creek, by many accounts, is the best example in Alberta of this brash and brawny version of the game. Designed by talented Alberta architect Rod Whitman—a true visionary of the timeless game and one of the best golf course architects working today— Wolf Creek speaks volumes about the compelling nature of the Old World game.

If you look at some of the most successful stories in golf during the past decade or so, it’s places similar to Wolf Creek—Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast is perhaps the best example—that have created the most noise. These are places (Chambers’s Bay in Washington, Sand Hills in Nebraska, and The Links of North Dakota near Williston are other examples) where the grassroots benefits of golf have not been sabotaged by developers married to typical residential and resort models. The game at these places is much more adventurous, aligned with the elements that gave golf life in the first place.  

“I’ve always been a bit of a romantic when it comes to golf,” said Whitman. “To me there is nothing better than walking, carrying your clubs, and enjoying a challenging golf course that melds into the natural landscape. To me the weather, the wind, that’s all part of it. At Wolf Creek, and certainly Cabot Links, that’s how the game is meant to be played.”

While Whitman’s Wolf Creek has been turning heads for over 25 years now, his Cabot Links project, which is Canada’s first true links, is already a superstar in the genre. Golf Digest currently places it 42nd on their list of the Top 100 Courses in the World. Located hard on the sandy shores in Inverness, Nova Scotia, Cabot Links is one of the newest links frontiers in the world. Cabot Cliffs, the second course, is slated to open next year. No doubt rave reviews will be forthcoming, as the site is even more spectacular. 

While Cabot Links offers a true links experience, there are a number of places in western Canada, besides Wolf Creek, where flavours from the ancient seaside game can be experienced. In Alberta, courses such as Speargrass in Carseland, the Links at Delacour in Calgary and Desert Blume in Medicine Hat all boast elements of links golf. 

If you go further east into Saskatchewan, where the sweeping, grass-covered landscapes of the plains have a striking resemblance to links land, there are even better examples. Dakota Dunes in Saskatoon, Mainprize in Weyburn and Saskatchewan Landing on Lake Diefenbaker immediately come to mind. I’ve always felt that The Links of North Dakota, just over the U.S. border near Williston, is one of the best inland links in the world. It’s a spectacular golf experience.

In British Columbia, perhaps the most linksy experience would be Sagebrush, which is now open to the public. Due to its remote and secluded location high on a windy, barren and fescue-covered hillside on the Kamloops-Merritt Highway, it also captures the “out there” aspects of the links genre. Tobiano (Kamloops), The Dunes (Kamloops) and Tower Ranch (Kelowna) are also notable for their inland links characteristics.

So if the links golf genre melts your butter, you don’t need to take a lengthy trek over the pond to experience its virtues. It may not be the real deal, but the inland links in western Canada definitely serve up something special.