Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club

“The best game in town.” – Golf Digest Magazine, 1999.

It is not often you get to play a Top 100 golf course in Canada. Score Golf Magazine presently rates Westwood Plateau as No. 90 in the country and the 16th best course in British Columbia, including both public and private courses.

The history of Westwood Plateau only dates back to 1990, when Wesbild Corporation purchased the Crown land it sits on, which was formerly Westwood Motorsport Park. This real estate company invests in planned communities, shopping malls and golf courses. Predator Ridge in Vernon is another of their developments. During the 1990s Wesbild constructed 4,525 homes for 15,000 people, including the famous Street of Dreams, and the golf course opened in late 1995. The following year the course was named Best New Golf Course in Canada. Over the years the course has received numerous accolades and awards. 

Ten years after the course was opened, Westwood Plateau was sold to Revs Entertainment of Burnaby. After a decade of use, it was time to renovate cart paths, bathrooms, carts/GPS, tees, greens and especially drainage. Superintendent Mike Putrus was responsible for many of the current changes on the course. Another major reason for renovating was because Westwood Plateau, being a mountain course, has a short six-month season. The changes to the course would extend its season by another month.

In addition, a major change in philosophy was to reduce the green fees from $169 to the present range of $69 to $99 to attract new golfers. Chris Baldwin of the Province newspaper said, “Westwood Plateau is the rich man’s playground a common man can afford.”

Playing the course 

This is a mountain course requiring a cart. The electric carts are equipped with Visage GPS and have a sound track explaining how to play each hole. The information is invaluable.

The first two holes are an easy start and should result in pars. The 3rd to the 6th holes are called the Gauntlet by the locals and bogey is a good score. Hole No. 3 is a monster par three and very intimidating. From the back tees, the hole plays 205 yards uphill over a ravine and is guarded by a front trap. Any ball short of the green rolls down into snarly grass or disappears. Use the bailout area and aim left of the stairs.

Hole No. 4 is a reasonable par 5 at 535 yards. Hole No. 5 is 470 yards, par 4 and a risk/reward hole because of the waste area in front of the green. The final Gauntlet hole is a tight par 3, 196 yards. Avoid the left bunkers. If those four holes were not hard enough, No. 7 is a par 5 at 583 yards, the No. 1 handicap hole.

The back nine play a little easier. Hole 10 and  11 are short uphill par 4s. Hole No. 12 is a beautiful par 3, 169 yards over another ravine, with a natural rock wall behind the green. The 15th hole is fun, a par 4 at 456 yards, with a 150-foot drop to the fairway. Use your 220-yard club and launch your drive into space, leaving space, leaving the next shot over yet another ravine to a large green guarded by massive bunkers. By the the next shot over another ravine to a large green guarded by massive bunkers. By the time you emerge on the 18th tee, a par 4 at 430 yards, a flat fairway feels like a gift.  

Golf architect

Michael Hurdzan is a noted golf architect, having designed 400 courses including the Devil’s Pulpit in Ontario. When Hurdzan along with Dana Fry set out to design this course, they realized that the plateau was really Eagle Ridge, an area going from 60 to 400 metres (1,200 feet). The course would be laid out up and down the ridge, having to be cut out of the Douglas fir trees, wrapped around granite rock walls and stretch across numerous ravines.

The first priority was to make the course environmentally friendly.

“The more we harmonize natural surroundings into a golf course, the more aesthetic and memorable it will be,” Hurdzan said.

Because the area was limited, the course had to be between 5,514 to 6,770 yards. Hurdzan wanted every hole to have a wow factor, so all 18 holes are signature holes. Golfers not only have to use all the clubs in their bag, but have the skill and knowledge to hit off a slope with the ball above or below their feet. The greens are poa and bent grass and are large, undulating and well-protected by sand traps. The most picturesque views are on holes No. 5, 15 and 18.

Staycation

In talking with Michael Litz, Golf Event Supervisor, he stressed that Westwood Plateau also had a 12-hole executive course in addition to its championship course. Litz talked about the two distinct restaurants, the Golf Academy and CPGA instructors, driving range and practice facilities.

When I asked Litz what was really special about Westwood, he smiled and said, “we are only 35 minutes from downtown Vancouver, unless you come in by helicopter, but a world away from the city. Westwood Plateau feels like a golfing resort and a special place for a staycation.”                     

Championship Course -  Par 72, 6,770 yards, CR 71.9, Slope 136 (back tees)
Executive Course - Par 31, 1805 yards, CR 59.8, Slope 87