Stunning scenery at Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course
Global Golf
Drive it home in Scotland
Buddhists have Nirvana and King Arthur, his Holy Grail; golfers have Scotland. All this year, Scotland will celebrate its greatest contributions to the world under the banner Homecoming Scotland 2009. Included among such revered events as the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns is golf, with a special Drive It Home promotion offering overseas players a free four-ball at selected courses from January 25 to November 30.
Other events for golfers include the A Whole in One Golf Exhibition at Ayr, in Scotland’s central west, from June to August. The exhibition will depict the story of golf and its impact on fashion, tourism and social history. Among the artefacts on display will be the Claret Jug and the Challenge Belt. From 16-19 July, golf’s oldest major, The Open Championship, will celebrate its 138th birthday and find The Champion Golfer of the Year at Turnberry, also in the central-west region. And throughout August, the Johnnie Walker Championship will draw some of the world finest golfers to play over the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles.
For more information, visit www.driveithome2009.com, or phone Visit Britain on 1300 858 589.
Wildlife hazard at Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course
Golf in the Canadian Rockies
A golfing holiday in the Canadian Rockies can be a well rounded driving, sightseeing and dining holiday that everyone can enjoy.
Banff is a good place to start. A dozen courses are within driving distance of Banff but your first stop should be Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course, adjacent to the hotel of the same name.
Banff’s 18-hole Stanley Thompson course opened in 1928 and, after a C$4.5 million facelift in 1999, is regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful. It has breathtaking views in all directions, challenges at every turn and the Bow River, its strong underground currents affecting the grain of the greens and challenging the accuracy of your putts. The 9-hole Tunnel Mountain course was added in 1989. Thompson was renowned for designing holes and bunkers that give optical illusions, appearing closer together than they are. Even knowing this, I found it difficult to aim for the grassy space I was assured lay between bunker and hole. Playing amid the Rocky Mountains can be distracting and most of these holes need serious thought. The innocent-looking par three, Devil’s Cauldron, is played from an elevated tee over a glacial lake onto a small, windy, bunkered green; the eighth requires you to play into the wind to a green surrounded by water and bunkers. Get your camera out at the fifteenth, where you’ll stand on top of the world overlooking a magical view.
The other “must-play” in Banff is the Par 72 Silvertip course at Canmore, an amazingly steep course with 180 metres’ elevation change. From some tees, the vista goes forever and balls seem to sail on and on as they float down to the fairway far below. Les Furber designed this course and, in consideration of its difficult terrain, the club gives players a choice of tees from 4640 metres to a noteworthy 6550 metres for big hitters. Silvertip is a residential development, so the fairways weave between magnificent, rustic mountain homes and choice vegetation that attracts wildlife.
From Banff, you can drive to Jasper along the Icefield Parkway, one of the world’s most spectacular drives. The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club is rated No. 1 Best Golf Resort in Canada by SCOREGolf Magazine. This is another Stanley Thompson course and it aptly displays his love of Jasper’s scenery, its tree-lined fairways tracing the land’s contours and holes lining up with distant peaks. The second is called The Old Man after a backdrop mountain that resembles a man’s head. This Par 71 course is flatter, more open than Banff, and more tranquil. It has numerous bunkers but none on the eighth, considered the most difficult due to its deceptive lie and a built-in optical illusion.
The Lodge is a classic, low-rise building on the lake’s edge, with fine dining in the lovely Edith Cavill Room. It has hosted celebrities including Queen Elizabeth II, The Kennedys, John Travolta and Bing Crosby, who the staff had to watch so he couldn’t sneak off to fish and golf instead of filming.
For further information on Fairmont courses, visit www.fairmont.com. For Silvertip, go to www.silvertipresort.com
Teeing off at St Andrews New Golf Course
Topshot
Every four years, a new Rules of Golf is produced. The rules are the same around the world and 700,000 copies come into Australia. If you don’t already have the 2008 copy and are not a golf club member, you can get one from any public course or download it from www.golfaustralia.org.au
For questions, recommendations and comments, readers are invited to contact golf reviewer Shirley LaPlanche at shirley.laplanche@yahoo.com.au
By Shirley LaPlanche
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