Kiss the Sky

Riding the Rails and Rapids to Golf in the Clouds: Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Whistler

By Andrew Marshall

It’s a sunny mid-september morning in british columbia. At precisely 8:30 a.m. the Whistler Mountaineer chugs gently out of North Vancouver railyard. This is its daily run to the alpine resort of Whistler, three-hours and 120-kilometres away, along a track with more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel.

With our golf clubs stored safely on board we settle down in the first-class Glacier Dome car—all white linens, waiter service and unobstructed views. Glasses of Okanagan bubbly and cheese and bacon omelettes mark the occasion—a tasty beginning to our week-long British Columbia golf journey by ‘trains, ferries and automobiles.” We’re here to tee it up on some of the best real estate Whistler, Vancouver Island and Vancouver have to offer.

Since its launch in May 2006, the Whistler Mountaineer has carried tens of thousands of passengers along this scenic strip that cuts through canyons and past snow-capped mountains to the southern edge of Whistler. We enjoy spectacular views of Vancouver and the early morning mists slowly lifting off Howe Sound (the most southerly fjord and glacially carved inlet in North America), as the train trundles through pine forests, past Horseshoe Bay and climbs up alongside the serpentine Sea-to-Sky Highway.

After breakfast, we join other rail passengers in the historic Henry Pickering 1914 observation car and the slow clack-clack rumbling of the rails gives way to an eerie screech of metal as we turn corners and enter tunnels. As we reach the trestle bridge at Cheakamus Canyon the train slows to a snail’s pace while passengers angle through the open windows for a photo of a cascade tumbling into the pale-turquoise waters below.

Ski & Golf

Whistler is consistently ranked the Number One ski, snowboarding and mountain biking resort in North America, and the numbers speak for themselves: one vertical mile drop; two side-by-side mountains connected by a cosmopolitan village; more than 200 trails; three glaciers; 38 lifts; and 16 alpine bowls. Whistler will gain even greater fame when it hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics, not long after the Peak to Peak Gondola is completed in 2008. At 4.4 kilometres in length and 415 metres above the valley floor, the gondola will unite Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.

In recent years, Whistler has gained a reputation for activities on the green as much as on the white, with four Championship designer courses providing classic mountain golf. There’s Arnold Palmer’s first Canadian design at the Whistler Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus design at Nicklaus North Course, and Robert Trent Jones Jr’s mountainside Chateau Whistler Golf Club carved from the side of Blackcomb Mountain with dramatic elevation changes of over 400 feet. In addition, a thirty minute drive away in Pemberton lies Bob Cupp’s Big Sky Golf and Country Club at the foot of the soaring granite outcrop of Mount Currie.

After two days in Whistler sampling Nicklaus North and Chateau Whistler, we drive down the picturesque Sea to Sky Highway (Route 99) towards Vancouver and a tee time at Furry Creek—“British Columbia’s Most Scenic Golf Course” and where the golf comedy Happy Gilmore was filmed.

One glance from the first tee, with its striking 165-foot plunge towards the tranquil waters of Howe Sound and we quickly understand we’ve arrived at a course like no other. There are precious few courses that can generate a genuine sense of awe for several holes at a stretch. Exceedingly rare is a layout that can sustain the feeling for an entire round. Furry Creek is such a place. One of the classics is the par-3 14th that dares you to drive over a beach littered with bleached driftwood logs to an emerald green jutting into Howe Sound.

After munching on juicy “5-iron” steak sandwiches washed down with a couple of Arnold Palmers (half lemonade and iced tea) at the Sea to Sky Grill, we continue on to Horseshoe Bay for the 95-minute ferry crossing to the port of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. BC Ferries is known for showcasing British Columbia’s spectacular scenery and proud maritime history. Travelling this way is like a mini-cruise in itself. Nearby Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia with a fascinating history preserved in the city’s many museums and heritage buildings. The picturesque Inner Harbour is the hub of downtown activity and bustles with kayaks, yachts, whale watching boats and floatplanes.

Located 20 minutes away, is our home for two nights, the Westin Bear Mountain Resort—a masterplanned community built around Vancouver Island’s first Jack and Steve Nicklaus designed golf course. The resort offers a complete lifestyle experience combining the secluded luxury of a rural mountainside wellness resort with world-class golf. There’s no question of roughing it here, with sumptuous suites so spacious you need a map to find your way around.

Everything about Bear Mountain golf course is top-end; a stunning forested mountainside design, tee blocks good enough to putt on, fast undulating greens and thick US Open-style greenside rough that will test lob wedge skills to the max. To assist all golfers, gps-computerized, satellite-linked systems on each power cart relay yardages to pins and hazards, even allowing you to make lunch orders ready for pick-up before the back nine. Overlook the lobster sandwiches at your own peril.

Olympic Golf

A short drive from Bear Mountain lies Olympic View Golf Club, another island must-play. Here, it’s all about tranquillity, seclusion and nature. You’ll discover the magnificence of the Olympic Mountains, soaring bald eagles, grazing deer and two waterfalls, including a spectacular 60-footer tumbling behind the green of the par 4 17th—one of the most photographed holes in bc.

“Olympic View was the first course in British Columbia that Tiger Woods played in 1994 in a us amateur event, and of course he won it,” says Jason Lowe, president of Golf Vancouver Island, as we enjoy lunch in the clubhouse restaurant after our round. Lowe is excited about Vancouver Island’s emergence as a genuine hotspot for British Columbia golf. “There are around 50 courses here and the Vancouver Golf Trail showcases 11 of the best, that start in Victoria and go up to the Campbell River, with about three hours driving between them,” he adds. “Along with Olympic View and Bear Mountain, my pick would also include Arbutus Ridge, Storey Creek and Fairwinds.”

After a late afternoon ferry crossing from Swartz Bay to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, we arrive back in Vancouver, set against a stunning backdrop of mountains and ocean. This gateway to the Pacific Rim is known for its resident’s quality of life and has recently been voted the world’s best place to live by the Economic Intelligence Unit (eiu). Vancouver is sassy, sophisticated and outdoorsy, a city with a cosmopolitan attitude offering superlative shopping, lavish dining, top-draw theatre, funky districts, galleries, great nightlife and beautiful Stanley Park; 1000 acres of greenery that hugs the downtown area and provides an oasis for everyone.

If you still have enough time and energy for teeing it up, courses in the Vancouver area include: Northview Golf & Country Club featuring two Arnold Palmer championship courses (Canal and Ridge), and Westwood Plateau Golf Club which offers glorious views of Lower Vancouver from several holes and is known for its stylish caddies in plus fours.

It’s been a long way to come for six rounds in eight days, but packing away our clubs for our plane trip back to Europe, we’re already discussing our next British Columbia golf trip.