Sweet and Lowdown

From west to east, enRoute tees off at above-par golf courses with greens fees starting as low as $22. Fore!

Vancouver Island

Not only are courses here open year-round, you’ll also find an embarrassment of superlative affordable courses. In Victoria, spots like Bear Mountain and Olympic View are well known, but the true golf Shangri-La is mid-island at Top 100 contenders like Storey Creek and the resort-style Crown Isle. Around golf-rich Nanaimo, the Les Furber triumph Morningstar Championship Golf combines fairways and driveways for a course that can’t be beat. Developers everywhere, take note. In the Cowichan Valley, the quirky Duncan Meadows mixes links and parklands to excellent effect. And the hillside-traditional Nanaimo Golf Club plays like a July afternoon – even after a West Coast monsoon. 

The West Kootenays, B.C.

This remote area near the U.S. border is so undiscovered by golfers that spectacular courses play for a bargain. Almost a dozen tracks are within reach of artsy Nelson or sporty Rossland, including Balfour Golf Course, whose panoramic views of Kootenay Lake rival those of a West Coast fjord. Rossland Trail Country Club’s Birchbank Course perches on a rare parcel of gently sloping land, paving the way for wide fairways and generous greens. With sensuous undulations and excellent conditioning, Castlegar Golf Club regularly hosts championships. Then there’s Redstone Resort, which for now merely charms with its log cabin clubhouse and the world’s only golf rope tow (to aid you on a steep grade). By late 2007, a second nine should vault it to trophy-course status. 

Saskatchewan

Plan on touring, but make leafy Saskatoon your headquarters to hit the best of the province’s 200-plus courses. The first and last stop is nearby Dakota Dunes Golf Links, which is easily one of the best new courses of recent years. The inland links curve near the South Saskatchewan River. Also near Saskatoon, the 27-hole Moon Lake is blessed with similar topography. Then head north to Prince Albert National Park for the double threat of Elk Ridge, a 27-hole resort-style beauty, and Waskesiu Golf Course, dating back to the 1930s. Southbound, you’ll find the very pretty Deer Valley Golf Course, with par-3s clinging to valley walls. But it’s the nasty 537-yard par-5 12th, with its wabi-sabi fence marking an out of bounds, that will linger in dreams and nightmares.

Southwestern Ontario

There are more lauded courses in the GTA than you can swing a nine-iron at, but head south and you’ll find quieter greens and great deals. London’s Forest City National Golf Course is an affordable public track that’s tough enough to host professional events. (Beware the deviously placed sand traps and hazards, like the arroyo-sand-trap combo surrounding the 17th green.) A few other spots to swing by include the rolling John F. Robinson design at Ironwood Golf Club in Exeter and the well-groomed semi-private track at Ingersoll Golf & Country Club. Another favourite is the reworked Innerkip Highlands course, with its daunting island green.

Quebec

With its deceptively pastoral setting, Carling Lake Golf Club offers an alternative to the Laurentians’ luxe (and pricey) resorts. Don’t let sheep pens off the first fairway distract you. Other tricky layouts include a partially hidden green, stiffly protected by a screen of trees and a ball-eating brook. The Royal Laurentien, with water on all but three holes and more than 90 sand traps, is lovely but dangerous. Built by the Ménard family, it’s been ranked as one of Quebec’s 10 best courses. Another family affair is the Cadieux’s Deux-Montagnes Golf Club in Saint-Eustache. This democratic course caters to a wide range of handicaps with five sets of blocks at each tee.

Newfoundland

There’s nothing like geographical isolation to preserve a hidden gem. The landscape is unmatched and fees are a fraction of what they’d be on the mainland. Starting in the northeast of Bonavista Bay, the Twin Rivers course at Terra Nova Golf Resort yields to the surrounding national park. But beware the second hole: A gut-checking 521-yard par-5 requires a 200-yard carry over a chunk of the Atlantic. The 12th hole at the challenging Wilds at Salmonier River, carved from a landscape of stunted trees and protected wetlands, is alone worth a visit. Then for a Maritime-only bargain, play the first nine holes of Doug Carrick’s showstopper at Humber Valley Resort. For $100 – the highest fee in the province – you can play all 18 holes.

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