Course Source: Nicklaus North, Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello
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Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange July 22, 2013 12:31 AMThe SportsXchange
IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Nicklaus North Golf Course in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
Now, there also is world-class golf in the area, and the best golfer in the history of the game came to Canada to create a masterpiece that opened for play in 1996 below the glacial peaks.
To help get the word out, he brought the Telus Skins Game to the course in 1997, when Greg Norman took the bulk of the money from Nicklaus, Fred Couples and Nick Faldo.
In 1998, Nicklaus North was host to an episode of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, in which Couples shot a brilliant 5-under-par 66 to defeat Ernie Els.
And it does not take as long to reach Whistler these days because of a construction project that widened the scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway to handle the traffic from Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.
Canadians were disappointed their country did not claim a single skiing medal at Whistler during the 2010 Games, but they still celebrate the gold that Nancy Greene of British Columbia claimed in the giant slalom at Grenoble, France, in 1968.
DIRECTOR OF GOLF: Andrew Smart.
The project was environmentally sensitive from the beginning in keeping with the spectacular natural habitat, and the course is impeccably manicured.
The most challenging of the par-3s probably is No. 12, which is rated by several sources as one of the most memorable holes in Canada. It plays 225 yards from the back tees across another pond to a two-tiered green that is protected by bunkers on all four sides, with a steep slope in front sending many shots that are barely short back into the water.
Most challenging of the par-5s probably is No. 11, 555 yards from the tips with a prevailing headwind making it unlikely to get home in two, even for big hitters. Bunkers and a conservation area border the fairway on both sides off the tee, and water comes into play on the left when laying up. Bunkers right, left and rear protect the green.
The tee shot on the par-4, 437-yard 15th, again over water for longer hitters and often affected by a crosswind, must be threaded between two fairway bunkers to provide for a reasonable approach to a large and undulating green.
No. 17 is the last of the par-3s, and although the 226-yard tee shot is not over water, Green Lake awaits tee shots that wander left. A bunker that wraps around the green saves many a ball from a watery grave.
Don't be surprised to see bear, moose, coyote, deer and other critters wander out from the tall fir trees during your round, but what makes this course special is that it has the Golden Bear's paw prints all over it.
Whistler Golf Club, located barely inside the town limits, was the first course in the area and the initial Arnold Palmer-designed layout in Canada. It opened in 1982 and underwent a $1.8 million renovation in 2000.
If you have a chance on the way up from Vancouver, stop and play Mayfair Lakes Golf and Country Club below the towering Coast Mountains in Richmond, or picturesque Furry Creek Golf and Country Club, about 30 minutes south of Whistler on the Sea-to-Ski Highway.
Also included are the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club and Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course in Alberta, Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello Golf Club and Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu Golf Club in Quebec, andAlgonquin Golf Course and Academy in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick.
Conde Naste Traveler magazine has selected the Fairmont Chateau Whistler as the No. 1 ski resort and No. 1golf resort in Canada. Whistler receives 46 feet of snow a year, and the Wizard chairlift right outside the back door of the resort whisks skiers up the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain to 8,100 acres of skiing terrain.
Other winter activities include cross-country skiing, horse-drawn sleigh rides, snowshoeing, dog-sledding, ice skating, four-wheel driving, indoor rock climbing and snowmobile riding.
Other top hotels in Whistler include the Four Seasons Whistler Resort, the Westin Resort and Spa Whistler, theAlpine Chalet Whistler, the Delta Whistler Village Suites, the Crystal Lodge Hotel, the Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside and the Chalet Luise Bed & Breakfast Inn.
THE LAYOUT: The Montebello Golf Club has been renowned in its nearly 80 years for two mounds in the first fairway that are a reminder of golf in the Scottish Highlands.
Several years ago, an architect was brought in to do some renovation on the course and suggested blowing up the right mogul. That was the last piece of advice he was allowed to give.
First Thompson created classic courses in the Canadian Rockies at Jasper Park Lodge in 1925 and the Banff Springs Hotel in 1927. Then he came east and sculpted two more beauties, Montebello in 1931 and Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia in 1935.
Thompson carved into the granite landscape a course on which every hole is unique, with no parallel fairways, leaving the golfer with the feeling at every turn that his or her group is the only one on the course.
The golf season at Montebello opens on the last week of April and runs through October, weather permitting.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: The mounds in the first fairway, which block the view of the green on the uphill hole, were meant to be a target. Hit your tee shot over them and the 320-yard hole is yours for the taking, but stay out of the trees to the right.
The highlight of the front nine is the fourth hole, a dogleg left, 522-yard par 5 from an elevated tee that gives the golfer a spectacular view of the Ottawa River Valley and the surrounding Outaouais region. With help from the elevated tee, big hitters can reach the green in two, but don't be short on the approach or your ball will wind up in the creek that guards the front.
Chi Chi Rodriguez came to Montebello in 1993 and set the course record of 6-under-par 64, but he got lucky on No. 9 when his tee shot flew the green and stayed in the long grass behind rather than running into the canyon. He chipped all the way across the green for an improbable birdie, but complained all day that he could not make a putt.
The final hole always has been another of those strong par-4s for which Scottish architects are known, but time and technology caught up with it until it was lengthened several years ago by 35 yards to 420. Instead of 220 yards to carry the bunker on the left and shorten the hole, it is now nearly 250, and the fairway is only 40 yards wide. Another bunker awaits to guard the green of a terrific finishing hole.
OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: Located about 10 miles away in Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix is L'Heritage Golf Course, a parkland course that measures 6,712 yards from the back tees.
In addition to resorts at Banff Springs and Jasper Park, Fairmont's other golf properties in Canada include the Chateau Whistler Golf Club in British Columbia and the Algonquin Golf Club in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick.
WHERE TO STAY: Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, a few minutes from the course, is a relic from the past -- a lodge built in 1930 with 10,000 giant red-cedar logs, all cut and set by hand, over a stone foundation.
For its first 40 years, the chateau was the private retreat of the Seigniory Club, whose membership included former Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco.
More recently, Montebello hosted the 2007 North American Leaders Summit, welcoming President George W. Bush, President Felipe Calderon of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada.
In the winter, there are cross-country skiing, broomball, skating, sleigh rides, dogsledding, snowmobiling, tobogganing, ice fishing and more. Or simply enjoy a hot toddy around the six-sided fireplace in the largest log cabin in the world.
