Ranch Country Golf with Fish
After I punched in the entrance code I waited patiently. The gate opened gradually to give me time to reflect on what special world I would be entering. This was not a conventional golf club. Its title gave you advanced warning that it would not be such an animal. Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club. Their motto: Play for your soul. And they offer a definitive statement of an Unprecedented Golf and Lifestyle Experience. I was already transported to my joyful experiences of playing seaside links golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
The drive to the neatly packaged pro shop is a wonderful one as you meander through the grounds allowing you to see the mountainous terrain, tease you with the sight of some holes and beautiful Nicola Lake sits down below with kite surfers enjoying some air time. This is Scotland and rancher’s paradise wrapped up into a neat package in the middle of nowhere, in Quilchena near Merritt, British Columbia. The weather is hot and the winds can blow.
Rob Gebert, the new Golf Shop Manager, met me after I parked my car on gravel beside a few others. He let me know that only 40-80 players come through in a day and members and visitors like this relaxing way to enjoy the round. No starters, no course marshals and no rush. How liberating!
Your chosen tees are nicely marked by customized stones with the appropriate colour. This is where you park your power cart. Although theoretically you could walk you will not. The mountainous terrain means healthy elevation changes and there could be over a hundred yard cart rides to your next tees from greens. No pull carts are on ground but this is not cart path only rules. The carts are loaded smartly with four bottled waters because there are no water stops outside of the cart service. Smart thinking and I have come to believe that water and access to water is important for golfers throughout the round, especially in these arid type of golf courses. The cart doesn’t offer GPS technology and there are only 150 yard stone markers.
Tee boxes can be spacious and the neat thing is that the one with honours gets to choose what part of the box he/she launches their drive. Competitors have to follow suit from within a short distance from this spot. In some cases the tees are so large that you can change the angle or sight line. No. 10 for instance is a shorter par 3 that you can hit blindly over a hill if you select your shot from the right hand side. I like this unique touch and I don’t remember doing this on tees in past golf travels.
The first green showed me a few important things about Sagebrush. The greens are monstrous and they are extremely fast. No. 7 and No. 16 are two of the largest greens I have ever seen. The latter is almost 80 yards long! Rob mentioned that these 22,000 and 24,000 square feet greens may be the largest ones in Canada. My head is nodding to this fact after rapping one from a distance and seeing positive results. Those who love to use the straight stick will be in paradise. Also, you may choose to use your putting prowess from many yards off the green to these inviting greens like legends from the Scottish past who kept balls low to the ground.
The second tee exemplifies strategic thought that must be embraced throughout your day. Angles of tee shots are not what your eyes may believe. This may become somewhat disconcerting. I was fortunate to have Rob’s guidance. Sometimes you aimed at knolls, buildings, sand traps or other objects in the distance for proper lines of attack. What you think would have been a good line on No. 11 to the left side would see a result of a ball lost down the cliff. If you are successful in executing on your planned strategy the ball will likely bound down the fairways into prime position like those hardpan fairways you have delightfully watched on links courses during Open Championships.
Another enjoyable difference I found in playing this course was the length of time you would watch your ball roll. In one case I hit a short wedge pitch to a par 4 green that looked okay for a a short term until the ball decided to turn dangerously left off the front part of the green. Rob and I folded our arms to our chests and admired the sight of the ball gradually dropping into the waste bunker and trickling to the other side. Even he was surprised at the abrupt turn of the low shot when he thought my ball had proceeded far enough on the green to be safe. The bizarre result was a lie with a bush to affect my back swing. Hit it harder on these big greens Morden!
Oh…and the bunkers. There are no rakes. Nope. You can ground your club which of course, makes you de-program what you have been taught to do since you were a tyke. Picking it cleanly becomes an art and Rob could tell I have had some experience. These waste bunkers reminded me of the ones at Kiawah Island—sizeable and hard sand. Such hazards are more penal than the normal blasts from consistent sand all of us encounter on other courses. Avoid them at all costs.
We had an amiable chat with Kelly who was looking after the cart service. She shared stories about members from the U.S. and Canada who see this as a special place. One American from the East Coast happily marched into the pro shop after playing No. 7 and plunked down his membership fee. What better testimonial can you have! She recommended for me to stay for dinner at the Badlands Restaurant to swap yarns with some of these characters.
As for lunch or a mid-round break, players will have to wait a bit longer but it is well worth it. Welcome to Terry’s Hideaway named in a tribute to Terry Donald, one of the co-founders of the club. This oasis is one of the best ideas to have for such a golf club like Sagebrush. Since there is no hurry to play this course, spend as much time as you like to watch golf on the big screen television in comfortable leather, sit outside by the fire and eat a barbecue burger with a scotch or pint in hand or catch a lake trout using one of the fly reels waiting on the deck by the man made lake! Even the pump house on the other side of the lake is made up to look like a smart cabin. Have you forgotten that you are on a golf course?
Well you can take a sizeable moment, shake your head and get your mind back to business-a most memorable one. The 13th hole is a downhill and driveable par 4 with the lake lurking menacingly on your left hand side and ranch gates on the right hand side acting as demarcation points to a place you do not want to visit. The par 5 14th shows another trait of the course where the fairways look tighter than they actually are. After being told by Rob not to go left I did…with authority and a lost ball. I examined the fairway when I got to the driving area and admired the expansive fairway that showed an errant ball to the right would have been a more proper bail out area. There was even a bit of a shared fairway from the front nine. Fairways were relatively forgiving on most holes so you didn’t feel constricted.
As you progressed throughout the course you could not stop admiring the transfixing views. A glittering lake in one direction, one of the largest ranches in Canada sitting next door, mountains to the distance and brown hills in the background of No. 10. Winds blew at higher altitudes to alter what looked like good shots into sagebrush trouble and then winds were silenced in the lower areas of the course to make it easier on the nerves.
Hole No. 16 provided me with a highlight. Views from this perspective were fantastic and I stepped back for a breath. Although 600 yards long (I wasn’t even playing the back tees!) I hammered the drive where it must have hit the proper slot and nicely rolled over a 100 yards down the hill. It left me only a downhill 6 iron shot for my second. I struck it well. Rob stopped me and asked me to watch the results. The ball disappeared over the ledge before the green and we waited a few seconds before seeing the ball re-appear and roll past the pin by about 45 feet. And remember this is the largest green so you could say to yourself that you were lucky to have such a so-called shorter putt. I marked my ball and then continued to walk to the back of the green. I know the double greens on links courses are huge but mammoth is a word that came to mind on this putting surface.
The final par 4’s are mid-length and you finish by the Badlands Restaurant and the three quality guest cottages aptly named the Winchester, Remington and Browning. I saw a very cool practice facility to the right of the cottages called the Badlands Putting Course and Practice Area. The 2.5 acre practice facility was inspired by the brilliant Himalayas Putting Course that sits next to the New Course at St Andrews. I had the pleasure of playing the Himalayas with my good colleagues called the Verma Cuppers and they loved it. Lights have been wisely installed on the practice green so you can play a round, eat something from their select menu and then three putt with a drink in hand sharing laughs with your comrades.
Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club is a place golfers absolutely need to experience entirely. This is minimalist, links style golf like Bandon Dunes and Whistling Straits which I enjoyed immensely but his had its own distinct flavour. The topography and elevation changes are pronounced and the warmer weather of Nicola Valley and the little rain it receives means that you don’t usually need four layers of clothing or rain gear. In fact, this valley has more hours of sunshine than Scottsdale, Arizona.
An enviable combination of Scotland, Ireland, Montana and ranch land come to mind when I think of Sagebrush. People need to play here and I highly recommend staying in one of the cottages so you can have a second enticing helping. I had a brief tour of these rooms and they are cozy with a beautiful glass enclosed shower, a comfortable living room and offers a nice patio or balcony overlooking the stunning terrain of mountains.
Other things to remember: black bears were found roaming the grounds earlier in the day and enjoyed some lunch from a garbage can and on the back nine you view the par 3 course that sits next door giving you a perspective of the mountainous course you are playing in contrast to a flat valley type course.
Celebrated golf architect Rod Whitman (who also did the new and brilliant Cabot Links in Cape Breton), Dick Zokol and Armen Suny created a masterpiece. For those who appreciate playing golf in a minimalist, traditionalist and primitive way and honour the traditions of the game then this is the course for you. For those who want to have a day to remember in Thompson-Nicola Valley rancher country with breathtaking views, sights of fish and no gadgets to fiddle with then this is the course to play. It is an approximately 3 hour drive from Vancouver, 1 hour from Kamloops and 1 and half hours from Kelowna. They even have a helipad on Hole No. 6 if you want to travel by this alternative mode of transport.
I have to say that my gracious host’s helpful tips on playing the course, the sunny day offered with the winds on elevated holes and the links style feel of golf the way old Scots enjoyed the game made this one of the best days I have had in playing golf. Please make sure you make the effort to make the drive to Sagebrush, watch your ball roll endlessly on these magnificent grounds and best of luck in catching that prized lake trout.
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