PAGE 4 THUNDER BAY BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2012

Canada has some of the best golf destina-tions in the world. One area left for me toexperience firsthand was the Banff/Canmore destination located in theRockies about a 1-hour drive west ofCalgary. My mission was to play 5 coursesthat are members of the Canadian RockiesGolf group.

My journey began with an early morningwake up call at 4 am and Air Canadaflights to Winnipeg with a short touchdown and then on to Calgary. Given the 2-

hour time change I arrived in the Calgaryairport at 7:20 am. That’s a pretty goodconnection in my mind and after a quicktrip to Budget Rent a Car I was on my wayto Canmore.

As you leave Calgary on their excellenthighways you will soon begin to see high-er elevations. By the time you arrive in thepretty town of Canmore you are amoungstsoaring snow-covered peaks of 9000 feetplus. This is a beautiful part of our worldand just the scenery makes the destinationa great one.

My first stop would be the StoneridgeResort. This is a beautiful new hotel facil-ity that features condominium style rooms.My 2 bedroom 2 bath unit complete withfull kitchen, flat screen TV’s and fireplacein a 20 foot high ceiling great room mademe feel right at home. There is a fantasticSafeway store in Canmore that would bemy next stop to stock up on some food!

Even after this travel I was right onschedule for my first golf game that after-noon at Stewart Creek, a few minutesaway. Stewart Creek located in Canmoreopened in 2000 and was designed by GaryBrowning who has done a fair amount ofwork in the west and is based out ofCalgary. Canmore has about 13,000 resi-dents and with part time people over15,000. Weekends there can be over30,000 in Canmore.

“ We are at 4000 feet elevation here andare set right into the 3 Sisters Mountains.There are some great views up and downthe Bow Valley. We have ranked well overthe years with Golf Digest’s 4.5 star courserating,” said Chris Schatzmann, Head Golfprofessional at Stewart Creek and original-ly from Aurora, Ontario. “ Stewart Creekis a very playable mountain course. Youget rewards for good shots and can hitdriver quite a lot. We are 7200 yards fromthe tips with 5 different tees. Our weathercan be awesome especially in July andAugust. We get a fair number of

Americans here each year. It is a Meccafor outdoor enthusiasts from fly fishing, torafting, kayaking, mountain biking, hikingand wildlife viewing.”

“ My favourite aspect of the course isthe design which is very simple in that itwas formed to land that was here beforethe golf course. There is also elevationchange and undulation. You get a little bitof everything from short par 4’s to longpar 5’s and interesting par 3s,” saidSchatzmann. “If you want to play a num-ber of courses in the area you can go towww.candianrockiesgolf.com. You arealways dealing with a person when youcontact us to book tee times by phone,”said Schatzmann.

There are 238 members at Stewart Creekand about half of their play is with mem-bers. The public can play any day. Themembership cost is $50,000 non-equity.Green fees from June 1st are $175 to $195and specials as low as $129 depending ontime. It includes cart and range. Their sea-son is mid May to October with the goal toget over the 20,000 rounds.

My first round in this area was fun withweather changing from sun to light rain tosnow flurries in rapid succession. The Elkwere out enjoying themselves here as well.Stewart Creek is a very pretty course!

The next day it was off to the CanmoreGolf and Curling Club also located a fewminutes from my hotel. Darren Cooke isthe Director of Golf here and fromMedicine Hat originally. “ Golfing inCanmore started in 1926 in this locationwith 9 holes in 1961 and 18 holes in theearly 80’s. Les Furber helped with ourmaster plan and lives just down the street.We have mountain views everywhere andthe Bow River on the 5th hole. You get tolook up from the valley and people canwalk the course quite easily,” said Cooke.“ The snow will stay on the peaks sur-rounding us until July. We are at about4000 feet and the peaks will go to 8-9000feet.”

The Canmore Golf And Curling Clubcurrently has a wait list for members withover 600 adults, 150 juniors and 45 otherslife members. The local green fee rate is$73 and $80 if not a resident and the cartis optional. They do 30,000 to 36,000rounds per year opening the last Friday inApril to Thanksgiving with temporary teesin after that.

“ I like that the course is playable at alldifferent levels of ability. It doesn’t havelong carries or water. It is walk able, notlong, but has its challenges. The member-ship is great. We have members that havesecond homes here for the summers andare from say Toronto or Texas. There is

lots of wildlife that wander through here.Elk live here in the winter and there aregeese, deer and coyotes. The Bow River isalso great fishing,” said Cooke. “ Wework as a group to market our golf andhave so much to offer for a 4 or 5 day peri-od with great designers. It is world golfdestination with all these courses close by.You can ski and golf the same day for partof the year.”

My next stop would be a 30-minutedrive east to Kananaskis to play theKananaskis Golf Course. The drive there isvery pretty, off the main highway at theend, and leads to 2 beautiful 18-hole golfcourses.

“ We have Mount Kidd to the south andMount Lorette to the north. In the late 70’sAlberta’s Premier Loughheed had a visionfor Albertans to enjoy for the years tocome though the Alberta Heritage TrustFund, a saving from the oil revenues,” saidDarren Robinson, GM of Kananskis GolfCourse. “ The courses were started in late70’s and opened in1983 with Robert TrentJones SR as the designer. He came andtoured by helicopter and thought it was thebest natural setting he had ever been givento work with. The courses were originallyslated to be built on the other side of thehighway but when he saw this site hechose it. The river runs through here and Ithink it is hard to get away from how spec-tacular the scenery is here. It is just stun-ning! From almost every tee box you areframed with the mountains.”

There is tremendous demand for theKananskis facilities from early May toOctober. They do 55,000 to 66,000 roundsover the two courses. “ These courses are a great value with thesetting, the design and a potent $98 for ourregular green fee rate with $78 forAlbertan’s and carts $17 per rider. Ourmain market is Calgary, which is less thanan hour away. Edmonton and the rest ofthe province account for 85% of our trafficwith the rest from all over the worldincluding Europe, Korea, China and Japan.We are at 5000 feet and the mountain, MtKidd, is just under 10,000 feet. Our teetimes may be harder to get on the weekendbut you can book online or with our reser-vations office. We recommend it soonerthan later. Our weather in July and Augustis the most consistent.” said Robinson.

My day at Kananaskis was one of mybest ever on the golf course. For me settingis huge in golf and I think it is hard to beatthe natural beautiful setting of Kananaskis.

Right from my hotel room you couldalmost see my next course, Silvertip, beau-tifully framed in the window. This courseis also just a few minutes away and wouldbe my next game. Silvertip opened in 1998to a soft opening and fully in 1999. It is aprivate development spread over 600 acres

and the golf course consumes just over 100acres along with wildlife corridors, realestate and developments. The course is aLes Furber design and he calls it his signa-ture golf course. The private owner is GuyTurcotte, an oil person by trade, who alsoowns the nearby Eagle Ranch golf courseas well.

“ We sit at the clubhouse at just under5000 feet and the peaks surrounding thecourse are 8000 feet. There are viewsacross the valley on almost all 18 holes. Itis a golf experience. You have incredibleconditioning, the dining experience andgreat service, “ said Rhett Bokitoch, GolfSales Manager for Silvertip and a PGA ofCanada member. The views are incredible.It is 360 degrees on every hole. We havethe Three Sisters scenes from many holes.

The condition of the course is incrediblefor the terrain and weather.”

“ We are service oriented and have abusy summer season opening mid May andclosing late September or early October, “said Travis Mann, Head Golf Professionalat Silvertip Resort who is originally fromNelson BC and had aspirations at onetime for NHL hockey. “ We are also bigon weddings and have over 115 weddingsbooked for this year. The food and bever-age drives a lot of business.”

“ My first game here was one of thosegoose bump moments. It offers challengefor everybody of different abilities. Ourtee boxes are from 5000 to 7100 yards.You should play the tees for your ability.Once you find the fairway it is quite easy,but you have to get the ball in play.” saidMann.

Continued Next Page

Canadian Rockies Golf Destination World Class

Above: Chris Schatzmann, Head Golf Professional at Stewart Creek Side Top:Darren Cooke is the Director of Golf Canmore Golf Club and Side Bottom: Darren

Robinson, GM of Kananskis Golf Course

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERThunder Bay BUSINESS

THUNDER BAY BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 5

Canadian Rockies Golf Destination World ClassContinued From Previous Page

They target 16,000 rounds and have nomembers at Silvertip so are fully public.To get a tee time is never a challenge. Thegreen fees are $155- 7 days a week all day.They also have a 9 and dine rate for $80which includes power cart, driving range,GPS and tees and bottled water for everyguest. www.silvertipresort.com orwww.canandianrockiesgolf.com

My game at Silvertip was fun playingwith Travis and Rhett. They both play thegame very well and made the spectacularsetting even more enjoyable.

It was time for me to pack up my suit-case and drive the some 20 km’s west tomy next stop the iconic Fairmont BanffSprings Hotel for my last night in the area.This stately luxury hotel is world-renowned and was a real treat to callhome. The views of the course I had frommy room were fantastic.

Steven Young is the Director at Golf atthe Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course,originally from Ottawa and then NewBrunswick. Steven was a strong juniorgolfer and worked at the New BrunswickGolf Association before moving on to theAlgonquin Hotel and then the Banff oppor-tunity came up.

“ Golf was started here on sand greenson an informal basis before the 1900’s butin 1911 organized golf began here with a 9hole course designed by Scott WThompson. Stanley Thompson built the18-hole course. In 1888 the historic BanffSprings Hotel was built to help import thetourists. It looks like a Sleeping Buffalo,”said Young who is in his 7th year at BanffSprings. “ Stanley Thompson courses arewhat you see is what you get. The greenshave subtle challenges with some bunkersthat are fair. There are no forced carries.This is a course that has tremendousscenery, is very well manicured and keptup given the conditions we have at thebase of a mountain covered in snow forover 7 months of the year. A really goodgolfer can play from the tips and yet anovice golfer can play from the forwardtees and enjoy the course. That is a truemark of a great facility. When you hit abad shot all you have to do is look up atyour surroundings and you will rememberwhat is really important in life.”

The Banff Springs Golf Course use anonline booking system or 1 800 number.Their agents can help you book golf, a

hotel room or the spa. “ People who comehere usually like food, drink, hiking andwe have all of that. We get people from allover the world. Many have played ourcourse on the golf simulator before evenarriving.” smiles Young.

In peak time the green fee is $225 atBanff Springs, while in the afternoon it canbe $185 or later $155. A good deal is the9 and dine where you can play the tunnel 9courses with dinner for $79 or play theStanley 18 hole course front 9 with dinnerfor $89. The clubhouse is built like ateepee in recognition of the first nationswho used to migrate through the valley

and put up their tents.

My game with Steven Young at theBanff Springs Golf course was a greatexperience. You are right at the foot ofsoaring mountains on many holes and it isjust a spectacular setting. When you add inthe great service and accommodation at theBanff Springs hotel it makes for a veryspecial stay.

It was great fun for me to play CanadianRockies golf. A special thanks to all myhosts.

We really do have a beautiful country tolive in, Canada. The Banff area is placeeveryone should visit at least once in his orher life! Visitwww.canandianrockiesgolf.comfor more information.

Above: Travis Mann, Head Golf Professional at Silvertip Resort and RhettBokitoch, Golf Sales Manager for Silvertip Side: Famous Fairmont Banff Springs

Hotel

2012 Deadline, Printing and Distribution Dates

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January December 14 December 19 January 2 Fitness

February January 25 January 30 February 1 RRSP’s

March February 22 February 27 March 1 Forestry/Mining

April March 28 April 2 April 3 Transport

May April 25 April 30 May 1 Construction

June May 23 May 28 June 1 Report OnThunder Bay

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Please contact our sales department at 807-623-2348 or Fax 807-623-7515 or email nspinc@tbaytel.netPlease note we use the Mac system and Quark Express as well as Photoshop. We can accept PDF, EPS, Jpegor Tiff files as well as Quark Files. Perhaps PDF is the best. Also we can build your ad using Quark. Pleaseprovide your images or orginal copy and allow 2 to 3 days to complete the ad and provide a proof to you. Inserts can be done as well. Please contact us for more information.

PAGE 12 THUNDER BAY BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2012

Continued From Previous Page

So, it is the hope that you ended off yoursummer vacation by adding another

memory maker to your repertoire and wehope you didn’t have all the yourself.

Bringing the family or meeting up withyour friends is what it is all about. Hopeyou had a great time and don’t miss out

next year! See you next year at the fair!Let’s make the 31 another year toremember!

The Westfort Village Association, spon-sors and advertisers would like to thank

all those who attended this years’ fair andall those who supported the event.

Proud of our government's

investments in qualityeducation in our

region!

THUNDER BAY BUSINESS AUGUST 2012 PAGE 13

CEDC Announces Cancer Care Ontario Expansion tothe James Whalen Building

“ We started this operation brand newabout 6 months ago in Thunder Bay andrecently were presented with the opportu-nity to almost double the size of the opera-tion because of some very talented IT pro-fessionals that became available here inThunder Bay. We jumped on that opportu-nity and offered jobs to these individuals.We therefore needed a new home and thespace here in the Whalen Building becameavailable and what a beautiful buildingand location,” said Rick Skinner VicePresident and Chief Information OfficerCancer Care Ontario.

“ We are moving from Thunder BayResearch Institute building to this build-ing. Our staff went from 7 to 13. A numberof people that previously worked forTornado became available and we wereable to hire some very talented informationtechnology people, just the kind of peoplewe need. It was in essence a win fall for us

to get these people, double our size andmove into this nice office space.”

The Cancer Care Ontario organization

hire a whole range of information profes-sionals from people who write code topeople who test software, manage the

overall development of software and thosethat implement that software.

“ The folks are every bit as skilled if notmore so than what we can find in Toronto.Some of our team we would have hadtrouble in attracting in Toronto because ofthe competition from much larger organi-zations than us. We are always looking toexpand if we can find the people. We nowhave the space and certainly have thework. I would prefer to do the work hereversus downtown Toronto if possible. Ifwe can find the people there is tremendousopportunity for expansion of this office.”said Skinner. “ There are lots of peoplethat have left Thunder Bay with the skillswe need and want to return to ThunderBay.”

“ We look forward to working withCancer Care Ontario in this historicWhalen Building which will celebrate it’s100th year next year.” said SteveDemming CEO of CEDC.

BY SCOTT A. SUMNERThunder Bay BUSINESS

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