Golf in Calgary

Riverside Golf Centre's 20,000 square-foot facility grooms golf games with an indoor driving range, Eagle Stroke golf simulators, and a staff of CPGA-certified instructors. Booming drives echo off the high ceilings of the 14-stall range, which also encompasses a short game area, putting green, and sand bunker to prevent players from running afoul of off-duty lifeguards. The Centre's golf simulators emulate the links of famous courses, letting players test their game among the narrow fairways of Pinehurst or the Gaelic-chanting sprinkler heads of St. Andrews. After a long day of honing their pin-hunting prowess, players can saunter over to the restaurant for restorative bites of pizza, chicken fingers, beer, soft drinks, and other light fare.

Bow River and its adjacent aquatic arteries join ponds and marshland at Golf Canada Calgary Centre, creating aquatic layouts for the Les Furber–designed, 9-hole, par-3 course and the 18-hole, par-72 all-grass putting course. Hole 9 on the putting course even challenges players with an island green, and those who make it there without getting wet can pretend to be castaways even after the sun has set, thanks to stadium-style lighting.

To gear up for the courses’ myriad challenges, golfers can buckle down at a heated, lighted driving range that ranked in Golf Range Magazine’s 2010 Top 100 Golf Ranges in America. The swingers practice their long game from 52 enclosed tee boxes, aiming at target greens or clouds shaped like flag pins. Nearby, putters take the stage at a short-game practice area with a 4,000-square-foot putting green, a 3,500-square-foot pitching and chipping green, and greenside and fairway practice bunkers. Golfers can also hone their game in high-definition golf simulators, which unlock the fairways of legendary courses such as Pebble Beach and Pinehurst, or enroll in lessons with PGA of Canada pros led by award-winning instructor Jay Myren.

Named 1 of the Top 100 Golf Practice Centers And Learning Facilities In America by Golf Range Magazine in 2011, Eaglequest Coyote Creek Golf Course pairs its renowned practice facility with a par 65 course to foster improvement in players of all abilities. The 18-hole, 4,165-yard course facilitates fast rounds of golf with 7 par 3 and 11 par 4 holes, and 4 holes more than 300 yards in length, prompting players to use every club in their bags. Lines of trees stud the edges of nearly every fairway, a creek winds through the course’s gently undulating terrain to alter shots, and a tennis player with a racquet plays defense on the final hole.

Before golfers head to the first tee, they can loosen up their swings by launching high-calibre practice balls at Eaglequest's synthetic driving range. To further groom their games, clubbers can schedule lessons with one of the course's CPGA instructors, who remedy slice-prone swings, shaky short-game shots, and 9-irons stricken with the common cold.

Eaglequest Nanaimo's par 3 golf course encompasses nine lush, challenging holes accented by towering evergreens and water hazards. Golfers tee up on real grass and then launch golf balls and papier mache zeppelins down tree-lined fairways. Shots soar over hilly terrain and water before trundling toward undulating greens. Clubbers can traverse the pastoral playground and complete a round in 60–90 minutes, giving them the ability to fit a game into a busy schedule. Before hitting the course, golfers can make like a pendulum at the 22-stall driving range, which features opportunities for straightening troublesome slices, improving golf games, and alleviating plumber's elbow. The range also hosts lessons and clinics conducted by CPGA pros for golfers of all abilities.