Calgary Outdoor Activities

Eaglequest Golf oversees half a dozen courses and practice centres throughout Canada, including two driving ranges that have been named in Golf Range Magazine’s Top 100 Golf Ranges in America. These lauded stretches nestle alongside the 9-hole, par 27 course at Coquitlam and the 18-hole, par 65 layout at Coyote Creek, which also landed in the magazine’s Top 100 Golf Practice Centers and Learning Facilities in America. Near this award-winning pair, Eaglequest’s Nanaimo invites club swingers to traverse another 9-hole layout. Next door in Alberta, the Douglasdale Golf Course challenges them to work through 18 fairways while only swinging their clubs 60 times to make par—not counting whacks at rabid caddies.

Alberta is also home to the climate-controlled Eaglequest Golf Dome, where players hit as many range balls as they can during timed practice sessions. Nova Scotia hosts Eaglequest Grandview Golf & Country Club, where 18 wide, bluegrass fairways designed by Bill Robinson in 1988 unfurl in front of bent-grass greens, all updated by Robinson in 2007.

Three seasoned ice anglers channels their 10 or more years of individual experience into showing others how to capture the likes of lake trout and whitefish using nothing but a rod, lure, and ancient Druidic incantation. In addition to ice fishing and fly-fishing lessons, they host three fully loaded trips that range from leisurely afternoons in warm ice huts to intense snowshoe treks through Mountain Lake.

During one full day, Bridal Expo Calgary showcases myriad wedding necessities all in one place, quelling the chaotic feelings one may experience when planning the big day. Ceremony and reception essentials such as florists and photographers eliminate the need to travel to far-flung vendors, whether it be a specialty dress shop or a buzzed-about DJ only available on the moon.

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.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's Team In Training (TNT) has led more than 450,000 volunteers in raising more than $1 billion for blood-cancer research, public education, and patient-aid programs. As participants fundraise to qualify for a fall-season race ($3,500–$5,000 minimum based on the event), they also receive a 24-week training program under the tutelage of esteemed coaches who prepare team members to run, walk, or form a chorus kick-line during marathons and half-marathons. Upon reaching fundraising goals, registrants receive entrance to their chosen event, including airfare and a two- to three-night hotel stay.

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.