Banff Springs Golf Club:  Rundle/Sulphur Courses

Banff Springs: Located at the juncture of the Bow and Spray Rivers west of Calgary, Alberta and ensconced by the panoramic Canadian Rockies, this remotely scenic course is a mile above sea level. Begun in 1911 as a nine-hole course by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, it was finished in 1928 by the late Stanley Thompson, mentor to Robert Trent Jones. Thompson engineered a massive modification carving out tons of rock, bringing in trainloads of topsoil and felling hundreds of trees. The result was a relatively short, but imaginative 6,643-yard, par-71 traversal that appears to have emerged naturally from the landscape. Another nine was subsequently added altering the sequence, but not the content of Thompson's revered 18. A true championship test, the course features 144 bunkers, 28 of them on the Par-4, Fourteenth. Golfers tend to under-club because of the suggestive intimacy of the surrounding snow-capped peaks. The rough is dense and wild and the sight of animals on the course is not uncommon. Each hole is named for its unique character. The par-3 Fourth, known as "the Devil's Cauldron", deserves its fame as one of the most beautiful and testy. From a high tee players hit over a cold crystal clear lake to one of two small greens. The left green plays longer, but is larger with more undulations. Swirling breezes over the 175 yard expanse make correct club selection crucial. Under-clubbing can sink a ball in the glacial waters and over-clubbing can hide a ball in the dense forest just behind the putting surface. Holes Eight through Fourteen play along the Bow River toward the Old Hotel. The water though, comes into play only on the Eighth and Tenth, both Par-3's. On the Tenth an arm of the river slices between tee and green where the earth banks off sharply toward the water. Too little club here can be costly. The most difficult hole statistically is the Par-4, 420 yard, Twelfth. It is a slight dogleg right with a series of bunkers guarding the landing area that rolls and heaves with sand and trees to the left. The green is long and narrow calling for an accurate middle-iron approach. The Par-5, Eighteenth, at 578 yards is the longest hole on the course and a fine finishing hole. It's a dogleg right with a massive bunker at the corner, which must be cleared for a chance to get home in two. Even then the second shot must carry uphill and over mounds of bunkers to a green that slopes down from front to back. Banff Springs is one of the very best courses Canada has to offer and is always listed among the 100 greatest in the World. With its breathtaking scenery and Old World charm a round here is comparable to golfing in the majestic Alps.

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Artists' Golf is a conceptual work of art Copyright 1995 - 2008 by David B. Lewis and all original paintings, drawings and art works are Copyright by David B. Lewis. All rights reserved.  Maps of existing courses are original artistic interpretations and impressions from a variety of sources and are not intended to be accurate renderings or representations of the actual courses.  They indicate my interest and study and are intended purely for the pleasure and information of the viewers and are not intended for sale or profit.