Kananaskis Golf Course Review

Kananaskis has long been one of my favourite golf courses, not only in Alberta but anywhere in North America. Unfortunately mother nature has not been co-operating the past few days and the forecast shows nothing but cloud and rain for the next couple days. Nonetheless, eager to play, we packed our rain gear and set out on the short one hour drive to the picturesque alpine course. Offering two full 18 hole courses, Mr Lorette and Mt. Kidd, which are named after two of the scenic surrounding peaks, today we'll be tested by Mt. Kidd.

Nothing short of top notch, we are greeted at the entrance by a couple of course ambassadors offering complementary valley parking. We gather our bags and take some time to warm up on the practice facilities. The large greens are tricky so we putt around on the practice green for a while and then hit some complimentary balls on the driving range. As ready as we're going to get, we make our way to the first tee box marking the start of a hole riddled with sand traps. It doesn't take long to figure out why they call this an alpine course with constant elevation changes, I wouldn't want to walk this course. Offering a combination of water hazards and sand traps combined with the elevation changes, this is one of the most difficult courses I've played.

We plug along through our round barely seeing another golfer the entire time. I guess the thought of rain scared everyone away, which gives us a chuckle as we didn't get a single drop the entire round. We make our way to the signature hole number four, a 182 yard par three that drops significantly down to an island green. Overestimating the elevation change, my seven iron leaves me short of the green, but miraculously out of the water. We continue our round, astonished by the sheer beauty of the rocky mountains.

As I mentioned, Kananaskis is one of my favourite courses to play and I would say it offers the best bang for your buck out of any Albertan golf course. I give Kananaskis a 9.5 out of 10 and look forward to golfing there many more times. If you've never played this course, it's definitely one to put on your to do list.