Waterton Lakes - Course Tour (1-18) complete

[Ben Malach]

Opening in 1932 the course at Waterton is the last and certainly least well known of Stanley Thompson’s mountain courses. I have played here multiple time and found the course to be a good fun round of golf in an amazing setting. The greens have a good amount of character but it is noticeable how much they have shrunk over time. The fairways are almost absent of bunkering but have enough contour to make the player favour certain locations into some of the more contoured pin placements. The holes weave from the lower plateau by the club house up the mountain and then back with both 9’s finishing on a double fairway.   
The last thing that I will say about Waterton is that there is almost constant wind or breeze.
The town just to the east of Waterton of Pincher Creek is home to one of Alberta’s most successful wind farm’s. This defense of the wind and the small scale nature of the routing reminded me of some of the fun little clubs that I would visit on my travels in Scotland. The golf was good, fast and unpretentious. The whole round took me and my mom Sandra 3 hours and we only paid $53 with a local coupon.  Full Weekend rated only gets up to $59 CND which is amazing value for money.     

[Tom_Doak]

Ben:


I have always wondered about this course, having seen the name of it for many years but never much of anything about it.


From the title of your thread I clicked here expecting pictures     How ironic is it for me to wish you had posted one or two?  But just one or two!

[Ben Malach]

1- par 4
W - 319
R - 303
Is a rather straightforward short par 4 right is favourable to left to avoid the ridge and bunker on the left of the green. Also there are two bunkers protecting the back of the green.






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Green-









Sorry Tom learning how to post from a new image source here are the first of all 18

[Ben Malach]

2- par 5
W - 485
R - 413
This is the first time we confront the one of the two hills that are the dominant landforms on the property. These hills break the course into three unique plateaus here Thompson use it to create a blind second into the green. The pin is visible from the tee and is  set on line with the peak in the back. The green has wonder interior contour and great use of tilt.



Tee-






Green-

[Ben Malach]

3- par 4
W - 316
R - 294
The drive on this short 4 reminded me of the 7th hole on the Eden Course in St. Andrews. Where one takes the club that they can hit to the top of a ridge to avoid the trouble beyond. There it is severely broken ground here its a drop off that can send the ball anywhere. This green also shows some of Stanley’s genius in mirroring nature with the back of this tilted putting surface linking into the horizon lines behind the green. 
Tee-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

4- par 3
W - 221
R - 134
This long 3 blind over the ridge is the start of the weakest golf on the course. The forward tee is a fun length but due to limited bunkering or interest in the shot other than the line of play being a mountain. This hole is less than memorable.
Tee(back)-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

5- par 3
W - 163
R - 150
The second par 3 is just as bland but has a flashy backing bunker and a better green but the yardage for the forward tee player is a repeat unless there is a head wind that day then this hole can become a beast.
Tee-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

6- par 5
W - 520
R - 446
This second par 5 is a great driving hole that doglegs around native scrub.The best angle to avoid the scrub bunkers front right and back left is just to the right of the dead tree.  The green is still magnificently contoured but shrinkage in green size is most apparent here for the first time in the round.
Tee-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

7- par 3/4
W - 244
R - 235
A long 3 for men or a short 4 for women. This straight downhill tee shot  to an open green provides little interest but the surroundings make every shot feel epic and important.
p.s. due to the rapid fire nature of the round being in around 3 hour and me not wanting to ruin the game I did not get a shot of this or the 8th tee or green
Tee-

[Ben Malach]

8- par 3/4
W - 377
R - 332
This straight mid length par 4. Left little impression on me other than it would be a challenging hole in stroke play due to the deceptively flat putting surface.
Fairway-

[Ben Malach]

9- par 4
W - 394
R - 294
The 9th takes us back to the clubhouse and uses the left side of the double 9-18 fairway. While normally  are devoid of strategy. This is not the case with the 9th from the forward tee as there is a large dell in the landing area. Which forces the golfer to make the choice of laying short or attempting to carry and go for the green. This hole lacks interest from the back tees as it becomes a game of pulling driver then blasting a big one to get into position. 
Tee (forward)-

[Peter Pallotta]

Thank you, Ben.
Your photos capture a course that strikes me as remarkably (and surprisingly) "quiet" given its setting. It's appealing, but it's as if Mr T decided right off the bat that he'd let the mountains do all the work.
Can't think of many architects then or now who would've chosen to (seemingly) do so "little".
Peter   

[Carl Johnson]

I played this course, about ten years ago I'd guess.  Their website includes the following: "Inspired by Stanley Thompson and constructed from 1929-1939, this 18-hole course will both challenge you and take your breath away."  From that I took it that Thompson was not actually the architect.  In any case, my wife and I had an enjoyable experience.  http://golfwaterton.com/
Bears seem to be a theme.  The club logo on the cap I still have includes a bear paw outline shaped from a green and bunkers.  See logo at top of first page of website.  There was a sign near the first tee that said something like "Be aware of and don't mess with the bears."  Then, on number 7 we had to wait to tee off until a mother black bear and her two cubs crossed the fairway in front of the green and moved on.  There was a course "ranger" in a cart monitoring the track of said bears through the course.

[Frank M]

Their website includes the following: "Inspired by Stanley Thompson and constructed from 1929-1939, this 18-hole course will both challenge you and take your breath away."  From that I took it that Thompson was not actually the architect.

Carl: According to the Stanley Thompson Society website, Stanley visited in 1929 to advise on the expansion of the original 9. The course opened in 1932 and was regularly visited by him until his death in 1953. It also says he advised on turf and related issues as well as minor course changes.

The ST Society define the extent of his work as renovating the original 9, adding the additional nine and supervising the 18 hole golf course renovation/construction.   

[Ben Malach]

10- par 4
W - 311
R - 303
The 10th runs from the back of the club house downhill towards the open plains this short 4. Is a wonderful taste of Stanley Thompson’s ability to craft neat holes out of the same landform.    The tee shot is down hill to a slightly tilted left to right fairway. Placement on the right side of the fairway is best to avoid an artfully placed greenside bunker but to far right the player becomes blocked out by a lone pine tree. The major defense of the hole is it’s  green. Which in my opinion is one of the most interesting on the golf course with lots of wonderful internal  contour. If only the back of the green was cleared out to open up a view of the rolling foothills and the open prairie beyond.
Tee-

green-

[Ben Malach]

11- par 5
W - 498
R - 430
The 11th runs up a shallower part of the ridge which is used on 18,9,2,3,4. This short 5’s only fairway defense is its contour and a long relegated fairway bunker significantly out of play.  The mowing lines attempt to define play to this greens complex but the rough was so dry this year is merely slowed the ball to help it better settle on this heavily tilted green.   
Tee-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

12- par 5
W - 470
R - 390
We elected not to play the 12th as there was a black bear rooting for grubs in the fairway. This was the second bear we had seen as we also saw another bear on the entrance road. The tee shot was interesting to a slightly canted fairway. The green looked to be the equal of that to its neighbour to the left at the 6th. 
Tee-


Bear-

[Ben Malach]

13- par 3
W - 157
R - 150
Here is the start of what I think is the heart of the golf course wonderful rolling land and great classic simple golf holes. Like this wonderful short par three comes alive due to use of the land. the back stop bailout provides a wonderful sporty thrill as you ball plinkos down the slope. Failure to reach the green results in a partially blind up hill approach to a back to front tilted green. The green is split in two sections by a ridge in the middle of the green. This is a bunkerless par 3 that due to this design and the wind ever present that has endless playability. 
Tee-

[Ben Malach]

14- par 4
W - 346
R - 252
This par 4 play's far shorter than its yardage due to the elevated tee and the mountain air. In the right conditions it could be drivable. But that would be ill advised as the green is heavily sloped left to right. Making the smart play down to the right over a large hill the play in almost all conditions. I made the error of approaching from the left and faced a daunting approach to this sliver of a green.   

Tee-



Approach-

[Ian Andrew]

 Here's some research and I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.


"Waterton will definitely have at least the start of a new golf course by next year if the powers-that-be in Ottawa decide to go ahead with Stanley Thompson's plans. 'The expenditure will not be too great,' Mr. Thompson told me. 'Cape Breton National Park's course cost close to a quarter of a million dollars because we had to clear away so much rock, but Waterton will not be nearly so costly inasmuch as I plan to keep five or six of the holes already in operation and inasmuch as there will be few if any difficulties with rock'....."Mr. Thompson was told by Ottawa to come to Wateron and make plans for a new course. 'I am positive,' he said, 'that the only thing that can stop you from getting a lovely golf course now is a war'." 

Lethbridge Herald - August 31, 1950

 -"Stanley Thompson, internationally famous landscape and golf course architect, whose talents have earned him a very profitable livelihood, has been in Waterton for several days making plans for an entirely new layout located on the site of the present golf course."

Lethbridge Herald - September 2, 1950
 

"Mr. Thompson...spent the past week in Waterton conferring with park officials and putting finishing touches to the alteration plans he began several years ago. 'Golfers who expect the transformation to take place overnight are sadly mistaken,' he said. 'The work will be going on for several years at least before the course looks the way I want it to look'."

Lethbridge Herald - September 13, 1951
 

"Stanley Thompson, the famous golf architect, was in the park recently supervising preliminary work and laying out the new holes".

Lethbridge Herald - September 14, 1951




I've never seen anything beyond this to confirm he did build or renovate holes.




 

[Adrian_Stiff]

I can't see much in this course which would make me want to play this. Some nice mountains I suppose.

[Ben Malach]

15- par 4
W - 419
R - 419
This par 4 is a relatively benign driving hole the fairway is relatively flat and the only challenge is to not be blocked out by two trees planted on opposite sides of the driving area. But what is missing in the fairway is more than made up for in the green. This tilts from left to right with the back being tilted towards the front. The green is almost two distinct section that are defined by internal ridges.
One other thing that I should highlight is that the back tee for 16 plays over that wonderful native area to the far right of the green.

Tee-



Green-

[Ben Malach]

16- par 4
BACKTEE - 325
W/R - 289
This par 4 is my favorite par 4 on the course. Playing from the the back tee to the right of 16 green (photo missing sorry) is a slight dogleg right to left. The golfer must decide how far to hit the ball as the fairway tilts from right to left. A ball right long and right finds a shaggy native area and a ball shaped to far right to left you risk being blocked out by the trees. From the forward tee the dog leg becomes extreme to the point where unless you can sling the ball like Bubba Watson you have little chance of getting it close to the green on your drive. This limits the strategy from the forward set that they use for everyday play.
The green tilts with the land from right to left and internal contour resonate from the back containment mounding the remnants of what was once a large rippling surface beyond the edges on the modest modern green. My last wish is that they remove the trees beyond the green to bring the setting even more to the course.

Aireal (lines of play)-



Tee (forward/day)-



Fairway-



Green-

[Ben Malach]

17- par 3
W - 192
R - 179
The last par 3 at waterton is wonderful a long iron or a wood into a double plateau green that is fairly receptive. The view over the lake and the the Prince Albert hotel are amazing and helps take some to the sting out of this challenging par 3.
Tee-

Green-

[Ben Malach]

18- par 4
W - 396
R - 331
The 18th is defined by a central driving hazard of tumbling valley that nips its way through the center of this solid par 4. Also note the temporary driving hazard of a bear leaving the fairway at the bottom half of the tee photograph. The best line to reach the favoured left hand side of the fairway is to take a line off the notch in sofa mountain   The green tilts back to left front.with this being one of the best maintained greens on the course.   
Tee-



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