My wife and I just returned from a week long trip through southwestern Saskatchewan, western Montana, Yellowstone and Wyoming, and South and North Dakota. Along the way, we enjoyed golfing and/or visiting at Sask. Landing Golf Resort, Canyon River Golf Club, Old Works, The Reserve at Moonlight Basin, The Club at Spanish Peaks, and The Golf Club at Red Rock.
Rather than a thorough Kyle Henderson photo tour, I thought I'd just throw out a few photos of each course we were at, with corresponding notes.
First up, on Canada Day July 1st, we traveled to Swift Current, Saskatchewan and then north 30 miles to Sask. Landing. This is a relatively new course, architect unknown. For you stats freaks, the yardages/ratings/slopes are 6,930/72.7/126 (blue), 6,454/70.0/123 (white), and 5,989/67.6/117.
Unfortunately, this course just didn't do it for us. The course is way too long for my wife, at 5,989 yards from the forward tees. I found the fairways extremely narrow for my liking, including 16 paces in the landing zone of the par-4 18th hole. Considering the amount of land they had available, and the scale of the place (big sky, wide open prairie) the fairways could have been much much wider. The opening hole is a really quirky par-5 which snakes back and forth to the green, and with my white tees at 466 yards I stood there and contemplated where the hell to hit my tee shot - not exactly a nice welcome to the course. The hole doglegs at a 90 degree angle some 200 yards out and the fairway beyond doesn't look real receptive to a long ball.
The practice green has a nice setting...
Here's the par-3 6th hole, at 222 yards from the back tees...
The interesting par-3 12th hole, severely uphill at 142 yards with a bulkheaded green...
The short par-4 18th hole (358 back tees; 329 white tees) is hamstrung by the park's entrance road and gate on the left side. The landing zone here was 16 paces wide. Too bad they couldn't have gone more to the right with the fairway by the lakeshore...
Overall, a forgettable experience and one we probably won't repeat. The course itself was in relatively good condition, considering the amount of rainfall and the late snowmelt that Saskatchewan has experienced this past spring.
After the round, we drove back into Swift Current for an early supper and then hit the road south to the U.S. border. This guy seemed to be saying something about our McDonald's supper we'd ate an hour earlier...
We overnighted in Havre, Montana before heading southwest the next morning into the Missoula area.
Next up, the Canyon River Golf Club.