Nicholas L. M. Allen
Feb 8, 2023
Beyond the Contour, a golf course ranking outlet, has named the local club to its Top 100 Public Golf Courses.
The Crowsnest Pass Golf Club was named number 51 in Canada’s Top 100 Public Golf Courses by Beyond the Contour Staff on February 1. Beyond the Contour had a panel of 17 individuals, a mix of industry professionals and daily golfers take part in the rankings.
According to information from Statista there were roughly 1700 golf courses and country clubs in all of Canada as of December 2021, with 251 being in Alberta. The list also placed the Crowsnest Pass course at number 10 in Alberta.
“What started out as a Les Furber design quickly became a Les Furber and Gary Browning child following a land swap with one of the local mines. The switch allowed the golf course to go up into the mountainside more and leave the highway holes in history. Now, the golf course is better, with more interesting playing corridors and interest around the greens,” said the article by Beyond the Contour staff.
It also praised the eighteenth hole by saying it “does everything but avoid the cliché of the uphill finish” along with praising the architecture and scenery of the course.
Warren Gietz, General Manager of the Crowsnest Pass Golf Club, said it felt great for the course to be recognized.
“It feels like a reward for all the work everyone has put into the project over the last few years and we’re thrilled with the accolade,” said Gietz.
He said he likes how the course naturally sits in with the terrain and maximizes the beauty of the surroundings. On top of the “spectacular view” the course offers, Gietz said there is another draw for the course to make it an enjoyable experience.
“We designed the course intentionally to make it friendly for public golfers, so it’s nice to see people coming out shooting lower scores and enjoying the wide fairways,” explained Gietz.
The club has seven holes they would like to improve, bringing them up to the standards of the newer holes. They are preparing a master plan for looking at those projects over the course of the next 10 years. They are doing an open house for the community and club members with the golf course architect Gary Browning. The open house will take place on March 5 at 3 pm.
“Anyone is welcome to attend and hear a little bit about golf course architecture and our plans to make this course even better,” said Gietz.
Last year, the Crowsnest Pass Golf Club was also voted as having the best logo in Canada according to Beyond the Contour’s readers & followers. Gietz anticipates the golf course will receive other accolades in the future and continue to be a major tourist draw for the Crowsnest Pass as they make further improvements.
To read the full list of golf courses on the rankings go to beyondthecontour.com and for more information on the Crowsnest Pass Golf Club go to crowsnestpassgolf.com.