Kamloops - Home of British Columbia’s Endless Summer

Which British Columbian city has a dozen golf courses within an hours drive, all beautiful and all challenging? And which British Columbia City has the longest, driest and most temperate spring through autumn seasons to enjoy all of these great courses?  The answer is Kamloops in the Thompson region of B.C.

Kamloops is a 3 ½ hours drive from Vancouver and it is only a 7 hour ride from Calgary. If you are not in to driving, Kamloops is also a major flight and tour bus destination. Here during the long dry days from March until early November it isn’t uncommon for temperatures to crack the 15 degree mark in March and stay that way until the golf season is done at the end of October. And if you’re a golfer that’s good news because Kamloops is also home to many great golf courses and long dry days are just what you will need if you what to play them all.

The new jewels in the Kamloops crown are Tobiano and Talking Rock. I have yet to play either but the press on both is amazing and my friends who have played them have all called them must play courses. In town you will find The Dunes and Rivershore Golf Links, both are great courses and both routinely make it in to Canada’s top courses to play. If that isn’t enough to persuade you to break away from your yearly, and expensive, ventures to Whistler or if you wanted a break from the crowds of the Okanagan, come to Kamloops and then venture up the mountain to the Sun Peaks Resort Golf Club. This 18 hole course is nestled right in the ski hills. Your first hint of that fact would be when you hit the range to warm up. I mean come on; where else can you hit balls and have a ski lift loading up at the side of the range?

Still, with all the new courses popping up the original crown jewel in the Kamloops crown is perhaps still the best and that jewel is the Sun Rivers Golf Resort Community. This championship ready, 18 hole, full service golf resort has everything a golfer could ever want and a whole lot more. The course itself is a hilly desert course, complete with the sage brush, desert flowers and resident Mountain Sheep (there’s a hint to bring a camera with you.) Here you can tee it up on any of their five tee boxes and play a course that runs a gentle 5,000 yards or by stepping to the back tees you can play a 7,000 yard “Are you man enough” monster.

When you first get to Sun Rivers you notice that the staff here will do all that they can to make your day enjoyable.  Next it’s the trek up the hill to the driving range. Here you will be dazzled by how far your ball travels in the dry air and by the scenery of the Thompson region spreading out beneath you.  But don’t let your mind stray that’s because the golf course still awaits you.

The first hole is a long par five. Look over the country side to the far left corner of the course. There is your target line. Take aim and bombs away. From there play down the left hand side until you see the green tucked up and away on the right.  When you can see the pin, and not before, the time is right to go birdie hunting.

My favorite hole is the par four 14th. It is sort of a double switch back, downhill par four. Yes it measures 440 yards from the tips but a tee shot of 180-200 yards is all you need. Get the ball flying downhill and let gravity take over.

After your round here it is time to fill the belly, quench your thirst or maybe to buy a couple of rounds to settle your bets, and once again Sun Rivers has what you are looking for. Hoodoo’s Lounge at Sun Rivers is a place where you will feel comfortable just sitting around in your Denver Hayes having a beer as you would all dressed up and wanting a full dinner complete with a choice of the best B.C. wines. And one last thing, Sun Rivers is a golf community. Combining the weather, the golf course and its short commute to downtown Kamloops this golf community is quickly becoming home to many a young family and retired couple from all across Canada.

A player’s tip - Kamloops is more than a city where one can feel comfortable living in or visiting, Kamloops, and the whole Thompson region, is a thriving tourist destination. For example if you take a break from golfing you could walk in the steps of Canadian train robber Billy Miner.  You can visit native museums that take you back a thousand years of Shuswap heritage. There are theaters, wildlife parks, fishing camps, and if that isn’t enough for you go to the Sun Peaks Resort. Here you can stay in 5 star accommodations and picnic in mountain meadows or perhaps catch a glance of Canadians Olympic legend and now MP Nancy Greene who is as avid about her golf game as she is about her skiing form.

To look over Sun Rivers in more detail, or to get information on all the great courses in B.C. go to www.BCgolfguide.com And to find out what else Kamloops has to offer visit www.TourismKamloops.com.

Long drives & Short putts

Tom Cattermole, Freelance golf & leisure writer