Photographer: Shelley Peachell
Magic and majesty define our Kootenay golf courses. Golfing experiences to delight golfers of all ages experience.
We want golfers of all ages and skill levels to experience the magic and majesty of our Kootenay golf courses. And there are so many to choose from!
There’s nothing like playing an exhilarating round in the mountains. Enjoy the breathtaking scenery, of course. But there are also exciting wildlife sightings, an invigorating off-the-beaten-track feeling, not to mention the dramatic changes in elevation – unique challenges and fun on every hole! And don’t forget the extras – exceptional hiking, biking, restaurants, and shopping and even a soak in nearby natural hot springs in both the east and west Kootenay.
Among the many golf courses in BC, our Kootenay golf courses stand apart. They offer a uniquely diverse and energizing experience for any golfer, no matter your age or experience. We challenge you to find a better golf destination anywhere in Canada – even the planet! – than our incredible Kootenays!
We’ve put together a list, in order from west to east, of fun and diverse course options to whet your appetite. Consider it a golf tour of the east and west Kootenay to guide your vacation next year.
A shortlist of the best Kootenay golf courses
There is a seemingly endless choice of great golf courses in BC.
In this neck of the woods alone, you have an incredible selection of beautiful Kootenay golf courses to inspire, excite, and challenge you. Are you less experienced with the links? No problem! Almost every course offers such a wonderful scenic outdoor experience where you can simply enjoy being there while you build your skills.
Redstone Resort Golf Course
Naturally, we’re going to launch our list of great Kootenay golf courses here at our home course. Redstone makes the very most of the incredible backdrop of the Monashee Mountains.
Enjoy the natural beauty that is second to none, from tee to green! As the only West Kootenay golf course to break into the Top 10 longest courses in the Kootenays, our course is designed by Les Furber and has the only USGA greens in the Kootenays. We offer the best and most competitive rates and membership fees.
Redstone also boasts having the highest elevation of any other courses in the region at about 3,500 feet! Amply tree-lined, featuring steep ravines and rocky outcroppings, Redstone is a breathtaking mountain golf course. At Redstone, you can enjoy long, meticulously maintained fairways and greens that include tranquil water features and meandering creeks and challenging, gleaming white silica sand bunkers.
Picture postcard views – breathtaking peaks and even an occasional wildlife viewing to enhance your Kootenay golf course experience.
Birchbank Golf Course
An average of 213 days of golf every year – among the longest golf season in the region!
Nestled between the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains, Birchbank Golf Course (previously Rossland Trail Country Club) in Genelle, BC, enjoy incredible views from almost every hole. Fairways wind across rolling, tree-lined hills, the newly renovated course has solidified Birchbank’s reputation among the best golf courses in the Kootenays. A meandering stream enhanced your golf experience along with dramatic elevation changes throughout the course.
Kokanee Springs Golf Resort
Moving up and across Kootenay Lake to Crawford Bay, Kokanee Springs Golf Resort is a Norman Woods original. Considered by many to be the flagship of Kootenay golf courses, Kokanee Springs is a uniquely beautiful mountain golf course.
Elevated tee decks offer majestic views of the broad, expansive fairways and breathtaking vistas of the Kokanee Glacier. Large, contoured greens provide exhilarating fun to every putting challenge. Situated on 750 stunning acres with over a mile of Kootenay Lake lakefront, the towering evergreens and old-growth cedars and natural wetlands offer tranquil solitude. Great for golfers of all levels of experience.
St. Eugene Golf Resort
With spectacular views of the Rocky Mountain Trench and towering Fisher Peak, St. Eugene Golf Resort is a beautiful course near Cranbrook, BC, in the East Kootenay.
Nestled along the scenic St. Mary River on First Nations land, the course honours the location and resort’s history. Throughout the course, you’ll see signage in place with Ktunaxa names to mark each of the 18 holes – signs crafted from wood damaged by the pine beetle. Each one conveys a traditional Ktunaxa expression along with the phonetic spelling and English translation.
The championship, Les Furber-designed course is thoughtfully set on more than 300 acres of picturesque grasslands offering expansive, breathtaking views of the mountains and nearby hoodoos along the river.
Bootleg Gap Golf
Close to Cranbrook, in nearby Marysville, BC, Bootleg Gap Golf offers another beautiful golf experience along the breathtaking, crystal-clear waters of the St. Mary River. Another Les Furber course, Bootleg Gap, takes golfers on a scenic journey along the valley floor, alongside raging rapids and through some of the most spectacular scenery in the BC Rockies.
Flatter and a little more forgiving by design than many other courses in the Kootenays, Bootleg Gap is a course that welcomes all levels of golfer yet still provides a challenge for you low handicappers. It’s a course offering a perfect combination of difficulty and enjoyment for any level of golfer. Bootleg Gap also offers an expansive practice facility with state-of-the-art golf simulators. Uniquely, this indoor course facility provides for a fall and winter league, golf lessons, and private event bookings.
Copper Point, Point Course
In the heart of the Kootenay Rockies near Invermere, BC, The Point Course at Copper Point is the ideal balance of complexity and comfort. This stunning course is a unique combination of terrain that will likely require just about every club in your bag!
A Gary Browning & Wade Horrocks collaboration, the Point features expansive fairways and a range of striking elevation changes through a scenic forested landscape. The course design includes a natural, lay-of-the-land route with classic elements of rolling greens and roughly hewn bunkers. Carved into the beauty of the surroundings, it uses the ravines and hills to create a classic Kootenay Rockies golf experience harmonized beautifully with nature.
Did we mention the views? Enjoy vast panoramic Rocky Mountain scenery that is nothing short of breathtaking!
Eagle Ranch Golf Resort
Without a doubt, the Kootenay Rockies region of BC is truly remarkable, and so are the golf courses. Among the best is the awe-inspiring Eagle Ranch Golf Resort, just up the hill and across the Columbia River from Invermere, BC.
Designed by esteemed golf architect Bill Robinson, it makes the most of the organic contours, diverse terrain and 360-degree views. The result is a uniquely challenging golf experience. Breathtaking Eagle Ranch includes holes meandering through towering pines, cruising impressively over high bluffs and plunging dramatically down fall lines.
An example of the challenging golf terrain is exemplified by the 16th hole, a160-yard par 3 featuring a green shielded by sandstone, lying 80 feet below the raised tee. Eagle Ranch Golf Resort provides a distinctive golf experience surrounded by the spectacular Rockies to the east and Purcells across the Columbia Valley to the west.
Greywolf Golf Course
With so many elevated tees, it’s amazing how far your ball will travel at this altitude. The embodiment of exciting play, Greywolf Golf Course is a dramatic and breathtaking risk-reward course.
If you want a golf experience, Kootenay golf course or any other, that offers a must-see hole, Greywolf’s sixth hole – known as Cliffhanger! – is sure to sit atop the list. So unique is this hole; the course was designed around it. Extending 200 yards, it challenges you to shoot over a deep gorge onto a putting surface that appears to balance on a veritable razor’s edge over the stunning wilderness. Your tee shot will be such an exhilarating thrill, you’ll want to save a mulligan in case your first ball finds the bottom of the Toby Creek valley.
The Doug Carrick-designed Greywolf is set in the shadow of the slopes of the world-class ski destination Panorama Mountain Village. 14 holes have water features of some kind or another, and with breathtaking panoramic views everywhere, according to Carrick, “There are 18 signature holes at this course.”
