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Someplace south of Fox Valley the slim, wheat-lined street twisted by a coulee and rose to a golden, wind-swept plot of prairie webbed with golf holes. Not a soul in sight. Sure! I hollered to a dazed and confused cow. A golf course! In the midst of nowhere. And I’ve received all of it to myself! Certainly, take a street journey by Saskatchewan and also you’re at all times in for just a few surprises.
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Whether or not it’s a buckled barn slowly sinking into sweetgrass, a beautiful duck-specked lake wedged between rolling hills, or a small-town museum loaded with treasures from the previous, Saskatchewan is a deal with for anybody who likes to hit the freeway with a go-wherever-the-road-takes-you agenda.
In fact, discovering a candy little “sander” – a golf course with sand greens as a substitute of grass – shouldn’t be all that troublesome in Saskatchewan. There are nicely over 100 of those rough-around-the-edges, farmer-style golf programs remaining within the province; the most important such deposit of sand-green programs on the earth.
For me, an avid golfer who has performed all around the world, sand inexperienced programs, regardless of their ragged situations (most of those rural programs merely don’t have the sources to take care of correct turf), are a novel and weirdly satisfying expertise. I imply, teeing off with a cow mooing in your backswing and hand-raking the inexperienced after you putt out is one thing you possibly can’t just do wherever. Certain it’s tough and rudimentary; all a part of the enjoyable.
Cost, which is normally round $5 for a spherical, is nearly at all times by the honour system. Put your cash within the field by the primary tee and away you go. However please, when you worth your life, do pay up. Working example: close to the primary tee on the quirky (all of them are) sand inexperienced course in Tompkins, a white cross sits atop a body-sized mound of filth. On the cross is the easy inscription “Unpaid Golfer.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (FYI: For my hard-earned “fiver,” one of the best “sanders” within the province are discovered within the small villages of Hazlet and Kyle. Each function lovely prairie settings and super-fun holes.)
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For these with extra refined tastes, Saskatchewan additionally boasts quite a few “grass” golf programs as nicely. Some that rival one of the best within the nation. Extra on these later.
As a result of I’m based mostly in Calgary, it’s actually the western sections of Saskatchewan that I’ve explored probably the most. And wherever I’m, it’s the huge areas, the residing skies, and the cool little surprises that I at all times bear in mind.
By way of the place I prefer to roam, I’ve received many favourites. The Cypress Hills area (well-known for the Cypress Hills Bloodbath of 1873), the Nice Sand Hills close to Chief (do some homework, they’re troublesome to search out), and the rolling farmland close to Biggar and Rosetown (there are a number of cool ghost cities on this space) are three of my favorite areas to discover.
On my newest journey by Saskatchewan, after stumbling on the unbelievable and distant sand inexperienced course close to Fox Valley (it’s referred to as Valley View Golf Membership and, as of 2022, they have been down to simply 4 members), I labored my means additional north, by Chief, Kindersely, and as much as North Battleford, the place I “found” the Western Growth Museum.
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The WDM, which is Saskatchewan’s largest human historical past museum, has 4 areas – North Battleford, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, and Yorkton – and is an absolute treasure for anybody who appreciates Prairie historical past Highlights of the North Battleford museum embrace a 40-acre heritage city (one of many largest in North America), an iconic grain elevator, a restored steam engine, and greater than 30 turn-of-the-century houses and companies.
After exploring the museum in North Battleford, my golf dependancy kicked into excessive gear and I made my approach to Prince Albert Nationwide Park to go to a course I’ve had on my want listing for many years. Designed by the legendary architect Stanley Thompson and opened in 1935, the Waskesiu Golf Course is sort of a uncommon and priceless gem in Canadian golf. Evidently, the course, which options 18 one-of-a-kind holes slotted by a ragged-and-rolling swath of Boreal forest, didn’t disappoint. Additionally, I can consider no higher clubhouse in Western Canada to take pleasure in a refreshment after your spherical. The 90-year-old Tudor-style, timber-and-stone constructing is saturated with rustic charms, previous pictures and funky memorabilia. Certainly, Stanley’s Pub & Grill might be my favorite “nineteenth gap” in Canada.
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If you wish to add to your golf expertise whereas visiting the park, the Elk Ridge Resort (it’s simply quarter-hour away from Waskesiu GC) options 27 holes of recent golf that can exceed your expectations. In fall, particularly, with practically your complete parkland course parading by an impressive blended forest, it’s as peaceable and pristine as golf will get in Saskatchewan.
For non-golfers, particularly, one other good shock in Prince Albert Nationwide Park was the quaint and picturesque townsite alongside Waskesiu Lake. This good little resort city is dwelling to an superior little seashore, fantastic strolling and biking trails, and loads of cool shops, retailers, and eating places. My favourites are Evergreen Espresso & Meals (wonderful espresso), Waskesiu Buying and selling Firm (get a cinnamon bun), and Restaurant Pietro (an excellent Italian steakhouse that alone is price travelling to Prince Albert Nationwide Park to expertise).
On my means again to Calgary, I pulled into the tiny city of Elbow and skilled, maybe, one of the best “shock” on the journey. Laborious on the shore of large Lake Diefenbaker (it’s 225 km lengthy), this beautiful little city boasts one of many prettiest 18-hole lakeside golf programs within the Prairies. And I didn’t even know there was a course there.
After golf, I sipped a beer on the sunny patio on the clubhouse and watched sailboats bobbing within the bay and clouds drifting over the wind-rippled water. For a second, I assumed I used to be in some attractive little cove within the Maritimes. Which, given the truth that I used to be within the useless centre of Saskatchewan, was a bit of shocking. However that’s Saskatchewan for you.
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