May 21st: Jasper Park Lodge Hole #1

The third full golf day at the CRO will be the first adventure outside of Canmore. The boys will embark three hours to the north via the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park. The potential sightseeing stops and scenic overlooks are plentiful along this road. Many make this trip solely to go on glacier excursions, however, the boys will be focused on the historical golfing gem located in the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies.

(Just a view along the road to Jasper ... greatest three-hour drive ... ever!)

The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course:
The world-famous Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course was designed by renowned golf-course architect Stanley Thompson. The 18-hole championship course takes in the contours of the Athabasca River Valley as it hugs the banks of the turquoise-coloured Lac Beauvert. The 6,670-yard course is a true test of accuracy, and with holes named "The Maze," "The Bad Baby," and "The Bay," you'll need lots of balls, literally.

Jasper Park Lodge Hole #1 "First" 391-yard Par4 Handicap 11

The Fairmont website (also representing Banff Springs G.C.) does not have hole-by-hole flyovers or pictures. This could be considered a testament to the timeless wonder of these two courses (both built in the 1920's), but at the same time, I have done my best to find detailed descriptions of the majority of notable holes. The first hole, aptly named "First" has no such information so therefore you will be treated to a history lesson for the day.

It was Stanley Thompson's course at Jasper, built for the Canadian National Railway, that prompted their big rival, the Canadian Pacific Railway, to commission him to build a course for them at Banff Springs. What these courses have in common is the fact that, because they were built for railway companies, it was possible to ship in thousands of tons of topsoil. This single factor enables Thompson to create the best growing medium for grass in this climate of temperature extremes, to shape the holes to perfection, to build elevated tees, and to indulge in his favourite art of deceiving the golfer's eye!

Stops Along the Way - Lake Louise:

For the 18 days of Jasper, we will delve into the activities and potential stops along the Icefields Parkway. Our tee time is not until 3:00pm and the total drive time is somewhere in the range of 3.5hours. It would be highly advisable to get an early jump on the day (we're talking 6am), so that we can make the most of the 18 options I will provide for Tuesday's funtivities.

One of the most famous and most photographed areas of the entire Canadian Rockies is Lake Louise. Lake Louise has many nicknames: the Hiking Capital of Canada, the Skiing Capital of Canada, the Romance Capital of Canada (tied with Niagara Falls), the Diamond in the Wilderness, the Jewel in the Heart of the Canadian Rockies. Finally, they’re also the Highest Community in Canada at 5,020 ft (1530 m). Hiking is fabulous here because you already start very high in elevation. It doesn’t take long to break out to views. There are over 200 km of trails in the immediate Lake Louise area. And they’ve got something for everyone — from trails flat as a board to trails that take you to the summits. To make this moment the best it can be, you must avoid the lakeshore from 10 am to 4 pm (in summer), when the crowds are at their peak. Seeing as how we're leaving at 6am and this is within an hour's drive and is located near the highway, we might be able to get there at a prime hour. With that said, people marvel at the sunsets in this location (as I imagine they do with anywhere in the Rockies), but we are not locked into visiting here on the way to Jasper, as we have the mornings of Sunday and Monday before our two 2:00pm rounds in Canmore as well as the entire day Friday to visit wherever we have missed!