May 3rd: Silvertip Hole #1

After hitting the links and the patio grill on their first full day in Canmore, the boys will make the short hop to the other side of the street for a Monday afternoon loop at Silvertip Golf Resort. After a warmup round at Stewart Creek, this course is almost unanimously rumored to put the prior to shame. Silvertip measures 7,173 yards from the tips, has a slope of 148 (one of the highest in North America) and a course rating of 74.6 and already has Rosch's vote for "most pumped to play/pre-trip favorite."

Silvertip Hole #1 -- 345yd Par4 Handicap 14

Silvertip's website unfortunately does not provide shot-by-shot advice, but a hole overview will still be shown each day. I will do my best to find descriptions of the holes for you. Also, the hundreds of pictures that fellow golfers have posted should do a pretty good job of painting you the picture of what to expect.

(Is this actually a golf hole or just a tee shot off a cliff?)

If you turn around from that same tee, this is what you'll see.

Silvertip:
This Les Furber-designed course is an eight-year-old wild child. Golfers have their hands full trying to keep control over 7,173 rollicking yards characterized by uneven lies, humpy-lumpy greens and climate-changing elevation swings--it's a six-hundred-foot drop from the highest point at the ninth tee to the lowest at the 13th green. It starts at the first, which is perhaps the signature hole of Silvertip. The elevation drop here is over 125 feet and the tee offers a spectacular view of the Bow Valley. There is little let up leading up to the home hole, a 444-yard par-4 that has a nice little elevation change of its own..

This shot must be from the front tees...much more fun to play from the tips!

Canmore:

Canmore's motto is "Do more, live more, play more!" In our first two and a half days in Canmore, we will have played 2 spectacular courses, enjoyed some fine dining, done some morning hiking, and in general, lived the Rocky Mountain way all without leaving the valley ... so I'd say the motto is spot on.