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Review Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch Golf Resort
Canmore, AB
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In 2008, Brewster's became an 18 hole course. An updated review was conducted on August 30th, 2009. The slideshow was updated on this date as well.
The August 8, 2006 reivew was conducted when the course was 9 holes.
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 | Alberta Bound | Aug-30-2009 |
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| Greens: |  8/10 | All the greens were in very good shape. A number of them were small and elevated with some slight undulations with at least two having two tiers. There were a few green side bunkers, very limited and they tended to be small and in need of some work. |
| Fairways: | 8/10 | The front nine (older part of course) has just excellent fairways, with a good first cut and marked at the 150 and 100 yards. Most of the fairways on the front are generous but if you hit a bad shot you can expect to be trouble as the rough can be deep and dense. The back nine does not have as much grass on the fairways as the front but those holes are only a year old. |
| Tees: | 6/10 | They only have two tees, white and red. The teeing areas are of a good size and flat and most are well grassed. The tees have good signs and ball washers and benches. |
| Course Design: | 6/10 | The first hole is a really nice par five at 528 yards and number four and eight I mention below. The course has 8 par fours under 287 yards in length with five of these on the back nine. There is a lot of elevation change on the course which results in a number of elevated tees, greens and some downhill landing areas. The back nine starts with a nice par three of 188 yards with lots of trees on both sides of the fairway. The 11th hole is good par five but appears narrow from the tee box. The second shot is more open and the green is elevated. After the 11th you proceed through a series of 5 short par fours before ending with two long par fours of which the 18th is 390 yards in length. The front nine has two holes that have very little purpose. Number two and six are very short at 257 and 252, You have to wait for the green to clear as most golfers will want to go for the green. Number two does have a water hazard on the right which infringes on to the fairway but most golfers will fly the ball over the water or lay up. Number six is wide open with some deeper grass to the right and left and a small, tiny bunker front left of the green. |
| Value for $$$: | 8/10 | You can play here for $41 on Tuesdays while the regular rate is $52 and $59 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When you consider the price of the other courses in the valley this is a decent value as the other four courses charge a lot more. They also offer a 9 and 13 hole rate which might interest a number of golfers. They discount by 10% for seniors and they permit kids to play free on Saturday and Sunday after 4pm when playing with an adult. |
| Difficulty: | 7/10 | The course is short and most fairways are generous. Water does come into play on a few holes. On the front, hole number four is a tight dog leg right to an elevated green with danger on both sides of the fairway. A boggy here is good as your tee shot needs to find the fairway and give you a look at the green. The number eight par three is a long one at 222 yards but you are hitting from a very elevated tee. The back nine even though it is short the fairways are narrow so use the right club off the tees. There is maybe five holes where a long hitter would pull out the driver. |
| Scenery: | 9/10 | There is plenty to look at as the Rockies surround the course on three sides and foothills and parkland on the other side. |
| Staff: | 8/10 | We met the pro shop staff, the starter, the marshal and all were very friendly and polite |
| Clubhouse: | 6/10 | The clubhouse is made up of two attractive log cabins, one of which is used for small tournaments. They have some chairs and tables in the front where you have a great view of the mountains and you could enjoy a cool one after your round |
| Other Intangibles: | 6/10 | They have both pull and power carts for rent. The cart path is a continuous gravel path and when we were there it was cart path only. |
72/100
The course can get very busy at times especially on the weekends as it is an alternative to the higher end courses in Canmore. The views are excellent and when we played there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the high twenties. The owners also run Kananaskis Ranch Resort which is located just to the south of the course on the Bow River. This course has evolved over time and with a complete 18 holes opened this year I am sure the course will mature and the owners will continue to upgrade the course as they have over the last few year. The new nine is in very good shape for just one year and the grass will continue to fill in nicely next year. Their score card is very unique in that they do not total the par,70, or the yardage.They also do not have a slope or index rating. This may be the result of the addition of new holes over the past two or three years. |
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| Alberta Bound | Aug-08-2006 |
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| Greens: | 7/10 | Greens were good but need to be cut. There were a number of ball marks but the grounds crew were going around and repairing them. Greens were average size with some having a couple of tiers with slopes form back to front. A few greens were elevated. |
| Fairways: | 7/10 | Fairways were in good shape. Some areas were short of grass. They were green and watered. Most cases you could use a driver as the fairways were fairly wide. They had yardage markers at 100, 150 and 200 yards. |
| Tees: | 5/10 | Tees were limited to two. They were in good shape but not a lot of room for staff to move locations or change yardage. Signage was there but not good. A couple had the yardage covered up so had to check on the card. Nothing out of the ordinary. |
| Course Design: | 6/10 | Design is interesting but does have 3 of the 9 holes as straight away holes. The par 3's are interesting and long at 195 and 221 yards. There are some elevation changes and some tee boxes are well above fairways such as eight and two. The course is not too long on the other holes. |
| Value for $$$: | 5/10 | The value is good as this is a lower priced course in the mountains where rates range from $68 to $160 and higher at the other courses. We played on Tight Wad Tuesday so we got a two for one. The course was crowed so a number of locals and tourists are taking advantage of the discount. I would go back on another Tuesday. |
| Difficulty: | 5/10 | The course is not that difficult but if you are off the fairways you can be in thick rough. Some of the holes have tall fescue for rough while others have very dense bush. |
| Scenery: | 8/10 | This course is just outside the mountains so you get view of the Rockies but play in the foothills. This presents an interesting contrast between grasslands and mountains. The underbrush could be thinned out to speed up play. The course is neat but does not have any extras such as flowers or other things that would make it stand out. |
| Staff: | 8/10 | Grounds crew and club house staff were very friendly. They seemed ready to please and tried pairing up people to speed up play. |
| Clubhouse: | 3/10 | Does not really have a clubhouse. There is a nice log cabin to take you green fees and sell a few beverages and sandwiches. There are tables out front with nice views. The clubhouse was a distance from the first tee so they could not check on how many were waiting there. Those coming through 9 and playing 18 had to guess where they fitted in, in the order for teeing off. |
| Other Intangibles: | 5/10 | The cart paths were gravel and thus dusty. The couple we played with indicated that the dust was a problem. They did not allow the carts off the paths thus slowing up play as the other couple had to walk back and forth across the fairways. It was 30 degrees with a nice blue sky and a little breeze however on the second round I was wishing for a beverage cart. I even thought about asking one of the grounds crew to go get us something from the clubhouse. Ball washers and directions were good, score card was OK but does not give slope or index. |
59/100
I think their brochure says it all. "A beautiful 9-hole course in the Bow Valley where the foothills meet the Rockies, fun, and beginners and families welcome."
Kids play free Saturday and Sundays after 4:30.
I will play it again as the price is right on Tuesdays compared to the other courses in the area. They will have another 4 holes open next year and the final 5 the year after. They tell me the last five will have some along the Bow River. |
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