Squamish, BC

Garibaldi Springs

Permanent course
45(based on 1 reviews)
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Dscgl4
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 29.8 years 164 played 18 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Unrealized potential 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 3, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

[Update: I got to play this course in the Canadian Nationals tournament layout. In that layout the course is a truly world class destination course. Much of the review below is for the regular layout they started with. I've upped the rating from 3 (for the regular course) to 4 (giving a 5 for the tournament course).]

Regular course:
This is an attractive course on an executive ball golf course in Squamish, BC. The course is new, so some of the kinks are still being worked out (no course map that I could find, no tee signs, no printed map/score cards, even though it costs $10 to play), but in general the hole progression makes sense and flows well (other than hole 4-5 and 5-6, and I spoke with one of the staff who was going to add an overview map to the web site).

You can see most of the baskets from the tee boxes, which is nice. The key on this course is to stay in the fairway--there is a lot of ugly rough on the edges, and much hidden water in that rough.

The setting is beautiful and the course challenging if you are going for birdies (and most holes here are birdie holes from the long tees for 940+ rated players). That said, shooting for par and taking the occasional birdie is fairly easy.

Hole 9, to me is the signature hole, though I missed the blue tees as marked on the map. If every hole could be designed like that, this would be a great course (long, moderate risk birdie shot over water, with a relatively easy par-three path around the water for the conservative player).

The course has both long and short tees, so supports a variety of play levels.

Tournament Course:
One of the best courses I've ever played--very high risk reward on many of the holes. You are forced to execute a variety of shots across long fairways, with lots of water OB and rough to contend with. As with the regular course, staying on the fairway is a must. At the Open level, the average par was around a 66 over two rounds. 1000 rated players averaged a 60 their second time around.

Cons:

For the short/regular course:
The course itself is frustratingly designed. Many of the holes are simply long right handed hyzers (hole 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 18). As a lefty, that is frustrating. As a righty, I would imagine the holes get a bit repetitive. There are also a number of very short holes and most tee and basket placements are wide open (no shots out of or into the woods, no tight lanes).

As a result, the shot decisions are fairly easy here, with a few risk/reward opportunities, but not many (most of the longer holes are clear layup and upshot holes that don't tempt you to go for it).

For the Tournament course:
None really. It's long and difficult, and leaving the fairway remains dangerous. In both layouts you will lose discs if you go in the rough or the water. In both layouts, the baskets used have unusually heavy chains, so expect some unfortunate spit outs.

The biggest con is that the tournament course and the regular course are so completely different that you can't play them at the same time. Ideally, a couple of shorter tee pad options would be placed on each hole on the tournament course, allowing a diversity of play.

Other Thoughts:

I really wanted to love this course, and now that I've played the tournament course, I do.

There are also great amenities here, with a nice hotel and restaurant on site, as well as disc sales, washrooms, etc. This is a destination course depending on which course is in play, and what your goals as a player are. In the short layout, it's a nice community / family course and a good place to come with friends for the day. In the tournament layout, it's a course to challenge the best of us.
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