From sea to sky, birdie to eagle

• Published date: 21 February 2023
• Publication title: Ensign, The

We begin in Whistler, consistently ranked as one of the top ski, snowboarding and mountain biking resorts in North America, and the numbers speak for themselves: one vertical mile drop; two side-by-side mountains connected by a cosmopolitan village; more than 200 trails; three glaciers; 38 lifts; and 16 alpine bowls. Whistler has gained even greater fame since hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the completion of the Peak-to-Peak Gondola — a stunning 4.4km cable car crossing 415m above the valley floor that unites Whistler and the Blackcomb Mountains

In recent years, Whistler has gained a reputation for activities on the green stuff as much as the white, with a collection of championship courses providing classic mountain golf. There’s Arnold Palmer’s first ever Canadian design at the Whistler Golf Club, which was the area’s first course built in 1983, the Golden Bear’s Nicklaus North Golf Course, Robert Trent Jones jun’s mountainside Chateau Whistler Golf Club and 30 minutes’ drive north at Pemberton lies Bob Cupp’s Big Sky Golf & Country Club played at the foot of the soaring granite outcrop of Mount Currie.

Alas, we only have time to play two of the courses — Nicklaus North and Chateau Whistler (also known as the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club).

Distinctly different from the other Whistler golf properties, Chateau Whistler is carved from the side of Blackcomb Mountain with dramatic elevation changes of more than 120m. Most people playing here opt to take a power cart, but we opted to walk.

‘‘Are you sure you are up for it guys,’’ the starter said with a look on his face as though we planned to walk blindfolded across a minefield. Making things easier were the snazzy state-of-the-art pull trolleys that wouldn’t look out of place in the gardening section of a DIY store — sporting huge mountain bike wheels and a handy metal basket for odds and ends. Chateau Whistler is a heart-pumping golf workout not to be missed, marching along pristine fairways that climb and plummet, through massive granite outcroppings, glacier-fed creeks and majestic centuries-old Douglas firs.

The bear essentials

Surrounded by mountains on the shores of Whistler’s Green Lake, the par-71 Nicklaus North which is the only design to bear Jack’s name, is eminently playable from five sets of tees, and on the nine par 4s and four par 5s, the water features, distinctive Nicklaus bunkering and landing areas are set up to invite players of all abilities to use drivers. Yet, for all...