Richmond, B.C. (August 30, 2012) - The PGA of British Columbia is proud to announce their first annual rankings for golf courses across the province.
Association members were polled both online and via telephone to make their choices for the top three facilities in the province, the top course in their region and a hidden gem anywhere in the province.
Over the six week polling period, more than one-third of the association's 650+ members responded. From these results using weighted rankings, three groups of deserving facilities were identified:
- BC's Top Twenty Courses
- BC's Top Regional Facilities (the top ranked public-access courses from each of five regions across the province)
- BC's Top Ten Hidden Gems
In all fifty of the most noteworthy facilities across BC are included on these three lists.
Says Association Executive Director Donald Miyazaki, "With PGA members being both competitive players on, and instructors at, all of the top courses across BC, it was a natural fit to poll our membership to find their selections. Overall almost 100 courses received multiple votes and that just goes to show the depth of the quality of the province's courses. Congratulations must go to the deserving facilities who made the three lists. We are sure that these selections will elicit a fair amount of dialogue."
The ranking is a partnership between the PGA of BC and Inside Golf Magazine. Inside Golf Inc. (publishers of Inside Golf Magazine, Canadian Golf Traveller and
www.insidegolf.ca) managed the survey and contacted all facilities across the province and then tabulated the results.
Says Inside Golf Publisher Jeff Sutherland, "It became clear as we received responses that two clear favourites were emerging and that Shaughnessy and Capilano would battle right down to the final few votes for #1. Eventually Shaughnessy would take top honours by the smallest of margins. On the public-acess side, Big Sky has always had a solid reputation and now they have the #1 ranking to go along with it. Tobiano was a close second."
Concludes Sutherland, "Where it was more of a surprise was the number of community-owned courses being counted among the Pros' favourites. Storey Creek earned a impressive top-ten provincial ranking, Fairview Mountain came 13th and Bowen Island, Castlegar, Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Squamish Valley, and Sunshine Coast all got inclusion on the 'Hidden Gems' list."
PGA OF BC'S TOP TRACKS: 2012 PROVINCIAL "TOP TWENTY"
Location, course architect and year of opening are listed in parentheses after the course name
1. Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club (Vancouver / AV Macan; 1960)
2. Capilano G&CC (West Vancouver / Stanley Thompson; 1937)
3. Victoria GC (Victoria / possibly Harvey Combe; 1893)
4. Big Sky G&CC (Pemberton / Robert Cupp; 1995)
5. Royal Colwood GC (Victoria / AV Macan; 1913)
6. Tobiano (Kamloops / Thomas McBroom; 2007)
7. Predator Ridge GR / Ridge Course (Vernon / Doug Carrick; 2010)
8. Vancouver GC (Coquitlam / Alex Duthie / H.T. Gardner; 1911)
9. Talking Rock Golf Course (Chase / Cooke-Carleton; 2007)
10. Storey Creek (Campbell River / Les Furber; 1989)
11. Greywolf GC (Panorama / Doug Carrick; 1999)
12. Rivershore Golf Club (Kamloops / Robert Trent Jone Sr. / 1981)
13. Fairview Mountain GC (Oliver / Les Furber; 1926)
14. Tower Ranch GC (Kelowna / Thomas McBroom; 2008)
15. Marine Drive GC (Vancouver AV Macan; 1922)
16. Morgan Creek GC (South Surrey / Thomas McBroom; 1995)
17. Gallaghers Canyon G&CC (Kelowna / Bill Robinson; 1980)
18. Crown Isle Resort & Golf Community (Courtenay (Graham Cooke; 1992)
19. Kelowna G&CC (Kelowna / AV Macan; 1920)
20. Fairmont Chateau Whistler GC (Whistler / Robert Trent Jones Jr.; 1993)
For more information, contact PGA of BC Executive Director Donald Miyazaki at
donald@pgabc.org or 800.667.4653
