by Bob Sparrow
I never tire of losing golf balls in Alberta, Canada. This year’s golfing trip to Banff marked our fourth golf excursion to, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on this planet – the Canadian Rockies. And while the scenery, weather and company were magnificent, the golf left something to be desired. But, hey, I didn’t go there for the golf, I can golf miserably at home, and, in fact, often do . . . on many occasions. I went there for the scenery.
The group that witnessed the passing of sleeve after sleeve of my golf balls included Jack & JJ Budd, Bud & Carol Laughlin, John & Judy VanBoxmeer and my lovely wife, Linda. We stayed in two VRBO condos in Canmore (more about Canmore later), which we can highly discourage anyone for ever staying in; its only saving grace was that it was a short walk to the liquor store.
We weren’t sure if we would even get in our first round of golf, as it had been raining for several days and was still sprinkling as we traveled to our first course, Silvertip. It is a visually spectacular golf course, nestled beneath the majestic mountains and cut through forests and valleys; even the scorecard is beautiful (see photo). I thought twelve balls for the three rounds of golf we were scheduled to play would be plenty for the trip. My supply was half gone by the end of the first round. But I take some consolation in knowing that they are resting in peace in a beautiful place.
The next day we took a break from golf and scheduled a gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain, just outside of Banff. Once at the top, we had spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies, Bow Valley, the historic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and the Bow River, where in a couple of days hence, would provide a watery grave from several of my golf balls. After the gondola ride we had lunch at a rooftop restaurant/bar in Banff. After lunch there was some differences of opinion about what to do next, so they guys got in one car and drove back to Canmore looking for a place for dinner, which was code for bar hoping, while the girls stayed in Banff and shopped.
As I mentioned, this was Linda’s and my fourth trip to Canmore/Banff, and we thought the city of Canmore was nothing more than a couple of restaurants and gas stations along the road to Banff. But we discovered that ‘downtown’ Canmore has a really cute main street, filled with quaint, local art shops, restaurants and bars . . . and a great ice cream shop made from an old yellow school bus. We all walked back to our condo with an ice cream cone.
Our next golf experience was the following day at Stewart Creek Golf Club, which provided plenty of flora and fauna to hide several balls from various errant shots. If you’re thinking that by losing so many balls I must have shot some really bad rounds of golf, you’d be right, but it was beautiful. I found solace when I lost balls that son Jeff had given me for Christmas with a photo of their daughter, Brooklyn, on them. Jeff, please know that she is resting in a most beautiful place!
Our final day of golf was at the Banff Springs Golf Course, which is a beautiful course with magnificent views of the Banff Springs Hotel and the Bow River. The round of golf for both Linda and me, and a top for Linda and a Banff ball marker for me (she told me they were of about equal value!), the round cost us over $1,000.00! But I was told that that was in Canadian dollars, so I was reminded of how much I saved not being in America! On this course it was the Bow River and the surrounding pine forest that collected the last of my golf balls, but Hey, I was going home the next day anyway, so I was just making my golf bag lighter . . . significantly lighter.
