The Battle of Alberta
During the August long weekend I used my already scheduled 2019 Alberta Golf Tour debut at Priddis Greens Golf Club in Calgary as an excuse to see what the rest of the city had to offer and see if it matched up to everything that I have played in Edmonton. Edmonton as we all know, is the City of Champions, (see Wikipedia for number of Stanley and Grey Cups won in comparison to Calgary. Those are the only real sports trophies that matter in this article so any other comparison breaking down Calgary vs. Edmonton sports teams will not be considered) and I can confidently say I’ve played the best we have to offer. While I only played 5 of Calgary’s public friendly courses (4 on this trip specifically) I have to admit, if they were a sign of what the rest of the city offers I’m not sure my glorious #YEGGOLF matches up to #YYCGOLF even a little bit. And I hate actually having to type it out. Here are the courses I have played in Calgary and the surrounding area:
Bearspaw
Darcy Ranch
Heritage Pointe (Desert/Heritage)
Inglewood
The Links at Glen Eagles
Priddis
I want to also thank all of the people that interacted with my article calling out for recommendation on where to play. Based on all the recommendations it looks like I might have to make this trip a yearly one…Couple points that I have to make about Calgary golf:
When you have the mountains lingering in the back drops of lots of these courses that adds an element that Edmonton just can’t match.
Lots of elevation change. That will also help with my overall stance of any golf course.
Course conditions were sublime. Green speeds, overall lush-ness (that’s a made up Neiler technical term), and the overall attention to detail from tee to green was amazing.
And the standard of customer service that the courses were striving for were unparalleled and nothing that I have ever experienced in Edmonton. From bag drop to the time I jumped in my car to leave was excellent.
I think Edmonton’s best can line up head to head with Calgary’s. It’s the amount of quality courses that Calgary boats that we can’t match up with.This honestly sounds like a reflection of the depth of the Oiler’s line-up...
Last year I played Inglewood and it was the first time I had dabbled in the Calgary golf scene. Again, blown away by the conditions of the greens and golf course in general. It wasn’t my favourite layout but the sweltering heat we played in that day might have played with my brain. But I don’t think I’m going out too far on any limbs by saying Inglewood is the standard golf course you are going to find in Calgary. Just solid all around.
And don’t get me started on Priddis. I’ll have a whole article alone to go over my experience there.
The only solace I can take with Calgary taking this match-up in the battle of Alberta is something else that happened over the summer...But hey let me know what you think! Have you played courses in both Edmonton and Calgary? Which ones are your favourite in each and where would you rather play?
