Cooke Municipal Golf Course

Cooke Municipal is one of Saskatchewan's oldest public golf courses, offering a historically significant parkland layout within the city limits of Prince Albert.

The course has hosted Golf Canada National Championships across multiple formats including the Canadian Women's Amateur (1976), Canadian Junior Men's (1977), Canadian Club Champions (1999), and Canadian Ladies Amateur again in 2004.

History of Cooke Municipal Golf Course

The origins of Cooke Municipal date to 1909, when a group of Scottish immigrants received permission from the Hudson's Bay Company to establish a nine-hole golf course on company reserve land, forming The Prince Albert Golf Club. The Men's Northern Amateur Championship was first played over the layout in 1922, establishing the course's competitive identity early in its history.

Hubert Cooke arrived in Prince Albert in 1925 and was appointed the club's first golf professional, a position he held for 40 years until his retirement in 1965. In 1935, the City of Prince Albert reached an agreement with the club to expand the layout to 18 holes, taking over operations and renaming it Prince Albert Municipal Golf Course. Construction of the Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club, incorporating a restaurant, pro shop, curling rink, and locker rooms, began in 1967.

Hubert Cooke passed away in 1968, the same year the Golf & Curling Club formally opened. In 1969, the course was renamed Cooke Municipal Golf Course in his honour, and that of his wife, Alice.

Subsequent decades brought a series of improvements: an irrigation system installed in 1979, fairway renovations in 1989, lake construction on holes 3 and 5 in 1991, and new hole construction and redesign work in 2003. The course marked its centenary in 2009.

Course Layout & Playing Experience

Cooke Municipal plays to a par of 71 over 6,509 yards (5,952 metres) from the back tees. The layout sits entirely within the city limits of Prince Albert, occupying rolling, tree-lined terrain with three water features integrated into the routing.

A two-level pond with a waterfall connects holes 3 and 5, while a greenside pond on the par-3 12th (160 yards from the back tee) introduces water at close range. Two short par-4s — the 6th at 320 yards and the 16th at 301 yards — present risk-reward decisions, with the 6th featuring a two-tiered green and the 16th protected by strategically positioned greenside bunkers.

The course has hosted multiple Golf Canada National Championships, demonstrating that the relatively modest yardage does not diminish the layout's capacity to test competitive players.

A 15-bay grass-tee driving range and full practice facilities are also available.

The Verdict

Cooke Municipal Golf Course carries more than a century of Saskatchewan golf history, from its origins as a nine-hole immigrant club in 1909 through to a nationally recognised public venue that has hosted Golf Canada championships across four decades.

The combination of tree-lined parkland terrain, water features on three holes, and a slope rating of 143 from the back tees makes Cooke Municipal the most historically significant public golf course in northern Saskatchewan.

For travelling golfers using Prince Albert as a base to access Elk Ridge Resort and Dakota Dunes Golf Links to the south, it represents an essential addition to any Saskatchewan golf itinerary.