Tobiano

It’s appropriate that owner Michael Grenier called this course Tobiano – an equine term for a multi-coloured horse – as the landscape surrounding this golfing thoroughbred is one of extreme visual variety, displaying a multitude of different hues.

Described by one commentator as a “moonscape with turf,” this stunning course is set in a desolate, mountainous desert location alongside the 30-kilometre long Kamloops Lake reservoir to the northeast of Vancouver.

It’s certainly one of the best natural settings that anyone has discovered for a Canadian course in many a year and designer Tom McBroom is said to have considered 20 different routings before he decided on one that incorporates a quintet of par three and par five holes.

Tobiano opened for play in 2007 and the course is intimidating to a lot of golfers, especially as many of the fairways demand testing carries across deep arroyos en route to infinity greens that seem to float in mid air above the lake. Sensibly, local rules permit balls that stray into the desert to be regarded as lost in a lateral hazard, allowing a new ball to be played from a drop area.

Measuring anything from a gentle 5,358 yards on the forward pegs to a monster 7,367 yards on the tiger tees, Tobiano is a totally unique course designed to enthrall golfers of all abilities who take it on.