Of course, it wasn't free but we had a fun day golfing at the Banff Springs golf course. The 'Golf Fore Free' package included a night at the hotel and 18 holes of golf. The website was confusing so we didn't realize we had to pre-book our tee time--I thought they would have tee times dedicated to those who booked with the hotel. I had also made reservations at the Waldhaus restaurant and they never were recorded so I think the Fairmont has to re-think their booking system. However, when we checked in on Friday, they quickly solved these problems. We ate when we wanted to and golfed 2, 9 hole rounds.
We have stayed at the castle-like Banff Springs Hotel before and enjoy the elegance and pampering for which they are famous. The spectacular Cascade and Sulphur mountains as well as the Rundle Group of peaks dominate the views from this massive stone hotel. Our room overlooked the statue of William Van Horne who was instrumental in building the railway from Eastern Canada to British Columbia.
After we settled into our small but elegant room, we headed to the library (an euphemism for hotel bar). We've never sat on the outside patio before and it was a delight. A flower border of lilac, blue, and burgundy flowers was a lovely foreground to the mountains in the background. We each had a Stella although this Belgium beer wasn't listed on the menu. The hotel's draught beer had frozen the night before along with most of their wine--not good since the day was warm and perfect for cold beer.
After getting ready for dinner, we walked to the Waldhaus, about a 15 minute walk. Not great while wearing high heels but good for working up an appetite. We enjoyed a few Warsteiner (German) beers on the Waldhaus pub patio. It overlooks one of the tee boxes for the Stanley Thompson, the 18 hole Banff Springs Golf Course so we watched golfers hit across Spray River, a tributary of the Bow River. The Waldhaus, we later learned, was the original club house and the tee box was the first tee of the course.
We had a lovely meal upstairs in the dining room. Usually we sit close to the fire as it has always been October when we stayed at the Banff Springs hotel but Friday we were led into the round tower dining area. The windows were open and we had a great view of Mt. Rundle. Glen loves their lamb shank and I had arctic char. I had the special Fairmont coffee for dessert while Glen had creme brulé. It was a lovely 37th anniversary celebration. We decided not to walk up the stairs to our room so took the shuttle.
I had expected a very early tee time but the earliest we could get was 9:45. This meant we could have a nice breakfast in the Grill Restaurant. We were finished our continental breakfast by 8:00 and emerged to find a very long line-up. There were several tours staying at the hotel and I guess breakfast for most was eight. We checked out, had the valet put our bags into the car and retrieve our golf clubs. We boarded the 8:30 shuttle (they run every half hour) and checked in at the golf club. We had plenty of time to organize a golf cart and hit some balls on the driving range. This proved to be a good warm-up for the course.
As it turns out, the golf cart was really not necessary as the 9 hole course is pretty compact but since I was battling a head cold, I found it a good way to rest between holes. The Tunnel course is a good mix of par 3s, 4s, and 5s. On our first round we were paired with two locals, Mark and Tom, who knew the course inside and out. They were very helpful and encouraging. Mark had Ottawa Senater's logos on his clubs so I asked him if he were from Ottawa. Turns out he was from Altavista but had come to Banff 20 years ago and now only visited Ottawa once a year.
We had enough time after our first round to have a sandwich (me) and hot dog (Glen) at the clubhouse snack bar before we headed out again. This time we were partnered with Lon, a long time member of the club. He was 80 but didn't look a day over 65. I guess mountain air is good for a man. Another single joined us, Robert and his wife, Diane who acted as caddie. They were originally from Texas but now split their time between places in Canmore and Florida. It was nice having a woman with us as I do tend to always be the only girl playing.
Glen was thrilled with his score of 105 for both rounds. I did 128 but decided I had such a good time that I wasn't going to focus on the score. On the first round, Mark told me I must have a boring life since I could hit with my driver and send the ball straight and a good 125 yards on every hole. Of course, he didn't see my second nine but it was nice to have the driver working for me. I hit a few good putts, too and a couple of good fairway shots. Glen did very well and kept up with the other guys who all had years of practice. Robert told him not to give up the game as he had potential to be very good and Diane said he had a good feel for the ball.
I was exhausted by the end of play and was having breathing problems due to my cold. We were very glad to catch the shuttle back to the hotel, retrieve our car, and head home. I had left some steaks in the fridge so we barbequed those up then went to bed early.
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