Tobiano Golf Course is in the heart of the British Columbia, Canada, interior. British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, just north of the state of Washington in the United States. The city of Kamloops, situated at the junction of the Thompson and the North Thompson rivers, is primarily an agricultural community. During the summer season, however, the city becomes a beehive of activity owing to the Trans Canada No. 1 highway running through the city. Kamloops is also serviced by an airport, just east of the city, for those travelling from afar.
The accommodation, while visiting Tobiano, will more than likely be in Kamloops. There are a number of motels along the No. 1 highway but our choice is to stay at the Best Western up, in what I refer to as, the hotel village up on the hill at the north western edge of the city. The Best Western sponsors Tobiano Golf Course, so that when you register, be sure to ask for a preferred rate as well as asking them to book the tee-time(s) for you. The hotel has an excellent dining facility but should you get tired of the food here, you can drive to downtown Kamloops in a matter of minutes. This area has several other first class, well known hotels if you are not a Best Western fan.
The Tobiano Golf Course is just fifteen to twenty- minute drive from Kamloops, just off the Trans Canada highway west. This is still a developing resort and your prime interest at the moment will need to be golf. The golf course runs along the sparkling blue/green Kamloops Lake that can be seen from almost every hole you play. As far as the local vegetation and surrounding landscape are concerned, you might think that you are in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona except that there are no giant cacti. You will be walking along sage brush, ankle high cacti and tall, tall grasses during your round of golf.
The Tobiano Golf Course, built just a few years ago, was voted as the number one new golf course in Canada by Golf Digest and
Score Golf Magazine. Tobiano sports a ten thousand square foot clubhouse, a top rated restaurant and chef, and a well-stocked pro shop. The course is walkable, but ninety-nine percent of the golfers take a cart. This championship course proudly presents five tee boxes on each hole and allows players of all caliber to enjoy his/her game. The shortest tee runs five thousand three hundred and fifty-eight yards and the longest, for the touring pros, sports seven thousand three hundred and sixty-seven yards. When you arrive at the first tee, you will be suitably impressed at the warm-up facility there. While you are waiting for your turn at the tee, you can hit as many balls as you like to warm-up.
I read somewhere that every hole is a signature hole at Tobiano. The scenery is stunning and spectacular, as the aforementioned Kamloops Lake is visible from almost every hole. And on almost every hole, it seems as though there is a gully (arroyo) to carry across. On top of that, you are often faced with an uphill or downhill slope that requires a precise club selection. Some of the greens are perched on top of the ridge and appear to be suspended in mid-air. You had better bring your A-game with you or you will be restocking golf balls at the pro shop after the front nine! The fairways are wide and firm, and because the entire land slopes towards the lake, more often than not, you need to place your tee shots well right or left of the fairway or you will find yourself in the rough on the opposite side. The newness of the course is immediately apparent as not a blade of grass is out of place nor the sands unraked. Some of the snow white sand traps are very deep and the greens, firm, sloping and undulating, but basically very fair. Above all else, as you come up for air after concentrating on your golf shot, you will be overwhelmed at the unique feature and scenery of each hole.
The Tobiano Golf Course has already started some housing development between the course and the lake. This facility will, undoubtedly, become a full-fledged resort, with accommodations, additional dining facilities and the usual other amenities on site, but even in its present state, Tobiano is a unique golf experience that you cannot pass by. This would be an excellent facility to sponsor a golf/seminar/conference or just a group golf tournament.
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