It required the passage of a couple of centuries from the day Capt. George Vancouver first sailed into English Bay, but the Lower Mainland area surrounding the city named for him has finally lived up to its potential. Metro Vancouver is now recognized as one of the world’s finest – and most attractive – golf destinations. In fact, it was almost co-incidental with the bicentennial celebrations of Capt. Vancouver’s 1792 overnight visit that the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia enjoyed the greatest golf course building boom in its history.

The Lower Mainland has always been blessed with unparalleled natural beauty. Framed by Georgia Strait, the North shore and Coast Mountain ranges, the scenic English Bay and Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River delta, the area is doubly blessed with the most benign climate of any major urban centre of Canada. But until very recently, Canada’s ideal location for golf simply did not have enough courses to accommodate the burgeoning demand for the world’s fastest growing game. That has all changed.

For the better part of this century, however, golfers in the Metro Vancouver area were not without classic courses to play. One of the finest examples anywhere is the Peace Portal Golf Course, just a couple of solid shots north of the U.S. border. Opened in 1928, ‘Portal’ has been playing to deservedly rave views ever since. But of late, the variety and quality of choices have left visiting golfers calling travel agents to extend their stays. And no wonder. In Surrey, just east of Vancouver, Arnold Palmer designed the Northview Golf and Country Club’s Ridge Course – home of the PGA TOUR’S Air Canada Championship – and the links-style Canal Course. Just minutes away, award-winning Canadian architect Les Furber sculpted the beautiful Meadow Gardens, a perfect compliment to his Mayfair Lakes course – site of the annual Canadian TOUR’S TELUS Vancouver Open – in nearby Richmond. Thomas McBroom designed the beautiful Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey. In Coquitlam, Michael Hurzdan, created the spectacular Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club. At Swan-e-set Bay Resort in Pitt Meadows, Lee Trevino designed two remarkable championship courses.

After more than two hundred years, Greater Vancouver has received Capt. Vancouver’s message: This is Golf Country.

To all of its natural blessings, endless variety of accommodations and activities for the entire family, Metro Vancouver has added superb golf courses that rival golf destinations anywhere in the world. Arriving today, with his clubs, of course – old George Vancouver would definitely stay longer than one night.

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