Winding its way from the picturesque ferry terminal of Horseshoe Bay, minutes along the North Shore from Vancouver, the Sea-to-Sky Highway (99) lives up to its name. First tracing the haunting shoreline of Howe Sound, then gently climbing into the Coast Mountains, the route truly does carry travellers from the salt water to the snow and glacier-capped peaks defining the skyline of Whistler. For decades, skiers and winter sports enthusiasts have followed the spectacularly beautiful route to Whistler, consistently rated the number one ski resort in North America. And now the Sea-to-Sky region is as popular with golfers as it is with the toque and goggles set. Whistler is has grown into a top golf destination for all levels of golfers.

The first hint of just how dramatic Sea-to-Sky golf can be comes barely more than half an hour into the journey when the signature 14th hole at the Furry Creek Golf and Country Clubcomes into view. From the highway, golfers can see the entire Par 3 hole jutting out into the icy waters of Howe Sound. On the land side of the highway, glimpses of renowned architect Robert Muir Graves’ mountainside design are virtually irresistible.

Beyond the Sound and the famous Black Tusk peak and the other terrific viewpoints along the way, golfers are welcomed to Whistler by their first views of the Whistler Golf Club. Fittingly, the first championship course in the area was designed by Arnold Palmer, the King of Golf himself. His beautiful design that opened in 1982 has since been joined by three courses designed by three of the world’s leading golf architects turning Whistler into a golfer’s mecca and year-round resort that has no equal.

In 1993, on the benchlands at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, Robert Trent Jones Jr. created an alpine masterpiece. The Chateau Whistler Golf Club was .immediately recognized as the best new course in Canada by the golf world’s bible, Golf Digest Magazine.  The following year, 25 minutes north of Whistler at Pemberton, award-winning architect Bob Cupp’s Big Sky Golf and Country Club was the runner-up for the prestigious honour. To make the remarkable foursome complete, Golf Digest recognized Nicklaus North Golf Course as the Best New Canadian Course in 1996. The addition of the only course in the world to bear the name of the finest golfer the game has known, Jack Nicklaus, confirmed the Sea-to-Sky region as one of the finest golf destinations in the world. In fact, in 1997 Golf Magazine awarded the Chateau Whistler Resort and the four Whistler courses one of only seven gold medals in a ranking of all the golf resorts in Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico.

As the skiers have long known, and the golfers are still discovering, getting to the Sea-to-Sky region is almost as much fun as being there. And with superb examples of mountainside and mountain valley golf by five of the best architects in golf, it doesn’t get any better than this.

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