Priddis, a small community to the southwest of Calgary, is home to one of the best 36-hole private clubs in western Canada. The club hosted the 2009 Canadian Women's Open, and has hosted a number of other professional tournaments in the past 30 years. It is also on the short list of the most private clubs in Alberta, which made my visit last summer all the more exciting. As in my post on Banff Springs, I must thank my cousin for the opportunity to see what Priddis has to offer.
The Hawk course was ranked #48 in the 2012 Scoregolf top 100, and will therefore receive much of the attention of my write-up. However, I also had the chance to play the Raven course and was surprised at how many good holes it had. I will include a section on Raven following Hawk.
Aside from a few pictures I had seen, I had no idea what to expect at Priddis. A few reviews I read beforehand suggested it would be relatively hilly, as it runs through the foothills of southern Alberta. However, walking off the 5th green I had yet to experience any significant elevation change.
The opening stretch is relatively gentle, providing a nice start to the round. It doesn't offer anything extraordinary, but it is a good string of holes nonetheless. Holes 1 and 5 present birdie opportunities (#1 being a short par 4, and #5 a reachable par 5); what better way to start a round than with a little boost of confidence?
Hole 6 is arguably the signature hole on the Hawk, with a dramatic downhill tee shot, and a sharp dogleg. In fact, from the men's tees the dogleg is so sharp, and the descent so great, that only half of the hole is visible. The postcard picture comes from the forward tees, which are lower and further left, opening up a clear view of the hole.
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| Scenic 6th |
From the back tees you get your first glimpse of the elevation changes that await on the Hawk. The approach actually plays slightly uphill, foreshadowing what is to come.
Both 7 and 8 play relatively flat from the tee, with uphill approaches. While the seventh is a fairly routine par 4, the eighth is a beautiful, challenging par 5. The tee shot is not daunting, but any miss will lead to a difficult layup.
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| Challenging uphill 8th |
Although holes 4 and 7 have uphill approaches where the entire flag is not visible, it was not until I hit my layup to the 8th (where only about 6" of the flag could be seen), where uphill approaches seemed to become a recurring theme...to be touched on later.
The ninth is a downhill par 3 around a pond, which reminded me of the 5th hole at the Glencoe. Despite being a mirror image of the Glencoe's 5th (water left rather than right), playing 1-2 clubs longer, and having a larger green, the Hawk's 9th felt similar to me. I have yet to mention the firmness and speed of the greens - an essential characteristic of how the holes play. The greens were championship-ready, and easily among the best I've played in Alberta. An example: my 6 iron tee shot at the 9th damaged the cup, only to bounce and roll off the back of the green. After hardly nudging the ball, the downhill chip ran 8 ft. past the hole. At no point did I feel as though the speed or firmness was out of control or unfair (actually quite to the contrary). It only required shots around the greens to be extremely delicate and precise...and perhaps a few holes to adjust.
#10 is possibly the flattest hole on the course and has no bunkers. It does, however, masterfully run alongside a creek, and play across it to the green. Like most on Hawk, this simple hole follows the natural landscape. The same can be said for the 11th, another par 4 and among my favorites on the course. A large fairway bunker on the sharp dogleg-left presents a risk/reward tee shot. Positioning is key to allow for a good approach,
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| uphill approach to #11 |
Its easy to see why this 2nd shot is much easier from 125 yards than from 225 yards. The green is relatively generous for a 150 yard approach, but daunting for a long approach. This is often unfair for a straight hole in which a long-hitter has a huge advantage. However, the length of this hole is not its defense. Any golfer (assuming they are playing the appropriate tees) can carry the fairway bunker to leave a short approach... but can you take the risk and pull off the shot? This is the kind of strategy I love on a course.
The strategy of the par 5 13th is similar to both the 8th and 11th holes - all of which are flat tee-to-fairway, and uphill fairway-to-green. At this point I made note of something unusual about the Hawk at Priddis: there a large number of uphill approach shots, yet you never get tired of hitting uphill. Typically, golf courses are designed to incorporate more downhill shots, with fewer uphill holes included. There may be uphill walks from one green to the following tee to lessen the need to hit uphill. In general, uphill holes tend to be difficult, discourage golfers and reduce enjoyment of a round. As such, they are often created sparingly. So why were all of the uphill shots at Priddis so much fun? I considered this for the rest of the round, and only recently found an answer.
This answer, at least in my mind, lies in the fact that very few tee shots (1...2 at most) play uphill. On many golf courses, a group of holes will play flat or downhill. On each 9 (roughly) there will be one steeply uphill par 4 which makes up for the elevation lost. Picture hitting a driver into the face of a hill 100 yards ahead of you. These holes, which are often 350 yards from the tips yet require a driver and mid-short iron, can be stomached in small doses. They provide variety, but frustrate golfers if there are a lot of them. Besides, no one likes losing 50 yards on your drive, regardless of elevation changes.
In contrast, Priddis doesn't discourage you off of the tee. You always have the chance to position yourself well for an approach. From the fairway, gentle uphill approaches to par 4s offer moderate difficulty, while severe uphill layups/approaches to par 5s provide greater defense to 3-shot holes that lack great distance... which brings me back to the 13th hole...
Another flat tee-to-fairway hole allows the golfer to advance the ball quite far, and contemplate going for the green in 2. From here, large bunkers guard the layup area on both sides.
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| 2nd at 13... lay up or attack? |
While the green isn't visible up the hill, the front and back green-side bunkers give a you a clear target. This is another characteristic of the Hawk which makes all of the uphill shots enjoyable. Even when the green cannot be seen, there is still an easily identifiable target. The climb pictured above is even greater than it appears, but was a lot of fun nonetheless. The green at 13 was, to my memory, the most difficult. Strong contours and lightning-quick speed resulted in my only 3-putt of the round.
The 14th and 15th had recently undergone a renovation before I visited, including reshaped bunkers. Both are beautiful holes, but certainly have a different feel from the rest of the course. The first is an uphill par 4 which is short enough to allow an aggressive golfer to get their tee shot near the green. There is great strategy in the tee shot, with a generous landing area for conservative shots, and another landing area between the fairway bunkers (row of 4 visible below) and green-side sand traps (barely visible in the top-right, below) for a more aggressive shots.
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| Near drive-able uphill par 4 14th |
I elected to lay back with a 4 iron, leaving an uphill approach from the left side of the fairway. It was from this point in the fairway that the 14th felt the most unlike others on the course; whereas other uphill holes on the Hawk offer a clear indication of what the target is, I found it very difficult to figure out where I was going with the approach. This gave me the impression that a conservative tee shot is not rewarded, and aggression is the intended option. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed the strategic thought required to play the 14th well.
The 15th is a pretty little par 3, offering nothing out of the ordinary. It is followed by the uphill par 4 16th, which I thought to be one of very few bland holes on the course. Fortunately, the bad taste in your mouth doesn't last very long; the downhill par 3 17th is a fantastic hole. At 225 yards it is the longest on Hawk, but to my knowledge has the largest green on the course. A birdie here will not be easy to come by, but par is never out of reach... even after a stray tee shot. The contrast of downhill par 3s and uphill par 4/5s was most apparent standing on the 17th tee, and it was in no way detrimental to the experience of playing the course.
Hawk closes with a solid par 5. This risk/reward hole doglegs left around a large water hazard, and can present a birdie opportunity to finish the day. I was in the favor of the golf gods on that day, as I flushed my 2nd shot to hit the green. The 2-putt birdie gave me my lowest round of the year at the time. Even more, my day had yet to end... my cousin and I had the opportunity to see as much of the sister course (Raven) as daylight would permit.
Before touching on Raven I feel as though I should discuss my overall impression of the Hawk and how it stacks up in the rankings. All in all, I would happily move it up from its position at #48. I preferred the Hawk to other courses above it in the rankings, such as Wolf Creek - Old and Royal Colwood. I would possibly even put it above Stewart Creek (hard to top S.C.'s scenery, but the strategy and shot variety of Hawk was far superior). Walking off of the 18th, I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed all of the uphill approach shots... the course just softens the elevation enough that it never gets discouraging. Its certainly the most fun I've had clubbing-up every second or third hole.
In addition, I found the holes at Hawk to simply be prettier than the 3 aforementioned courses that rank higher. From the courses I have played thus far (28 of the top 100 at the time of this post), I would put the Hawk 10 spots higher, somewhere in the high 30s. Now on to the Raven!
Round Two!
The first tee of the lesser-known Raven course is not far from the 18th green of the Hawk. I was thrilled to have the privilege of heading straight from 18 to 1, and even more thrilled to quickly discover that the Raven course is surprisingly good! It does not have quite the difficulty of its championship sibling, but it is certainly no push-over.
Elevation changes on the front 9 are very gentle, and never really factor into your shots. This is a big part of why Raven is not as difficult as Hawk. This 9 is likely the easiest and least scenic of the four 9s at Priddis, but still has some gorgeous holes such as the 2nd (pictured below). On the day I played both courses, Raven was just as well conditioned as Hawk. The greens were perhaps slightly slower, which eased a bit of the stress towards the end of a long day of golf.
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| The Raven - 2nd green |
The back 9 offers great contrast to the front with regards to elevation. From the 10th tee the drop is so severe that the fairway was not visible from the tees. The vistas on this hole are tremendous, as you watch your ball fall from the sky for what seems like minutes. By plunging down the hill, the 10th hole takes you to the edge of a valley, which you play alongside for much of the back 9.
Although holes 10 and 16 (the most dramatic uphill and downhill holes on the course) are both fantastic, the most exciting hole on the course is perhaps the 15th. Ironically, the 15th is the flattest on the course. The short par 3 plays over water against a steep hillside. Since the sun had set just as we reached the 15th, the exposure of my camera produced a slightly blurry picture.
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| Nerve-testing par 3 15th |
Holes 15, 17 and 18 present a good risk-reward finish; all 3 are potentially birdie holes, but can spoil a good round if played carelessly. While we were a bit rushed as we tried to finish before dark, we were able to enjoy the entire round.
Having seen both courses in peak condition, I had a good opportunity to compare the two. As previously mentioned, I felt as though the Hawk was worthy of a higher rank than #48. Similarly, I believe the Raven course (unranked) should be a part of the top 100. Its best holes are as good as any, but there are a number of relatively bland holes as well. For this reason, I wouldn't put Raven in the same category as Hawk, which has very few boring holes. I would consider the Raven a mid 80s to low 90s type of course. I much preferred it to Northern Bear, and would put it in a similar category as Salmon Arm (though more well-maintained). Long story short: both courses at Priddis Greens are outstanding. The Hawk is every bit as good as its ranking suggests, and the Raven should not be overlooked. I'm extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to visit this great club, and hope to return soon!
'Til next time, keep your stick on the ice!
The Golfing Canuck
