Redwater Golf Club - Redwater, Alberta, Canada
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
This is a not-so-brief review of a pretty brief course...a nine-hole course about forty-five minutes north of Edmonton, Alberta. Out of the way when you're going to any of the semi-popular parts of Alberta...but if you happen to find yourself in the area, give the place a look.
Allow me to tell you why.
Location
As previously described, Redwater dwells approximately forty-five minutes north of Edmonton, which is the capital of the province of Alberta. Thus, Redwater is a bit over four hours north of Calgary and a bit over four hours north-east of the Rocky Mountains, the other two Albertan hot spots.
Before you start booking a flight, keep in mind that Redwater Golf Club is a small, unspectacular-looking nine-hole course and, while definately worth a look-see if you're in the area, isn't worth making a big trip for. But it is a nice place.
The town of Redwater is pretty small, numbering about 2,500 people, many of whom work in the industrial sector. There's a lot of oil in the area, but it's usually a relatively clean and quiet town. Not an unpleasant place.
The Course
Redwater is a good enough course...not least because each of the holes, as you play them a few times, gets a bit of a personality. The first whole is a good starter...par 4 and somewhat over 330 yards. Not particularly challenging, but it will warm you up. Ditto with hole 2, though it's harder than the first (it's longer and boasts a wicked, tree-guarded dogleg). You'll lose a few balls here if you play the course much, and the sand can be irritating, but not that difficult.
But Hole 3...oh boy. About 150 yards from the men's tee, par 3, and at first glance it looks not too difficult. But there are two real water hazards, not exceptionally big but placed just so that you stand a good chance of cranking one into the drink. Inpenetrable bush surrounds the whole and makes a shanked shot an almost certain lost ball. Also, for some as-yet undetermined reason, everybody does their drive on this whole very badly. There's no rational explanation for it, it just happens.The fourth hole goes on. And on. Very long hole, at least to me. There's not much shame in hitting from the mens tee box to the ladies tee, seeing as there's about 100 yards in between them. There's also, just in front of the red tees, a big, uncut grassy hole. Not a pleasant place to hit out of, but awfully easy to drive it right in to. Thankfully, from there the rest is pretty straightforward. A few fairway bunkers, but if you just keep to the left side of the fairway you'll pass all the trouble and hit the green.Hole five is blah, hole six is kind of blah, hole seven is fun if only because it's quite a short par 4. If you hit for any kind of power at all and need an ego boost, play this hole just for that. Big water on the left side (very big water), but it's about a 280 yard whole, which means it's definately driveable. A hole which you can get very good scores indeed on. Hole 8 is the second par 3, longer than the third hole with a presence of water. But no sand, no bush, and an easy view of the pin, so it seldom poses a challenge. Coming home for the ninth hole, you have one last challenge. Hole 9 is snuggled right up against Hole 1, so you can easily crank one onto the opposing fairway. There's sand. No water, but plenty of trees and the definate danger of someone just teeing off on the first popping you in the forehead. It's been done. Some pretty thick grass and a green that borders on psychotic. Fun fun times.
Dollars and Cents
Redwater is a cheap course to play...only $13.00 for one nine-hole round. That's Canadian dollars, which as of this writing translates to about $8.00 US. So it's inexpensive to get on, and a pretty easy-going course (no 'course marshalls'), though it can get pretty busy on weekends. A yearlong membership will set you back about $300.00, again in Canadian dollars.In conclusion, if you find yourself passing by Redwater, Alberta, and you have a few clubs plus a bit of time, stop in and play a round. I doubt you'll regret it.
