Golf Course Reviews - Championship golf course in Kamloops, BC (Thompson Okanagan).

<body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <a name="#top"> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=455 border=0> <tr> <td align="center" colspan=2><a name="top"> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/dunes-hd.gif" width=455 height=20 alt="The Dunes at Kamloops"><br>  <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td><img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/a-head1.gif" alt="Articles"></td> </tr> </table>  <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=3 height=3><br> <a href="#abnc"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>America's Best New Courses</font></a><br> <a href="#bc"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>British Columbia-Top 30 Public Golf Courses</font></a><br> <a href="#msqs"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>McDonald's Spring Qualifying School</font></a><br> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=20 height=20> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td valign="bottom" colspan=2><a name="abnc"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=+2>America's Best New Courses</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=2> <b>Our 1997 award-winners, from a fresh crop of designers, take the game to new limits</b> <p> By Ron Whitten </td> <td><img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/medal.jpg" alt="Best New Canadian 1997"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=2> Best New Canadian 1997 <p> ..."The runner-up in Canada is The Dunes at Kamloops, a river's edge creation in Kamloops, British Columbia, by Canadian architect Graham Cooke. Built on flat bottomland next to the North Thompson River, The Dunes is true to its name, with countless manmade dunes covered in golden wheat grass and fescue framing each fairway, most of which consist of gentler dunes of rye grass. A few Ponderosa pines accent holes closest to the river. The 608-yard opening hole has a huge pine on the right-front edge of the green. The Dunes is a public course, as at all the top new courses this year, allows walking at all times. <p> (Golf Digest, December 1997, page 130). </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=5 height=5><br> <a href="#top"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>Back to Top</font></a><br> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=50 height=50> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td valign="bottom"><a name="bc"> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=225 height=20><br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=+2>British Columbia<br>-Top 30 Public Golf Courses</font><br> <td><img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/platinum.jpg" alt="Platinum Award"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2><img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=225 height=10><br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=2> ..."Since our last ranking in 1996, B.C. continues to be the most active province in terms of construction of new facilities and is the only province whose top 30 courses all made it into Canada's top 100 public courses list. Obviously this is an indication of the depth of quality public facilities in the province. <p> Of significance is the fact that three new courses - Nicklaus north, Morgan Creek and <b>The Dunes - went straight into the highest level - Platinum.</b> Of these three, <b>The Dunes is the only one not boasting an elaborate clubhouse, which perhaps emphasizes the strength of their Links style golf course, the subject of many rave reviews.</b> <p> All other platinum winners from 1996 maintained their standing with the exception of Storey Creek which fell off the list and Golden which slipped to the gold category, possibly due to flooding problems. <p> New to the gold rankings from silver in 1996 were Whistler Golf Club and Fairview Mountain. Whistler's advance can no doubt be attributed to the construction of their long overdue clubhouse while Fairview Mountain continues to prosper despite a very modest clubhouse facility. Should they ever decide to spend some money in this area, this club could conceivably be in the platinum category. <p> Two new names have joined the silver category; One, the long established Kelowna Golf & Country Club and the up and comer, The Redwoods. <p> As mentioned earlier, the depth of quality public golf facilities in B.C. is unchallenged and in our next ranking in two years time will probably see the B.C. rankings increase from 30 to 50 as there are just too many top courses not being recognized, stay tuned!", <p> (Canada's Golf Ranking Magazine, 1998 Annual, page 14 - 16). </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=5 height=5><br> <a href="#top"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>Back to Top</font></a><br> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=50 height=50> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2><a name="msqs"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=+2>McDonald's Spring Qualifying School Returning to Kamloops in 1999</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2><img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=225 height=10><br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=2> November 30, 1998 <p> TORONTO - The Canadian Tour announced today that the 1999 McDonald's Spring Qualifying School will be returning to Kamloops, B.C., from May 4 - 7. <p> Once again, The Dunes at Kamloops and Rivershore Estates and Golf Links will play host to the future stars of men's golf. A total of 30 cards will be available to play the 1999 Canadian Tour. <p> In 1998, 265 golfers from 15 countries attended the McDonald's Spring Qualifying School in Kamloops. <p> The 1999 McDonald's Spring Qualifying School will have the distinction of being the first event featured nationally on the Tour's new weekly highlight show, Canadian Tour GolfWeek, which premieres May 11 on CTV Sportsnet. <p> As in 1998, The Dunes will be the primary location with four days of competition while Rivershore will be used for the first two rounds of the 72-hole event. All competitors will play one of their first two rounds at the Dunes and one round at Rivershore. The final two rounds of competition will be held at the Dunes. <p> "Everyone involved with the 1998 Q-School made the players feel very welcome, so it was an easy decision to return to Kamloops," said Jacques Burelle, commissioner of the Canadian Tour. "Seven graduates of the 1998 School made it to the recent finals of PGA Tour Qualifying, so there is no doubt that The Dunes and Rivershore are two outstanding tests of golf." <p> The Dunes at Kamloops is a par-72, 7,120-yard layout designed by Canadian <a href="http://www.total.net/~gcooke" target="_top">Graham Cooke</a> that won a Golf Digest Award - Runner-up, Best New Golf Course - in 1997. <p> Rivershore Estates and Golf Links was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and plays to 7,007 yards and par-72. Rivershore was the location for the 1992 Canadian Senior Men's Championship, the 1997 Canadian Ladies Golf Association Championship and the 1998 BCPGA Championship. Rivershore will also host the 1999 Canadian Amateur Championship. <p> The Canadian Tour is the showcase of professional golf in Canada. Since the mid-1980's, more than 90 players have graduated from the Canadian Tour to the U.S. PGA, European and Japanese Tours. </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=5 height=5><br> <a href="#top"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size=1>Back to Top</font></a><br> <img src="http://www.golfthedunes.com/images/spacer.gif" width=50 height=50> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td colspan=2 align="center"> [an error occurred while processing this directive] </td> </tr> </table> </body>