Even when it's miserable out, The Wolf is still a howling good play

By Gord Montgomery (iG)

PONOKA, AB — Even after all these years, the Wolf still has teeth. And plenty of them over 36 holes. You see, although some may now consider Wolf Creek Golf Resort long in the tooth, the Alberta icon of links style golf has continued to show it still  has some bite left no matter how good your game may be.

While the Old Course, the original Rod Whitman design set into the prairie landscape between Edmonton and Calgary may seem short on length to some, it is still big on challenges from start to finish. The fescue rough is still gnarly. The trees are still plentiful. And the bunkering, well, it lives up to the term “hazard” at each and every stop you may make in them during your round.

The thing with these tracks is this — don’t expect to be overwhelmed by pretty settings and good lies wherever your shots may lead you. Rather, this is golf in the truest sense of links style — awkward stances, deep pot bunkers where it’s sometimes better to go out sideways or backwards rather than forward, and huge waste bunkers flanking fairways that dramatically narrow the landing areas, especially when the wind is blowing.

Oh yeah, did we mention the breezes that frequent this place? Well, if not, they too are a part of the defence out here on both courses, the Old and the newer Links, making for more fun, and yes pain, as you make your way around these two great tracks.

The Old Course, which was home to a Canadian Tour (now PGA Canada - PGA TOUR) stop for over a decade, set the standard. This was the place where Alberta golf fans eagerly awaited the professionals to see how they’d fare with the Wolf and how they stacked up against their own game. This 18 has demanding tee shots through some narrow openings on a few holes, the par 4 second known as Sod Wall because of the green-fronting bunker as opposed to Walls of Wood, referring to the tree-lined chute your drive must traverse on this 358-yard test.  A great thing here are the par 3s and their lengths, ranging from 105 yards (from the middle silver tees) to 199. So, out here you must think your way around as much as blast your way around this layout which tops out at just over 6,600 yards.

The chute on the second hole off the tee box on the Old Course doesn't look all that large, and if you're even a bit off line it's not, but there is definitely room to squeeze a golf ball through there.

Then playing off that 18 is the newer Links Course, which is much bigger in both length and width than its older sister. This design uses waste bunkering to its advantage in making you choose the right angles for your opening salvo on each hole because if you get off on the wrong line you will find trouble … if you can find your ball in that confounded fescue.

This part of the facility stretches to almost 7,200 yards. The thing is, those again aren’t easily gained yards because of the care and precision that architect Rod Whitman took in putting this part of the sprawling playground together. Owner Ryan Vold informed us that this side of the property is beginning to come into its own and within a short period of time should be up to the total standards of what they, and the public, expect from this golf test.

And a word of advice here: Don’t let the placid start fool you on the Links Course. While some complain the first few holes aren’t exciting note that the same can be said for the jewel of Prince Edward Island — Crowbush Cove. It too has humble beginnings before it turns around and takes a few big bites out of your scorecard.

The 16th on The Links course is not only eye pleasing, it's a fun play. The par 4 features all that's great about this new nine at Wolf Creek Golf Resort, including fesuce grass, waste bunkers, trees and a large, elevated green.

On this side, the fun begins just before you head into the back nine. The seventh, eighth and ninth holes in particular open your eyes to the challenges ahead and those continue to come down upon you as you venture onwards to some truly tough challenges.

One thing to remember about playing either one of these courses is this — it doesn’t matter what sort of weather you run into out here because these 36 holes of fun, and frustration, can stand up to whatever Mother Nature tosses their way. The most recent stop I made there was on a rainy, cool day, where the greens were still running smoothly, and quicker than one would expect in the inclement conditions. As well, there was no pooling of water on any of the fairways because of the sandy soil here and while the bunkers were wet from upwards of 15mm of precipitation they were still playable so there was no free relief from any hazards on this day.

If you want to test your skills out of waste bunkers, then The Links course at Wolf Creek Golf Resort is the place you want to go.

As we wrapped up our 36 with smiles on our faces we knew that The Wolf had indeed reminds us that that old throwaway line — You’re not getting older, you’re getting better — is indeed the case at Alberta’s beloved Wolf Creek Golf Resort.

About the writer: Gord Montgomery is a retired sports editor of two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area and is a member of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He is now in his eighth year of writing for Inside Golf.
He can be reached at noraltagolf@gmail.com. He’s also on Twitter at @gordinsidegolf.