Top Ranked BC Golf Course For Sale

"Both are cut out of extreme land. That's apparent especially from The Rise, created by Gene Bates, with Fred Couples' help in the cutting of ribbons and ceremonial first drives. The car ride to the course, well above Vernon, would make a Sherpa dizzy. I mean no one has been this high since Keith played Altamont or Syd left The Floyd.

"Tower Ranch, created by Thomas McBroom, is not of such epic heights, but it does drop hundreds of feet over the course of the round and has a couple of cart rides that only Sir Edmund Hillary would appreciate and which require a air sickness bag.

"So there are similarities, but there are also significant differences in the way the two architects decided to use their extreme pieces of property. One (McBroom) made some gambles that work. Bates, on the other hand, isn't so lucky.

"McBroom's Tower Ranch doesn't start out strongly. Whereas designers on most courses built on extreme land have difficulty finding a way up the vast slopes, McBroom's challenge is different. From the clubhouse, which is perched in a central spot between the high lands above and the lower lands below, he has to get golfers down off the hill to property bounded by an orchard on the north. He does it quickly, featuring two significantly downhill holes that are not among the course's best.

"Once he's limited the elevation change, the course improves steadily. The short par-4 third looks to be all bunker (utilizing a similar style to that of Tobiano -- not surprising considering it was the same construction crew that built Tower Ranch and McBroom's course near Kamloops), and the 5th, a smart par-3 nestled at the base of the hillside, features some sharp green contours.

"Interestingly, there are more similarities between Tobiano and Tower Ranch than one might immediately notice. Take the 6th at Tower Ranch, a long par-4 that plays into a valley, in a very similar way to the 5th hole at Tobiano. The strategies and greens are also similar. Thankfully, both are good holes, and I wonder if anyone else will notice the similarities.

"The back nine is where Tower Ranch really excels, though it is the most extreme part of the property. Perhaps faced with the challenges of the elevation, McBroom has craftily constructed a routing that uses the best part of the elevation, and limits goofy holes through some lengthy cart rides. The 11th has a splendid natural-looking greensite, while the 13th, another par-4, emulates the 13th at Tobiano by having golfers hit across a chasm.

"McBroom saves the best for last, with the 17th, a long par-5 with a breathtaking tee shot set between two large hills that climaxes in a green perched high over the valley.