| Tobiano Named Best And Determined To Remain That Way |
Page 1 of 2  Even If You're Game Isn't At Its Best When You Test Tobiano, It's Hard Not To Leave With A Good Feeling About Your Day, Given The Fantastic Visuals You're Presented Throughout Your Round - All Images Credit Gord Montgomery by Gord Montgomery After receiving the accolades they did in their first full year of operation it would have been easy for the staff at Tobiano Golf Course to simply sit back and enjoy the prime press they were getting. After all, who’s going to argue about how well things are going at a facility that received the nod as Golf Digest’s Best New Canadian Course of 2008 and a similar honour from Score Golf? Well, as a member of the golfing public you can wonder if things are going to continue at that pace but you need not worry about that happening. Things haven’t slowed down anywhere at the Kamloops-area course and in fact, if anything, they’ve gotten better than ever by design. Under the guidance of the general manager and director of golf Miles Mortensen, Tobiano is becoming a hot spot on the Canadian golf market - and for good reason. It’s a stunning collage of great golf holes designed by the renowned Thomas McBroom set among unbelievable lake and mountain vistas created by an entity a little larger. Pristine conditions both inside the clubhouse and outside on the grass makes Tobiano a must-play for any serious, or even recreational, golfer. As to the standards that they set last year Mortensen said it’s all in a day’s work and all in the way he feels a business should be run. Living up to those ‘advance’ media billings and to word of mouth from satisfied customers is a challenge that needs to be met head-on every day, he noted. “No doubt the awards come from a lot of work done by people prior to my arrival,” he said humbly. “But as I told my team, winning them is one thing. People are going to come in and expect the best – a 4-star, 5-star experience. We’ve worked very hard internally to make that happen. Even with the global economy we’ve focused on the guest. "Most important is to say thank you to our guests because there are a lot of choices out there. We’re very much pushing internally for higher goals, not that those awards weren’t nice, but they’re done and gone. Now we’re going after accolades we believe we can achieve and it’s the team, as much as the product outside, that’s letting us get there quickly.” Golfers from all across Western Canada, and in particular Alberta and the West Coast area, are making the choice to play this track for a simple reason beyond the service – it’s a work of golf art carved out of a landscape masterpiece rendered by Mother Nature. Located in the high Sonoran Desert, the course is littered with sagebrush and fescue grasses that can punish misdirected shots. At the same time, the badlands area the 18-hole, 7,367-yard beast perches upon, overlooking Kamloops Lake, eases the pain of errant strikes because there’s always something ahead, a scene or a shot, to take your mind off your most-recent woes. As part of what Tobiano does to encourage visits is use a price point that draws interest. That doesn’t mean you’ll find any $1.49 red tag days here but you will receive your dollar’s worth each and every time out, Mortensen suggests. “A couple of things we’ve done in our rate structure is to include all the amenities in your price point, so whether your economic situation allows you to play our lowest or highest rates, with or without cause or pain, we treat everybody the same. "If you took all the nickels out of your bank and this is your one time at Tobiano, you’re getting the same experience at twilight, which we guarantee you to finish which is unique because we want people to finish the experience. I don’t want people to travel from Alberta to finish 13, or 14 or 15 holes and say ‘Well, that’s great,’ (by running out of daylight before golf holes). If that happens, we’ve just disappointed that person. “We include four bottles of water, the yardage guide. We do have GPS but you can’t take that with you. The tees and divot tools are things we want to do and it’s care for the product as well. What we do here is allow you to practice – we don’t ask you for another six bucks for a bucket of balls. We don’t ask you for another $2 for a bottle of water. “There’s about $30 of inclusion in our price at retail. So if you look at it, if you went to another facility and had to buy water, range balls, you’d be spending more than you are here today. I think that’s why we’re getting the appreciation we are. It’s kind of a Club Med model where you pay and you’re taken care of for the day.” While those extras are nice, the golf course and not the ice-cold cart water is what people come for. They want to match skills, and wits, with a track that’s drawn rave reviews from everyone that’s played it. Mortensen said the fact of the matter in doing reasonably well here is simple – go to the right tee box, there are five of them – and have at it. “What’s exciting about this golf course are the visuals. It’s absolutely breath-taking,” the former head pro of the famed Banff Springs Golf Course said earnestly. “The contrast of the ribbons of green compared to the natural landscape that surrounds us, with the reflections off the lake. There are reflections out there that are just incredible. “The gullies, just the challenge – people come off this course and say ‘I maybe left a few shots out there but I can’t wait to come back.’ And the response we’ve had from the market has reflected we provide a good experience and people want to come back.” But what about playing the course, man? Give us a hint on how to beat the beast. Tell us how to tame those elevation changes, those forced carries over waste areas, how to pick up the shots dropped on the wickedly sloping No. 8 hole that’s 569-yards off the middle tees (589 off the back) on the ninth that has an ungodly mess of a deep ravine plug full of brush and grass on the left and only slightly better sight lines to the right staring you down on your first swipe at the ball. Yes, it sounds tough, and it is, but it’s a hell of a ride. |
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