Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course

This was our 4th and last round on our guys trip. We left the highest rated course to wrap up our trip. Sadly it should have never made the list. How this course consistently ranks ahead of Banff I will never know. The conditions here were atrocious. Dead spots all over the fairways and rough. The greens were spongy and rolling at about a 4 on the stimp. Whereas at Banff every hole feels like a private experience, here there are multiple holes where you can literally see 4 or 5 other group's on other holes with wide open views with no trees. Also pace of play was horrendous took 6 hours. Only reason I did 2 stars and not 1 was the 14th to 16th holes. These were the only highlights in an otherwise terrible experience. Should have went with my gut and played Greywolf instead of this dogtrack. Will not be back.

This is a truly magnificent golf course. There is so much room to let rip with the driver on most holes.

There really is a lot of incredible golf holes at Jasper and the scenery is beautiful with mountains and poplar trees in the background.

A couple of memorable par 3’s with pyramid mountain as a backdrop.

Go to Jasper you will not be disappointed. The town, the Icefields Parkway and the golf course are unforgettable.

Bucket list golf course. Very expensive. Get a hot deal if you can. Outstanding in every way. If you get a chance play it before it closes for the season.

Fantastic layout with lots of variety and great scenery. Every hole is set with the perfect backdrop. The course overall is pretty forgiving but still presents some serious challenges like the famous 9th hole. I played at the end of the season so I got the fall deal, but the regular rate is steep.

I did find the greens to be a little slow, but in decent condition. Bunkers were a bit firm.

Overall I really enjoyed playing the course and the full experience. The course has such a big reputation, that I may have had my expectations set a bit too high. A must play course at least once in your lifetime, but for me Banff Springs takes the cake.

This course is set in a majestic and beautiful setting. It is a challenging course, however the conditions of the greens were not the greatest. It was great to play once, I doubt if I would play this course again.

Beautiful course set in the Canadian Rockies with nature at your every turn and a very challenging layout.

Highly recommend

What rotten luck. The weather couldn't have been better for the drive up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper Park Lodge or in the afternoon three hours after my round.

But, for that one window I had allotted for golf, it rained and rained and rained, so much so that my Footjoy rainsuit finally collapsed after nearly 20 trips to Scotland and Ireland.

Oh well, at least I got to see JPL in all her beauty during a photo shoot the next morning.

JPL might be golf's most stress-free round. All you do is just hit shots and marvel at Mother Nature and the mountains. Some of the par 5s play short by modern standards. That's probably one of the many reasons why people love it so much. You can score well on a good day. There's infinite variety off the tee and lots of subtle movement in the land. If I someday get to play it a third time, I'll feel like I've lived a charmed life.

I call JPL a "golf adventure" because it takes forever to get there, but once you arrive, clearly, the effort was worth it.

Jasper Park Lodge might be the best over all resort experience in Canada. They have everything on a course: Putting Green, Driving Range, Pro Shop and Off: World class lodging, restaurants, things to do for the non-golfer that you could want. Off the resort, Jasper Park is amazing-most notably the IceFields Parkway drive.

As for the Golf, this is a golden age architect at his best. Stanley Thompson is known for his par 3s. At Jasper there is the 4th which will need a long iron or wood. The bunkering is great here. The 9th, Cleopatra, plays downhill and has multiple options and quite the backdrop. The 15th is short, but slopes off in all directions; recovery isn't easy. The par 5s are all quality and two are reachable for almost anyone; however, if one shot is off then bogey quickly comes into play. The par 4s have variety and two are very unique-the 3rd and 8th. The 8th is bunkerless, but like Foxy might be the most difficult hole. The 18th is the other nominee for most difficult as it is lengthy and the approach can come from an uneven lie. The greens have some contour but the amount that adds to a round. Nothing that a three putt is guaranteed, but enough that if on the wrong side or looking at a long lag, you will need to be on your game. Over all, not the most challenging course, but you're on vacation. This means that you should enjoy playing in 3.5-4 hours and shooting a good score.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day of 36 at Jasper. The only regret might be not walking. The only warning to give you is that it is in the Canadian Rockies so, like courses in the American Rockies, conditioning can be iffy at the beginning of the season. If it is Augusta like conditions you seek, then you will be disappointed: the greens were all very good (in Colorado at this time of the year many courses had temporary greens open on about 1/3 of the holes-not a good winter), there were some spots in the fairway, but lift and drop somewhere close was available. Certainly, not poor enough to take away from the multitude of positives: You will feel welcome, play in 4 hours, have every resource you could want, a pleasant staff, enjoy the scenery and be able to play a golden age architect's course that is very much like it was when created. Architecture buffs would really appreciate the bunkering and mounding.

If doing Banff/Jasper Parks, these are worth the day out of the park-which is saying a lot. If you are a golfer looking for "bucket list" experiences, then this and Banff combine for one of them. Not many places in America where Golden Age architecture is available to the public. Luckily, Canada has three Thompson's that you can.

One of the first mountain courses in Canada it is very player friendly and can be walked. We played in the middle of May and the greens were not in good condition and some of the fairways lacked growth. All mountain courses offer great views so Jasper is not alone in this category. Normally rated in the top 25 in Canada, I would have to say there are many other courses in the interior of B.C.that are much nicer and certainly offer much better value.

Located just outside the township of Jasper is a course that was put together in 1924 by one of Canada's most prolific golf architects, Stanley Thompson. It consistently seems to fall into the top 25 courses in Canada on a regular basis. I've had a chance to play this course numerous times over the years but I can't rank it in my top 25. Granted the location & scenery that surrounds this course is amazing but I've always found the course conditioning to be on the scruffy side. Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club provides a wide variety of holes, numerous elevation changes, strategic bunkering & generous greens that roll out nicely.

It's been a few years since I played the gem that is JPL. My memories of this course grow fonder by the season, it seems. I favor this Stanley Thompson National Park course over its neighbor, Banff Springs, as it's a routing that just flows so wonderfully. It's the perfect level of difficulty, and the hole variety couldn't be better. I've told people that it may or may not be the best course I've ever played, but there is no course I'd rather play every day, all summer long. Definitely worth the voyage up the Icefields Parkway if you're going to Banff-Canmore.