Golf Digest’s Best New in Canada was just announced, with Dick Zokol’s dream, Sagebrush near Merritt, BC, winning the top prize. Nice to see Dick Kirkpatrick’s Ottercreek come in second, so they can say they were the best new in Ontario in 2009! Nonethless, quite an accomplishment for Kirkpatrick on a relatively modest project.
Here are the details:
1. Sagebrush G.
& Sporting C.
Quilchena, B.C.
Yards 7,372 Par 72 Fee $5,000 per year
individual; $10,000 per year corporate (by invitation)
Designers Rod
Whitman, Richard Zokol and
Armen Suny
sagebrushclub.com
2. Otter Creek G.C.
Otterville, Ont.
Yards 7,124 Par 72
Fee $77, Dick Kirkpatrick
519-879-9800
ottercreekgolfclub.com
3. The C. at
Tower Ranch
Kelowna, B.C.
Yards 7,212
Par 72 Fee $125
or $10,000
Thomas McBroom 250-491-8211
golftowerranch.com
A bestselling author and award-winning columnist, Robert Thompson has been writing about business and sports, and particularly golf, for almost two decades. His reporting and commentary on golf has appeared in 
extremely shocked that otter creek came in ahead of tower ranch. i would have thought there would be more discussion about this. otter creek will be a very good golf course, but it is definately not as good as tower ranch
Congratulation to Rod, Dick, Jeff, Armen, The Penguin, Keith and all others. I think this is a good day for Canadian Golf.
Best Regards to all of you….
Ian
Congratulations to Dick Kirkpatrick.
I think this news is particularly great – Dick deserves some recognition for his work – this is long overdue.
Ian
Otter Creek does have some great holes, but the 9th and 18 really tarnish the layout. Terribly designed and forced layups on both holes off the tee. There should never be a forced layup on a par 5 on the tee shot.
Agree with the last posters comments on 9 and 18..but I think value has to enter the equation and reviewers often skip that. What you get, for what you spend has to be to be factored.
Do i know that one day when i play pebble beach it will be fantastic, yes. Do i know how much $$$ will exit my pocket, yes again. For roughly $50 bucks the overall conditioning and fun layout of otters creek won me over the first and second time….even with my negative experiences with the 9th hole.
Maybe thats why they did that? To get people talking about their course by putting in a excessively challenging hole.
Unless you’re judging the best value courses, value has nothing to do with it.
Best Course lists and Best Value Course lists are two entirely different things.
Regardless of green fee, Otter Creek is a good golf course, with some flaws. I’m sure Tower Ranch and The Rise are not too happy about being overshadowed by a modest-budget course in the middle of nowhere.