logo
  • News
    • Community
    • Local Government
    • Sports
    • Alberta Politics
    • Opinion
    • Deke
  • Events
  • Jasper Builds
  • Peaks & Valleys
    • Wildlife
    • Hiking and Climbing
    • Biking
    • Fishing
    • Snow Sports
  • Culture
    • Jasper Arts & Culture
    • Local Dining
    • Local Literature
  • Jasper History
  • Support
    • News
      • Community
      • Local Government
      • Sports
      • Alberta Politics
      • Opinion
      • Deke
    • Events
    • Jasper Builds
    • Peaks & Valleys
      • Wildlife
      • Hiking and Climbing
      • Biking
      • Fishing
      • Snow Sports
    • Culture
      • Jasper Arts & Culture
      • Local Dining
      • Local Literature
    • Jasper History
    • Support
A Stanley Thompson masterpiece: historic golf at Jasper Park
Jasper History, News, Peaks & Valleys, Sports
By Bob Covey
Thursday, May 5, 2022
A Stanley Thompson masterpiece: historic golf at Jasper Park

Scottish weather greeted early-season golfers but a week after opening day (which was May 7), members and guests saw that last winter’s insulating snowfall has helped make course conditions at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course as good as they’ve been in decades.

Ranked consistently as Number One and Two Best Public Golf Courses in Canada, Jasper Park is rich in lore. The Jasper Local takes a swing at golf history in the Rockies.


“Other courses are justly famous for their spectacular surroundings, but none of these courses compare with Jasper in the varied beauties of its snow topped mountains, multi-coloured trees and vegetation and glorious water hazards.”

Dr. Alister MacKenzie didn’t have to blow smoke up anyone’s kilt when he sang the praises of the Jasper Park Lodge golf course in 1928.

Hole 16 presents a dogleg-left and an elevated, sloping fairway leading to a water-protected approach. // CN Archives

MacKenzie, the architect of some of the world’s most famous courses, already had more than two dozen tracks on his impressive resume when he called Jasper the best inland course in North America.

And although it was 94 years ago when Jasper’s undulating fairways, dramatic views and supreme playability imprinted themselves on the Englishman’s mind, today the architect of Augusta National wouldn’t be alone in his admiration for the Stanley Thompson-designed course.

Nearly nine decades after MacKenzie was mailing his typed-out report on the Jasper National Park golf course via steamer, Canadian golf course designer Ian Andrew was blogging about many of the same themes, namely: the Fairmont JPL’s spectacular surroundings, its broad appeal to all calibers of players and the course’s unparalleled sense of scale.

Hole 5, Par 5, “Miette.” Jasper Park Golf Club // Donovan Fawcett

Besides being a golf course architect, Ian Andrew is a history buff. So when he says his favourite course isn’t the vaunted Pine Valley in New Jersey or Scotland’s tradition-steeped St. Andrews, but the 18 holes in Jasper National Park, it’s important to remember he’s played and consulted all over the world.

“I’ve travelled the world and I’d put the landscape in Jasper up against anything I’ve seen in France or Switzerland,” he said. “The difference is the golf course. You will not get into a mountain landscape and find a golf course of that quality anywhere else.”

To be sure, Andrew is a Stanley Thompson devotee. The Brantford, Ontario-based designer has studied all 88 of the Canadian master’s works and it’s fair to say he has a strong bias towards Thompson’s flamboyant, dramatic courses. In 2015, Andrew wrote a piece for Golf Club Atlas hypothesizing that Thompson’s work at Jasper Park was “the” watershed moment for Canadian golf. 

“I always wanted to know when that exact moment Thompson had his epiphany,” he said. “I had previously thought this came at Banff Springs, but the more I ventured down the path, the more I believe that it came at Jasper Park.”

What changed his mind was, in part, how lore turns into legend at JPL. The 1926 story, for example, of the ninth hole causing financier Sir Harry Thornton, then-head of the Canadian National Railroad, to “quietly blow a gasket,” as the 1946 Saturday Evening Post put it, is rich in mythology. As the story goes, the hole named Cleopatra was too evocative for Thornton; its anatomically-suggestive fairway contours led the railway magnate to chastise Thompson for his indiscretion.  

“That was largely a legend created by Thompson,” Andrew explained. “I certainly believe the whole idea of the reclining woman—Thompson was extremely well read, loved poetry and the classics and wasn’t afraid of symbolism—but how much of the story [of Thornton] is true is up to who’s listening.”

Still, for all of the expressive architecture, what makes JPL stand out for Andrew is the course’s combination of scale and accessibility. He calls that same par three—number nine—one of the best par threes anywhere.

“I love the fact that it’s all about trying to feed it into that plateau. If you miss right or left, good night. The fun part is if you’re willing to play for that beautiful shot that will feed you to the green. If you play to the spot he’s given you he’ll do all the work for you. I’ve always enjoyed that sort of hole.”

For MacKenzie’s part, Cleopatra was one of the few holes he had suggestions for. And Andrew notes in his Golf Atlas piece that alterations to this hole constituted the single biggest change from the original course design to what golfers know today. The difference was in the bunkering. After designing Jasper’s course, Andrew discovered, Thompson was commissioned for another now-famous Rockies track in Banff. However, his Banff Springs bunkers had much more style than those created here. As such, he was soon called back to give the Jasper sand traps the same treatment. Along with hole nine, holes one, three, four, five, six, 10, 17 and 18 were either given new bunkers or the existing bunkers were reshaped and flared.

After those finishing touches however, the golf course has remained, for the most part, identical to that which golfers would have played in the 1930s. Andrew heartily approves of leaving a classic course be; tinkering inevitably leads to confusion, he said, not only with regards to individual shots but with the course’s overall pace and intensity.

“Once of the joys is how he’s presenting everything to you,” Andrew said. “Part of it is that he allows you to have some fun, allows you to relax and then comes at you again.”

Hole 2, “Old Man.” // Bob Covey

On May 7, Jasper locals won’t have to wait any longer to have a go at Thompson. Head professional Troy Mills is happy to be getting into the swing of things again.

“When you get Mother Nature cooperating the grounds crew can do unbelievable things,” he said.

All three architects—Thompson, who 97 years ago envisioned a world-class golf course where there existed only rock, trees and bog; MacKenzie, who called Jasper’s final hole “the best finish in the world of golf;” and Andrew, who said he’d choose Jasper as the last 18 holes of his life—would have seconded that notion.

Hole 18, “The best finish in the world of golf,” according to golf course architect and historian, Ian Andrew. // Bob Covey

“There’s no greater experience in golf,” Andrew said.


Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Articles You May LIke ›
Golf’s golden years at Jasper Park
Jasper History
Golf’s golden years at Jasper Park
John Wilmshurst, freelance contributor 
Monday, June 23, 2025
100 years ago, the Jasper Park Golf Club teed up its first round of the Royal and Ancient Game In 1457, King James II of England banned golf in Scotla...
this is a test
Most Read ›
The dukes of hazard trees
Environment
The dukes of hazard trees
Bob Covey 
Monday, July 7, 2025
When normal forestry practices don’t cut it: With a light-on-the-land touch, specialized arborists are cleaning up Jasper’s burn debris It’s a widely-...
this is a test
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Environment
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Kirsten Schmitten 
Friday, July 4, 2025
Part 2: Home is where the hearth is In Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. But what about ...
this is a test
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
News
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
Lucas Habib 
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Jasper soccer players have once again brought home a provincial soccer championship. Jaifred Mota was the first one to rush keeper Kieran Rudge after ...
this is a test
Latest ›
Two hikers killed by rockfall event at Bow Glacier Falls
Environment
Two hikers killed by rockfall event at Bow Glacier Falls
Friday, June 20, 2025
The Rockies hiking community is mourning the loss of two of its members today. Calgary's Jutta Hinrichs, 70 years old, a member of the hiking group Sl...
this is a test
The bear necessities
Environment
The bear necessities
Bob Covey 
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Collars, fences and attractant elimination keys to bear management Jasper National Park bear biologists are keeping a close eye on area grizzlies. At ...
this is a test
CONGRATULATIONS Class of 2025
Community
CONGRATULATIONS Class of 2025
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Congratulations to the 2025 graduates of Jasper Jr/Sr High School and École Desrochers! These bright young individuals are now stepping confidently in...
this is a test
Meet the locals: Fran Jones
Community
Meet the locals: Fran Jones
Georgia Ristivojevic 
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
While Jasper's mountains, rivers and lakes get plenty of (deserved) air time, it's the people who live here that make the community welcoming and incl...
this is a test

NEXT ARTICLE

Prescribed fire jumps highway, causes four hour traffic delay

Environment, News

Most Read ›
The dukes of hazard trees
Environment
The dukes of hazard trees
Bob Covey 
Monday, July 7, 2025
When normal forestry practices don’t cut it: With a light-on-the-land touch, specialized arborists are cleaning up Jasper’s burn debris It’s a widely-...
this is a test
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Environment
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Kirsten Schmitten 
Friday, July 4, 2025
Part 2: Home is where the hearth is In Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. But what about ...
this is a test
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
News
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
Lucas Habib 
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Jasper soccer players have once again brought home a provincial soccer championship. Jaifred Mota was the first one to rush keeper Kieran Rudge after ...
this is a test
Latest ›
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
News
Pitch perfect: Jasper U15 Football Club provincial champs
Lucas Habib 
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Jasper soccer players have once again brought home a provincial soccer championship. Jaifred Mota was the first one to rush keeper Kieran Rudge after ...
this is a test
The dukes of hazard trees
Environment
The dukes of hazard trees
Bob Covey 
Monday, July 7, 2025
When normal forestry practices don’t cut it: With a light-on-the-land touch, specialized arborists are cleaning up Jasper’s burn debris It’s a widely-...
this is a test
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Environment
Walking Through Fire: Wildlife
Kirsten Schmitten 
Friday, July 4, 2025
Part 2: Home is where the hearth is In Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. But what about ...
this is a test
Float on: Canada Day Parade gallery
Arts & Culture
Float on: Canada Day Parade gallery
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Jasperites donned their red and white, kitted out their floats and paraded around the community with pride on Canada Day (Tuesday, July 1). Local busi...
this is a test
This site complies with Jasper requirements
Contact us
Privacy Policy
Advertise With Us
About The Jasper Local
Accessibility Policy
Support

Follow Us

Advertise with us

Measurable, targeted, local. Email example@thejasperlocal.com

ePaper
coogle_play
app_store

© Copyright The Jasper Local