Brackendale is a moderately wooded 18 hole tone course located just minutes off the Sea to Sky Hwy (99) in the beautiful city of Squamish, BC. With multiple courses to play in the area, it makes for the perfect place to stop between Vancouver and Whistler. The course is best suited for novice and intermediate players, although higher rated players will still find themselves enjoying their round as they work on their short game while strolling through the great outdoors!

The designers of the course showed a nice balance of wooded to tightly wooded shots, and included several more open shots as well toward the middle of the round. The first six holes play fairly short through a series of bushes and natural tree lines, gradually changing in elevation much like the last four holes. Due to logging, holes 7-14 are much more open, allowing players to air it out a little more off the tee. Distance on the course ranged anywhere from just over 100 - 375 ft, with the majority falling between 125 - 225 ft. The course offered a lot of birdie/ace opportunities but required accuracy to score well. Errant shots potentially could cause an extra stroke but are easy to overcome due to lack of distance.

Although I found the course enjoyable, most passing through may find the course mediocre at best. Due to being a temporary fix the locals can only do so much when it comes to course maintenance and design. It would be nice to see more distance and difficulty throughout much of the course but felt especially true for holes seven and eight. They seemed like filler holes, and if redesigned using more of the surrounding area, could potentially be great.

Also, due to the course being temporary the tee pads, signs, and tones are quite basic. They are good enough for the time being but will eventually break down and need to be replaced. With a course map the course was fairly easy to follow, but would have been confusing at times if I didn't have a map printed off ahead of time. Just know that hole one is located on the left hand side about 300 ft. up the walking trail NE of the church on Ross Rd.

Squamish seems to have a few hidden gems tucked away in the mountains that are just starting to surface over the past year or so which is great for the BC DG scene. While visiting from Seattle for the day, my buddy and I played Brackendale, Mamquam, and Valleycliffe. Although none of them stood out more than the other, as a whole they complimented one another and made for a complete day of DG. Now with the addition of The Grove in Brittania Beach it is only a matter of time till I make my way back up toward the great white north! I just hope the city of Squamish continues to support DG in the area and doesnt try to hinder further production or even worse, pull a course after all the hard work that has already been done.