163
THE RANCH
Golf and Country Club
PAR 4 423 yARDS
Acheson, AB
780.470.4700
www.theranchgolf.com
Designed by well-known golf and landscape architect Bill
Robinson and located a few minutes west of Edmonton, The
Ranch Golf and Country Club earned a place on SCOREGolf
magazine's list of the province's top 15 public courses in 2011.
From the scorecard, you might be fooled by the short, 6,500-yard
distance from the back tees, but with a course rating of 141 this
is certainly not a driver and seven-iron course.
The signature hole 5, a par 4, typifies the potential dangers that
are apparent throughout the design. The back tees play to 423
yards and you're faced with a rolling fairway that slopes from
left to right, making it imperative to hit the ball up the left side to
avoid the deep rough and trees that line the red staked hazard
on the right. If you hit right, be prepared to take your lumps
and chip back onto the fairway due to the overhanging trees
that completely block out the view and line to the green. If you
navigate your tee shot into the fairway, the second shot is no
easy task. Any approach short of the green will be swallowed
up by an enormous pit measuring 80 yards across and 60 yards
deep. With three bunkers that surround a two-tiered green, which
slopes heavily from back to front, a precise approach is a must if
you want par. A three-putt is not out of the question on this quick
undulating green.
5
Photograph by Agnieszka Clarke
