Sick of your golf friends heckling you on every round that you didn’t pick the best golf courses? Let us help plan your next golf trip by choosing the best Victoria golf courses for buddies’ outings. Courses that will keep the harshest hecklers both too dazzled by their surroundings and challenged by their own game to worry about yours. Add in proximity to all sorts of entertainment, and we can guarantee a good time for all, almost completely heckle-free.
Of course, there’s always one clown who won’t be silenced, and for that, we’re afraid, we have nothing…
Best Warm-Up: Highland Pacific Golf Course
Billed as “Victoria’s friendliest golf course,” Highland Pacific is a quick, 15-minute drive from downtown, making it perfect for day one after a night on the town. Or, make your round the night-time attraction with a fun golf event.
Either way, Highland Pacific is also arguably the best Victoria golf course to warm up on for your golf trip. The driving range alone is worth the entire trip – there’s nothing quite like driving out over a lake to get the golf senses singing. Highland Pacific also has six different sets of tee markers, making it a great place to play with friends of all skill levels.
An added bonus is its proximity to downtown Victoria with its vibrant après-options including dining, entertainment, and nightlife. Home to year-round live theatre, opera, dance, concerts, festivals and films, Victoria is also jam-packed with a variety of Old English-style pubs, craft breweries, pubs, restaurants, bars and clubs. And did you know that Victoria is the scene of a thriving craft cocktail scene with many talented mixologists making their living here? In fact, the Clive’s Cocktail Lounge at the Chateau Victoria has been awarded “Top 10 – World’s Best Hotel Bar” by Tales of the Cocktail. Suffice to say, you’ll never have a dull night in Victoria!
Talking the walk… “Fun course! The wife and I enjoyed this course. The views were outstanding. The course had a ton of character to it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Beer available was local craft beer! Would play here again!” (TripAdvisor)
Best History (and Burgers): Olympic View Golf Club
An incredible course celebrating over 30 years in business, Olympic View can also boast of being the host with the most: it is the first course Tiger Woods played in BC, and the only course on Vancouver Island. Challenge your buddies to do better than Tiger on Hole 16. A par 3 that measures only 110 yards, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security…with sand traps at the front and back, plus a large gully to the right of the green, this hole shows no mercy. Just ask Tiger: the legend himself bogeyed it two days in a row!
If Hole 16 gets the best of you and your buddies, let the spectacular views soothe your soul as you hit towards a beautiful waterfall at the end of Hole 17, then head over to Forester’s Restaurant at the clubhouse for what is considered by many to be the most legendary burger on the Island.
Talking the walk… “Breathtaking! I will always return to this place. Breathtaking golf course, breathtaking view, very friendly people and the food was just fantastic. Great experience.” (Tripadvisor)
Best Bragging Rights: Bear Mountain Golf & Tennis Club
Are you and your buds brave enough to battle the Bear? As one golfer put it, “She’s a beast!” Regardless of your degrees of courage, handicap, or tolerance levels for good-natured ribbing about losing balls, you just have to play the place where the Golden Bear hangs his name. The Bear Mountain Golf & Tennis Club, Vancouver Island’s only 36-hole course, is that golf course…the one where you don’t remove the tag from your bag for months, no years, after playing it. Co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and his son Steve, you can play two incredible courses, offering challenging golf, unrivalled scenery, and a luxury stay at the end of play.
To really give yourself some bragging rights with your buddies while touring Victoria golf courses, plan a stay and play for the weekend. That way, your group can enjoy the golf and the resort to its fullest.
Talking the walk… “Beautiful! With some of the nicest views I have ever seen overlooking all of Victoria and the surrounding areas. The golf course is always in peak shape and is a very unique design by Jack Nicklaus himself.” (TripAdvisor)
Best Value-Added Day Trip: Cowichan & Arbutus Ridge Golf Club
Wrap up your trip with a chilled round in the morning followed by a wine tour in the afternoon, by taking advantage of a golf and wine weekend. Great golfing, great wine, great value.
Arbutus Ridge Golf Club is located slap bang in the middle of 13 fabulous wineries, less than an hour from downtown Victoria. Along the way, stop off at the Malahat Skywalk for an incredible, 600m elevated walk through the forest canopy leading to a 32m sightseeing tower offering breathtaking views as far as the eye can see. Then just 15 minutes further will have you in the middle of wine country and primed for a terrific day tasting.
It’s not all about the wine, though. Arbutus Ridge boasts three of the most demanding finishing golf holes on Vancouver Island, punctuated by the knee-rattling 214-yard par 3 island green on the 17th hole. Whatever your reason for playing here, you won’t regret it, and, if you take advantage of the golf school, clinic, or private lesson at their Golf Academy, you’ll even come away a much better golfer and will have something to to toast to with a glass of…wine!
Talking the walk… “Great golf, super pros, scenery and food. The golf course is challenging, interesting and has lots of friendly members. Views are superlative, not only on the course but in the clubhouse as well. Be prepared to lose a few balls both in the rough and the water. Food in the clubhouse is of good quality with sufficient choices for my vegetarian appetite as well as for my carnivore hubby.” (TripAdvisor)
Best bonus round
While golf is paramount to a buddies’ golfing trip (duh), there is so much to do in and around Victoria that you deserve any heckling that comes your way if you don’t take advantage of it.
Why not pair your golf with the Victoria Ale Trail experience, a self-guided tour of Victoria microbreweries?
Or, for the ultimate bragging rights with your buddies, pair your golf score with your weigh-in and make it a fins and skins experience – salmon fishing in the morning and golf in the afternoon. Talk to our golf travel experts about adding a guided fishing tour to your Victoria golf package.
Finally, just because you can, why not add one more day to your play: stay waterfront and add a morning round at the traditional Cowichan Golf & Country Club before returning to the real world.
P.S. Need help pulling your Victoria golf trip together completely hassle-free? Check out Golf Vancouver Island’s Victoria Buddies Golf Weekend – yep, they’ve done it all for you, and all at a great price. You’re welcome, and here’s to seeing you golf Victoria with your friends!
June 14, 2023, by: Golf Vancouver Island