Olds Golf Club
Search for Tee Times at Olds Golf Club
Address:
Range road 1 Highway 2 West, Olds
Type:
Public Golf Course
Holes: 18 | Par: 72
Tips:
6,881 Yards
Location:
The Olds Golf Club is located 1 km West of Highway 2 on Highway 27 then 1 km North on RR 12.
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Additional Information
Pricing
All rates include 18 holes, power cart & driving range.
Old’s Rates per Player:
Monday – Sunday including holidays: $91 plus GST
Play Golf Alberta’s Rates per Player:
Monday – Sunday including holidays: $55-$70 plus GST
Course Details
The Olds Golf Club is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary facility that prides itself on offering a Championship golf experience at a price that remains affordable to everyone. We understand that the high prices you find for a quality golf experience makes golfing unattainable for many.
Our Mission Statement remains to this day “to provide an affordable community recreational facility”. Staying true to this mission has allowed us to carve out a successful niche in the Central Alberta golf market. We continually provide Championship caliber course conditions, fair pricing, and friendly service all of which contribute to our success.
Yardages & Ratings
Women’s Tee Boxes:
Bronze: Yards – 5,015 Slope – 121 Rating – 68.6
Silver: Yards – 5,452 Slope – 127 Rating – 71.1
Blue: Yards – 6.021 Slope – 138 Rating – 74.6
Men’s Tee Boxes:
Blue: Yards – 6,021 Slope – 124 Rating – 68.9
Black: Yards – 6,528 Slope – 132 Rating – 71.2
Gold: Yards – 6,881 Slope – 134 Rating – 72.7
More Information
Historical record of the Olds Golf Club
The Olds Golf Association was originally formed in 1925 by a group of local bankers. The original Olds Golf Course was located one mile south of the Town of Olds on the East side of the railway tracks. When some of the more ardent golfers moved away, the course disappeared.
In the late ’30s, the second course was developed on the southern edge of Town. The land was built in a low-lying area that made it difficult in wet years. In the mid-1940’s the ravages of nature took over and the course became a grassy wetland.
In 1945 a third and more successful effort was developed in the center of Olds. This was a 9 Hole facility with sand greens. Part of the property that was used to build the course contained the horse racing track and when events involving the track were held there was no golfing. The course existed in this location until 1974 and remnants of the original layout can still be seen if you know where to look.
In the mid-1970’s the golf course was sold to the Town of Olds for housing development. In 1974 the club bought 160 acres 2 miles east of Olds and 1/2 mile North where the course is located today. The original plan was to build a Championship Golf Course on this location that would rival some of the other local golf courses. It took a few years for the county to approve the golf course on this prime farmland but in the late ’70s the original nine-hole layout was built and it officially opened on July 1st, 1981. This new 9 hole layout with modern grass greens was designed by local Olds College Plant Science Instructor Garry McCullough.
In 1989 a proposal was made to build an additional 9 holes. These new 9 holes opened for play on June 23rd, 1991. In the early 2000’s the golf course had been decimated by several years of drought. A Provincial grant was secured to irrigate the original 9 holes. This project along with some much-needed rain in 2003 helped bring this beautiful course back from the brink.
In 2006 a Master Plan was approved by the membership in order to provide a vision for current and future board members to continue the process of developing the course into a truly Championship experience that at its heart remains an affordable community facility accessible to everyone. Over the next decade, the Olds Golf Club has gone thru over 1 million dollars in renovations that have made this golf course one of the best in Central Alberta.
Inside Golf Article
Olds Golf Club Is Yet Another Rural Alberta Gem
By Gord Montgomery, Senior Writer, Inside Golf
There’s nothing like welcoming friends, and new acquaintances into your home. As such, Mat MacDonald would like to invite you over to his place, the Olds Golf Club. You see, MacDonald is essentially back home now as the Head Professional at the layout where he learned to play the game as a youngster.
His new digs are one of those courses where the two nines may have been built in different decades, the 1970s and 1980s, but they combine to make the 18-hole layout a fantastic play. MacDonald said this rural layout is a challenge both for newcomers and those who call it their home club.
“I’ll be honest, this is a very unique experience,” he began about teeing it up on the course that plays to just under 6,900 yards from the very back, winding down to yardages of 6,500; 6,000; 5,450; 5,000 and 4,000 yards. One interesting note is that the yardages differences between the front and the back don’t vary greatly no matter which tee box you begin your adventure from.
In speaking about his track, MacDonald noted the front nine has more of a parkland styling with trees and elevated, turtleback greens. On the home stretch you run into a links style of course with fewer trees and wide open areas protected by fescue grasses. “In terms of the contouring and the way the golf course sits the nines are very, very similar. But, they have a different feel.”
There is a good reason, MacDonald agreed, as to why the Olds Golf Club has hosted so many Alberta Golf championship events over the years.
“It’s certainly challenging! A lot of people come here, look at the scorecard, see 6,800 yards and think, ‘Oh gosh. There’s no way I’m going to shoot over 74,’ ” before they have the chance to meet up with the tricky greens here which likely offer the major protection for the course.
“They are always in impeccable condition. They normally run around 10, 10.5, and there’s a lot of little subtle undulations that really throw people off.”
Helping the putting surfaces out with protection are the bunker complexes which have been upgraded over the past few years. The pro said they now feature a “Nice, fluffy sand which can be deadly. You get plugged lies if you fly into them.”
If you’ve never been here, there is a philosophy on how to approach the Olds Golf Club. “I think you look to the trouble areas and stay out of them. Driving is relatively important. As long as you keep the ball in play that’s important. And, try to keep the ball below the hole,” even if you don’t make it to the putting surface with your approach shot. “It’s better to have a chip coming up onto the green, basically an uphill slope, rather than having to come down that slope.”
As an Audubon Society member, the Olds Golf Club cares greatly for the environment they inhabit, said MacDonald. While there aren’t a lot of protected areas per se, the superintendent and his crew do limit the use of chemicals, pesticides, and fungicides. At the same time, they do care about their winged visitors.
“We have a number of bird houses we put up each year,” that attract bluebirds and others, who are joined by ducks and a couple of Great blue herons who apparently like to hang around the back of the tenth (hole). “It’s a neat sight to see.”
One really neat thing here is that there is a five-hole par-3 course for working on your short game. The little links have no water hazards or bunkers. Those holes range in length from 55 yards to 130 yards and the greens receive the same care their big brother does. Other amenities include a mat and grass driving range, a putting green, and another short game area alongside the range.
In relation to this place being like home, well, it is in a way for the pro.
“This golf course is very near, and dear, to my heart. This is the one I grew up on. I got my first membership here when I was 10-years-old, ” he said. “I’ve been away for the past 10, 12 years so it’s really cool to come back home and see how far this golf course has come.”
One other thing MacDonald really likes is the course teaming up with Play Golf Canada and their low rates to come out and experience what the Olds Golf Club has to offer.
“We’re always happy to have guests in from wherever,” ended the pro who will extend a warm welcome into his home.
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