There was a time in the 1980s through the mid-1990s when Les Furber had a hand in the construction or renovation of almost every golf course in British Columbia.
Some call this era the "Furberization of B.C." It was a time when Furber's Canmore, Alberta company, Golf Design Services, produced a wide range of course designs – described by armchair architects as running the gamut from the absurd to the outstanding.
To Furber's credit, some of the finest golf courses in the province bear his name.
Furber's best in B.C. include Campbell River's Storey Creek Golf Club; Riverway GC in Burnaby; The Springs at Radium Golf Resort; and St. Eugene Golf Resort in Cranbrook. Every one of these courses can easily be ranked among the top golf courses in the country, and should be on every golfer's must-play list.
Anyone who enjoys a round would love to play regularly at Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River. Located at the northern tip of the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, this "best public course on the island" serves up a golf experience that encapsulates everything good about golf in B.C.
Furber captures the golfer's attention on every hole with a course that combines a quiet nature walk in the woods with 18 holes of outstanding golf. The Storey Creek Golf Club course meanders through an old-growth cedar forest where beavers build dams, deer graze in the rough, black bears nibble on wild berries, and majestic bald eagles are always circling overhead.
The score card is different with five par fives, five par threes, and eight par fours adding up to an enjoyable par of 72. The opportunity for birdies on the par fives is often offset with a stiff challenge on the par threes, where Furber nicely frames the holes with 300-foot giant cedars, well-placed bunkers, and inviting streams that capture errant shots.
Like movie and restaurant reviews, rating golf courses is an inexact science that draws heavily from personal taste. But where Les Furber has signed his name, golfers can count on a memorable game in a remarkable setting.
