Silvertip is a Les Furber mountain course in Canmore, Alberta, and one of the most dramatic golf experiences in the Canadian Rockies. The resort calls it "true bucket list mountain golf," and that is a fair description. The course climbs the mountainside above town, with tee boxes perched over the valley, greens tucked beneath rock faces, and the Three Sisters peaks watching over most of the holes. It is theatrical, photogenic golf that rewards a committed shot and punishes a loose one, the kind of round people plan a whole trip around. Here is what to expect, from the setting and the standout holes to the conditions and how it actually plays.
The setting
The first thing that strikes you at Silvertip is the vertical. Furber routed the course up, down and across the slope rather than flattening anything out, so you are constantly playing to elevated greens or down into valleys with the mountains filling the frame. There is a genuine sense of grandeur to it, the feeling that you have left the everyday world behind for a few hours, and almost every hole offers a photograph worth stopping for.
The finish is the signature. The 18th drops from an elevated tee down to the green and the clubhouse, with one of the best patio views in Canadian golf waiting at the bottom. Whether you have played well or not, standing on that tee with the valley spread out below is the kind of moment that stays with you, and the deck above the green is the perfect place to relive the round afterward.
The design and the holes to know
Furber's layout is strategic as well as scenic. The fairways look generous from the tee, then reveal a lot of hidden slope once you are standing in them, so position matters more than raw distance. There is real variety in the routing too, with risk-and-reward par fives, demanding par threes and doglegs that ask you to shape a shot.
The second is the signature par five, the fairway funnelling toward a narrow green with the Three Sisters as a backdrop. The 13th plays from elevated tees down a wide fairway to a view that genuinely stops you for a moment. But the pick of the one-shotters is the 15th, a short par three of around 145 yards played all carry over water into a green ringed by mountain, the prettiest shot on the property. And then there is the 18th, a right-to-left finisher where the smart play is anything from a long iron to a fairway wood aimed at the clubhouse; take on too much with a driver and you are usually wet.
Conditions and how it plays
The single most useful thing to know before you tee off is that the ball flies further up here. Silvertip sits high in the Rockies, the air is thin, and a club that carries a certain distance at home will go noticeably longer, so most visitors club down by a number on approach shots. Get that wrong early and you sail green after green; get it right and the course opens up.
Beyond the altitude, the slopes tend to feed the ball from left to right, which rewards playing for position rather than flag-hunting, and the greens are quick and can be tricky to read because the mountain pulls your eye in directions the slope does not always follow. The course is generally well presented through the heart of the season, though as a high mountain course it greens up later in spring than the valley layouts. If you are between sets of tees, move up: the views are better and the round is more fun when you are not fighting forced carries.
Service, getting there and when to go
Silvertip is an easy course to build a trip around. It sits in Canmore, about an hour and a quarter west of Calgary and roughly 20 minutes from Banff, so it folds neatly into any Rockies itinerary. It is a cart course given the elevation changes, the practice facility and pro shop are first rate, and that clubhouse patio is one of the best nineteenth holes in the mountains.
The mountain season runs from roughly late spring through early fall, with midsummer the most reliable stretch for both weather and conditioning. Mountain weather does what it wants, so pack a layer even in July and keep an eye on the forecast. Prime morning tee times on clear summer days are the first to book up, so reserve early, and pair the round with Stewart Creek a few minutes down the valley for one of the best 36-hole days in the country.
More holes worth your attention
Beyond the signature holes, Silvertip is full of moments. The par-five eighth runs a creek down the edge of the fairway to an elevated green, a classic three-shotter where greed is punished and patience rewarded. The sixth is a long par three played uphill over water, all carry and no bail-out, the kind of hole that wrecks a card if you under-club. The tenth is a sweeping dogleg-right par five where the entire fairway tilts left to right, so the tee shot sets up everything that follows. Even the more workmanlike holes are framed by rock and forest, and the routing mixes the spectacular with the strategic so the round never settles into a string of similar shots.
The closing stretch is especially strong. The 16th is a blind, uphill par four to a green you cannot see from the fairway, the 17th a tidy one-shotter, and then the 18th sends you plunging back down to the clubhouse. It is a finish that asks for three different kinds of shot in a row, and it is a big part of why the round lingers in the memory long after you have left the valley.
Course management: how to score
Silvertip is a thinking player's course, and a little strategy goes a long way. Start with the altitude: take one less club than the yardage suggests on most approaches, and account for the ball hanging in the air on the big downhill shots. Favour the high side of the many left-to-right slopes, because anything landing on the low side chases away from the hole and often into trouble. Into the quick greens, err below the hole, since downhill putts here are lightning and easy to run well past.
Off the tee, leave the driver in the bag more often than you think. Long irons and fairway woods keep you in the short grass and still leave plenty of club into the greens thanks to the elevation, and the penalty for a wild drive, lost balls in the trees or impossible angles off the slopes, is steep. Above all, pick a tee that matches your game. Silvertip is far more enjoyable when you are flighting mid-irons into greens than when you are grinding out forced carries from too far back.
Value, and how it compares
Silvertip carries a premium green fee, as the marquee mountain resorts tend to, but it includes the kind of experience that justifies it: immaculate presentation, a cart with the round, a strong practice area, and scenery you will be showing people for years. Within the Rockies it is the more dramatic and exposed of the Canmore pair, where Stewart Creek down the valley is tighter and more sheltered in the trees. The two make an ideal contrast, and playing them back to back is the best way to appreciate how differently two mountain courses a few minutes apart can ask you to play.
If you are weighing it against the famous national-park courses near Banff and Jasper, Silvertip holds its own on spectacle while sitting closer to Calgary and the airport, which makes it one of the easiest bucket-list rounds in the region to actually get to.
Practice, pace and what to bring
Give yourself time before the round to warm up, because the opening holes come at you quickly on a course this demanding. Pace can run a touch slower than a flat parkland layout, simply because there is so much to take in and the elevation changes take time to navigate, so a morning tee time is your friend. Dress for the mountains, too: even a warm valley day can turn cool and breezy up on the slopes, so a light layer and a rain jacket are wise from spring through fall. Carts are standard given the terrain, and the paths are well routed, which helps on a course where so few shots are played from a flat lie.
Who it suits
Silvertip suits a wide range of golfers, as long as everyone arrives with the right expectations. Low handicaps will relish the strategic demands, the forced carries and the need to flight the ball into firm, perched greens, because this is a course that gives a skilled player plenty to work with. Mid-handicaps tend to have the most fun of all from the correct tees, where the generous-looking fairways and the extra distance from altitude offset the difficulty and leave manageable approaches.
Higher handicaps and beginners should not be scared off, but they should treat the day as an experience rather than a scoring exercise; the carries over water and the quick greens will test a developing game, yet the scenery makes it worthwhile regardless of the number on the card. It is a fine choice for a group of mixed abilities too, provided everyone plays the tee that fits their game and nobody is in a hurry. Above all, it is a course for anyone who values a memorable setting, and on that measure very few rounds in the country compete.
The verdict
Silvertip is not the course to chase a personal best, the elevation and the slopes see to that, so go for the experience rather than the scorecard. Newer golfers will find the forced carries and quick greens a stiff test, but even they tend to walk off grinning because of the setting, while better players will love the strategic options and the demand to flight the ball into firm, perched greens.
If you appreciate dramatic scenery and a course that makes you think, Silvertip delivers one of the great days in Canadian golf. Bring a camera, respect the altitude, keep the ball out of the slopes that funnel everything sideways, and give yourself time on the patio afterward. It earns its bucket-list billing.
One last piece of advice: build the day around the round, not the other way around. Arrive early enough to hit the range and adjust to the altitude, take your time over the views, and leave room afterward to sit on the patio above the eighteenth and watch the next groups come down the hill. Silvertip rewards a relaxed, savour-it mindset far more than a rushed, score-obsessed one, and golfers who treat it as the centrepiece of a Canmore trip rather than just another tee time always come away the happiest. It is the kind of course you finish already planning your return to, ideally on a clear summer morning with the Three Sisters out in full.
Want to play it? Book a Canmore golf trip with us and we will line up Silvertip, Stewart Creek and the rest of the Rockies.
Good to know
Where is Silvertip Golf Resort?
Canmore, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies, about an hour and a quarter west of Calgary and 20 minutes from Banff.
Who designed Silvertip and what does it play?
It is a Les Furber design, a par 72 known for dramatic elevation changes and mountain backdrops on nearly every hole.
Is Silvertip hard to play?
It is demanding. The slopes feed the ball left to right, the greens are quick and tricky to read, and the altitude changes club selection on every shot. Playing for position beats hitting it far.
Why does the ball fly so far there?
Altitude. The thin mountain air adds noticeable distance, so most players club down by a number or two on approach shots.
When is the best time to play?
Midsummer, when the course is in full condition and the weather is most reliable. As a high mountain course it greens up later in spring than valley layouts.
