Visit Vancouver Island, British Columbia in summer, between May and September, and you‘ll see what we mean. The Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa is just a 20­minute drive from Victoria, which is just a half­hour trip on a fast ferry from the city of Vancouver. Golf travel in BC is unlike anywhere else in the world, because the entire trip from departure to the last putt is like one big, continuous outdoor adventure ­ especially in Canada‘s most western province, where the Rocky Mountains accentuate one of the most profoundly beautiful coastal regions in the world.

Vancouver Island is its offshore extension, and Bear Mountain is its luxury hideout in the foothills of Mt Finlayson, although it‘s hard to know exactly which peak is Finlayson, for there are so many gorgeous, snow­capped peaks in sight. The golf course, one of the few designed by (Jack) Nicklaus father and son (Steve) is, according to its slope rating of 149, the most difficult in Canada.

Believe us when we tell you that any golf course in a locale shared with moose and grizzly bears will be difficult, because it‘ll be a mountain course, and though the scenery is spectacular, the elevation changes can be hell on your game. Like an optical illusion, playing golf in the Rocky Mountains is different visually in more ways than one.

Back on the mainland and in Alberta province, The Fairmont Banff Springs Resort (and by now you should understand that this includes a posh spa, unless we say otherwise) is another mountain wonderland. Though it is not an island, it does rest on the shoreline of Lake Louise, one of the most scenic lakes on the planet, and one that actually looks better in reality than it does in a photograph.

Fairmont Hotels are among the finest in the world and this one, rising up above the forest like a European castle, is no different. The golf course claims to be the first in the world to cost more than $1 million to build, and we have no evidence to dispute that. It opened in 1928 and it‘s just as grand today as it was then. The 170 yard par 3 4th hole plays from a tee built out on a granite outcrop 50 metres above a glacial lake. The green and its five bunkers are on the other side. The magazine American Golf has described it as one of the "Best 18” golf holes in the world. The Willow Stream Spa, by the way, recently experienced a $2 million, uh, face­lift.

Playing golf in British Columbia means keeping an eye out for moose, elk, bears, you know, big things that chase you down if you hit them with a golf ball. That‘s not the case around Canada‘s premier eastern coast cities of Toronto and Montreal, the main hubs of Ontario and Quebec, respectively.

The Deerhurst Resort, two hours north of Toronto, has 1600 freshwater lakes on 324 hectares of wooded countryside that generally speaking is flat, and so densely wooded that it‘s easy to get lost if you wander too far away. But then, that‘s why you go there: to get lost.

The resort sits on the shore of one of the main lakes, Peninsula Lake, and includes two 18­hole courses laid out among forest and lakes, granite outcrops and cliffs that altogether play and feel strangely enough like a coastal links. Hank Haney, recognised by many touring professionals as one of golf‘s best instructors, runs Deerhurst‘s golf school. In Montreal people speak French, but don‘t let that stop you. Just tell them that you, too, think Quebec should become an independent state and you‘ll be fine. The Montreal Island Golf Club, or the Club de Golf de Lile Montreal, is not a resort, but it does have two of Canada‘s finest links, and the city‘s best hotels are only 20 minutes away. The club, the site of the prestigious Montreal Open, is found at the northern tip of Montreal Island, where the mighty St Lawrence River flows by on all sides. But again, the best time for golf clubs in Canada is May to September. Any other time, it‘s cross­country skis.