Bear Mountain Resort - Valley Course

Bear Mountain Resort sits in the highlands just west of Victoria, British Columbia, on southern Vancouver Island — one of Canada's most celebrated golf destinations. The resort complex hosts 2 championship layouts, and the Valley Course is the more approachable of the pair, routing through the natural contours of the land with a friendlier temperament than its sibling, the Mountain Course. Both were designed by Jack Nicklaus and his son Jack Nicklaus II, giving the property a pedigree that immediately set it apart when it opened in the mid-2000s as the centerpiece of a broader residential and resort community.

Vancouver Island's mild Pacific climate — among the most temperate in Canada — means the Valley Course sees play well into the winter months, something rare for a Canadian layout of this caliber. The surrounding landscape is classic coastal British Columbia: Douglas fir, arbutus, and rocky outcroppings framing fairways that feel genuinely removed from the city below.

For visitors using Victoria as a base, Bear Mountain offers resort-level conditioning and a Nicklaus design pedigree without the full severity of the Mountain Course, making it a natural first stop before tackling the more demanding track up the hill.