Connaught Golf Club

Medicine Hat sits in the dry southeast corner of Alberta, where the South Saskatchewan River carves through coulees and the chinook winds can shift the temperature 20 degrees in an afternoon. It's one of the sunniest cities in Canada, which means a long, playable season by Prairie standards — and Connaught Golf Club has been at the center of the city's golf life for well over a century, making it one of the oldest clubs in Alberta.

Connaught plays along and above the river valley, with the coulee terrain giving the layout genuine elevation change that you simply don't find on most Alberta Prairie courses. The routing takes advantage of these natural contours, and the prevailing winds off the open rangeland add an honest test of shot-shaping that no architect can manufacture. The turf tends to run firm and fast in summer heat, rewarding a ground game.

As a traditional members' club with deep civic roots, Connaught carries the kind of unpretentious character common to southern Alberta golf — serious about the game without being precious about it.