Yukon Golf (Continued from Peace Country Golf)

Having played my way through the Peace County, I left Fort Nelson - Yukon bound. The drive into Fort Nelson the day before wasn't any fun. I had a migraine all day. Morning dawned heavy, dark and overcast and to my astonishment I didn't see one big game animal all day long. Normally caribou and moose line the Alaskan Highway between Fort St John and Fort Nelson.

When I left Fort Nelson about 9:30 am, it was already 18 degrees heading for 25. The sun was blazing and within an hour of leaving I had pulled over to the side of the road, getting some very close up shots of the bighorn sheep that browsed leisurely by the roadside. Later I saw my first wild buffalo and I saw a few caribou dash for the trees as I slowed down to watch them. It was still early but my day was off to a much better start and by now nothing was going to surprise me. That is until I started seeing snow still piled up on the sides of the road and that some of the large lakes and rivers still had caps of ice on them. But soon I started seeing flowing water again and by 2:30 I was in warm and sunny Watson Lake.

Watson is a typical Yukon roadside town. A gathering of motels and hotels, a few gas stations, one CIBC and a general store and not much else. No pharmacy, no hospital, no cell phone service (that is due in late 2006) and no shopping centre. Dirt roads lead you everywhere and keep your pants a nice dusty brown colour. But the town is very quaint and the people are very friendly. I stayed at the Belvedere Hotel. A little rough to look at from the outside, but what a charmer this place is. The rooms are a healthy size and clean. If I felt comfortable laying down on the bed and having a bath then anyone else would (my wife knows better than anyone I am a stickler in this department). They have a small restaurant that serves a mean steak. If you are a blue rare fan like myself then order and enjoy. The young chef is a fan as well and does it beautifully. From the hotel's parking lot to first tee is eight minutes.

The golf course, Greenway's Greens, in Watson is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. This 9-hole course is smartly laid out and well maintained. The scenery is pretty and because the course is flat as a pancake you can drive all day then hop out for an easy walk. The course measures out at 3029 yards long so it is not a back breaker. The opening hole is a long 424-yard par 4. Wide and straight but if you do stray there are lots of trees everywhere to snag you. The hole that I enjoyed the most was the 486-yard par five 9th. The fairway has a large grove of trees running down the middle of it. This is neat because it gives you two ways to get to the green but no direct shot to the green. In other words you will have to fade or draw your tee shot to get to the fairway. A straight shot puts you at best behind the trees in the middle, or at worst in them.

I decided not to risk the 300-kilometre gravel road linking Watson Lake and Faro. I decided to drive up to Carmacks and get into Faro the much longer but fully paved way. I had been warned that the golf course in Faro isn't much and that I maybe disappointed. But hey, I was trying to put as many notches in my golf club as possible so I off to see Faro. Surprise number one, The Alaskan Highway, Watson to Whitehorse, doesn't lead to Faro. I would have to drive 200 kilometers off the highway and then 200 kilometers back to the highway to resume my trip the next day. I remember rolling into Faro and wondering where they stored the town after 5:00 pm. I couldn't see a 'main street' or any retail shops. There were endless rows of old 3-story apartment buildings and not much else. Eventually I tracked down where I was staying for the night, The Studio Hotel. It was a three-story apartment building, surprised? Turns out other than a couple of B&B operations this was the only hotel or motel in town. The lobby and bar were all in the same room and there was one pay phone in town, in this hotel, lucky for me. When I opened the door to my room it was styled after a New York studio apartment. Clean, bright, extra big and very cheery.