August 2026 – Just played Banff as part of our annual guys’ trip that this year took us to Alberta (both Calgary and up into the Canadian Rockies). This is the world-famous fourth hole called Devil’s Cauldron. I honestly could’ve led the review page with any number of the holes here as this is one of the most beautiful golf courses I’ve ever played.
Playing mountain courses has really emerged as a theme for 2026. I talk more about mountain courses (and the other course types) in my Spruce Peak review. Therein I bet that Banff would become my favorite mountain course and it did not disappoint. So far this year, we’ve played in Vermont quite a few times and enjoyed quite a few new mountain courses on my journey to 1,000. Speaking of that, in August I’ve played eight different courses between Vermont, New Hampshire and this Canadian trip. This is probably the most new courses I’ve played in a month. Ever. Puts me ahead of pace to get to 1,000 by the time I am 70 – at #752.
Anyway, back to this review. Got a couple things to discuss:
- 2026 NFL season preview
- Banff/Fairmount course and area
Since we didn’t stay in Banff, I will only talk about the area a little bit and mostly around the resort with a focus on the golf course. We stayed in Canmore at a great Vrbo and will go deeper into restaurants et al in my Silvertip review. Good? Great.
To my season preview nonsense. I know it’s kind of weird to discuss the NFL in Canada where, you know, there are no NFL teams. However, since I am discussing other nonsense in my Silvertip review and not sure I will finish it before the season kicks off, you get my Eagle-centric season review here.
In my Lost Rail preview last year, I predicted the Eagles would repeat as champs. W-e-l-l, that didn’t go well at all. And that they would beat the Chiefs. That went even less well. But I got a lot else correct and the year before I did correctly predict the Eagles would win the Super Bowl in the 2024 season (in my Bedford Springs review) and even tossed some money at it and won. Will they win it this year?
I really love the defense this year. I think the D-line is the best in the NFL, as are the off-ball linebackers, as is the cornerback trio (including Coop at nickel or wherever they put him). Safety is the only average to slightly below average position group. With the “D” – the Eagles enjoy a really high floor. I think the O-line is healthy this year so far and the back-ups really stood out in camp. If the new McVay-like system authored by rookie OC Sean Mannion is picked up by Jalen quickly (and they replace AJ’s production with the receiver-by-committee approach they’ve employed), this team will be Super Bowl bound. However, I see some growing pains in their future and not sure if Hurts adapts or reverts to 2025 Jalen.
That said and with the defense as good as it is, I still think the Eagles win the East. The Cowgirls have an improved “D” but I don’t think they can repeat what they did on “O” last season. I think they have no run game, it’s high time for Pickens to start sulking over his versus Cedee’s targets, and the injured one-year, healthy the next pattern for Dak points to an injury year which would be catastrophic for them. I got them right around 8 or 9 wins. Hair-baugh gives the Giants some baseline competency, but not a believer in Dart nor Skatterbo (who went ridiculously high in our fantasy draft). Good D-line though. Commanders are not good – hearing awful camp reports from their beats and even some players.
I think the Lions rebound in the North. The garbage Bucs win the garbage South. And while the West has three really good teams in the Niners, Seahawks and Rams, if the Rams stay healthy I don’t see anyone stopping them and they take the top seed. I’ll add the Bears to the Niners and Seahawks as wildcards. I think the Eagles beat the Bears (as they always do in the playoffs unless they play in a fog as thick as baby poop) on wildcard weekend as the #2 versus #7 seed game. The Lions top the Niners. The Seahawks over Tampa. Rams over the Seahawks in a revenge game for the Rams and the Eagles over the Lions. Again, at this point I think the Rams are unstoppable so I have them beating the Eagles and getting a home Super Bowl game.
This brings us to the AFC. I see a major flaw(s) for every competing team so think the playoffs will be a coin flip when we get there, but let’s give some in-season predictions a try. In the AFC East, the Pats got to where they were last year with the easiest schedule in the league. Not this year! But, they do play the Dolphins and Jets four times. From what I saw in the joint practices with the Eagles, Drake Maye looks good and they have a good “D.” I think Doubs is an underrated addition at WR and they will be getting the “I am happy and engaged” version of AJ Brown instead of the sulking “I’m not getting enough targets” AJ Brown that they will get in two or three years. So I think they win the East this year but with a worse record.
The Bills? So they have a good offense with the league’s best QB and a horrible “D.” So what do they do? Fire the defensive-minded coach and hire the OC to coach the whole team. Bad combo IMO. Of course, they also get to play the Jets and Dolphins twice but I think the Bills’ window is closing and they miss the playoffs.
In the North, lightning can’t strike three times so Burrow stays healthy, they have improved their defense and it all comes together this year. I think Lamar has crested and we will see a gradual but ever increasing decline. I still think he has enough (as does the team) to make the playoffs. Steelers and Rodgers finally go below .500 and the Browns will Brown.
I think the Texans win the South and it’s not even close. A little regression should be expected for the Jags and the Colts will get a full season of Danny Dimes which will expose his mediocrity. Titans will improve some but they’re not ready for primetime. The West is really tough to call. Were the Broncos and Nix for real last year? How about the Chargers? I definitely saw progress as the season went on last year. And the Chiefs and Mahomes should rebound this year. Even the Raiders will be better with Fernando and Jeanty/Bowers. Chargers win though.
I’m actually giving the nod to the Texans as the top seed and think the #2 Patriots will play the #7 Chiefs and…
The Bengals get the #3 seed and lose to the #6 Broncos and the Chargers win the West and beat up on the Ravens. The Chiefs lose to the Texans and the Broncos extinguish the dream of an LA vs. LA Super Bowl by beating the Chargers. Broncos beat the Texans in the AFC Championship and get to enjoy a drubbing at the hands of the Rams in the Supe. Let’s see how I do next February.
To the course.
First and as noted above, we didn’t stay at the Fairmount nor in Banff. The clubhouse is kind of what you would expect from a public-access championship/top 100 ranked course. Here is the main dining room.
Kind of a rustic, indigenous Canadian-kind of vibe. Below is outside the men’s locker room…
We ate on property at the Waldhaus which overlooks the 12th hole. Great change of pace – a German-themed restaurant with corresponding appies (Bavarian pretzels) and main dishes (I had the schnitzel and spaetzle). Suggest as a change of pace if it’s nice and you can sit outside.
We played the white tees on the Stanley Thompson 18 (the primary championship course). These tees measure over 6,300 yards and rate/slope to 69.7/126 (so not too brutal). Unlike Spruce Peak and Silvertip, you’re not up in the mountains but in the valley here (in this case the Bow River Valley). This makes the course much less severe than an up and in the mountains course. However, you feel the mountains are right on top of you and as the pictures will confirm, they are indeed.
I think I took photos of all the holes and if not, I will look through what our group posted and fill in the blanks but before I go into the hole-by-hole review, I’ll share a link with you that does a great job. Bryson DeChambeau visited the course about a week or so before we played and posted the attached that we would watch to warm up for the course.
The holes have names and will post all yardages from the whites.
Peachee (one/383 yards/#9 hcp/par 4): Mountains in the backdrop and a decent opener that isn’t too easy or too hard to get started.
Rundle (two/147 yards-though think we played it further back/#15 hcp/par 3): I missed two and this is from either my buddy Rob or Brian’s camera. The pin was left and you had to take it over the very penal traps. If I had one minor complaint about Banff it was that the edges around the bunkers were not well cut which made them look a little more shaggy/muni-like and the fairway sand was a little stoney but other than that it was very well conditioned. Hole is named after nearby Mount Rundle. The front nine here is also called Rundle as is the bar and patio here.
Gibraltar (three/501 yards/#3 hcp/par 5): Backdrop is indeed very Gibraltar”y”. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how our buddy Don (my partner in the six-hole match) finished our match at even par. He’s a 30+ handicap! Was happier to see him playing that well (regardless of whether he was my partner) than I would be for my own score. He would birdie this and I would bogey but was like parsley for my six holes with Don.
The approach on three. Make sure you bring your camera.
Devil’s Cauldron (four/165 yards/#13 hcp/par 3): One of the most famous par threes in the world. Beautiful and another birdie for Don. A bogey for me.
Trough (five/391 yards/#5 hcp/par 4): Trough is a tough (intended word play there) hole in the opposite direction as four. Another birdie for my partner Don.
Fairholm (six/344 yards/#11 hcp/par 4): Refers to the surrounding mountain range that provides a spectacular backdrop to the resort. My double train would continue but Don gave us a sweep of our six hole match with a bogey net par. I think my golf was negatively impacted by the “whole lotta drinking” we put on (well primarily me and my buddy Dave would put on) as for several of the days we played, I had the shakes and zero confidence I could even hit the ball on the front nine.
Hoodoo (seven/540 yards/#1 hcp/par 5): So there’s a booze cart between the 6th and 7th holes so got me a Bloody Caesar (comes in a can) and that must’ve been what I needed as I would par here to push the hole with Don (who was getting two pops) and was now my opponent. I talk about Caesars in my Muskoka review.
Papoose (eight/125 yards/#17 hcp/par 3): The front features three par threes, three par fours, and three par fives. Easy hole right? Not for me. after popping one into the shit, I played a floating mulligan to the left sand and two putt for a bogey with a huge asterisk. We would lose anyway to Don – who would par net two.
Jinx (nine/458 yards/#7 hcp/par 5): I mean how beautiful is that? Short par five. Huge trough down the right that I would be in. And again. Then out. On in four. Two putt bogey. Don’t do that. Fucking people in front of us (after leaving a club on the previous tee box) would hold a detente with the ranger out in the fairway. Heretofore pace would be good but we waited here for a while as they (I guess) must’ve been solving world hunger or whatnot.
The approach on nine.
And from the green on nine with the Bow River in the background.
Little Bow (ten/197 yards/#10 hcp/par 3): The sign says it all. Long par three that I would leave in the bunker left – but avoided the sparkling blue water. Suddenly I was in the mood for Coors Lights.
The tough tenth par three as described above.
Magpie (Eleven/389 yards/#12 hcp/par 4): Named after the striking, black-and-white magpie birds that frequently inhabit the Banff area, the 11th keeps running along the river. It was me and Jeff as partners and while I brought us back to even on the previous hole, I would double and we would drop two in a row for the loss.
Big Bow (Twelve/414 yards/#8 hcp/par 4): Obviously named after the river. Pretty incredible course. I had this on one of my old computer golf games and was kind of unbelievable but reality is much better.
Sulphur (Thirteen/191 yards/#16 hcp/par 3): Another long and the last par three you’ll face. Name refers to the high concentration of sulphate and sulfur minerals naturally dissolved in the area’s famous geothermal hot springs.
Wampum (Fourteen/411 yards/#2 hcp/par 4): The start of a really tough finishing stretch. They should call this Fairmount as the Castle in the Mountains sets the backdrop for this hole. Another double for me.
Here’s the group on 14. Erik, me, Jeff and Mr. Even-Par-After-Six-as-a-30-Handicap Guy Don.
From my approach on 14 and a better view of the Fairmount.
Spray (Fifteen/405 yards/#4 hcp/par 4): They had an upper 475-yard set of white tees up on top of the mountain behind us here that the other group played. We played the lower tees as shown here. To the left is the Waldhaus deck where we ate.
From my long approach on 15 that I would hit well and the 5 net 4 would push the hole against guess who? That’s right, Don.
Goat (Sixteen/385 yards/#14 hcp/par 4): Not sure of the significance of why this is called Goat. I’m guessing it doesn’t mean G.O.A.T as that acronym wasn’t a thing back when Banff was built.
Sarcee (Seventeen/337 yards/#18 hcp/par 4): Sarcee (traditionally spelled Tsuut’ina) is a Treaty 7 First Nation whose historical territories span the regions surrounding Banff and Calgary. Would bogey but my partner parred which pushed against Jeff’s bogey net four.
Windy (Eighteen/552 yards/#6 hcp/par 5): For the finisher I had to borrow the approach photo from the Maritime Explorer as I missed it and couldn’t sort through whether any of our other guys grabbed one. Big Don would birdie net eagle to wrap up his round and tie our match. Because that’s what he does.
Here’s the old-timey cart they keep in the staging area. As we didn’t have much après golf time before dinner, we didn’t hang here long. Regardless, I will tell you that this is definitely a trip you and the boys should take. With the exception of Banff, the courses were affordable. The US dollar helps even more. And even though Banff was pretty pricey, you should definitely play here. It’s ranked #60 outside the US by Golf Digest and while not on Golf’s Top 100 world courses, they do rank it as #6 in Canada. Even if you want to come up with the bride, there’s a lot to do. Our buddy Brian and his wife came up camping before our trip and below is a photo they took from the gondola ride looking down at Banff Springs. I’ll talk more about the trip in my Silvertip review.
