The Miskanaw Golf Course in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, is celebrating the completion of an extensive renovation project that has spanned seven years.

The project has focused on three holes at a time, meaning the course has been affected by some level of work consistently since 2007.

Opened as a full-grass course in 1983, the recent work at Miskanaw has been led by Robert Kains of Robert Kains Golf Course Design.

The project has involved significant renovation and rerouting work, and the course now features different tee positions to introduce variable levels of difficulty.

Rob MacGregor, the Regional Recreation Corporation’s director of golf, also explained to GCA how the introduction of a 10 million imperial gallon (IMP) pond for a water treatment site at Miskanaw will help irrigate the course. 

This water treatment site will treat water from various neighbouring facilities, including a local stadium, hotel and leisure centre.

“The recycling plant will supply us at the ‘high end’ 60,000 IMP gallons per day,” said MacGregor. “We will ‘empty’ our pond by 90 per cent in the fall, to prepare for the treated water (referred to as ‘purple water’) influx. Then in the spring, we will fill our irrigation ponds withthe purple water to irrigate the golf course. This will essentially lessen our reliance upon natural water sources by 15 million-25 million gallons per year.”

“It’s truly an honour to be part of such positive changes for our members, players and hole sponsors and it’s special to take a huge step towards even more sustainable operations at Miskanaw and more,” he added.