Dinosaur Trail Golf & Country Club — Attraction in Alberta

This is the second time we’ve golfed this course. After the first time, we said “never again” and we should have stuck with that! The back nine is what all the rage is about but, in a nutshell, it’s just plain stupid. You are constantly hitting to blind landing spots, so even if you have a great hit, you have no idea where your ball is! The guide book gives completely inaccurate information, so if you follow it to a “t”, you are still landing into ravines, or ending up stuck behind a hoodoo! Ok….so forget about the stupid layout. Now let’s talk about the condition of the course. On many holes (front and back) there is no discernible difference between fairway and rough. Do the owners not possess a lawn mower? We wasted too much time looking for….and even lost good shots that were on the fairway simply because the grass was so long that balls were buried….on the fairway! The cart paths (especially on the back 9) are in such bad condition that navigating them is dangerous. The long, narrow winding, crumbling path up to #10 is hard enough, but at the top of it, one of the carts in our group crapped out. One shudders to think what would have happened if the cart died while climbing the hill! The proprietors are rude to both patrons and staff, and based on the overall experience, seem to be there to gouge tourists (this was a $100 round of golf, two buckets of range balls added another $27 to the total!), without putting anything back into the maintenance of the course and know little to nothing about golf. The only reason why I gave it 2 stars is because of the stunning views on the back nine. But, honestly, we could have just gone for a walk through the hoodoos and saved ourselves the money and...

Played both front and back 9, but have to admit I was left a little puzzled and outright disappointed by a few things.

First, having played on a Sunday afternoon during a long weekend, it was very busy which is to be expected. What was unexpected however was there was no course marshal to be found and given the sheer amount of golfers made this a brutal 6 hour round.

Making it worse was for some reason they allowed golfers to walk the course (on the front 9) and with no marshal it made things excruciating. 10-15 minutes wait time EACH hole was about average.

Even stranger was there were no mobile refreshment cart service or course kiosks, so on a 30C+ day, I was lucky to have brought lots of water.

As well, the overall conditions of the course, especially the crumbling cart paths, were well below average and the place is looking slightly run down.

While some of these critiques may seem fussy, bear in mind my round with a cart and a junior player were over $160.00 - which is definately creeping up to premium rates, but with what's become a below average course.

Finally, I mentioned my displeasure about the pace of play only to be told it was acceptable and what's to be expected. That was the wrong answer given what I just paid. And on that note, I most likely won't be back - and that's a shame given the courses'...

Had a 6:30 tee off, told they close when sun goes down about 8:30. We were playing the front t 9, teeing off on hole 8 it was 8:25 the worker drives a Kart out and tells us they are closed?? I said ah can we atleast just finish this hole?? He said No!! There is no twilight golf rate anymore so I paid full price to play nine holes, there was 4 of us so over $200 and only was able to play 7 holes....no refund, partial refund, infact the owner and his side kick "Keto" did not even care that I was upset....I was just asking to finish the hole we were on for God sakes!! To top it off we are local!! So no problem we will not be back until this guy drives this course into the ground and sells it to someone that respects the game, the customer, and the value of hardh working peoples money. It's sad as it is a nice course, however the upkeeping has took a turn for the worst and close to home, but I'll gladly drive to three hills or Acme to golf from now on.....I guess if your going golf early not later??? Sad!! Very sad!! Fix the parking lot too, you charge a premium rate to golf there put some money into the course instead of...