THERE is something to be said for stepping outside of our social-media-bounded, technologically structured worlds and letting life reveal its magic to us on its own terms from time to time.
Late last summer I was sitting in the sun at Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park watching people strolling on the sea wall. I saw a man walk by at a brisk pace in total sensory isolation, sunglasses on, earphones in, completely oblivious to the exquisite vistas around him in every direction, immune to the magic.
We also do it when we travel, trading experiential quality for quantity and sacrificing moments we can never recapture for mere speed. Somehow, if we cram more in, faster, it's better.
Perhaps, but a recent trip up the Fraser Valley to the Sandpiper Golf Resort led me to consider a different possibility.
I was joined on a Sunday morning by friends Dan Rees, Kim Muir and David Hanley. A brilliant summer had yielded to uncertain weather in later August, but that morning the sun was master of the sky and we had a 10 a.m. tee time.
Sandpiper is about 90 minutes from Vancouver. You can take the Trans-Canada Highway to Abbotsford and cross at Mission, stay on the highway and cross at Rosedale to Agassiz, or take the Lougheed Highway, Highway 7, through Maple Ridge and Mission.
No matter which way you go, it's 90 minutes, about the time it takes to get to Whistler.
Yet what you'll find when you get there is really unlike anything else I know of in the Lower Mainland. The Sandpiper Golf Resort, with Rowena's Inn on the River and the River's Edge Restaurant, is a world unto itself, a pastoral enclave of serenity on the wide banks of the Harrison River at Harrison Mills.
Once the vacation home of one of B.C.'s pioneer lumber dynasties (the Pretty family), the property has evolved into a superb destination for golf, relaxing, fishing and gathering.
Since relaxing is an essential element of a good round of golf, we opted to take Highway 7. Using the bypasses at Mary Hill and Maple Ridge allowed us to steer clear of suburban traffic and still see the countryside.
Highway 7 winds its way along the north arm of the Fraser River, and once you pass Mission you are into a lush world of fields, farms and cottages. On a sunny day in August you can practically hear the corn growing as you pass Hayward and Silvermere Lakes.
Small unincorporated settlements at Ruskin, Hatzic, Dewdney and Deroche are a part of the historic fabric of the Fraser Valley and are experiencing something of a renaissance as people tired of the digital universe seek actual experiences instead of virtual ones.
Opened for play as an 18-hole course in 1998, the Sandpiper course fits in seamlessly with the setting. The charm of the old inn and the ancient woods that line the fairways are of a piece with the river and mountains beyond. It's impossible to imagine it not having always been there.
We arrived with half an hour to spare and took advantage of the putting and chipping practice areas to get a feel for the turf conditions. It had rained heavily the night before and the greens were soft. Length at Sandpiper ranges from 6,500 yards from the back tees to 4,751 from the front, so there's plenty of challenge for golfers of all ability. Coffee was had in the River's Edge Restaurant and it was off to the first tee.
Number 1 at Sandpiper, at 567 yards from the black tees, is a great introduction to what lies ahead.
The fairway snakes between giant evergreens drawing left then fading right as you approach the green. Left centre off the tee gives recreational golfers a chance at hitting the green in regulation, but the best we could manage was a bogey from Muir and three "others" from the rest of us.
Holes 2-7 tack back and forth across the sloping benchland on your way to the eight and ninth holes on the other side of Morris Valley Road, accessed via a small underpass.
Of special note on the front are the par-3 third hole and the par-4 sixth.
At 222 yards from the back tees, number 3 was a challenge. Teeing off from a narrow, densely wooded chute, you head toward a green out in the open, and taking any wind into account can be a ticklish business. The putting surfaces were in excellent condition but the recent rain made judging speed a very difficult proposition.
At only 395 yards from the tips, number 6 is ranked the hardest hole on the course. From the tee it all looked innocent enough, but it was an uphill dogleg left with massive bunkers left and right of the primary landing areas. Again, a bogey from Muir was the best of a sorry lot.
The ninth tee adds another of Sandpiper's elements to the equation. Set back on the other side of a small river in a thicket of evergreens and maples, it's visually intimidating. Bunkers to the left of the fairway and just around the corner of the dogleg, out of sight, suggest a conservative approach for all but the most supremely confident.
On the back nine, the stretch of holes 11 and 12 leads you down the slope and provide spectacular views of the river and surrounding country.
Putting out the par-3 12th leaves you a stone's throw from the water and in the next few weeks hundreds of bald eagles will begin to gather there as the salmon migration moves upstream.
It's worth checking with the resort to see when the eagles are around as it's an astounding sight.
Holes 13-15 include a pair of par-5s and a longish par-4. At 486 yards from the back, number 15 is a wide open prospect from the tee box, again set back across a stream, but the fairway is crossed at mid-length by another stream and then again just in front of the green by a third. You have to be right on your distances or it can all go wrong quickly.
A grouping of four bunkers at the left front of the putting surface creates Sandpiper's distinctive Sasquatch Footprint hazard. It's a nice whimsical touch on this singular course.
Shot of the day belonged, again, to Muir.
At 440 yards from the back tees, number 17 is rated second hardest on the course and has the added hazard of a private air strip running the length of the playing surface down the left side.
We all had decent tee shots but Muir followed his up with an epic blast that came to a stop about 18 inches from the cup.
Birdie. Afterward in the River's Edge restaurant, we reflected on what was essentially a perfect day: a relaxing round of golf with friends in a spectacular setting, no intrusive technology. Out on the crowded patio, groups of people talked and laughed, enjoying each other's company. In the garden in front of the inn, a wedding.
I will confess a bias: for me, the Sandpiper golf resort is a special place.
I found there was an element of magic to that day in that place that is waiting somewhere out there for us all if we but choose to seek it.
I encourage you to do so and add some quality to the quantity of your experiences.
