The timeline
- October 1989Construction begins on a new course designed by Les Furber of Golf Design Services in Canmore, Alberta. Dave Gillespie is the general manager.
- 1991Predator Ridge opens with 18 holes plus three member-only holes. The two nines are named Osprey and Red Tail after the birds of prey that live here. That's where the "Predator" name comes from.
- 1993The resort hosts the British Columbia Open. American Eric Woods wins at 278 (−14). It turned out to be the last BC Open ever played; the 1994 event was cancelled.
- 1997–1999Dick Munn, a former PGA member, leads a renovation of the member holes for drainage and adds six new holes, creating 27 holes as three nines: Osprey, Red Tail and a new Peregrine nine. Sources differ on whether Peregrine was finished in 1999 or 2000.
- 9 August 2000The Export 'A' Skins Game comes to Vernon with Fred Couples, Sergio García, Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson. Couples wins seven skins and $135,000. More than 224 volunteers help run it.
- Late 2000Sergio García and his father Victor buy two cottages at Predator Ridge. The Spokane Spokesman-Review reports that García calls it his North American headquarters.
- April 2001The resort's golf academy (golf school) launches.
- 2007Wesbild Holdings buys Predator Ridge.
- 2008The Telus World Skins Game returns. Camilo Villegas takes 10 skins and $230,000, including $130,000 on a birdie putt at 14 and $100,000 in a closest-to-the-pin playoff.
- July 2010Doug Carrick's Ridge Course opens, reusing much of the Peregrine nine plus nine new holes. Osprey and Red Tail are merged into today's Predator Course. The Ridge is named Best New Course in Canada that year.
- 2011The first Golftoberfest, now a fall tradition with more than 1,000 pumpkins on the course.
- 2018A renovation of about $3.5 million led by Carrick, with Furber consulting, updates Ridge hole 1 and Predator holes 3, 4 and 9.
- 2024A Vancouver Sun panel names the Ridge B.C.'s #1 public or resort course. (In a 2009 version of the list, Predator Ridge finished second to Big Sky.)
- 8 April 2026The 35th-anniversary season opens with a new fleet of golf carts built in Vernon by Simolo Customs.
- September 2026The first Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon Interior Golf Tournament at Predator Ridge raises $373,860.
Sources: Predator Ridge, "Golf course evolution"; Wikipedia: Predator Ridge Resort; Wikipedia: British Columbia Open; Predator Ridge, Skins Games; Wikipedia: Telus World Skins Game; Spokesman-Review, Dec 2000; Golftoberfest; Castanet, Apr 2026; Vernon Morning Star, Sep 2026.
The two Skins Games
Few mid-sized Canadian cities have hosted a made-for-TV Skins Game once, let alone twice. Here's how the money split.
2000: Export 'A' Skins Game
| Player | Winnings |
|---|---|
| Fred Couples (7 skins) | $135,000 |
| Sergio García | $100,000 |
| Mike Weir | $75,000 |
| Phil Mickelson | $50,000 |
Couples and Weir went three extra holes for the last $25,000. Stockwell Day was in the gallery.
2008: Telus World Skins Game
| Player | Winnings |
|---|---|
| Camilo Villegas (10 skins) | $230,000 |
| Greg Norman | $100,000 |
| Fred Couples | $30,000 |
| Colin Montgomerie | $0 |
| Mike Weir | $0 |
More than 100 volunteers helped. Fred Couples and Mike Weir played in both events.
Fun facts to use in the clubhouse
- The name is literal. The first two nines were named for local birds of prey, Osprey and Red Tail. The third, Peregrine, kept the theme going. Today's neighbourhood names, such as Falcon Point and the Osprey Coach & Carriage Homes, still echo it.
- Some old maps don't match today's holes. Older resort pages refer to "Osprey holes 5, 7, 8" and other old nine numbers. Those numbers don't line up with today's Predator Course, so don't use them to find a hole on the current scorecard.
- Predator Ridge hosted the last-ever BC Open (1993). The tournament was cancelled the next year and never came back.
- A major champion's "HQ". After playing the 2000 Skins Game, Sergio García bought two cottages here. He went on to win the 2017 Masters.
- The carts are local. The 2026 fleet was built by Simolo Customs in Vernon, one of the first all-Canadian-built fleets according to Castanet. In summer 2026 the resort also tested Michelin Tweel airless tires on a marshal cart.
- Fall has a pumpkin tradition. Golftoberfest has run since 2011, with 1,000+ pumpkins across the course in its 16th year.
- The community has a provincial park next door. Ellison Provincial Park borders Predator Ridge and has western Canada's only freshwater dive park (BC Parks).
- There's no published course record. We looked and couldn't find a verifiable one, so we don't list one. If you know of a documented record, tell us.
Test yourself: all of these facts appear in our 18-question Predator Ridge trivia quiz.
From golf course to community
Homes came soon after the golf. The resort's neighbourhood map dates Falcon Point and the Peregrine Cottages to 1999, and new areas have been added almost every few years since: Mashie Crescent (2003), Dormie Hills (2004), Longspoon (2007), Birdie Lake (2009), The Tips (2011), Whitetail (2014), Havencrest (2016), FieldGlass (2021), Wildsong and Outlook (2022), The District (2023), Vista (2025) and now Ellison Landing. By 2026 the resort described itself as a 1,300-acre community with a resale market of more than $31 million a year.
We cover what each area is like to live in on the neighbourhoods page. For a buyer-focused look at the whole resort, see Sean's Predator Ridge real estate guide.
Sources: Predator Ridge neighbourhood map (Jan 2025); GlobeNewswire, 8 Sep 2026.