Here’s why grapes and golf balls both love the Okanagan
They serve a different purpose, but both of these small, round objects found on the valley slopes share a common bond.
There are dozens of golf courses in the Okanagan valley, and nearly 20 in Kelowna alone.
Several of these are well known for being among the top tracks in Canada, and not just for the jaw dropping views, manicured fairways and designs made by golf legends like Fred Couples - they tend to stay open much longer than most other Canadian courses too.
“Some of the courses closer to the valley bottom here will see a longer season from early March right into November sometimes,” explains Chad Scott, director of operations at the Rise Resort in Vernon.
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So, why exactly has this region become Canada’s heartland of golf?
A golfer celebrates a birdie on the “Bear Course” at the Okanagan Golf Club. (Connor O'Donovan)
Well, in part at least, it’s for the same reason you can easily find another small, round object dotting the valley slopes.
Golf balls and grapes both benefit from the thermal regulation of local water bodies like Okanagan Lake.
“Without the Okanagan’s lakes, we wouldn’t have any vineyards here really,” says Spearhead Winery GM and Winemaker Grant Stanley.
“Everybody’s looking for lake influence, and sometimes it means you don’t have to be right on the lake, but you need to have drainage of air.”
Water has a high specific heat capacity. That is, it requires more energy than other substances to increase in temperature. So, while other features of the area, like soil and rock, warm up quickly, the Okanagan’s lakes experience a relative delay in warming when summer arrives. They take a longer time to warm up, but also take a longer time to release all of that energy when the seasons change.
So, these lakes spend the entire summer slowly absorbing solar energy, before slowly releasing it in the fall, and this effect has a significant influence on the microclimate of the region.
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When colder air arrives, the lakes act like natural radiators, releasing that stored heat energy into the surrounding atmosphere. This helps keep temperatures in adjacent areas more mild than areas further inland.
Crucially, It also helps buoy the colder, denser air that arrives in the fall, which would otherwise settle in the lower parts of the valley and lead to frost.
As winter approaches, the valley lakes release heat slowly after absorbing solar energy all summer. This boost of warmth helps buoy the cold, dense air of fall that would otherwise settle around the lower slopes and valley bottoms, creating a gentle circulation that delays frost. (The Weather Network)
That delay of frost helps give grapes a few extra weeks on the vine, and golfers a few more weeks on the greens.
So, the next time you’re sipping a bold Okanagan red, or booking a November tee time, remember - you have the shining Okanagan lakes to thank, although they aren’t the only reason the region is so hospitable to both tee times and wine tastings.
There are about 40 wineries that call the Kelowna region home.
The nearby Coast and Cascade mountains act as shields against the moist air of the Pacific Ocean, forcing the air to condense and lose moisture as it rises up the windward side of mountain slopes, and allowing it to dry, compress and warm up as it flows down the leeward side - similar to how southern Alberta’s famous Chinook winds form. This helps create a warmer, drier climate in the Okanagan.
Thumbnail image taken by Connor O'Donovan.