Lilies and Rhodos and bears, oh my. A round at Capilano is always on the wild side.

A common theme running through the history of Capilano Golf & Country Club is that of Mother Nature yielding to human nature.

The audacious architect Stanley Thompson was first to take on the task of taming the timbered mountainside, sculpting his layout through the Giant Red Cedars, Douglas Firs and Western Hemlocks that define this lush temperate rain forest.

Next came the players, some of whom demonstrated the focus necessary to ignore the intoxicating smells, dazzling sights and scenery a round at Capilano provides. Without fail, every champion who has won a tournament on the course speaks of the beautiful setting, no doubt delighted that his or her on-course mastery will be forever framed with such a background. The many other mere mortals who have walked off the 18th green humbled yet again by the subtle and deceiving layout of the course always find solace in the fact they've just spent four hours in the company of friends amid the splendour of nature.

The names and faces of those who walk these fairways change, like the seasons, over time. But that incredibly diverse ecosystem hasn't altered much over the past few hundreds of thousands of years. The conifer-dominated temperate rain forests and coastal sub alpine forests that stretch from central California to Alaska on the west coast of North America represent some of the world's most diverse ecosystems, and a vivid reminder of those ancient forests sits less than a kilometre north of the Capilano clubhouse. The closed-to-the-public Capilano watershed is a reservoir system that provides 40 per cent of Vancouver's Lower Mainland's drinking water needs, and includes hundreds of ancient trees and a thriving animal population. Capilano golf course's ingenious gravity-fed water system incorporating Elveden Lakes utilizes part of the Capilano watershed runoff, demonstrating once again the club's unique, low impact relationship with its natural surroundings.

What strikes newcomers about the Capilano property is the trees, not surprising considering more than 44 tree species reside here, and the wildlife. From the floral to the feathered to the four-legged, the range of living creatures that call Capilano home is as varied and scenic as the Club's views.

While a golf shop message board warning of a 'bear sighting on 12th fairway this morning' might strike fear into most club's rank and file, Capilano members have embraced and in fact encouraged such wild surroundings. Cutthroat trout swim in the creeks and ponds. Bald eagles share the skies with crows, sea gulls and numerous seasonal birds. Blue herons stand guard near water hazards populated with frogs, waterfowl and many a members ball. Families of raccoons come out long after the final putt of the day, reclaiming the course for the night-time creatures. Coyotes scour the underbrush for the mice and chipmunks that thrive on the fertile forest floor, and on occasion one of the wily scavengers has been known to give chase to well-struck tee shots.

And yes, brown and black bears are spotted each year. A healthy helping of mutual respect between golfer and bear has been the charm to this incident-free relationship, though many players still think twice about venturing too far into berry bushes searching for a lost ball. And as always, common sense will ensure that both golfer and bear get back to their respective business at hand.

The natural flora on Capilano golf course is as diverse as the animal life. Timberframed snapshots of downtown Vancouver provide a striking contrast to the early holes that roll and descend through the rainforest. The finishing four holes, set seemingly at the feet of Grouse and Crown mountains, offer few hints of modern times; one of the few suggestions of civilization is the always ice-cold and always appreciated lemonade at the 15th tee box. Water lilies float silently in the still of the water hazard on the appropriately named 'Lily Pond' par 3, and beds of wildflowers and dense wildberry bushes greet golfers hunting for errant iron shots.

What Mother Nature has not provided to Capilano, the membership has supplied over the years. An exception to the indigenous flora is the regal Southern Catalpa tree located on the southeast corner of the clubhouse property, overlooking the first tee and the 18th green.

Swallows are partial to this particular Catalpa, returning year after year to nest in the tree's extensive branch system. The Catalpa is an icon of Capilano Golf & Country Club. As to the crooked, elegant tree's future, cuttings and seeds have been taken to ensure another mighty Catalpa will stand sentinel over Capilano Golf & Country Club.

In keeping with the Club's enduring commitment to the past, several unique "mushroom" shelters, built around enormous cedar stumps left by logging activities that pre-date the Club, have been rebuilt or refurbished to their former glory.

In addition to the variety of species planted by the clubhouse gardener, special attention is paid to the aesthetic nature of the plants, with annuals planted in the first week of June to provide splashes of colour. While much of the colour is found around the clubhouse, there are flashes of natural brilliance on the course. Ask any Capilano member for a sure sign of spring, and they'll say the vibrant burst of the rhododendrons or maybe the flowering dogwood trees that provide such a glorious backdrop to the dramatic 14th green.

Each represents the promise of yet another long and warm, West Coast summer, and with it many more walks on Capilano's wild side.