Langley's newest golf course will stand out from the crowd when it opens to foursomes this August.

Pagoda Ridge is located on the escarpment above Glen Valley, with stunning views of Golden Ears and the Fraser River to the north.

But its man-made attractions will also catch the eye of the first-time visitor.

For example, the main building on the site right now is a multi-storey pagoda-style structure. It sits not far from a fullscale replica Chinese junk bobbing in a water trap.

Drive your golf cart a little bit past that, and a chunk of the Great Wall of China emerges from the greens.

The land is owned by Lyall Brown and his family. The owners of a Port Kells lumber mill, the Browns bought the land several decades ago, when Lyall wanted a runway for his small airplane.

He cleared some of the land and built a pagodastyle structure as a hangar.

The junk followed over the next few years, built as a hobby using wood from the sawmill, and incorporating cannons, masts, and a brig.

The family debated various uses for the property, considering a Christmas tree farm for a while, before settling on a golf course.

About 20 years ago, the family settled on the idea of a golf course, and began working on the project, adding features one at a time.

Brown's son Larry helped his father shore up a steep ravine, and build a 250 foot bridge that spans it.

The theme for the course comes from Lyall and his wife Verna.

"They like the Chinese architecture," said Tammy Stamnes, one of the four children of the Browns.

About two years ago, the project's speed was turned up and the greens were created using a design and construction from Woodland Golf. The project incorporates quirky architecture, giving golfers a unique terrain to cover.

From the 10th hole, for example, golfers head through a tunnel, down a steep slope and across the bridge in the heavily wooded ravine.

Another route takes golfers along the top of the ersatz Great Wall.

"We thought my dad was crazy when was building the Great Wall of China," said Stamnes. But it has worked out great to create a unique course, she said.

Aside from the Chinese theme, the course has the B.C. touches that come with being in a rural area.

"We've had bears, lots of deer," Larry said. Deer tracks are visible on several of the sand traps around the course.

This June and July, the finishing touches are being put on the greens, which are rapidly nearing completion.

The course will be fully ready for golf starting on Aug. 1, said Stamnes and Larry.

They'll only have been open for two months when the course hosts the Vancouver Golf Tour championships, a tournament for 40 pros and 110 amateurs. The tourney will be a 36-hole invitational that will take advantage of what the Brown family says is a tournament-level course.

The course will have all the basics, such as washrooms, a snack shack, and a small pro shop, but there are plans to keep expanding it, including the addition of a driving range.

"It's going to be a little bit of a work in progress," Larry said.

Pagoda Ridge Golf Course is located at 7887 264 St. in Glen Valley.

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com