After a month-long hiatus from the game, golf’s favourite son has returned to the links with renewed vigour, seeking to dispel his winter demons.
Thus I, The Crime Traveller, will now set out to introduce you, faithful reader, to some of my preferred courses across Southern Ontario. (What? You thought I was talking about Tiger Woods?)
Golf and travel go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but for this month’s column, I am making a number of assumptions to maximize the value of my golf advice. First, keep in mind that my golf handicap is so crippling I may soon be eligible for Ontario Disability payments. The courses I have selected can provide a fair challenge to the seasoned golfer and the novice duffer alike, provided you are prepared to swallow some machismo and hit from the tees most appropriate to your ability.
Second, time and financial restraints dictate that most people enjoy their summer golf rounds within an easy drive of their home or work. A large percentage of Precedent readers are based somewhere within Southern Ontario, and this reality has influenced my course recommendations. Finally, if you’re a member of a private golf club, you’re probably not out looking for new course suggestions. Therefore, the focus of this column will be on four high-end public courses within an easy drive of Toronto where you can enjoy an outstanding round of golf with or without clients rounding out your foursome.
Prices quoted in parentheses are peak rates at primetime. Many clubs offer substantial discounts, so don’t be afraid to call their respective pro shops and hunt for a deal.
Wooden Sticks ($200)
Easily one of the most enjoyable ways to spend a summer day is to make the drive to Uxbridge for 18 holes at Wooden Sticks. More than merely a round of great golf, Wooden Sticks is s true golf experience. Pull up the round driveway in the early morning while the mist is still curling off the perfectly manicured fairways and a friendly valet will greet you to organize your clubs and park your car. Make your way into the well-appointed clubhouse and enjoy a complimentary hearty breakfast with your round. Save some time for the driving range (always staffed by a knowledgeable and helpful pro) and one of the best putting greens in the business.
Playing Wooden Sticks is akin to designing the world’s greatest golf vacations and cramming them all into a single round. Want to see if you can hold the island green at the TPC Sawgrass? Good luck on #17. Think you’re a match for Troon’s legendary “postage stamp” green? Take a crack at #11. Can your driver best St. Andrew’s world-famous “road hole”? Wooden Sticks’ #15 gives you a chance to find out. In all, 12 of the course’s 18 holes are replicas of the greatest holes around the world, right down to this year’s Masters leader board overlooking a clone of Augusta’s “Amen corner.” The remaining six holes are original designs that rival their more famous copycat cousins.
At the end of your round, an exuberant staffer will park your cart and clean your clubs while you regale your foursome with that outstanding shot on #13. All this is enjoyed on the clubhouse’s rear deck over a lunch or dinner (depending on your tee time) which is also included in the price of your round. It’s tough to find a better overall packaged value for a day of great golf anywhere in the GTA.
Eagles Nest ($185)
Shielding your face against the wind at Eagles Nest #8, it’s easy to forget you’re in Vaughan; the entire Toronto skyline is visible from this high vantage point on a clear day. The course boasts numerous dramatic elevation changes as virtually every hole requires you to carefully navigate elevated tee shots or work your way up a sloping fairway. Perfectly sculpted pot bunkers filled with sugary sand guard the greens — many of them so deep they actually require small ladders to negotiate in and out of.
At the centre of this dramatic course sits an opulent clubhouse oozing pure decadence out of every stone. The course’s signature restaurant, Lago, has made a name for itself in fine dining circles garnering accolades outside of the golf world.
But if you’re a golfer, you didn’t come here for the food; you came for the incredible split fairway at #17. You came to battle savage fescue on the par-five #9. You came to see if you could cut the corner and fly the water on your second shot at #18. You came for all these things. And, as soon as your round ends, you’ll make a promise to come back and try again.
Taboo ($195)
Mike Weir picked a heck of a course to associate his name with. Located in the heart of Muskoka’s cottage country, Taboo is worthy of the Canadian champion’s moniker. No need to worry about trucks rumbling down the highway or trains clattering across tracks while playing this stunning course. You’re more likely to get spooked by deer, fox or even the occasional bear.
Taboo takes outstanding advantage of its geography and topography, carving dramatic dog-leg holes out of exposed Canadian Shield rock. At #14, fingers of stone form guideposts running virtually the entire length of the hole. The par-threes reward pinpoint accuracy, or someone who can make a good save from the sand — vast waste bunkers precede the pins on #3 and #11.
While the course boasts many more holes to brag about, you’re sure to be left wanting more as you hit the tee box on #18. It’s a relatively short par-five (playing 500 yards from the white tees) with a fairway split down the middle by a massive finger of stone. The fairway changes elevation three times and teases strong golfers with a tempting risk-reward conundrum on your second shot after a strong drive.
Muskoka Bay ($215)
Muskoka Bay’s future as one of Ontario’s finest public golf courses is uncertain. Don’t get me wrong: this course is only getting better with age, but as more of the luxury real estate that borders the course gets snapped up, the resort gets closer and closer to its goal of taking this gem private and limiting membership to those who have purchased one of the surrounding villas.
Located in the heart of Ontario’s upscale cottage country just outside Gravenhurst, the course benefits from a spectacular mix of mature trees and sculpted rock. Any day is a great day to take in the breathtaking beauty of this course, but if you can only visit once, grab a jacket and book a tee time in the early fall. The view from the elevated tee-box on #4, over water guarded on both sides by thick forest ablaze in fall colours, is worth the price of admission alone. If that doesn’t get you charged up, try negotiating #9, where the fairway gets so narrow in advance of the green it gives the appearance of being strangled by the protruding rocks on the periphery.
Muskoka Bay’s perfect mix of green fairways, bleached stone, murky water and powdered sand make it an outstanding venue for physical beauty, so don’t berate yourself if you end up taking a few more strokes than you would have liked — you’re just getting to enjoy more of what it has to offer.
Got a favourite course you think The Crime Traveller should be hacking his way through? Leave me a comment and I’ll come out swinging.
When not jetting around the world as his alter ego, The Crime Traveller, Edward Prutschi is a Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer. Follow Ed’s criminal law commentary (@prutschi) and The Crime Traveller’s adventures (@crimetraveller) on Twitter, read his Crime Traveller blog, or email ed@thecrimetraveller.com.