04 JUL 2018: It’s a tough task but someone’s got to do it and that someone might as well be me. I’ve been privileged to be on the rating panel for SCOREGolf magazine for several years. This involves playing as many golf courses as possible in Canada and evaluating them in categories of design, challenge, scenery, etc.
Last week, I set out with three golf buddies to hit some Muskoka links.
Ontario’s most coveted cottage county has become a fashionable playground for the rich and famous. When celebrities such as Shania Twain, Goldie Hawn and Martin Short started buying real estate, prices skyrocketed. Now Muskoka is full of upscale boutiques, restaurants and stellar golf courses. Acclaimed architects, have created a quintessentially Muskoka design aesthetic that capitalizes on the region’s unique granite outcroppings, mature forests, wetlands and sparkling lakes.
Gateway to Muskoka
Though you’re only minutes from the town of Gravenhurst, dubbed Gateway to Muskoka, a round at Muskoka Bay is a walk in the wilderness with fairways winding through mature forests and across majestic wetlands that have been incorporated and preserved in the layout.
Designer Doug Carrick elevated many of the five tee decks to give golfers extraordinary fairway views and eliminate blind shots. The phenomenal number nine requires a high-flying tee shot from a precipice over wetlands to an uphill and increasingly narrowing fairway squeezed on both sides by granite outcroppings. Swing thought: thread the needle! Number nine and numerous more brilliant fairways have put Muskoka Bay on the list of best places to play in the major golf magazines, including Golf Canada and SCORE.
Stay-and-play packages include a round of golf with cart and accommodation in luxury villas starting at $270 (plus tax) per person. Guests may take meals at the Cliffside Grill and a dip in the pool. www.muskokabay.com
Sequin Valley: A Hidden Gem
Seguin Valley Golf Club founder Robert McRae spent 15 years stitching together 2,000 acres—a rugged but stirring parcel of Precambrian Shield wilderness just south of Parry Sound—before his dream of a unique golf course set upon 400 of those acres began to take shape in 1998.
Although blasting was required to clear rock for some tees and greens, as well as for cart paths, little earth was moved during the more than four years of construction, as the course took advantage of the natural lay of the land.
And while there is a minimalist approach to bunkering at Seguin—there are just 25 sand traps on the entire course—and a driving range and expanded practice area are still in the plans, no expense was spared in achieving 18 spectacular fairways.
Among the most memorable is the stunning par-three seventh that plays over McRae Lake. The 180-yard-long bridge that curls from tee to green was constructed at a cost of $350,000. Those of us playing from the forward tees, get the unique experience of teeing off halfway along the bridge.
To complement the wild nature of the landscape, a huge, rustic clubhouse was built by Mennonites in St. Jacobs, Ontario, with each log numbered, before being reassembled on its permanent site at Seguin Valley. An iconic 40-foot B.C. cedar thrusts up from the basement through the centre of the distinctive red-roofed clubhouse, which finally opened in 2013 and now includes a 3,000 sq. ft. patio—the ideal spot to toast your birdies with some locally brewed Trestle ale.
Sadly, Mr. McRae, who passed away in 2004, never got to enjoy the realization of his vision. But Seguin sprung back to life in 2010 when new owner and passionate golfer, Mike Feldman purchased the property. Feldman and his team offer professional service and a very warm welcome.
There’s plenty of wildlife at Sequin Valley. You might spot a black bear or a moose and the lake is literally teaming with bass. So pack your fishing gear along with your clubs.
Seguin offers some tempting “stay and play” packages. On the property are three renovated two, three and four-bedroom cabins. Arrive on day one and play 18 holes with a cart. Have dinner at the clubhouse and stay in one of the cabins. On day two, fuel up with breakfast at the clubhouse and play another round. Cost for the two rounds with cart, breakfast, dinner and cabin stay is $269 per person (plus tax) from June 15 to September 16. www.sequinvalley.com