Ontario Golf

[BallerNate]

10 minutes ago, jvincent said:

I'm sure you're not the only one.

 

I kept hearing snippets about 3 steps and the dates didn't line up which is why I checked. I have two more days to get the game ready for Sunday.

For sure...it was like Christmas yesterday, all that mattered was getting Tee times, Lol!!

 

I'll read up on the rest of the re-opening plan today...obviously I know it's going to be a poorly planned mess, which is all I expect now from this government.

 

Enjoy the practice and the round!! I've got 1 day before Teeing off tomorrow morning...can't wait!!!

[MattM97]

56 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Yeah, I’ve learned to separate my buddies into categories. My Category 1 guys I know are addicts like me, and when I suggest a day to go out, they’ll do everything possible to make it happen.

And then there’s Category 2 that will take hours/days to get back to you, will hum & haw about dates and times, want the weather to be perfect, will only play their favourite course etc, etc.

 

Some Category 2 guys are good friends, but make crappy golfing buddies, so most times I’d rather play a solo round rather than go through the hassle of trying to convince/coordinate with the Cat 2 guys.

 

I actually played alone a lot last year just because I have a different schedule from a lot of buddies, and a lot of times I prefer playing solo anyways.

 

Yeah one guy is always iffy but I don't mind if he can't play cause I don't have to pick him up lol.

 

The other friend usually he's good but he has this weird thing about playing on Sunday's, I get it but this weekend is a long weekend so no idea what's going on, he's probably just going to get drunk on his own on Satuday so early Sunday he would be useless which is fine.

 

My other buddy he's good, it's rare that he'll miss unless it's a family event but he'll let us know like a week or two ahead which is obviously the best possibility. 

 

I'm usually always in, unless I'm beyond tired but even then I'll play and only time I don't is if my buddies piss me off. But the solo rounds I'll play a lot, sometimes starters try and pair me but I avoid it (when the course is empty obviously). But if I decide to play after work during the week then lots of solo rounds to come which I won't mind, can clear my mind.

[BallerNate]

12 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

Yeah one guy is always iffy but I don't mind if he can't play cause I don't have to pick him up lol.

 

The other friend usually he's good but he has this weird thing about playing on Sunday's, I get it but this weekend is a long weekend so no idea what's going on, he's probably just going to get drunk on his own on Satuday so early Sunday he would be useless which is fine.

 

My other buddy he's good, it's rare that he'll miss unless it's a family event but he'll let us know like a week or two ahead which is obviously the best possibility. 

 

I'm usually always in, unless I'm beyond tired but even then I'll play and only time I don't is if my buddies piss me off. But the solo rounds I'll play a lot, sometimes starters try and pair me but I avoid it (when the course is empty obviously). But if I decide to play after work during the week then lots of solo rounds to come which I won't mind, can clear my mind.

Makes sense. Yeah, I've found I only have 2 guys that are really in my Category 1 that I know are down for a round whenever it's possible. The rest of my buddies are in the Category 2 and will play with them whenever things line up, but I definitely don't hold my breath.

 

I'm usually down anytime...the only thing that holds me back is my wife who's still coming around on the golfing addiction and tries to slow me down/stop me as much as she possibly can. Much easier to sneak in rounds while the kids were in school and she was at work, but now with the kids at home doing online school, it's a different ball-game. Just hoping I can sell her on getting at least 1 round in per week...if I can get that locked down at least, I'll be fine.

[MattM97]

19 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Makes sense. Yeah, I've found I only have 2 guys that are really in my Category 1 that I know are down for a round whenever it's possible. The rest of my buddies are in the Category 2 and will play with them whenever things line up, but I definitely don't hold my breath.

 

I'm usually down anytime...the only thing that holds me back is my wife who's still coming around on the golfing addiction and tries to slow me down/stop me as much as she possibly can. Much easier to sneak in rounds while the kids were in school and she was at work, but now with the kids at home doing online school, it's a different ball-game. Just hoping I can sell her on getting at least 1 round in per week...if I can get that locked down at least, I'll be fine.

 

I'm single with no kids and still don't have time for golf so welcome to the club lol. 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, MattM97 said:

 

I'm single with no kids and still don't have time for golf so welcome to the club lol. 

Haha...yeah exactly, life has a way of getting in the way of golf. 😉

[jvincent]

13 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Enjoy the practice and the round!! I've got 1 day before Teeing off tomorrow morning...can't wait!!!

 

Chopped it around for the first 3-4 holes today and then remembered to pay attention to my pre-shot setup notes and realized I was setting up open.

 

Fixed that and the stripe show started. @MtlJeff can comment on how narrow some of the fairways are at the Irish course and I only missed two after the 4th hole and didn't miss those by much. And this was with a pretty stiff breeze.

 

Chipping / pitching still needs work, but the full swing is rounding into shape. I am confident that we won't finish DFL on Sunday!

[BallerNate]

16 minutes ago, jvincent said:

 

Chopped it around for the first 3-4 holes today and then remembered to pay attention to my pre-shot setup notes and realized I was setting up open.

 

Fixed that and the stripe show started. @MtlJeff can comment on how narrow some of the fairways are at the Irish course and I only missed two after the 4th hole and didn't miss those by much. And this was with a pretty stiff breeze.

 

Chipping / pitching still needs work, but the full swing is rounding into shape. I am confident that we won't finish DFL on Sunday!

Awesome...good to hear you knocked the rust off quickly...sounds like a great round!

 

I’ll report back on my Day 1 round tomorrow at Cardinal too! Had a really good practice session in the driveway today and feel great, so probably means I’m going to sh*t the bed tomorrow! 😉

[BallerNate]

WE’RE GOLFING TODAY IN ONTARIO!!!

 

[MtlJeff]

12 hours ago, jvincent said:

 

Chopped it around for the first 3-4 holes today and then remembered to pay attention to my pre-shot setup notes and realized I was setting up open.

 

Fixed that and the stripe show started. @MtlJeff can comment on how narrow some of the fairways are at the Irish course and I only missed two after the 4th hole and didn't miss those by much. And this was with a pretty stiff breeze.

 

Chipping / pitching still needs work, but the full swing is rounding into shape. I am confident that we won't finish DFL on Sunday!

 

Overall you liked the course? (Ireland)

 

It's a fun track

 

Glad to hear you're playing well! I am too, actually have 10 straight rounds at 76 or better right now. Hope this continues

[jvincent]

3 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Overall you liked the course? (Ireland)

 

It's a fun track

 

Glad to hear you're playing well! I am too, actually have 10 straight rounds at 76 or better right now. Hope this continues

 

Yes. I had played it many years ago so didn't really remember any of it. I was in Ireland a couple of years ago and it it is very reminiscent of courses there.

[BallerNate]

Awesome to get back out there and swing the sticks!! For anyone going to Cardinal, make sure you stay on the fairway!
 

It was the thickest, longest rough I’ve ever played, and if your ball is anywhere off the fairway it’s going to be tough for you to find your ball and get any type of decent contact once you track it down. Extremely slow, mostly because everyone had to spend so long trying to find their balls.

 

But man it felt great to be back out there!

[jvincent]

On 5/22/2021 at 5:12 PM, BallerNate said:

But man it felt great to be back out there!

 

Yep. My club came out of the lockdown in beautiful shape.

 

Windy day out there today but it was perfect for golf.

[MattM97]

On 5/22/2021 at 5:12 PM, BallerNate said:

Awesome to get back out there and swing the sticks!! For anyone going to Cardinal, make sure you stay on the fairway!
 

It was the thickest, longest rough I’ve ever played, and if your ball is anywhere off the fairway it’s going to be tough for you to find your ball and get any type of decent contact once you track it down. Extremely slow, mostly because everyone had to spend so long trying to find their balls.

 

But man it felt great to be back out there!

 

I wish I saw it yesterday that rough way brutal I lost a dozen balls 9-10 just in the rough alone. I was looking with a buddy and he was like 8ft from me and I decided to drop a ball, he couldn't see it. You have to be on top of the ball to see it. 

 

Not to mention how it was impossible to get any club through it. Shots I normally took to play my eye better suddenly impossible. I flubbed so many wedge shots in the rough but on fairway I was honestly on fire with wedges today. 

 

Shot a 97, probably would have been a 90 or lower if the rough wasn't an 80s bush. But I got to golf today and golf next week so I'm happy to be back playing. 

 

P.S. gonna order a box or two of cheap balls from GolfTown or Amazon cause I'm playing West Wing next Saturday 🤣

[BallerNate]

4 hours ago, jvincent said:

 

Yep. My club came out of the lockdown in beautiful shape.

 

Windy day out there today but it was perfect for golf.

Yeah, courses should be in awesome shape. Can’t wait to get some more rounds in after knocking the rust off and getting on to some of my favourite local courses!

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, MattM97 said:

 

I wish I saw it yesterday that rough way brutal I lost a dozen balls 9-10 just in the rough alone. I was looking with a buddy and he was like 8ft from me and I decided to drop a ball, he couldn't see it. You have to be on top of the ball to see it. 

 

Not to mention how it was impossible to get any club through it. Shots I normally took to play my eye better suddenly impossible. I flubbed so many wedge shots in the rough but on fairway I was honestly on fire with wedges today. 

 

Shot a 97, probably would have been a 90 or lower if the rough wasn't an 80s bush. But I got to golf today and golf next week so I'm happy to be back playing. 

 

P.S. gonna order a box or two of cheap balls from GolfTown or Amazon cause I'm playing West Wing next Saturday 🤣

Yeah, it was insane. I lost 9 balls and purposely didn’t post my score because it was 15-20 strokes higher than any round I’ve played in over a year.

 

There were times we were looking for balls and 2-3 guys walked right over them and only the 4th guy would spot it. After a while if we didn’t find it within a couple of minutes we just gave up and took a drop.

 

Can’t wait to get some more rounds in and play courses with more golf-compatible rough that don’t gobble up balls like piranhas on a carcus! 

[kmay__]

Man been to busy playing golf to check back in on the thread! Haha, 3 rounds in so far, couple hack arounds on the local short tracks last weekend, then our first league round finally last night. Awesome to be back out and the course had a great setup for the league night. Made 2 birdies in the 9, and not even 1 par hahaha, she was all or nothin. Posted a 46 with 2 birds lol driving was baddd. 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, kmay__ said:

Man been to busy playing golf to check back in on the thread! Haha, 3 rounds in so far, couple hack arounds on the local short tracks last weekend, then our first league round finally last night. Awesome to be back out and the course had a great setup for the league night. Made 2 birdies in the 9, and not even 1 par hahaha, she was all or nothin. Posted a 46 with 2 birds lol driving was baddd. 

Yeah, so good to be back on the links! Where do you play your men's league?

 

I've gotten 2 rounds in so far...at Cardinal West Wing, and Vespra Hills. West Wing had the longest, thickest rough I've ever seen, and everyone who's gone this week has said the same thing. But Vespra Hills was in fantastic shape and is a gorgeous and super challenging course. First time there, but will definitely be going back!

[kmay__]

2 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Yeah, so good to be back on the links! Where do you play your men's league?

 

I've gotten 2 rounds in so far...at Cardinal West Wing, and Vespra Hills. West Wing had the longest, thickest rough I've ever seen, and everyone who's gone this week has said the same thing. But Vespra Hills was in fantastic shape and is a gorgeous and super challenging course. First time there, but will definitely be going back!

Beechwood in Thorold right by my house, nice and convenient to be able to get home from work shower up and be teeing off by 5-530. We got our league 9 in, then got another 6 or 7 holes in on the front side. Rough has def been thick and tough everywhere I've played so far. But greens are in great shape, fixed alot of pitch marks that weren't mine tho. 

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, kmay__ said:

Beechwood in Thorold right by my house, nice and convenient to be able to get home from work shower up and be teeing off by 5-530. We got our league 9 in, then got another 6 or 7 holes in on the front side. Rough has def been thick and tough everywhere I've played so far. But greens are in great shape, fixed alot of pitch marks that weren't mine tho. 

Nice... sounds awesome! I was thinking about joining a league or getting a membership this year, but I decided to play a bunch of different courses in my area again this year.
 

Next year I’ll choose one or both of those somewhere once I figure out what my favourite course in the area is for sure. I live in Barrie, and we’re lucky to have quite a few good courses here in the area.

[BallerNate]

So since we’re all done with the drama and back on the links, we can get back to talking about Golf!

 

So I’ll ask everyone, what are your Top 3 courses, either in your area or in Ontario? Feel free to post pictures if you guys like!

 

My Top 3 I’ve played in my area so far are: Tangle Creek, Vespra Hills, and Heritage Hills!

[kmay__]

I haven't played a ton of courses.... 25-30 or so, but I'd say Whirpool GC in the falls, Pen Lakes in Fonthill, and Sawmill GC in Pelham.

 

Honorable mentions to Legends Niagara Battlefield course, and the Bridges at Tillsonburg which is a fun track. There are soo many around though between Niagara and GTA and even goin southwest from here, hope to visit many more in the future.

[BallerNate]

On 5/28/2021 at 12:52 PM, kmay__ said:

I haven't played a ton of courses.... 25-30 or so, but I'd say Whirpool GC in the falls, Pen Lakes in Fonthill, and Sawmill GC in Pelham.

 

Honorable mentions to Legends Niagara Battlefield course, and the Bridges at Tillsonburg which is a fun track. There are soo many around though between Niagara and GTA and even goin southwest from here, hope to visit many more in the future.

Nice! I’ll make sure to check those out next time I get out towards the Niagara area. Used to get out there a couple of times a year pre-COVID, so looking forward to getting back. Such a beautiful area, so I’m sure the courses are beautiful too!

[MattM97]

I don't think I've played many courses since I got back into the game, there is a long list that I do have but time, cost per round and available tee times are not in my favor.

 

I'd say my favorites are: Piper's Heath, Woodington Lakes, Cardinal West Wing. They're nothing too fancy, Cardinal West is there just cause it's probably the best price for what you get out there. I've paid the same or more for much worse golf. 

 

Now my list of courses I want to play (deep inhale): Copetown Woods, Bond Head, Cherry Hills, Copper Creek, Hidden Lake, TPC Toronto, Wooden Sticks, Nobleton Lakes, Grey Silo, St. Andrew's Valley, and I think that's it basically within the GTA. There are others further out but probably won't happen for a bit and honestly there are probably a longer list of great courses I've missed and have zero clue about too. 

 

An honorable mention to Springfield G&CC just outside Guelph, played that last year and it was very well maintained and great greens too

 

On 5/28/2021 at 12:52 PM, kmay__ said:

I haven't played a ton of courses.... 25-30 or so, but I'd say Whirpool GC in the falls, Pen Lakes in Fonthill, and Sawmill GC in Pelham.

 

Honorable mentions to Legends Niagara Battlefield course, and the Bridges at Tillsonburg which is a fun track. There are soo many around though between Niagara and GTA and even goin southwest from here, hope to visit many more in the future.

 

Sawmill looks nice and heard good things about the Niagara courses. I want to do like a mid week Niagara golf trip when everything opens up. I'd tell a few buddies to come but the degenerates would probably be in the casino more than golf course. 

 

On 5/28/2021 at 12:30 PM, BallerNate said:

So since we’re all done with the drama and back on the links, we can get back to talking about Golf!

 

So I’ll ask everyone, what are your Top 3 courses, either in your area or in Ontario? Feel free to post pictures if you guys like!

 

My Top 3 I’ve played in my area so far are: Tangle Creek, Vespra Hills, and Heritage Hills!

 

I've played Tangle Creek and really nice, whooped my butt. Want to give it another shot and hopefully avoid a 3 hour rain delay and play the course soaked. I've never played Heritage Hills but I do play a charity tournament at Shanty Bay, so if that tournament happens this year which it apparently is then I'm definitely going to hit up Heritage Hills the day before or maybe if my friends and I do a round at Shanty before the tournament maybe hit up Heritage Hills as well. 

[BallerNate]

On 6/2/2021 at 5:30 PM, MattM97 said:

I've played Tangle Creek and really nice, whooped my butt. Want to give it another shot and hopefully avoid a 3 hour rain delay and play the course soaked. I've never played Heritage Hills but I do play a charity tournament at Shanty Bay, so if that tournament happens this year which it apparently is then I'm definitely going to hit up Heritage Hills the day before or maybe if my friends and I do a round at Shanty before the tournament maybe hit up Heritage Hills as well. 

Definitely recommend Tangle Creek and Heritage Hills very highly. I haven’t gotten to either of them yet this season, so that’s something I need to fix ASAP!!

 

Shanty Bay is nice too...those turtle back greens are killer! Went 3 times at the end of last season, and will definitely be going back this season.

 

I really only play courses closer to Toronto and other parts of the GTA to meet up with buddies, but we have such great value and awesome courses in Barrie I’d be totally fine only playing here.

[Jameszy]

Hey boys. Names James. New to the forum but a long time lurker. Live in the London area but play out of st Thomas golf and country club. Always down to talk golf! 

[BallerNate]

3 hours ago, Jameszy said:

Hey boys. Names James. New to the forum but a long time lurker. Live in the London area but play out of st Thomas golf and country club. Always down to talk golf! 

Welcome to WRX James! Us Canadian guys need to stick together eh! 🇨🇦🍻

[Jameszy]

2 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Welcome to WRX James! Us Canadian guys need to stick together eh! 🇨🇦🍻

Eh bud. Thanks for the warm welcome. We certainly do!! 

[MattM97]

1 hour ago, BallerNate said:

Definitely recommend Tangle Creek and Heritage Hills very highly. I haven’t gotten to either of them yet this season, so that’s something I need to fix ASAP!!

 

Shanty Bay is nice too...those turtle back greens are killer! Went 3 times at the end of last season, and will definitely be going back this season.

 

I really only play courses closer to Toronto and other parts of the GTA to meet up with buddies, but we have such great value and awesome courses in Barrie I’d be totally fine only playing here.

 

Oh Shanty those greens will humble a lot of people, if you can master those greens you'll be fine anywhere in the GTA. I've had a few eagle putts there only to end up with par or worse.

 

Yeah I see all the courses up in Barrie and even further north and I wish I lived closer honestly.

[BallerNate]

31 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

Oh Shanty those greens will humble a lot of people, if you can master those greens you'll be fine anywhere in the GTA. I've had a few eagle putts there only to end up with par or worse.

 

Yeah I see all the courses up in Barrie and even further north and I wish I lived closer honestly.

Haha...yup. Even getting a wedge shot to stay on the greens is a challenge on some holes there!

 

Yeah, Barrie is a really good Golf, Ski, and water sports area. Only problem is the commute in to GTA can be rough. Just depends on work hours/location, but otherwise the quality of life is high here.

[MattM97]

I need to find extra golf friends, didn't play last weekend due to the heat, not playing this weekend cause friends flopped on plans and next weekend cause of Father's Day. And my friends wonder why we can't get any better playing 1x/week to 1x/month. 🤦‍♂️