St. Charles CC, Manitoba

[John_Cullum]

I recently played golf with a friend and his father. My firends Dad is a member at St Charles CC in Winnepeg, and I noted the bag tag showed 9 by Ross, 9 by Mackenzie, and 9 by Norman Woods. Cornish apparently did some renovation. And Bendnelow also did a NLE 9.

This is quite a pedigree, but I can find almost no information on this club. My search on this site came up empty. Can anyone share any info on the courses. I can't think of another Ross/Mackenzie opportunity.

[Jeff_Mingay]

John,

St. Charles has 27 holes: Ross/MacKenzie/Norman Woods (I believe).

Mike DeVries is currently consulting the club. He's completed a bit of work on the MacKenzie nine and the practice area, with more work planned for the future.

My friend, Kerry Watkins (formerly asst. at Calgary Golf), was recently hired as the new superintendent at St. Charles; which is a great hire by the club, in my opinion.

The course is relatively flat, but it occupies a neat property along the Assiniboine River. If DeVries ever gets the chance to jazz up all 27 holes, it'll be really special. Especially with Kerry involved, now.  

The Woods nine needs the most work and will likely receive a comprehensive overhaul someday. St. Charles will then have the Ross, MacKenzie, and DeVries nines!

[Robert Thompson]

Gents: I really think the people at St. Charles are top notch and the club has a lot of history. But the property is really flat, and some of the key Mackenzie features have disappeared. Neither the Ross nor the Mackenzie nines are outstanding -- the land simply didn't allow it.
Worth checking out Pine Ridge, a cool Ross north of the city....
In fact, Winnipeg has a lot of big names (Thompson/Mackenzie/ three Ross courses), but not a lot of inspired land.

[Ian Andrew]

The Bendelow built the West in 1905, was decidedly simple (none remains today)

Ross redesigned the West nine and built the south nine from scratch in 1919. Club history indicates this was largely by correspondance. The south nine is partially intact, and partially basterdized by recent renovations

Mackenzie designed the north nine in 1930 is mostly intact with a few holes restored by Mike DeVries.

West was left to go during the war. Stanley Thompson was asked to revitalize the course but passed on the work and recommended Norman Woods. Woods brought the course back to life.

The ponds and major changes to the bunkering that make the West Nine de"stink"tive were done by Bill Robinson in 1989. They were done to supply the club with water storage, but they have give the club a nine with a decided "modern" and forced feel.

The plan is for this nine to one day be rebuilt by Mike to create a DeVries nine.

[Tyler Kearns]

John,

Robert hit the nail on the head, due to the flattish land, the golf course can only be so good - not great. Pine Ridge and Elmhurst (next door neighbours and Ross designs) both cover much more inspired terrain in the sandy terrain north of the city.

Regardless, St. Charles is a good golf course, and has a really peaceful atmosphere. The architecture was compromised when numerous changes were made to the course to coax the Senior PGA Tour to hold their Canadian event at the club. It worked, however, the seniors did not play from the newly established back tees which forever altered a short, driveable two-shotter on the Mackenzie nine. Mike DeVries has been consulting there for a number of years, and to date has restored about half of the holes over the Mackenzie nine, by re-establishing the Mackenzie bunker look, clearing some trees to restore proper playing corridors and enlarging the greens to their original dimensions. The work has been an improvement, and hopefully in will continue in this vain as Mike DeVries completes the Mackenzie nine, and begins to tackle the Ross nine.

The west nine has a modern feel, inspired by a couple of large lakes, which clashes with the golden age atmosphere of the rest of the property. However, the architecture of this nine should not be entirely dismissed, with No. 3, 4 and 5 providing more interesting golf.

TK