[Matt Bosela]

I had the privilege of playing the Devil's Pulpit in Caledon, Ontario a week ago in an outing put on by noted photographer Doug Ball, one of the founding members of the club.

The Pulpit, along with its sister course (Devil's Paintbrush) a few minutes up the road make up the 36 hole Devil's Pulpit Golf Association, surely one of the top 36 hole private clubs in North America.  The club was founded by Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, the two masterminds behind Trivial Pursuit.

Both courses were designed by Dr. Mike Hurdzan and Dana Fry, with the Pulpit opening first in 1990 and the Paintbrush opening two years later.

The Pulpit, ranked 22nd in Canada by ScoreGolf Magazine, sits on 315 acres of land to the Northwest of Toronto, right on the dramatic Niagara escarpment.  I can't imagine how much land was moved here but it's quite a stunning achievement and decidedly a different experience than the linksy Paintbrush, where very little earth was moved.

Here's a look at the course, with a little bit of commentary along the way:

ALL YARDAGES FROM THE BACK TEES

Hole #1 (Tower): Par 4 - 478 yards

Dramatic opener with an elevated tee shot played downhill to a split fairway.  The left portion of the fairway actually can't be seen in the picture below, as it sits left of the trees in that shot.  Going right allows the player a few more yards but trouble lurks everywhere and the approach shot is much more difficult from that angle.  Tremendous greensite, with two or three humongous grass depressions that are about 15-20 feet deep.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT (FROM THE LEFT FAIRWAY)


Hole #2 (Caldwell): Par 4 - 364 yards

Short two shotter plays from an elevated tee and gives the longer player a chance to get close to the green.  Beware the centerline pot bunker!  Elevated green site.  Bit of a breather hole but hell, I made double so it can't be THAT easy!

TEE SHOT


Hole #3 (Inglewood): Par 3 - 182 yards

Slightly elevated tee shot to a very large, undulating green.  Nice greensite.

TEE SHOT


Hole #4 (Twin Taverns): Par 4 - 445 yards

Uphill, dogleg right par four where you can't see the green from the tee.  A fade off the tee works best obviously to set up an uphill second shot with a cavernous bunker behind the green and a huge, 20 foot dropoff left.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT


Hole #5 (Silver Creek): Par 4 - 401 yards

Cool par four with a blind tee shot.  The fairway slopes severely downhill about 200 yards from the tee, leaving a short approach over a creek to a very shallow, very wide and incredibly undulating green that is multi-tiered.  Long is dead.  Short is dead.  Missing your proper tier is a certain three putt.  One of my playing partners missed the left pin position by about 20 feet and the ball rolled off the slope and ended up near the right fringe, over 100 feet away!  Really solid, short two shotter.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT


Hole #6 (Memorial): Par 4 - 415 yards

Sharp dogleg left par four with a gravesite on the corner of the dogleg.  Green is very long but narrow and sits above the fairway.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT


Hole #7 (Devil's Pulpit): Par 3 - 132 yards

Beautiful, tiny par three with trouble everywhere.  Plateau-type green with a lot of undulation.

TEE SHOT


Hole #8 (The California Exchange): Par 5 - 485 yards

Tremendous fun!  Uphill par five with a centerline bunker in the fairway that separates the more elevated right side, giving the gambling player a better view of the greensite that is tucked left behind larger bunkers up the fairway.

TEE SHOT


Hole #9 (Patterson's Grief): Par 4 - 401 yards

A dogleg left par four off an elevated tee but the second shot is played well uphill to a greensite protected by water left.  Very large green with tremendous slope.

TEE SHOT

[Matt Bosela]

Hole #10 (Escarpment): Par 4 - 413 yards

Stunning view off this elevated tee.  The drive must be placed between the tall tree that sits on the left side of the fairway and some large scale, fescue lined mounding on the right.  The green sits lower than the fairway and drops off quite a bit to the left.

TEE SHOT


Hole #11 (West): Par 4 - 459 yards

This is actually three holes in one, as there are East and South variations of the hole that play from different decks and dramatically change the complexion of the hole when in play.  We played the standard hole that day and it's a brute!  Downhill tee shot into the wind with a tough, long second shot that must miss the reservoir left of the green and bunkers right.  Huge, multi-tiered green.

TEE SHOT


LOOKING BACK TOWARD TEE FROM GREEN


GREEN FROM ABOVE


Hole #12 (Garrity's Grade): Par 4 - 423 yards

Straightaway, relatively routine par four.  The green is elevated somewhat and there is a pot bunker up in front of the putting surface.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT


Hole 13 (Sligo): Par 5 - 512 yards

Neat par five, again with a split fairway and once again, the right side is elevated to give the golfer a better view of the approach.  Water runs down the left side of the fairway and the green is tucked in between some immense, man-made mounding.  I've included a closeup of the approach to give you an idea of the scale of that mounding.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH FROM RIGHT FAIRWAY


CLOSEUP OF GREENSITE FROM FAIRWAY


Hole #14 (Falconer's Slash): Par 4 - 425 yards

Tight driving hole that requires the tee shot to navigate around or over a centerline pot bunker.  Slightly uphill second shot to a green set at a slight diagonal to play.

TEE SHOT


APPROACH SHOT


Hole #15 (Dingle Dougherty): Par 4 - 438 yards

Semi-blind tee shot on this dogleg left, downhill par four, with trees and fescue left and a large target bunker right.  Nice little green that slopes sharply front to back and right to left and accepts the ground game, one of the few holes out here that do.  Got into trouble left off the tee here and didn't have time to take any pictures.  Nice hole though!

Hole #16 (The Crown Inn): Par 3 - 230 yards

Difficult par three with a very wide but shallow putting surface.  Much more room out to the right and it's truly a gamble to go for the sucker pin on the left, where it was located the day we played.  I went for it and failed miserably!

TEE SHOT


Hole #17 (Bruce Trail): Par 4 - 456 yards

Lovely uphill par four that drops off quite a bit to the left of the fairway.  Fescue lines the whole right side.  Elevated green with a couple of tiers.  Long and difficult!

TEE SHOT


LOOKING BACK DOWN FAIRWAY FROM THE GREEN


Hole #18 (Lundy's Lane): Par 4 - 503 yards

Tremendously long, downhill par four off an elevated tee.  The hole doglegs to the left and thankfully, plays much shorter than its yardage.  The green is relatively large and you can run it in.  Still, a tough finisher.

TEE SHOT


I really enjoyed playing the Pulpit but it's as tough as nails.  The course requires an exacting aerial game and there are precious few opportunites to run your ball in and utilize the ground game, something that is prevalent at the sister course, the Devil's Paintbrush.  That's definitely one of the most unique things about the facility - the fact that the courses are so different despite being separated by only a couple of miles.

Still, I had fun playing the Pulpit but really look forward to playing the Paintbrush for the first time to compare the experiences.

NOTE:

I actually showed up at the Paintbrush that morning, thinking we were playing there.  I got a few pictures of the course on the way in and needless to say, I was drooling in the parking lot.  I'll add the photos later if someone wants to see them.

I received an invite to play the 'Brush but couldn't make it back before they close the course down for the season.  I believe they are shutting it down in early August in order to kill off the greens and reseed them with a different grass.  I'm looking forward to getting out there next year to experience it firsthand!

[Adrian_Stiff]

Nice pictures Matt, Mike Hurdznam features this/his course a lot in one of his early books, quite a British landscape in some respects as the initial back drop. I like his use of modern and old features and the blending of the native out of play grasses with the cut and prepared. One of the courses has a sheep dip or old stone feature in the middle of fairway as I remember, is that the other one?
I am looking forward to more pics, thanks.

[Derek Dirksen]

Thanks for the great photos.

[Matt_Ward]

What makes Pulpit so interestring is how different the two courses are -- the Paintbrush being the other. Curious Matt if you played both when there and your thoughts.

One quick point / re: the 1st at Pulpit-- goign down the right side is far easier than the pics would suggest. Good players can hit solid drive and have nothing more than a flip wedge to the green. Going left isn't as easy as one thinks and the resulting 2nd shot you have left is no easy deal either.

[Ronald Montesano]

Matt, if you read the end of his post, you'll learn that he went to P-Brush first (and mistakenly), shot a few pictures, then ended up correctly at Pulpit.  You'll also learn that he won't be able to return before they close P-Brush for the year, so 2010 is on his calendar for a return.

I can't imagine two courses that I would rather play than these two.  Few folks south of the border have heard of them, but they sit on a ridge overlooking Toronto.  That area is filled with great golf, with this 36-hole private club perhaps representing the best of the amalgam.  He is a lucky fellow to have access to these two fine courses.

[Matt_Ward]

Ron:

Thanks for the clarification. Mea culpa on my part.

I like both courses and played both of them early on after they first opened.

Be curious to know how they have matured and from anyone whio has played them since the very beginning to the most recent of times.

p.s. For what it's worth -- I find Paintbrush to be one of the more unheralded courses one can play from the layout I have been lucky to play in Canada.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I don't know that I would call the Paintbrush unheralded as it has been ranked in the top 10 in Canada for the last several years and was ranked #4 in Canada in the 2006 list which put it behind only St Georges, The National and Hamilton.  It fell to #10 in the 2008 rankings but it is still in pretty exalted company.  The club is, arguably, one of the best 36 hole clubs anywhere.

[Matt_Ward]

Wayne:

What I meant by the use of the term "unheralded" is that while our brothers and sisters north of the border may know a good bit about the 36-hole layout outside of Toronto -- few in the States have really heard much about the facility and just how different the two 18 hole layouts are.

Hurdzan and Fry did a stellar job in creating a second 18 that in so many ways really is a good beyond the original.

[Rob Rigg]

Matt W,

I think you bring up a good point - in general - about some hidden gems that exist in the Toronto area - with Pulpit and Paintbrush being two of them. For a city with a short golf season, T.O. has a lot of courses and a mix of excellent public/privates. If you drive north of the city to Muskoka, there are some interesting tracks up there as well, in addition to Hamilton, The National, Redtail, etc.

I remember playing Pulpit about 15 years ago, it was a ton of fun (but not an easy walk ) . The first hole should absolutely be played driver to the right fairway, wedge to the green, as Matt suggests.

I recall that the equity memberships were very expensive (many years ago) but would have to agree that the one two punch of Pulpit and Paintbrush (two different styles and quality courses) would be tough to beat - in any city.

Well done on the photos Matt B.

[Peter Pallotta]

Thanks much, Matt. For some reason, these are the first set of photos I've even seen of DP.  Not to sidetrack this, but it struck me how different the course looks from Redtail (built around the same time? on similar topography? )

Thanks again; glad you got a chance to enjoy it

Peter

[Guy Nicholson]

I had a chance to play at the Pulpit a couple of months ago. An immaculate course with some good holes - 3, 8, 15 and 18 were my favourites, although a few holes felt over the top (7, 10). I had one of my best driving days ever and still didn't come close to matching my handicap.

Interested that a couple of people like driving down the right side of 1. The wind on that first tee was just howling when I was there (the photos never do justice to the actual elevation change) and I thought, no way I'm taking that on. Then I got to my ball on the left, with a sidehill lie and 200+ to go, and wondered if I should have been more aggressive. Given the score I eventually took, I might as well have gone for it.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I recall that the equity memberships were very expensive (many years ago) but would have to agree that the one two punch of Pulpit and Paintbrush (two different styles and quality courses) would be tough to beat - in any city.

That depends on your perspective of expensive but my understanding is that the price of shares has been very reasonable in the context of the private golf club memberships in Toronto - even before the current recession hit.  Certainly it was nowhere near the six figures that some of the top end courses have been getting in recent years.  The only problem with this facility is that it is a LONG WAY from downtown at around 1 1/4 hours.  Pretty much all of the other top notch private courses (The National, St Georges, Toronto GC, Beacon Hall, Rosedale, Weston, Scarboro, etc)  are much closer.

But there is no question that in terms of value for money that this is the best deal for a private club membership in the Greater Toronto Area, even with the "sale" on at other private clubs in the current environment.

Peter - My understanding is that at Redtail Donald Steele tried to move as little earth as possible.  Legend has it that huge volumes of earth were moved on the first hole alone at the Pulpit.  But they have similar Genesises(?) as they were both built by guys that had made FU money and decided that they wanted their own world class golf course facility that would be very exclusive.  I only hope that my day comes!

[Brad Kane]

Great photos, looks like a blast to play!! 

[henrye]

Both courses are fine layouts and good fun to play.  I think Doak rated both at about a 6 in his Confidential guide (which sounds about right to me).  Of the two, I prefer the Paintbrush, but feel some of the finishes make it feel a bit contrived.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Both courses are fine layouts and good fun to play.  I think Doak rated both at about a 6 in his Confidential guide (which sounds about right to me).  Of the two, I prefer the Paintbrush, but feel some of the finishes make it feel a bit contrived.

I would put the Paintbrush more like an 8 and Pulpit at 6.  That is assuming that the very top courses in Canada would be 9s on the Doak scale - I think the Paintbrush is just a tinch below those courses.

[Matt MacIver]

I agree with the ~8 and ~6 for Paintbrush and Pulpit, respectively, based on my sole play.  But maybe that's just because I think Paintbrush's routing, holes, hazards, traps, greens and clubhouse are More Fun.  Two completely different courses and experiences so close together, what a great place. 

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