Pictorial: Burlington Golf & Country Club (Stanley Thompson) All 18 posted

[Frank M]

Burlington is a solid test with classic, tilted greens, fun approaches, and rather decent movement. Although the two finishing holes along the lake are out of character and not to my personal tastes, they do not detract from the strength of the 16 holes prior. Burlington is underrated and deserving of some more attention as it makes good use of the rather small property and is a sporty 6479 yard par 71 golf course. I think it would get the recognition it deserves with just a bit more tree work.



Hole 1 - Par 4 431yds




Hole 2 - Par 3 232yds




Hole 3 - Par 5 539yds










Hole 4 - Par 4 424yds






Hole 5 - Par 4 336yds






Hole 6 - Par 3 177yds




Hole 7 - Par 5 492yds








Hole 8 - Par 4 354yds








Hole 9 - Par 5 510yds




Hole 10 - Par 5 485yds








Hole 11 - Par 3 190 yds




Hole 12 - Par 4 401yds






Hole 13 - Par 4 361yds






Hole 14 - Par 4 392yds








Hole 15 - Par 3 177yds


Hole 16 - Par 4 365 yds








Hole 17 - Par 4 425yds








Hole 18 - Par 3 188yds

[Mark Saltzman]

Holes 1 and 2 are a couple of the very best examples of forced perspective I've ever seen. Really genius stuff from Thompson.

The restored bunkering on the course is very well done inasmuch as it captures Thompson's flair with his bunker styles. The 10th is just wonderful. Excellent use of the natural terrain routing both the driving zone and layup area across some seriously tilted land.

The 17th hole is a mess.

Underrated? Maybe. Score has it as 90th in Canada. It's not top 50.

[Frank M]

Mark: the 10th was my favorite on the course.

Regarding being underrated, Score has it at 90, but I'm willing to bet Burlington is rarely talked about and I think it deserves to be more "on the radar." Most people probably skip right over it at 90 and I think it can almost easily be 20 spots higher.

[Mark Saltzman]

Frank, you're right that it's under-the-radar.  Before it cracked Score's top-100 in 2011 (or 2010?) I had never heard of it.

[Keith Phillips]

My home town golf course!  I grew up in Burlington and regularly get home to see Mom - I was a muni guy at the time and was only able to play BGCC once - what a treat to play on such great turf!  It does look like they could take down 100s of trees - also, curious if the existing 17-18 stretch is original or did the course end differently back in the day?

[Mark Saltzman]

Keith, not original. The new holes were added by Carrick as part of a Master Plan that is still being implemented.

Though there are many trees, I don't feel that many need to come down. The corridors are wide and the trees do not intrude on the lines of play or negatively impact strategic intent.

[Frank M]

Mark: Is it Carrick that did 17 and 18? I was pretty sure 17 is Moote and I would guess that means 18 as well. I recall reading that somewhere pretty vividly, although I cannot recall where exactly.  

[Mark Saltzman]

I thought it was Carrick but could be wrong.. has happened many times before

Edit: Burlington is listed on CDI's website as a renovation client, but that doesn't mean he necessarily did the work. 

http://www.carrickdesign.com/reno%20portfolio.html

[Frank M]

Moote's website is moot point (sry), but Burlington is listed as his renovation work here

http://www.asgca.org/members/82?mid=125

I think the 17th hole is Moote's for sure as I remember that pretty well, but not sure about the 18th.

[Matt Bosela]

Thanks for the photos Frank.  Burlington is a lot of fun - very sporty layout.

[Alex Miller]

Great tour. No surprise that the 10th was your favorite; it really stands out in the pictures!

[Matthew MacKay]

I thought McBroom did the work on 18...it looks like his bunkering. My guess is Moote did 17.

17 and 18 are so out of character from the previous 16 holes, AND each other...they really detract from what came prior.

10 is a standout (very St. George's-like in its fairway movement and approach to the green). I'm also very fond of 12. Bumping an approach to a front hole location is good fun.

In regard to trees, I'd agree with Mark that generally the trees do not interfere with play...I think Frank's perspective comes from his 'slinger-hook' that he needs to start well outside the centre-line  I was impressed by the massive tree removal around some of the greens, including 2 and 15, two of an excellent set of par 3's (what else to expect from Thompson...)

I'd have Burlington in the top 75 in Canada.

[Frank M]

Matt: you may be right about my slinger hook

I want to make it clear though, I don't have much of a problem with the trees, but most of the negative criticism I have heard has been about trees and I think they need some work.