Mark,
For whatever it's worth, below are comments by Ben Dewar and I, from our "Canada's Top Golf Courses" piece that features in the In My Opinion section of this web site.
"JM: I dislike the “term” but, Cataraqui is an excellent “member’s course”. Featuring an interesting collection of holes of varying length and difficulty, Cataraqui is easily walk-able, too. It’s the type of golf course I’d enjoy as a 10-handicap member, anyway. Stanley Thompson laid a new design over the original Cataraqui course during the late 1920s. Although it’s one of Thompson’s lesser-known designs throughout the world, Catarqui possesses some outstanding holes. Typical of Thompson’s work, the par 3s are particularly good. The second and fifteenth are long, brutish one-shotters, played uphill to elusive putting greens surrounded by hazards; the eighth is shorter, and less difficult, but definitely an interesting hole, too; and, the twelfth a classic drop-shot par 3 featuring a pond guarding the left-front of the putting surface and bunkers built into Thompson-esque mounds at rear. Catarqui’s par 4 first and eighteenth holes, separated only by a major roadway from the shore of Lake Ontario, occupy some very interesting terrain as well. (The eighteenth might be my favourite hole on the course). And, other stand out holes include the difficult, par 4 third (featuring an attractive, natural rock outcropping behind the green), the par 5 fourth (which possesses the most interesting green surface at Cataraqui), and the par 4 tenth. Writing this brief review makes me anxious to return to Cataraqui, actually!
BCD: Arguably one of Canada’s most charming courses, which despite its relative lack of length, still provides challenge and remains a joy to play. The strongest set of par threes that Stanley built, which is high praise given some of his tremendous work. The 2nd and 15th are among the very best long par threes I have ever seen, both playing uphill to targets that demand a great shot. The other two par threes are more modest in length, but equal in their exacting nature. From the near-perfect opening hole to the tremendous closing hole, the course moves across some dynamic land and proves a wonderful walk. The courses key weakness are the upper holes (5-7) that occupy the flattest land on the course and are a slight letdown after the superb opening four holes. Thompson’s work here is easy to spot and shows his sheer mastery."
Overall, I'm a big fan of Cataraqui. There are a couple weak holes, but course compares very favourably with Scarboro and Lookout Point. Toronto Golf is a notch up.