SCOREGolf Top 100 in Canada for 2022

[Wayne_Kozun]

The Canadian rankings are being released over the next few weeks, ten courses at a time.  Here is the first release of courses 90-100.  https://scoregolf.com/golf-course-ranking/top-100-golf-courses-in-canada/the-2022-top-100-100-91/



A few comments:

• Cataraqui probably should have a better ranking than 94.
• Magna has dropped from 60 to 93.  That is surprising as it had an LPGA event in 2019.  This course is a very high end private, but the quality of the course is meh.  But service at the club is top-notch, as are fees.
• Glen Abbey continues its fall from the upper tiers of the rankings.  It has fallen from 76 to 91.  It is losing the shine that it got from hosting the Canadian Open every year.  It used to consistently rank in the top 20.
• Kananaskis - Mt Lorette is down from 80 to 96.  This course, and its sister course, were rebuilt after a huge flood in 2013.  Some think that the sight has huge potenital but the courses are mediocre.

100
BEACONSFIELD
PRIVATE
Point Claire, Que. Stanley Thompson, 1939
SG Rating: 7.4715 2020 Rank: 100


99
DUNDAS VALLEY
PRIVATE
Dundas, Ont. Stanley Thompson, 1930 (David Moote)
SG Rating: 7.4729 2020 Rank: 111


98
CREDIT VALLEY
PRIVATE
Mississauga, Ont.  Stanley Thompson/Robbie Robinson, 1930 (Graham Cooke)
SG Rating: 7.4994 2020 Rank: 88


97
LE MAITRE
RESORT
Mont Tremblant, Que. Fred Couples/Graham Cooke/Darrell Huxham, 2001
SG Rating: 7.5008 2020 Rank: 68


96
KANANASKIS COUNTRY – MT. LORETTE
PUBLIC
Kananaskis, Alta Robert Trent Jones, 1984 (Gary Browning)
SG Rating: 7.5019 2020 Rank: 80


95
TABOO
PUBLIC
Gravenhurst, Ont. Ron Garl, 2002 (Alan Chudnovsky)
SG Rating: 7.5057 2020 Rank: 86


94
CATARAQUI
PRIVATE
Kingston, Ont. Stanley Thompson, 1917
SG Rating: 7.5094 2020 Rank: 92


93
MAGNA
PRIVATE
Aurora, Ont. Doug Carrick, 2000
SG Rating: 7.5118 2020 Rank: 60


92
BAYVIEW
PRIVATE
Thornhill, Ont.  Robbie Robinson, 1960 (Do[size=78%]ug Carrick)[/size]
SG Rating: 7.5160 2020 Rank: 106


91
GLEN ABBEY
PUBLIC
Oakville, Ont.  Jack Nicklaus, 1976
SG Rating: 7.5209 2020 Rank: 76

[Ronald Montesano]

Well, the Abbey is almost out.

I just returned from four days in Niagara wine country, but only visited one vineyard (Jackson-Triggs, for those in the know.) The rest was golf (Twenty Valley, NOTL, PenLakes27, Port Colborne, Niagara National. None of them will crack the top 100, but folks could do a lot worse than playing Robbie Robinson's masterpiece at 20Valley.

I wonder where Cherry Hill and Lookout Point (both Travis) will feature in the rankings. My guess is that Cherry Hill will land in the 81-90 range, while LP will land in the 61-70 span. Let's see how accurate my saying of sooth turns out.

[Wayne_Kozun]

In 2020 Lookout Point was 78.  It has ranged from a high of 65 to a low of 93 over the last  ~20 years.


In 2020 Cherry Hill was 43.  This is after being in and out of the list for the previous 20 years or so.  It is possible that it didn't get enough rankings to make the list at times in the past.

[Ronald Montesano]

Interesting. I know that LP has a non-Travis ninth hole, (plus a few more reorganizations) whereas CH has zero, non-Travis holes and a consistent flow from its origin.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Their ranking may be influenced by a lack of raters making it down to Niagara.  There are tons of good courses in the Toronto area and a lot of the rankers live in Toronto.  They may not bother going down to Niagara to play golf.

[Ian Andrew]

Interesting. I know that LP has a non-Travis ninth hole, (plus a few more reorganizations) whereas CH has zero, non-Travis holes and a consistent flow from its origin.

One original hole is split in two - 16th and 17th - it was once one hole.
The lost hole is from the 8th to practice green.
It was was played after the current 8th (then 8th).
The 18th plays to a different green site - the original is in the woods on the right.


The hole you mentioned is an original.
Course crossed over from at 7th/16th.

[Pete_Pittock]

Next tranche is tomorrow, more Saturday.

[Ronald Montesano]

Ian...how did a hole play from the 8th green to the practice green, with another hole (current 9th) running parallel to it? If I misunderstand, thanks for your patience in explaining.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Next tranche is tomorrow, more Saturday.

It will be interesting to see if Sagebrush is back on the list.  A course needs a minimum number of raters to have seen it in the last couple of years and it isn't clear that this will be the case with Sagebrush, especially since there has been less travel due to Covid.
There is one interesting thing that will cause some controversy, if rumours that I have heard are true.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Courses 81-90 were released today.  A few comments:

• Five of the ten were from British Columbia.
• Royal Montreal Red is on the list - I don't think it has made it before, at least not in recent yeas.  Royal Montreal Blue is normally around #40.
• Chateau Whistler has fallen from 56 to 86, continuing the rationalization of ski resort course ranking.  For some reason Canada had this tendency where courses at ski resorts (especially Whistler and Tremblant) seemed to rank very high - perhaps due to marketing.  This seems to now be unwinding.
• Royal Ottawa which is credited to Bendelow, Willie Park Jr, Graham Cooke is in the mid 80s.
• Wakesiu which is a Stanley Thompson course that recently held the Canadian Womens Open is on the list at #83, I don't think that it has been on the list in recent years.

90
PREDATOR RIDGE – PREDATOR
PUBLIC
Vernon, B.C. Les Furber, 1991
SG Rating: 7.5284 2020 Rank: 65


89
ROYAL MONTREAL – RED
PRIVATE
Ile Bizard, Que. Dick Wilson, 1959
SG Rating: 7.5332 2020 Rank: NR


88
COPPER POINT – POINT
PUBLIC
Windermere, B.C. Gary Browning/Wade Horrocks, 2004
SG Rating: 7.5530 2020 Rank: 89


87
COBBLE BEACH
PUBLIC
Owen Sound, Ont. Doug Carrick, 2006
SG Rating: 7.5563 2020 Rank: 59


86
FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER
PUBLIC
Whistler, B.C. Robert Trent Jones, Jr., 1993
SG Rating: 7.5581 2020 Rank: 56


85
EAGLE RANCH
PUBLIC
Invermere, B.C. Bill Robinson, 2000
SG Rating: 7.5583 2020 Rank: 77


84
ROYAL OTTAWA
PRIVATE
Gatineau, Que. Tom Bendelow/Willie Park, Jr., 1904 (Graham Cooke)
SG Rating: 7.5591 2020 Rank: 74


83
WASKESIU
PUBLIC
Waskesiu Lake, Sask. J.H. Atkinson/Stanley Thompson, 1935
SG Rating: 7.5606 2020 Rank: NR


82
BEAR MOUNTAIN – VALLEY
PUBLIC
Victoria, B.C. Jack and Steve Nicklaus, 2008
SG Rating: 7.5637 2020 Rank: 72


81
DEER RIDGE
PRIVATE
Kitchener, Ont. Thomas McBroom, 1991
SG Rating: 7.5653 2020 Rank: 67

[Tom_Doak]

For those who take these rankings seriously, note that the difference between 90th place and 81st is 0.0369 of a point.

[Wayne_Kozun]

For those who take these rankings seriously, note that the difference between 90th place and 81st is 0.0369 of a point.

I totally agree, but it can make a difference for marketing purpose for both public and private courses, especially if you rate higher than other courses in the vicinity.

[Ian Andrew]

Ian...how did a hole play from the 8th green to the practice green, with another hole (current 9th) running parallel to it? If I misunderstand, thanks for your patience in explaining.

No pond and no parking lot.
Tee shot over the valley onto the plateau, short pitch to the green.

[Jonathan Cummings]

For those who take these rankings seriously, note that the difference between 90th place and 81st is 0.0369 of a point.

Of which only the the .0 part, .03 in a tie-breaking stretch, can even be claimed as the measured part.  The rest of the fraction is just fun with a calculator and unrelated to anything measured.

[Ronald Montesano]

Last one, I promise.

RE: Lookout Point 9th hole. The current ninth is not an original. The original ninth was this drive-and-pitch par four that you/Ian describe(s), correct?

Asking for a Travis fan. Thank you.

[Andrew Harvie]

For those who take these rankings seriously, note that the difference between 90th place and 81st is 0.0369 of a point.

I don't neccesarily want to take these rankings seriously, because of points like this and some gripes with the category breakdown, but up here, SCOREGolf is like Golf Digest, where they have a true authority in Canada, and the rankings matter a great deal for some of the courses that just get in (like, Waskesiu, for example). I also participate in them, so I want to put out a good product. I submitted some 150 golf courses for this ranking, so I suspect it might be better, but I'm just one of a hundred people.


As for the actual list, it's off to a better start than normal. Waskesiu is very good and deserving of its inclusion. Magna, Chateau Whistler, Abbey, Taboo, etc all dropped big time. Royal Montreal's Red is an interesting one, I just played it past the deadline and there's actually some good stuff and maybe a bubble course for me, but it's certainly not SCORE's typically flavour... potentially a look into the future. With a bit of cleanup and restoring some of Dick Wilson's cool features there (particularly green shapes), Royal Red could be really, really solid.

[Andrew Harvie]

Last one, I promise.

RE: Lookout Point 9th hole. The current ninth is not an original. The original ninth was this drive-and-pitch par four that you/Ian describe(s), correct?

Asking for a Travis fan. Thank you.

 I believe the green on the current 9th has changed, and the direction of the hole has been rotated up the hill. From the current 8th, you walked to the left and played up to the current green. The 18th used to dogleg up to the right into the forest, and then the hole after that played up the hill to the practice chipping green adjacent to the parking lot and the current 9th. 16 and 17 used to be a long par 5.


The routing has changed a bit too: it used to be 1-6, then 16/17 as a par 5, current 18 but doglegging right, the 9th to the chipping green, then 10-14, 7, 8, 9.

[Ronald Montesano]

Thank, Ian and Drew. It now makes sense to me. I appreciate the patience.

I look forward to more trips to Canada as Pandemia hopefully subsides for good.

[Matt Kardash]

I really don't see the point of doing a list of 100. By the time you get to 100 on the list, what are these courses ranked, at about a Doak 5? It's kind of silly.

[Andrew Harvie]

I really don't see the point of doing a list of 100. By the time you get to 100 on the list, what are these courses ranked, at about a Doak 5? It's kind of silly.

What's the harm in posting 51-100?

[Ronald Montesano]

Massive jump by Dundarave. Nearly 40 positions. Any of you lads had the pleasure? What's the impetus for this leap?







73

[size=1.4rem]DUNDARAVE[/size][size=1.4rem]PUBLIC[/size]
Roseneath, P.E.I. Michael Hurdzan/Dana Fry, 1999
SG Rating: 7.5968 2020 Rank: 110

[Philippe Binette]

Would play Royal Montréal Red every day without even caring about the blue course... Rees just ruined the blue course..

[Pete_Pittock]

If you click on this link courses ranked in the 60s and 70s are now available in addition to those already discussed (javelined?).


  [/size]https://scoregolf.com/golf-course-ranking/top-100-golf-courses-in-canada/the-2022-top-100-100-91/[/color]

[Ronald Montesano]

Do Canadian raters crave farmland conditioning (contrasted with links conditions) or not? Huge contrast between a Cabot Cliffs and National Golf Links, just as there is between a Sand Hills and an Augusta National.

[Matt Kardash]

I really don't see the point of doing a list of 100. By the time you get to 100 on the list, what are these courses ranked, at about a Doak 5? It's kind of silly.

What's the harm in posting 51-100?

Oh whatever, they can do as they wish. I am not one for course rankings in general. i don't take it very seriously.It just strikes me as funny as some big important list talking about the best of the best....but let's just be honest, we don't have 100 courses worthy of such a list.What is the harm in Germany posting their top 100? Again, nothing, but I would bet the 100th course on the list isn't worthy of much investigation.