PEI signs deal with Golf Channel to Bring the "Big Break" Series to the Island

[Don Hyslop]

 The Canadian province of PEI has signed a deal reported at $800,000 with the Golf Channel to have them bring their series "The Big Break" to the Island's Mill River Course.

http://golflinkspei.com/golf/proto/golflinkspei/course_millriver/course_millriver.htm

The deal also includes other features of PEI golf and tourism to be shown on the Golf Channel. All of this is in an attempt to lure more American golfers to Canada's "Jewell in the Gulf".

http://scoregolf.com/blog/rick-young/2008/August/PEI-Scores-Major-Coup-with-Golf-Channel.cfm
http://peicanada.com/blogs/spinfree/archive/2008/08/13/golf-channel-partnerhsip-just-might-work.aspx

With almost 30 courses, many of them world class, within a 45 minute drive of the stately capital of Charlottetown the Island is a Golf mecca that is waiting to be disovered by many golfers who reside south of the 49th.

It will be interesting to follow the trend over the next few years tracking the number of Americans coming to PEI to play golf to see how fruitful this government initiative has been. With the rising price of fuel and a somewhat devalued U.S. dollar, it might be a real challenge but kudos to PEI for the effort.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2008/08/08/golf-channel.html?ref=rss

[Brad Tufts]

I've always been intrigued with PEI as a destination, being a Boston resident and all...and this is how the relevant courses were presented to me in a nutshell:

Links @ Crowbush Cove - Best on the island, not truly great, but very good.
Dundarave (Hurdzan/Fry) - Second best, again very good, with some really good holes and some duller ones.
Brudenell River (R. Robinson) - Not very good, very bland architecture, but a few holes on the water.
Andersons Creek (Cooke) - Awful, severe piece of land, really rotten course.
Eagles Glenn (Cooke) - Better than AC, but not a lot.
Glasgow Hills (Furber) - OK, not great
Mill River (R. Robinson) - OK, similar to Brudenell
Belvedere GC (?, reno. by Cooke) - bad
Fox Meadow (R. Heaslip) - Have not played

I've been interested by the S. Thompson pedigree at Green Gables, and have seen the pictures of what it once was, one of the more beautiful courses in Eastern Canada....did I hear rumors of a reno/partial restoration?

[Don Hyslop]

Yes ,Thomas McBroom did a renovation of Thompson's Green Gables Course and it just reopened this August. You can check it out here:  http://www.greengablesgolf.com/home.php?page=about

 The Links of Crowbush Cove is ranked the 8th best course in Canada. I would say having played the course that it is better than good. The thing that impressed me most besides the beauty of the layout was that we were treated like professionals from the moment we arrived in the parking lot. We were treated the same way at Eagles Glenn. It was a very hot, humid day and the course marshall visited us  frequently handing us out free bottled water. It was very appreciated.

[Brad Tufts]

Thanks Don.... do you know what exactly T. McBroom did?  Is it a total redo?

I was just looking...my parents' summer house in Aroostook County is 5 hours from Charlottetown...

[Kalen Braley]

The girls and the Seniors get a spot in a LPGA, or Champions tour event, not just a monday qualifer.

And the guys get a spot on the nationwide tour IIRC.

I've watched an espisode hear and there.  I don't care who wins, but its fun to watch the drama and various different shots and hoops they have to jump thru to get there.

[Don Hyslop]

Thanks Don.... do you know what exactly T. McBroom did?  Is it a total redo?

I was just looking...my parents' summer house in Aroostook County is 5 hours from Charlottetown...

  According to the Green Gables website which is still being developed; "Thomas McBroom, whose designs have achieved innumerable awards and accolades, has blended his own unique perspective with Thompson's original concept to ensure Green Gables meets the highest standards of golfing expectations. Building on the significant updates and modifications from the 1980s, McBroom has reinstated the old bunker designs of the course while expanding ocean views. He's also stretched the course from 6,459 yards to 7,000 yards of unforgettable golfing satisfaction.

"Thomas McBroom's insight and remarkable sense of craftsmanship can't be explained—it can only be experienced. He has redefined the Green Gables golfing experience with new challenges and viewscapes all the while respecting the character and history of the course."

Set against a backdrop of sand dunes in Prince Edward Island National Park, the deceiving lay Green Gables' greens, deep bunkers, six water holes, and ever-shifting ocean breezes makes for a challenging course in a landscape like no other. It is truly a masterpiece of two masterminds."
   I took a walk around some of the holes last year while we were vacationing in Cavendish and noticed that a lot of trees had been cut expanding views of the ocean. A number of the holes had been significantly lengthened as well. The course as it was prior to McBroom's renovations had been severely altered from Thompson's original design in a prior renovation.

  Here is a story that appeared in a PEI paper on Aug 1 when it reopened this summer;
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=158493&sc=99

 The whole "Big Break" thing is an attempt by the PEI gov't to get more Americans to see what the Island has to offer in golfing terms and to come and play on the Island. If you have never had an opportunity to golf on PEI it is worth a trip.