[Mark Saltzman]

I recently had the opportunity to visit Coppinwood Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada.  I knew very little about the golf course, but even playing the course in a constant and sometimes heavy rain, I was extremely impressed and really hope I have an opportunity to visit the golf course again.  I have played almost 40 T. Fazio golf courses, and Coppinwood is in my top 3 (and for reference of my own preferences, my top 10):

1) Victoria National
2) Shooting Star
3) Coppinwood
4) The National GC of Canada
5) Shadow Creek
6) Gozzer Ranch
7) Mountaintop
8 ) Glenwild
9) Black Diamond
10) Aldarra


ScoreGolf has Coppinwood ranked number 15 in Canada and Golfweek has it as number 9 on it’s top 30 Modern ranking.  The average GW rating is 6.60, which would place around 150 modern in the US.


Here’s what I liked:

1) Hole 12 may be the best modern par 4 in Canada.  Other holes often in the discussion are 7 at National GC of Canada and 6 at Bigwin Island GC, but the hole at Coppinwood is more interesting (JMO of course).

2) Hole 15 should be in the discussion for the best modern par 5 in Canada.

3) The routing is very good on a difficult piece of land.  Almost every hole has elevation change, though unlike many modern courses they aren’t all downhill!  Course constantly changes direction, which is very important as I’m told the course generally plays with a 1-2 club wind.
I was told that walking is a priority at Coppinwood.  Green to tee walks are never offensive and there are cut-outs through the tall grass.

4) Par 3s as a set are stronger than the individual holes.  Individually, only 11 is very good, but the variety of the holes make them work very well together.  I suppose it is the standard variety, but it is variety nonetheless.  Hole 5 – long P3 over water; Hole 7 – short P3 with significant green contouring / difficult up and down; Hole 11 – very long / downhill P3 with large green and really tough up and down if missed in wrong spot; Hole 16: Naderish mid-length P3.

5) Tree removal to create several very interesting skyline and eternity greens

6) Just the right amount of green contouring – It seems as though Fazio knew the greens would be kept lightning fast.  To me, the contouring was significant enough to create interest, but not so significant that the U-word (unfair) would often be used

7) Lots of interest off the tee.  Fazio’s other Canadian golf course has been criticized for being one-dimensional because it is too penal (hit it straight or else).  At Coppinwood, assuming you are playing the right set of tees, you will have a choice to make on almost every tee shot.  The bunkers are generally staggered, and hazards are at a diagonal.  Three-wood or iron is a reasonable choice on many holes.

8 ) A very well done driveable P4.  The tee shot is just enticing enough that downwind I would bet that just about everyone will take a crack at the green.  There are no hazards where one will lose their ball, but you aren’t making birdie after anything but a very well-placed tee shot.  One of those holes that you know the smart play is iron-wedge, but because you feel like there is not much risk in hitting driver, you always go for the hero play.

Routing




Scorecard Information










On to the pictures...

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 1 - Very stout par 5 opener.  Uphill, intimidating tee shot with more room than there appears.  Second shoot is over a diagonal hazard and bunkers.  Approach is straight uphill to a skyline-ish green.

Approach to 1




Hole 2 - Mid-length downhill P4.  Lots of interest (and width off the tee).  Best approach is from the right, but tee shots hit too far up the right will be caught be an encroaching fairway bunker.  Tee shots centre/left will find a speed-slot kicking the ball forward.  Taking note of the pin location will dictate the ideal line off the tee.

Approach to 2




Hole 3 - Can a hole be penal and interesting?  I think this one is.  Bunkers on three sides of a fairway that is at a diagonal to the tee.  One must pick their line off the tee carefully, but they also must know their yardages.  Bunkers left and right are staggered.  Some will play straight toward the center bunker (265 yards from member tee).  Others will play short of the right bunker. Longer players will attempt to carry the right bunker.  Approach to the green is similar from all angles.  Key to the hole is hitting the fairway.

[Gary Slatter]

thanks Mark, IMHO it is hard to better The National.  What makes 15 outstanding?

[Ian Andrew]

The routing is very good on a difficult piece of land.  

Mark,

Actually it was an easy site for a routing. We were involved with the previous project. The acreage is quite large, it's fairly open and full of large rolling terrain with a couple of nice valleys. The options were immense. This was a great site and anything short of a really good course would be a disappointment.

[Mark Saltzman]

The routing is very good on a difficult piece of land.  

Mark,

Actually it was an easy site for a routing. We were involved with the previous project. The acreage is quite large, it's fairly open and full of large rolling terrain with a couple of nice valleys. The options were immense. This was a great site and anything short of a really good course would be a disappointment.

Ian,

Thank you.  I obviously am not a great judge of what is and what is not a difficult piece of terrain. 

I was not aware that there was a previous project.  Can you provide any details?

Have you seen Coppinwood?  I would be curious to hear your take on it.

[Ian Andrew]

I was not aware that there was a previous project.  Can you provide any details?

At least two - one with Cupp and 18 holes (post Beacon Hall - same guys I think), one with Carrick and Cupp for 36 holes (just prior to Coppinwood). Both died on the financing end.

I have not seen Coppinwood.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 4 - Really good short/driveable par 4.  Lay-up is straightforward, should you choose to play it that way.  Plenty of width, though the best angle is from really far left and this is protected by a deep bunker.  BUT, most players will be tempted to give this green a go when it is playing downwind.  There is no water, no trees and no tall grass.  The thing is, though, just because you're not going to lose your ball if you miss your tee shot a bit, you're not going to make 3 either.  Tee shots that miss left have to deal with a severe run-off and tee shots that miss short-right (likely the most common spot) face a green that runs severely away from them and will be difficult just to keep the ball on the green. 

Best way to play the hole is likely iron-wedge, but it is so hard to stay disciplined when tempted like this.  A lot like number 5(?) at Mountaintop which also has no hazards but is all about angles, one of my favorite short Fazio par-4s.






Hole 5 - Very typical over water P3. Plays very long from back two sets (220+) and straight over water, but as you move forward in tees, the angle also gets easier (farther right).  Green is split by a large ridge.

[Ronald Montesano]

Is Coppinwood the old Wooden Sticks?

[Mark Saltzman]

Is Coppinwood the old Wooden Sticks?

Ron,

No, Wooden Sticks is still Wooden Sticks.

http://www.woodensticks.com/

[Rob Rigg]

I have heard good things about Coppinwood from quite a few "well traveled" golfers who live in the area - lovin' them some Faz' in TO with Coppinwood!

I am very interested to see the strategy because the layout - visually - looks fairly "typical" for the area, which IMO is strong but not earth shattering.

There are so many good to good+ courses in TO but it doesn't seem like there are any really great inland courses there - the golf topography is strong for sure, but a lot of courses seem to fall into the same "genre" of very green parkland with rough and then beautiful but nasty fescue based on my experience.

[Peter Pallotta]

Mark - I can't comment on Coppinwood, but just wanted to say what a great addition you've been to this site. I've lost count of the number of very good course profiles you've provided already in your short time here - with always clear descriptions and excellent photos. Good stuff - thanks much!

Peter

[Mark Saltzman]

Mark - I can't comment on Coppinwood, but just wanted to say what a great addition you've been to this site. I've lost count of the number of very good course profiles you've provided already in your short time here - with always clear descriptions and excellent photos. Good stuff - thanks much!

Peter

Peter,

Thank you for the kind words.



Hole 6 - A very good P5 with the variety of options off the tee that makes Coppinwood so good (in my mind at least).  Just like on hole 4, the 'lay-up' tee shot is easy.  Take a club that will leave you short of the right bunker at 250 yards and you have a straight fairway that allows you to bail left away from the hazard and use the slope to kick toward the centre.  For the more aggressive player, one can play farther left, attempting to skirt the left bunker.  Again, because of the slope of the fairway, one can play a bit farther right and use the 'ground-draw' to get around the left bunker.  For the longer players (240+ yard carry) they can take it right over the left bunker, but are challenged with a fairway that is at a diagonal to the tee with hazard left and bunkers right (this is penal, but there are lots of other options).  The hole, at 520ish yards, is just the right length to get players to try to bite off just a bit too much to try to leave a distance from where they can get home in two.




The view from 250 yards out. Once again, lay-up is easy.  Shots that laid up to the right off the tee will have a hard time getting over the right bunkers, forcing a lay-up, though there is a cut-out of fairway that rewards an aggressive and well struck attempt at getting home in two.  The bunkers are far enough short of the green that anyone who hit a bold tee shot should have no problem getting over them.  Reward for risk off the tee.




Hole 7 - Somewhat standard but good shot P3.  Green has a lot of microcontouring.  Green actually goes further left than is obvious from the tee making for pin positions that will give the 'floating' effect, where they look like they are actually placed in the rough.  Contouring right of the green is interesting as I believe depending on exactly where you land, the ball may feed toward the green, or it may feed away.  Some luck involved there.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 8 - Another really, really good P4 with lots of options/strategy off the tee.  Bunker is some 250 yards from the members tee with a large ridge in the left side of the fairway that slopes right to left.  So here's the deal.  Longer hitters can challenge the bunker and try to find the narrow part of the fairway right of the bunker.  To a front pin this is definitely the play.  To a back-right pin, maybe not.  The green is very narrow and there is a back portion that tucks behind the bunker.  You get a straight line in from the left, but from the right you feel like you're hitting into the bunker. 

OK, now the left option.  The left opens up the green, no question.  But the slope in the fairway slopes right to left, making a drawing second shot more likely and it more difficult to get the ball on the green that curls around to the right.  You really want to get the ball just short of the bunker to leave the simplest approach.




Hole 9

Comfortably the worst hole on the course.  The tee shot has bunkers left and trees right.  The only really penal tee shot on the course.

The approach to the green is 'typical'.  Not a whole lot unique here, just a longish approach over water with a view of the (impressive) clubhouse in the background.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 10 - The tenth is start of an exceptional three hole stretch. 

Options off the tee once again, and again these options dictate the second shot.  The fairway is at a diagonal to the tee, with an approach that is best from the left (ie challenging the left fairway bunkers).  Placement of the bunker right is really clever.  A tee shot that does not attempt to carry left bunkers will stay short of the right bunker.  But, someone  long enough to carry left bunkers but hits bigtime slice/push will be penalized.




Interestingly, the easiest pin on the green is near the water.  The pin over the bunker (as pictured) is very difficult to attack as the green slopes away just over the bunker and it is very shallow.  A tee shot that challenges the left bunkers off the tee will not have to carry any water on the approach, even to a right pin.




Hole 11 - A really difficult P3 with a massive false-front and a very tilted green.  The entire green slopes severely from back-left to front-right, and with the greens at the speeds Coppinwood keeps them, above the hole is very, very dangerous.  But, to keep the ball short of the pin, means to risk finding the massive slope short/right of the green.




Balls just missing the green could find a flat spot in the slope some 10 yards off the green.  Those not so fortunate will have their ball run all the way down to the rough leaving 50 yards to the middle of the green.  Up-and-down to a front-right pin (pictured) is a really daunting task (remember, you don't want to get above the hole!).

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 12 - The hole that may be the best P4 in Canada sits on the most interesting terrain at Coppinwood (at least to my untrained eye) that features noticeable elevation change and a fantastic rolling fairway.  From the tee, the green is in clear view (though it looks 5 miles away) and the line of charm is in full effect. 

From the tee, the player has three viable options:
1) Lay-up short of the left bunkers, leaving a semi-blind approach from about 180 yards out.
2) Try to get the tee shot on top of the hill, which requires a tee shot long enough to challenge the bunkers.
3) Challenge the right side.  If successful the tee shot will find a 'power-slot' leaving <100 yards in, though the shot will be substantially uphill.


Back Tee (430 yards)




Member's Tee (380 yards)




View from left of fairway shows undulations in fairway and the eternity-ish green.  Green is a very interesting shape - very wide and very shallow.  If you want to get close to a left or right pin, you have to have placed your tee shot in the right side of the fairway (or at the 100 yard marker).  Green open in front always shots to be run onto the green, though a significant false front makes the task much more difficult.




From 150 yards out.




From 100 yards out the eternity green turns into a skyline green.  Very cool.




From behind.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 13 - The weakest P5 on the course.  It felt like holes 13 and 14 were a bit of filler between the very strong 12th and 15th holes.  13 is a very reachable (470 yard) P5 that is perhaps a little over-bunkered with the most interesting feature being a large swale short-left of the green and a well-placed bunker just short of the centre of the green.

The approach from 200 yards out




Hole 14 - A bit more filler.  An OK shortish P4 with a large drop-off to the left off the tee and not a ton happening on the approach.  Good that I am sure scores range from 3-6 because of the large drop-off, but nothing special.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 15 - A really good snaking P5 that like much of Coppinwood is all about options.

No picture of the tee shot, but it is largely blind with only the left fairway bunkers in view.  Play it short or aim over the corner of the rough to find the fairway right of them?  Shots that successfully challenge the bunkers will find a speed-slot and put the player in position to go for the green in two.




Shots that are laid-up to the bunker will require a blind second shot over the bunkers to a fairway that is moving diagonally.  It is difficult to pick the right line/club from there.

The picture below is taken from ~250 yards out.  Shortest line is requires a carry over the bunkers, but if laying up, one really wants to be on the left side of the fairway to best challenge this shallow green.




From ~125 yards out on the right side of the fairway the green looks like it is nonexistent.  As a first-time player I didn't realize it, but trying to pick up a couple of extra yards by being on the right side of the fairway is not the play.





The view from the back of the green shows the snaking/diagonal/sloping nature of the 15th fairway.




Hole 16 - A naderish P3 that gets much better as you move to the longer tees, which are much further to the right.  From the tees I played the slopes on the left of the green can be used as a sideboard though as the green is open in front are not really necessary.  From the back tees the bunkers are more directly in the line of play and a shot off the slopes makes much more sense.

[Guy Nicholson]

Great tour so far, Mark. Is a naderish green one that's unsafe at any speed? 

[Kalen Braley]

Great tour so far, Mark. Is a naderish green one that's unsafe at any speed? 

I was wondering the same!! 

Mark,

It would seem the bunkering looks a bit redundant/ all the same size in roughly the same places on every hole.  Is this just me?

[Mark Saltzman]

Great tour so far, Mark. Is a naderish green one that's unsafe at any speed?  

I was wondering the same!!  

Mark,

It would seem the bunkering looks a bit redundant/ all the same size in roughly the same places on every hole.  Is this just me?

Gentlemen,

I feel as though I am on the outside of an inside joke.  And the winking emoticons only make feel further outside of the loop.  Do explain.

Re the bunkering, I am not sure about the size of the bunkering.  Dr. Klein in the Brookside thread discussed (briefly) similar bunker depths as a weakness of that course.  Honestly that is a level of analysis above mine, though it is something I will begin to look for now that it has been pointed out.

I will say that I thought the bunkering was very good.  I hate superfluous bunkering and there is very little of that at Coppinwood.  If there is a bunker, it is there to impact strategy on the hole (in general) and not there to merely penalize a shot hit where there happened to be a bunker.  The only hole that was overbunkered (in my mind) was the P5 13th, but as a reachable P5, I will give Fazio a pass on that one.  Other than that, the only other comment would be that in some cases Fazio used two bunkers where a single bunker probably would have sufficed (see the pictures of the 15th), though I suspect the series of bunkers is more visually appealing.  

[Guy Nicholson]

http://www.amazon.ca/Unsafe-Any-Speed-Ralph-Nader/dp/1561290505

Redan. Nader.

The winking emphatically did not apply to the part about the tour. It's proceeding at a great pace.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 17 - Like at The National GC of Canada and many of Fazio's other golf courses, the last two holes are brutally difficult.  A par-par finish will close-out just about any match.

The 17th is a mid-length P4 that plays very long as it is straight uphill.  The tee shot is quite penal with bunkers left and a significant drop-off and woods to the right.

The approach to the green (pictured) is quite difficult.  Shots can be run onto the green (which is good because I had hybrid left), but the greens has two 'wings,' each of which is protected by a fronting bunker.





Hole 18 - Good long P4 with one of the widest fairways on the course.  For many this will be a three-shot hole so the extra width comes in handy, but players wanting to reach the green in regulation will want to challenge the fairway bunkers on the inside of the dogleg.  The farther left one is off the tee, the longer the approach and the more blind the approach will be.




The approach, one of the prettiest on the course (not that beauty matters to GCA.com members), is to another infinity-green.

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