Memphrémagog (2019)

Exclusively is America’s game: numerous uber-exclusive escapes from society exist across the country—from Sunnylands in Palm Springs, to Morefar on the New York/Conneticut border and everything in between. Augusta National or Chicago Golf Club might be the hardest Top 100 golf courses to play, but when you begin to factor in billionaire backyard courses or memberships of less than 100, an entirely different level of exclusivity begins to take shape. How many people know someone who has played Cow Neck Preserve in Southampton? Or perhaps James Island outside Sydney, British Columbia? 

Opened in 2008, Memphrémagog is firmly in that group of hyper-exclusive golf courses, with less than 60 members at any given time and many of them among Canada’s billionaires and most influential figures. There are less than 3,000 rounds per year and, as a result, the golf course is generally without a divot or ballmark in sight. 

Owner Paul Desmarais and Jean Monty wanted their own escape from the urban sprawl of nearby Montreal, heading south to just 20 minutes north of the Vermont border near Lac Memphremagog. The duo hired Thomas McBroom after first-impressions of Öviinbyrd were positive. 

With exclusivity in mind and Öviinbyrd as an influence, Desmarias and Monty gave McBroom a single objective: a hard, players golf course. Upon Öviinbyrd’s opening, PGA Tour winner and Canadian Ian Leggatt shot a shocking 60 (!), setting the course record early on. The ownership group liked what McBroom did at Öviinbyrd, but never wanted anyone to shoot such a low score on their own golf course. As a result, Memphrémagog is McBroom at his most intense, both in his bunkering and his green complexes. 

Much like Redtail, where the small, heavily contoured surfaces are pragmatic for such a sleepy, quiet private club but would reasonably be too-small and too-contoured for public play or even a bigger private club, Magog’s greens are borderline over-the-top, with more movement than most clubs can afford or handle. 

The First approach at Memphrémagog with its severe false front bringing balls back 70 yards down the fairway in some instances!

Without having to factor in the amount of pin-able locations or the wear on “usable” portions of the green surfaces, private clubs have less limitations, especially as round counts drop and the demographics who play the golf course dwindle. Take a public golf course, as an example, where any potential customer might show up and play, having to get around in 4 hours or so. Dramatic carries, fast greens, undulating greens, deep bunkers, and other features might be considered or avoided, depending on the client and clientele, but at a private club—especially of Memphrémagog’s exclusivity, no less—many of those considerations or causes for concern can be forgotten all together. As a result, it frees the architect up to build their vision, regardless of other considerations.

Among Thomas McBroom’s catalogue, Memphrémagog is that: without any limitations on what he could or couldn’t build, it allowed him to free up and build the best possible golf course he could think of. 

Holes to Note

Fourth hole, 177 yards; No routing worth its salt has poor one-shot holes, for the architect needs to identify what natural features the one-shot holes take advantage of, or producing interesting features by maximizing their own creativity to make a hole standout. Slightly downhill over a creek to a green perched on the other side and seemingly surrounded by bunkers, the fourth hole provides a welcomed introduction to the golf course after a gentle, slower start. 

Sixth hole, 525 yards; At its scorecard length and slope rating, Memphrémagog is one of Canada’s hardest golf courses, measuring a whopping 7,498 yards, 76.9/148. The Sixth is the longest par 4 on the golf course, but arguably the most exciting with its high tee tumbling down to the fairway looking across the Quebecios terrain and mountains to the west. 

Without a bunker in the fairway to either challenge players or direct traffic, the tee shot’s subdued nature compliments the dramatic terrain well, especially considering the length and difficulty of such a brute of a four-shot hole. Finally, after a ostantacious opening stretch, the Sixth is a welcomed added flavour to the layout. 

After successfully navigating the tee shot, a downhill second shot coming into the green guarded by a single bunker right awaits. The tee shot’s ever-so-slightly bend to the left further annunciates the outside-right bunker on the green, but the real difficulty is the surface itself with its spine running parallel to the line of play, dividing the green into a left and right half. A mound in the front centre ushers traffic, too, and given the long nature of the second shot, most will have to negotiate with the little hump in order to hit the green in regulation.

Cameras naturally flatten everything, but Magog’s greens are notoriously contoured. Given the size of the membership and the limited number of rounds—that, and Jean Monty and Paul Desmarais wanted their golf course to be a stern test of golf—they are, my a wide margin, architect Thomas McBroom’s most severe and dramatic. Sometimes, they are sporadically contoured and rambunctious, but but other times, like the Sixth, they feel very purposeful. 

In reverse, the central spin and knob short of the green are the main deflectors at the Sixth.

Tenth hole, 465 yards; A large ridge bisects the property, splitting the golf course into the higher-side front nine, and the valley back nine that it eventually climbs out of. Perhaps taking cues from Augusta National (which seems to influence a lot of Magog’s vibe, from their clubhouse to the conditioning and more), the Tenth begins the back nine with a toboggan into the valley below.

Even if the approach (below) doesn’t seem to match the intensity and interest of the tee shot, unfortunately fronted by a holding irrigation pond, the green complex’s random roly-poly nature makes up for it. 

Looking back at the Tenth reveals the dramatic fall into the valley, with a cameo from the Tenth’s undulating green complex. 

Eleventh hole, 442 yards; Magog’s strength as a single product is the balancing act between the dramatic, almost frivolous moments, and the more subdued, graceful additions to the layout. On the front nine, the handful of holes where McBroom’s heavy-hand contrasts nicely against more subtle holes like the Third and Sixth. 

The same is true on the back nine, although much of the back nine begins to build towards the mighty finishing stretch. Nonetheless, the simplistic Eleventh through the lower portion of the property begins on a bunker-less tee shot. While the Tenth allowed freedom to swing with its big and wide visual, the Eleventh’s visual is much tighter. 

With the high side hill the Tenth fell off lurking up the left, the entire hole is gently pitched to the lower right side. That includes the green complex, dramatically tilting to the right side. Two bunkers front the right side, allowing tee shots to the left side the benefit of using the slope to feed balls down. 

Fifteenth hole, 218 yards; Nearly every hole on the back side is influenced by where they sit in relation in relation to the high part of the property the front nine utilizes, with the property’s general tilt usually affecting the architecture in some way. On the Fifteenth, titled “The Bowl,” the higher side flanks the right. While it may not look like a traditional Macdonald/Raynor redan, there are certainly similar playing characteristics, including the green rushing down, away, and to the left. 

Seventeenth hole, 416 yards; The Sixteenth green, Seventeenth tee, and Eighteenth green all sit close to the clubhouse looming over, making for an exciting atmosphere to end the round. The Sixteenth and Eighteenth are both demanding holes coming back towards the clubhouse, while the Seventeenth is the most riveting hole on property from a strategic standpoint. 

Working its way back down away from the property, the entirety of the hole slopes to the right side, fighting the dogleg left nature. A single, monster bunker at 270 yards off the tee awaits on the inside corner. 

The unfortunate cart path aside, the Seventeenth is arguably Magog’s best hole.

A closer look at the bunker awaiting play. The ideal line is directly over the bunker, but for first time visitors, the unknown, especially with the bunker in the far visual blending into the shorter bunker, complicates the tee shot.

The green complex is a proper finish to such an engaging hole, with its location shoved into the hillside on the other side of the creek. With more movement than any other green on the golf course, it continues to provide entertainment from start to finish. In fact, there is roughly half the amount of break as the distance in each putt, no matter where the flag is: if your putt is ten feet, there is ~5 feet of break; 40 foot putt, and you might have to play 20 feet of break. Truly intense! 

Eighteenth hole, 471 yards; For such an extravagant golf course, one would think Memphrémagog would end on a flamboyant finishing hole. Certainly, the Eighteenth is a dramatic conclusion to arguably McBroom’s finest work. 

In contrast to the more strategic moments on the golf course, the finishing hole is a good old-fashioned brute of a par 4 to finish. The green complex continues the trend of utilizing the natural tilt of the property, with balls landing high and right funnelling down to the middle of the green.

A closer look at parts of the green complex in reverse. In addition to its subtle right-to-left tilt (from the line of play), the green is severely undulating back to front. 

One would be hard-pressed to ever argue that Memphrémagog is truly among the elite golf courses in Canada, but it raises an interesting question: how much does the style of golf course—public, private, resort, ultra-exclusive—affect the design and the end goal? The exclusive enclaves provide a unique experience, yes, but they, too, open up a unique outlook on architecture as a whole. Would Ohoopee be able to be the golf course it is without its specific model and clientele? How about Sand Hills, or Ballyneal? Memphrémagog is none of these, but for Canadians and especially those who have seen a fair bit of McBroom’s catalogue, it is an interesting case study when you remove the reigns of public or busy private club.