Clyde River Golf Course is located in Clyde River and has 27 holes, split into the Darrach 9 (if you're playing only 9, this is the one that they will tell you to play) and the MacEachern 9 and the Cameron 9 (if you're playing 18). It is an odd combination of newly created holes with something of a pasture feel, as well as some well-established holes in the woods. The course is on both sides of the road, and it makes it a little dangerous crossing over and back.
Conveniently located near to Charlottetown, the course runs along the Clyde River which makes for some nice vistas, although in places the river is quite shallow and mucky. Despite a forecast which promised 17 degree weather and sunny breaks in the afternoon, we never saw or experienced any temperature above 13 or saw any sun. However, after the first couple of holes, the temperature was perfect for golfing and there was no rain, although there were some holes (and greens) where water on the grass was a problem. There appear to be some tee boxes that have been moved or which are temporary. Some of the distances for holes just don't seem right either, but it is a course in transition from being a18-hole course. Again, there is no map on the card to let you know where to go to the next hole, or where the hazards are on the hole. If you don't see or study the map on the sign post at each tee, you are at a loss as far as where you should be going with your shots. The layout of the course (we played the 18-hole combination, having played the 9-hole several times before) is intended for cart use - it makes a long slog from some greens to the next tee, and especially on the back nine, the holes alternate between uphill and downhill, so that by the time we were done 18, having walked the entire course, we were tired!
The weather kept the number of fellow golfers down, which was a good thing, as there are several places on the course where there is a danger of being involved in other holes play due to the cart paths being near other holes' greens. This is especially problematic on the newer holes, with few trees to act as a buffer.
Both of us struggled a little with our games, whether it was weather-related, tiredness or just the golf Gods playing with us.
Till next week - when we'd like to have a sunny, non-windy day.
Sorry - no photos this week, I forgot the camera!
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
Week 3
We like to think of PEI as a tourist destination and that's usually because PEI has such a mild, benevolent climate during our summer months. Well, we either aren't in our summer months (yet) or the weatherman didn't get the memo. For the third weekend in a row, weather has been an "issue". This week (the Victoria Day long weekend), it wasn't the rain - it was sunny (mostly) but it was windy and almost 10 C. Early on the same day, husband Geoff was off for a meditative walk on the North Shore beach - a favourite pasttime. I'll attach one of his photos of his early morning walk, to set the scene for our North Shore golf destination of Rustico Resort.
Our tee off time was 12:08 and as Rustico Resort is easily reached in a half-hour drive, it's very accessible from Charlottetown. It's located near the tip of Grand Pere Point and from many holes, there are beautiful views of Rustico Bay - one of our favourite places in PEI. When you pick up your score card, you will note that there is no map of the layout of the course on it; nor is there any map anywhere in the clubhouse. The pro shop is the third door along on the front of the building - the cottage registration desk is first, the lounge (unmarked is second; also has the washrooms) and the third door (also unmarked) is the pro shop. For some reason, the Resort is not all that strong on signage, so a little bit of fumbling goes on as you find your way around. There is a lovely practice green in front of the building and good looking rickshas (although at $5.25 incl. tax also the most expensive that we have so far encountered). There is a range, but it is down the road far enough that you should think about driving to it, rather than walking to it. The entire course is across the road from the Resort itself, which includes tennis courts and cottages right on the bay.
The wind only was problematic on a couple of holes on each nine, as they are the ones exposed to the bay and its winds. The views from those holes easily make up for the wind effects. By hole No. 3, we were both warmed up and out of the wind and our game was much more enjoyable. Each hole has a sign which shows a map of the hole, but the course is set out in such a way that it is sometimes really confusing finding your way to the next hole and that sign. For example, from the green on hole No. 6, you note the small "next tee" sign with arrow and head off in that direction - to find yourself on a clay lane which winds around for a while and when you notice a tee box, it's hole No. 12! Asking the fellows on that tee where hole No. 7 is, they chuckle and send us back out on to the lane, which we follow along for another while until we eventually find ourselves at tee box No. 7 - it's a good 5 minute walk from the green on No. 6. That's the longest stretch between holes and did not deter us from walking the whole course! However, there are a number of holes which form intersections with other holes and which don't seem to have enough of a buffer between holes to avoid some quite dangerous spots of the course. If your game is not a "straight down the middle" one, you could easily put others at risk, without really knowing it. We were surprised at least twice with balls dropping out of the sky quite close to us, without a "fore" being shouted, because the players couldn't see us from where they were hitting. It was a little unnerving, to say the least.
Nearly every hole has a beautiful array of seasonal flowers and long-lasting plantings which certainly enhance the look of the course. There are some holes that are more forgiving than others (broad fairways vs. narrow fairways) and some surprising water hazards (made more surprising by the lack of a layout map on the card!) which can gobble up even the "good" shots.
The sunshine was in strong display on the opening nine, faded a little on the back nine, but made a valiant return at the end. No one-putt greens for me today, but hubby had two pars, so we declared it a success and headed home to watch Vancouver put San Jose on ice at 4-2. Go Canucks Go!
See you next week! Jane
Our tee off time was 12:08 and as Rustico Resort is easily reached in a half-hour drive, it's very accessible from Charlottetown. It's located near the tip of Grand Pere Point and from many holes, there are beautiful views of Rustico Bay - one of our favourite places in PEI. When you pick up your score card, you will note that there is no map of the layout of the course on it; nor is there any map anywhere in the clubhouse. The pro shop is the third door along on the front of the building - the cottage registration desk is first, the lounge (unmarked is second; also has the washrooms) and the third door (also unmarked) is the pro shop. For some reason, the Resort is not all that strong on signage, so a little bit of fumbling goes on as you find your way around. There is a lovely practice green in front of the building and good looking rickshas (although at $5.25 incl. tax also the most expensive that we have so far encountered). There is a range, but it is down the road far enough that you should think about driving to it, rather than walking to it. The entire course is across the road from the Resort itself, which includes tennis courts and cottages right on the bay.
The wind only was problematic on a couple of holes on each nine, as they are the ones exposed to the bay and its winds. The views from those holes easily make up for the wind effects. By hole No. 3, we were both warmed up and out of the wind and our game was much more enjoyable. Each hole has a sign which shows a map of the hole, but the course is set out in such a way that it is sometimes really confusing finding your way to the next hole and that sign. For example, from the green on hole No. 6, you note the small "next tee" sign with arrow and head off in that direction - to find yourself on a clay lane which winds around for a while and when you notice a tee box, it's hole No. 12! Asking the fellows on that tee where hole No. 7 is, they chuckle and send us back out on to the lane, which we follow along for another while until we eventually find ourselves at tee box No. 7 - it's a good 5 minute walk from the green on No. 6. That's the longest stretch between holes and did not deter us from walking the whole course! However, there are a number of holes which form intersections with other holes and which don't seem to have enough of a buffer between holes to avoid some quite dangerous spots of the course. If your game is not a "straight down the middle" one, you could easily put others at risk, without really knowing it. We were surprised at least twice with balls dropping out of the sky quite close to us, without a "fore" being shouted, because the players couldn't see us from where they were hitting. It was a little unnerving, to say the least.
Nearly every hole has a beautiful array of seasonal flowers and long-lasting plantings which certainly enhance the look of the course. There are some holes that are more forgiving than others (broad fairways vs. narrow fairways) and some surprising water hazards (made more surprising by the lack of a layout map on the card!) which can gobble up even the "good" shots.
The sunshine was in strong display on the opening nine, faded a little on the back nine, but made a valiant return at the end. No one-putt greens for me today, but hubby had two pars, so we declared it a success and headed home to watch Vancouver put San Jose on ice at 4-2. Go Canucks Go!
See you next week! Jane
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Week 2
At this time of year, it helps to be an optimist if you want to golf too! The past week has been overcast, sometimes wet and consistently cooler than normal, so it was with some trepidation that I called for a tee off time at Glen Afton Golf Course in Nine Mile Creek/Cumberland.
Fuelled by Tim's (see photo), we set out on the half-hour drive with a fine Scotch mist on the windshield and a reading of 9 C on the car's thermometer. Last week, I should have reported on the beautiful daffodils everywhere on the drive to and from St. Felix. This week, with the grey skies and damp grass, all the daffodils still look lovely and now there are starting to be clusters of tulips and pussy willows, too. Even some of the magnolias are in bloom, and the grass needs cutting but very few have braved the elements (or been able to time it just right) to get the grass cut.
Glen Afton is a broad open, pasture-style golf course, 18 holes spread on both sides of Route 19, with two spectacular holes looking out over Hillsborough Bay with St. Peters Island and Governor's Island in the Bay. Despite the overcast skies, the view from Holes 12 and 13 really is special (see photo). Geoff and I also noticed that there is a fair amount of swampy land in PEI too and even with the cool temperatures, the black flies have already been hatched - the blessing was that they weren't biting today (perhaps too cool for them?)
It was still misting when we set off on Tee No. 1 at 12:40, but that did not stop these intrepid souls. In fact, yours truly had a birdie 2 on Hole No. 2 and two other one-putt greens, but there really isn't any point in boring you with my overall score! The mist stopped after a couple of holes and both of us took off some layers. We went in to the pro shop at the turn (it is licensed), but didn't linger and it took a hole or two to warm up again. On the other side of Route 2, the temperature seemed to drop a little and by the time we'd played those four holes, the mist had started up again and it was steady for the last four holes. Most of the course was in good shape, broad and open enough to be forgiving of our sometimes less than perfect shots, but boy oh boy was it wet underfoot in lots of places. There are a few flower beds but nothing that would stop you to smell or really admire them. Give it a dry week, and this will be a different course to play.
We both had some frustration with our games today, but it's still early days, as they say. Most notable moment on the course was on the 18th hole, as I was floundering around trying to hit out of some longish grass around a pond, I flushed out a muscrat who crawled out of the grass, plopped into the pond and swam away. Wildlife also included some ducks flying around and landing in the various ponds (there are water hazards on many holes, as well as standing water today) and kingfishers squabbling over their territory.
Heading home, we each were cherishing thoughts of warm, dry clothes and feet, hot food and maybe a cold one or two.
See you next week!
Fuelled by Tim's (see photo), we set out on the half-hour drive with a fine Scotch mist on the windshield and a reading of 9 C on the car's thermometer. Last week, I should have reported on the beautiful daffodils everywhere on the drive to and from St. Felix. This week, with the grey skies and damp grass, all the daffodils still look lovely and now there are starting to be clusters of tulips and pussy willows, too. Even some of the magnolias are in bloom, and the grass needs cutting but very few have braved the elements (or been able to time it just right) to get the grass cut.
Glen Afton is a broad open, pasture-style golf course, 18 holes spread on both sides of Route 19, with two spectacular holes looking out over Hillsborough Bay with St. Peters Island and Governor's Island in the Bay. Despite the overcast skies, the view from Holes 12 and 13 really is special (see photo). Geoff and I also noticed that there is a fair amount of swampy land in PEI too and even with the cool temperatures, the black flies have already been hatched - the blessing was that they weren't biting today (perhaps too cool for them?)
It was still misting when we set off on Tee No. 1 at 12:40, but that did not stop these intrepid souls. In fact, yours truly had a birdie 2 on Hole No. 2 and two other one-putt greens, but there really isn't any point in boring you with my overall score! The mist stopped after a couple of holes and both of us took off some layers. We went in to the pro shop at the turn (it is licensed), but didn't linger and it took a hole or two to warm up again. On the other side of Route 2, the temperature seemed to drop a little and by the time we'd played those four holes, the mist had started up again and it was steady for the last four holes. Most of the course was in good shape, broad and open enough to be forgiving of our sometimes less than perfect shots, but boy oh boy was it wet underfoot in lots of places. There are a few flower beds but nothing that would stop you to smell or really admire them. Give it a dry week, and this will be a different course to play.
We both had some frustration with our games today, but it's still early days, as they say. Most notable moment on the course was on the 18th hole, as I was floundering around trying to hit out of some longish grass around a pond, I flushed out a muscrat who crawled out of the grass, plopped into the pond and swam away. Wildlife also included some ducks flying around and landing in the various ponds (there are water hazards on many holes, as well as standing water today) and kingfishers squabbling over their territory.
Heading home, we each were cherishing thoughts of warm, dry clothes and feet, hot food and maybe a cold one or two.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Week 1
Well, this is Week 1. This year, my husband Geoff and I have decided to buy Green Cards from Golf PEI and visit all 20 participant golf courses across PEI. In this way, we should be guaranteed a new golf experience each week and as an added bonus get to see a different part of PEI and enjoy the tourist attractions of this "Holiday Island". Sometimes, when you live in a tourist destination, you don't take advantage of, or see, the tourist spots the same way that you would if you were coming here as a tourist. I think sometimes we miss out on that - so this year, we are planning to be tourists in our own land!
We started on Sunday, 8 May 2011 - Mother's Day, I know! As our two children are now adults themselves, we set out around 10:30 a.m. to make the trek to St. Felix for our first adventure. En route, we passed close enough to 4 windmills just outside of Summerside (see photo). It was predicted to be damp (chance of showers) early in the morning, but with a chance of sunny breaks in the afternoon and possibly a high of 14 C. St. Felix is a course near the northern tip of PEI and quite close to the water (Gulf of St. Lawrence) and the wind (such as it was predicted, being fortunately quite light) was to be coming out of the North - which, translates for us, as those interested in the weather, as a cold wind coming off the Gulf. Both Geoff and I wore extra layers (including tights under our pants) and wind breakers/rain jackets. It's almost a two-hour drive from home in Charlottetown to St. Felix and the weather changed through cloudy and foggy to a sprinkling of rain before we arrived. But it was reasonably warm (11 C) when we arrived and no rain at all once we arrived. We took a few practice swings and then hit Hole No. 1. The course was lush and green and having broad fairways, was reasonably forgiving to those of us who haven't swung a club in 6 months! Besides, many of the treed areas are tamarac, so it's easy to find your ball underneath them - that is, if your ball were ever to roll underneath! Holes No. 2 and No. 3 were low and very wet, given that there had been quite a lot of rain overnight - but the temperature allowed us to continue on, despite the damp feet.
After the first six holes, we stopped back in to the Club House where Joanne, who runs the course, offered us chicken salad sandwiches and made a fresh pot of coffee for us. Delicious and home-made by Joanne herself. Two sandwiches and one coffee was only $6. Back out to finish the 9-hole course, but because our card allows us to play 18, we picked up on Hole No. 4 (the start of the higher, drier part of the course) and played the "back 6" again. Some pars, some lovely bogies and some holes that I'd like to forget - but the sun came out quite strongly on the back 6 and the greens were faster and it was a lovely day. We did see a small amount of snow (!) in the bushes behind the 9th tee (see photo), but that was the only snow we saw - remember, it's still early in Paradise!
Got home just in time to enjoy a real Mother's Day feast, prepared by Son No. 1 and Daughter No. 1, with some assistance from Dad on the BBQ - PEI mussels (with garlic and carrots) dipped in drawn butter, raw carrot and broccoli with dip, BBQ'd steak, baked PEI potatoes, fresh tossed salad and a glass of wine. What could be better? Hmmmmmm and most of it grown locally.
Let's see what next week can do to top that?
We started on Sunday, 8 May 2011 - Mother's Day, I know! As our two children are now adults themselves, we set out around 10:30 a.m. to make the trek to St. Felix for our first adventure. En route, we passed close enough to 4 windmills just outside of Summerside (see photo). It was predicted to be damp (chance of showers) early in the morning, but with a chance of sunny breaks in the afternoon and possibly a high of 14 C. St. Felix is a course near the northern tip of PEI and quite close to the water (Gulf of St. Lawrence) and the wind (such as it was predicted, being fortunately quite light) was to be coming out of the North - which, translates for us, as those interested in the weather, as a cold wind coming off the Gulf. Both Geoff and I wore extra layers (including tights under our pants) and wind breakers/rain jackets. It's almost a two-hour drive from home in Charlottetown to St. Felix and the weather changed through cloudy and foggy to a sprinkling of rain before we arrived. But it was reasonably warm (11 C) when we arrived and no rain at all once we arrived. We took a few practice swings and then hit Hole No. 1. The course was lush and green and having broad fairways, was reasonably forgiving to those of us who haven't swung a club in 6 months! Besides, many of the treed areas are tamarac, so it's easy to find your ball underneath them - that is, if your ball were ever to roll underneath! Holes No. 2 and No. 3 were low and very wet, given that there had been quite a lot of rain overnight - but the temperature allowed us to continue on, despite the damp feet.
After the first six holes, we stopped back in to the Club House where Joanne, who runs the course, offered us chicken salad sandwiches and made a fresh pot of coffee for us. Delicious and home-made by Joanne herself. Two sandwiches and one coffee was only $6. Back out to finish the 9-hole course, but because our card allows us to play 18, we picked up on Hole No. 4 (the start of the higher, drier part of the course) and played the "back 6" again. Some pars, some lovely bogies and some holes that I'd like to forget - but the sun came out quite strongly on the back 6 and the greens were faster and it was a lovely day. We did see a small amount of snow (!) in the bushes behind the 9th tee (see photo), but that was the only snow we saw - remember, it's still early in Paradise!
Got home just in time to enjoy a real Mother's Day feast, prepared by Son No. 1 and Daughter No. 1, with some assistance from Dad on the BBQ - PEI mussels (with garlic and carrots) dipped in drawn butter, raw carrot and broccoli with dip, BBQ'd steak, baked PEI potatoes, fresh tossed salad and a glass of wine. What could be better? Hmmmmmm and most of it grown locally.
Let's see what next week can do to top that?
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