Week 17

This was Dundarave (redux) as we used our rain checks from several weeks back and what a difference weather-wise!  It has been mainly sunny and warm and this Saturday was no different - in fact, it turned out to be a really hot day for the end of August on PEI.  We got there early and had lots of time to practice at the Brudenell course on the driving range, the chip/sand practice area and the putting green before setting off to meet our fellow golfers, John and Pat, from - of all places - Anchorage, Alaska.  Yup, and they've been to PEI before.  They were spending a week or so and were looking forward to eight rounds of golf (they had already played twice at Crowbush, once at Brudenell, and today was their Dundarave round).

Certainly, this time around, there was no difficulty with water in the sand traps, but many of the traps were clay-like and not the granular white sand that you might expect on a high-end course.  I think that this course is trying to appeal to the high-end tourist and with five tee boxes and challenging greens, lots of bunkers and many narrow fairways, it does deliver on the challenging side of the golf experience.  Judging by the number and quality of balls we found in the rough, people are spending lots of money on golf balls!  Also, if you are thinking of walking this course, don't.  It is far and away the longest course (between holes) that we have yet experienced in PEI - it's just crazy to contemplate walking it.  As it was, with a cart and a reasonable couple to move things along, it took us almost 5 1/2 hours to complete 18 holes!  There was a full complement of people on course, but because of the separation of holes one from another, we rarely saw others on the course, and were almost never held up by those ahead. 

The layout is convoluted, with holes from the Brudenell course being interwoven with those of the Dundarave course, and there really isn't any point in playing only 9, as it is at the furthest point from the clubhouse.  It was a beautiful day and John and Pat were great companion players, every other hole commenting on how much of a paradise PEI is!  So, we had a good time, but the course really is too much of a challenge for all but the best players to have fun.  As well, the greens are rock hard and, as a consequence, are very fast and it's very difficult to hit them and stick. 

My advice - leave this course to the professionals and the wanna-be pros.  See you next week, Jane