We arrived about an hour before tee-off time and enjoyed ourselves on their fine practice facilities - sand trap chipping area, driving range and putting green, before meeting up with Mathieu and Marie-Helene from Dieppe, NB who would be our playing partners. It didn't take too many holes to realize that these young people were good golfers! Ah, to be young and so fluid and flexible! Both were regularly putting for par, or better. But, because golf is such a curse, they too had holes that they wished that they could do over.
Having previewed the overhead tour on the website, we knew that the course was not going to be overly long, but many of the holes were strong dog-legs so that judgment of your distances by club selection was rewarded and then we got to the greens. Many of the greens are undulating, strongly sloping or multi-tiered making for some very hairy putting. In fact, there were many times that mutterings were heard about "trick putting" and "like a mini-putt hole" as the third putt went down the hill again! As well, there is a lot of water around the course, lining fairways or needing to be crossed, so that can make the holes more challenging too. The fact that it had poured rain for two days earlier in the week ensured that all water hazards were full and some areas still spongy. Hole No. 5 "the lookout" is a pretty hole but can trap the unwary. Hole No. 7 "hunters spring" is just plain nasty - there is water (a series of ponds, streams down the middle of the "fairway") and then a very elevated green which slopes dramatically from back to front, so - yes, despite your lovely approach shot dropping within 10 feet of the pin, your ball has miraculously rolled down and off the green and you need to approach all over again. All but one of our group were in this pickle! And, please, let's not talk about the clusters of white sand bunkers!
The fairways are relatively broad and the woods in many locations are fairly open so that finding an errant ball isn't too difficult and I felt pretty good about only losing one ball into the water. I seem to have a special affinity for water on a golf course - in other words, if there's water in front of me, I can usually find it with my ball!
Despite the challenges of this course, nothing could detract from the magnificent weather, the charming couple that we were paired with and the pretty decent results (if you discount for the trick putting!) that we enjoyed. It's enough to make you want to come back.
Although we have finished our Green Cards, we hope not to have finished our golf for this year. What we like best is to play 9-holes within a two-hour window and not to be restricted to only certain hours of the day; so if the weekend weather is crummy, then we can skip out for a short time late on Tuesday, if the weather is good. We hope to get back to Country View and sample their new back nine. As well, if time and weather permit, I suspect we'll be back at Fox Meadow to get another 9-holes in, perhaps on their back nine.
Once November arrives, it will be a long winter until golf returns next May. So, hopefully you may be able to get away sometime during the winter to squeeze in a little golf somewhere warmer and drier! If not, try to keep your shoulders limber and your legs strong through the winter, and we'll see you on the course(s) in 2012. All the best, Jane
