Minimalism Golf For Maximum Pleasure
Golf icon Greg Norman has the knack for greatness and his Canadian course in Uxbridge is no different
Courtesy of Lorne Rubenstein
The Globe and Mail
Some years ago I wrote in the Globe that Greg Norman's legacy to the game could be more as an architect than as a player. That's no knock against him as a player, given that he's won two Open Championships and some 90 tournaments around the world. But it says what I think of his course design work.
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That view of Norman was reinforced on May 19th when I played the Wyndance Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ontario. The course is in its third season, and it's a challenge and great fun from start to finish. Add in the fact that there's a short course down in what was a quarry, and you have a recipe for a course that I think is one of the best to open in many years in the Greater Toronto Area. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the best new courses to open across the country in recent years.
ClubLink Corporation owns the course, which plays firm and fast; the fairways are massive and so are the greens. Waste bunkers fill the immense, open landscape. There are plenty of pot bunkers as well.
There was too much sand in the pot bunkers, though, especially given their steep faces. The ball sat down into the sand and made it difficult to play anything but an explosion shot.
But the rest of the course and conditioning was quite sharp. Norman in my view has a particular genius for green sites. I first saw this at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, which he did with the legend himself, Pete Dye. Sure, they went back and forth on the fourth green, which was way up in the air, then down to the ground, then back up in the air but not as much; and, to spice things up, with fallaways down into chipping or pitching areas on three sides, and large, sandy areas as well.
I enjoyed the Medalist a few times and still love to get out there.
I've played Wyndance only this once, and I wanted to get back as soon as I finished playing. I was telling one of the fellows with whom I played that a course has to satisfy at least two main ingredients for me to want to return. Wyndance has them.
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One: The course gives me energy rather than sucking it out of me as I walk along. I felt energized rather than enervated after playing Wyndance, even after walking its nearly 7,500 yards--the Shark tees.
No, I didn't play it from that length--I'm not crazy--but you walk about that far anyway to go past the back tees to where I'm more at ease these days.
Two: The course allows me to play with less than a full set, which doesn't mean less than a full deck. In fact, the fewer clubs, the better. I carried 10 clubs while playing Wyndance, and I hit all sorts of different shots--shots I meant to hit, I should say, at least for the most part that day. Norman gives you a variety of ways to get into the green. On the par-four sixth I had 180 yards left to the gigantic green, where a moonscape of sand eats into the right side. The hole was cut there and I wanted no part of that area.
I hit a 3-wood slice. Now, how many courses allow a golfer to pick a 3- wood for a 180-yard shot and figure it's the right play? I aimed 40 yards left of the green and carved the ball in there about 50' left of the hole. Norman let me use the entire green with such a shot.
I hit the shot and thought, "Was that fun, or what?"
I'll bore you with my play on only one more hole, the last. It's a massive par-five that finishes on a green where the left side is up against the edge of the old gravel pit. After a good drive and lay-up second--with a 3-wood, I might add--I was left with about 135 yards into a decent breeze. The hole was cut on the left side of the green, not far from the deep drop into the pit.
I chose a 5-iron--yup, a 5-iron--and tried to three-quarter a little draw in there. Great fun. I didn't draw the ball as much as I wanted, but I did keep the ball down and it finished 40' right of the hole.
Okay, I three-putted the big green, and all the greens are huge at Wyndance. So is the practice area, I might add. I could easily spend an entire day at Wyndance. Hey, I just might do that sometime.
Norman's an Aussie, of course, and the classic old sandbelt courses such as Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath and Metropolitan have clearly influenced his design ideas. He gives you room off the tee, but asks that you find a specific area for a favourable angle to the green and hole location. He gives you plenty of options. You want to play in the air? Fine. But it's so much more fun to use the ground and the contours to work the ball around the course
Some years ago I walked the property with Norman as he was designing the course. I found him totally engaged in the process. Wyndance, Norman's only course in Canada, reflects that engagement. I could happily go between there and the Devil's Paintbrush in Caledon, Ontario clear across the other side of Toronto to the northwest all summer.
Mind you, I do have to make a trip out to play Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club in Merritt, B.C., which former PGA Tour player Dick Zokol, Rod Whitman and Armen Suny designed. I saw it under construction and it looked top-drawer, and full of the values I like in a course. Looked like a 10-club, or fewer, course to me, just like Wyndance and the Paintbrush, still my favourite course in Canada.
These minimalist courses give me maximum pleasure.
