Golf Course Review : Baxter Creek Golf Course ‘The 17th keeps me coming back’

I was invited to make up a foursome at Baxter Creek this year by Meg with her hubby Woody and his golf buddy John.  Do golf balls have dimples?  Of course I jumped at the chance.  What a wise decision that was.

This links style 19 hole (No that’s not a typo there really are 19 holes.) championship course opened last year and they are off to a great start.  It is a quick hour drive from Whitby across the 401, up the 115 to county road 28 just 2 kilometers from Kawartha Downs.  The club house is complete with nice banquet facilities, pro shop and dining area.

The course is well manicured and boasts 9 ponds, over 50 sand traps and the meandering Baxter Creek.  Did somebody mention hazards?  I love hazards.  Makes the round so much more interesting and believe me this course is very interesting.  In fact it is so interesting I went back a second and third time and can hardly wait for the fourth.

The first time there the course beat me up pretty badly.  Luckily Meg and the boys brought their A game.  At least I had great shots to watch even though they weren’t mine. Like most red tee golfers my game comes and it goes.  That day it was MIA.

The 17th hole par 5 is what keeps me coming back.  It’s a nasty little cart path only narrow fairway with lots of water, left, right and centre to avoid and/or cross before you reach the green which thankfully has sand traps to save you rolling off into more water.  I love it.  The right hand side of the fairway is a long hill perfect for my 3 wood which performs best when my feet are lower than the ball.  Still, one good shot out of many and 3 lost balls was a long way from par on that hole.  As soon as we putted out I said to Meg “Boy I would love to play that hole over again.”

My golf credibility finally returned on the 19th hole par 3 island green. Only 75 yards from the reds would have been a pitching wedge two years ago.  Since I tore my rotator cuff last year things have changed.  Now when I thought wedge but took into account lack of strength from that injury, carry, and wind direction I decided to up it two clubs.  Yahoo!  I hit a perfect 8 iron to stick on the green.  It was small comfort in my day of poor performance.

There was a wee glitch when Meg and I returned as a twosome.  It took 5 1/4 hours to play 18.  (We didn’t play the 19th)  Nothing we hate more than sitting in a cart waiting your turn while you watch the hair on your legs grow.

We had 4 gals in front of us from the Lambton Golf and Country Club who were playing a Stableford match from the whites.  They were good players held up on every shot as were we.  The marshal told us 6 groups ahead was a very slow men’s foursome.  I would call that bad marshalling.  But did it stop me from coming back to introduce the course to my hubby Brian?  No way.

We enjoyed perfect weather, perfect course and perfect marshalling for 4 ½ hours!  After we played the 17th hole Brian said “I would love to play that hole over again.  And we will and so should you.