Prince Edward
Island Golf is
Prince Edward Island calls itself The
Gentle Island in much of its literature. It makes sense when you
consider there are only about 135,000 residents and there are
certainly a lot more potatoes than there are people.
What PEI does have is 30 golf courses, many that would be in the Top
10 in any state, province or region. Imagine 30 golf courses with
such a small population. We think that Rhode Island has a lot of
courses and we have a million people.
Many publications have rated PEI the top golf destination in Canada
with good reason. The five courses we visited during our stay
offered wonderful scenery, great conditioning, challenging layouts
and warm and friendly staffs.
Prince Edward Island, unlike Rhode Island, is an island accessible
only by traveling over water. It used to be the only way to get to
PEI was by ferry. The Confederation Bridge linking New Brunswick
Province, and nearby Nova Scotia, with PEI opened in 1997 after four
years of construction. It is almost nine miles long and is the
longest bridge over water that freezes.
The good part is that you don’t pay when crossing from New
Brunswick. Maybe you should just stay in PEI and never pay. Once you
see the quality of golf courses you’ll be tempted to spend a long
time.
We got the feeling of being back in the 1950s when we went to PEI.
We found no hustle and bustle on the island except for a short time
in Charlottetown, the capital city. As you can imagine on an island,
there are hundreds of uncrowded, sandy beaches and quaint fishing
villages. Bucolic is the best adjective to describe PEI. Anne of
Green Gables literature, dolls and other paraphernalia dot many of
their stores. Summerside is the name of one of its larger cities.
Could it get any better than that?
What makes it even better is the golf courses. On our first day we
visited Dundarave G.C. and its adjacent course Brudenell River G.C.
in Cardigan on the eastern side of the island. Dundarave is a
Golf Digest four-star course designed by Dr. Michael Hurzdan and
Dana Fry (who also designed Shelter Harbor in Charlestown, R.I.).
The trademark red sand bunkers are everywhere. Red sand is prevalent
on PEI because of a high concentrate of iron oxide in the soil, much
like Georgia, and I think the architects brought in most of the
island’s supply. There are five sets of tees, but don’t go back to
the tips unless your initials are T.W.
 The
8th hole at Dundarave.
Dundarave, named after a castle in Scotland, hosted the 2006 Legends
of Golf match featuring Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Our favorite
hole was number 8 called Emerald Altar (all the holes at many of the
courses in PEI and Nova Scotia have names, similar to Scottish
courses). You hit from an elevated tee over a ravine to an angled
fairway with seven bunkers (they’re everywhere) protecting it. Pick
you landing area carefully and you’ll be rewarded with a short
approach to a large green with the river in the back. The course is
difficult but memorable and you almost never see other players as
the course stretches for miles.
We did not get to play Brudenell River, considered the most popular
course on the island, but we did take a tour of all 18. The
prettiest hole is number 10, a par 3 over water with the wide
Brudenell River down the left side.
Our accommodations for the three nights in Prince Edward Island were
at the Maplehurst B & B on Panmure Island that is on the eastern
coast and not far from Dundarave and Brudenell. The secluded 25-acre
beachfront estate and Georgian-style manor designed by their son was
spectacular and the hosts, Marsha and Bob Leftwich couldn’t have
been nicer. “We only got 4 1/2 stars; you have to have air
conditioning in all the rooms to get five stars,” said Marsha about
her B & B. It was the best 5 star place we’ve seen, and we had to
close the windows every night in the middle of July because of the
ocean breezes.
Two of the four rooms have private decks looking out to Cardigan
Bay. The breakfasts were simply gourmet and she also had cake and
tea waiting for us in the evenings. Another couple from Winchester,
Mass. was also staying at the Maplehurst, and they couldn’t stop
raving about it. One morning we had an early tee time, so Marsha got
up extra early to make us egg muffins (much better than McMuffins),
banana bread, yogurt, snacks and a carafe of coffee with all the
fixings for us to eat on our way to the course. You can reach them
at 902-838-3959.
The second day we played Eagles Glenn in Cavendish. Cavendish is
home to Green Gables, so my wife headed there and shopping for the
four hours while I played golf. My partner for the round was a high
school principal in Charlottetown whose wife’s parents were part
owners. The course could have fit into southern New England.
Designed by Graham Cooke, rated one of the designers in Canada, the
routing over rolling hills and large mounding makes for a great walk
in the park. Bent grass tees, greens and fairways with blue grass
and fescue borders gives the course a New England feel with many
risk/reward holes and a great finishing hole.
Cavendish was a bustling area by PEI standards. It sits on the
northern coast near many beautiful beaches and has quite a few golf
courses in the area. Locals raved about Andersons Creek G.C. and
also Glasgow Hills Resort & G.C.
PEI has many nine-hole courses with excellent ratings. Golf packages
could easily include an 18-hole course coupled with a different nine
holes in the afternoon. We didn’t get there, but Fox Meadow Golf &
C.C. is home to the Canadian Golf Academy that is rated one of the
best golf schools in Canada. It is located just outside of
Charlottetown and they were offering wonderful packages in the local
newspaper.
Our last day of golf in PEI was our best. We started in the morning
at The Links at Crowbush Cove. Golf Digest rated it as
Canada’s Best New Course in 1994 when it opened, and in 2005
ScoreGolf rated it the Best Conditioned and Most Scenic Course
in Atlantic Canada. Sitting right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the
views are wonderful. Make sure you walk up to the championship tee
on number 11 to get a look down to and along the water. Look back
once you get to the green on number 16 for a great view of the
shoreline. Number 11 might be one of the most difficult par 5’s
we’ve played and the very short 17th will make you shutter. Thomas
McBroom designed this course owned by the province, and he moved a
lot of earth to create very scenic holes.
 The
16th hole at Crowbush Cove.
That afternoon we drove to the southern end of PEI for a chance to
play one of the wonderful nine-hole courses. Belfast Highlands was
part of Lord Selkirk Provincial Park that was deeded to the town of
Belfast for a dollar to create a golf course. Jim Kinnee, a local
developer, designed and built the course over a two-year period. He
came out on the course with us to show off his design and explain
his reasoning for each of the holes. The views of Orwell Bay and the
red cliffs down to the water were spectacular on holes 7, 8 and 9.
Kinnee is planning to create different routing within the course so
that you can play one nine from the current tees and another set of
tees for the back nine so the look will be much different for each
nine. The greens fees were extremely low and the course sits just a
few miles from the ferry from Woods Island back to Caribou, N.S. so
it makes a great first day or last day in PEI round of golf.
Four of the better courses in PEI, Crowbush Cove, Dundarave,
Brudenell River, and Mill River, are owned by the province and can
be booked at 1-800-235-8909 or at
www.golflinkspei.com. The largest golf packages
company is GolfPEI and bookings can be made through them at
1-866-GOLF-PEI or on their website at
www.golfpei.ca. One of the largest vacation packagers
in Atlantic Canada is the Rodd Hotel & Resorts. They are located
adjacent to the four courses owned by the province and also
throughout PEI and Nova Scotia. You can contact them for packages at
1-800-565-RODD or online at
www.roddvacations.com/pei.
Once you go to Prince Edward Island you will want to go back. Fine
golf, very friendly people and a feeling of being back in a time
when living was easier.
Bruce Vittner is a member of the Golf Writers Assn. of America
and the Golf Travel Writers of America and can be reached at
bruce@oceanstategolfinc.com.
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