Gowan Brae

The 18-layout at Gowan Brae Golf and Country Club is a late 1950s Robbie Robinson design that lies along the windy shores of Bathurst Harbour, overlooking the Bay of Chaleur in the Gulf of St Lawrence. The club opened in 1958 with a 9-hole layout but within four years this had been extended to eighteen holes, offering water views from all but four of the fairways.

Today, the course measures just under 6,700 yards from the back tees, playing to a par of 72, with holes arranged as two returning nines. Water rarely comes into play at Gowan Brae, despite its location on a peninsula – there’s only an irrigation pond to avoid to the left of the par five 8th and another smaller pond to miss to the left of the 18th fairway as it turns right to the home green.

Highlight holes include the left doglegging par four 9th, rated stroke index 2, and the 447-yard par four 13th, where the sloping fairway plays to a small three-tiered green. The coastline encroaches into the fairway at the long par three 17th, which is usually played into the prevailing wind, providing another element of aquatic challenge near the end of the round.