Kanawaki

Situated a mere twenty-minute drive from downtown Montreal, Kanawaki Golf Club was formed in 1912, with members utilising a new clubhouse and playing on a 15-hole layout the following year. The Royal Montreal professional Charles Murray and his brother Albert set out this initial course and then twelve months later a full 18-hole track was in operation.

Today’s course is much modified from the one that was brought into play over a century ago, though the front nine is essentially the same, apart from changes made to the greens on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th holes in 1970. On the back nine, the two consecutive short holes at the 11th and 12th were lost (hole 12 now plays as a slightly left doglegged short par four) in 1953.

Interestingly, scenes for “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” based on the story of Francis Ouimet and the US Open in 1913, were filmed at the club over a 30-day period in 2004 and all the income accrued from the rights to use the premises was invested in renovating the clubhouse in its original style but with modern building materials.

Venue for the Canadian Open back in 1929, the course has also hosted ten Canadian national amateur championships down the years – only three other clubs in the country have staged more – and the course was back in the national golfing spotlight again when the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship was held here in 2017.