Osprey Valley (Hoot) - Ontario - Canada

The 54 holes at Osprey Valley all came from the drawing board of architect Doug Carrick. He was so impressed with his Heathlands course in 1992 that it was only a matter of time before he added the Hoot (in 2001), closely followed by the Toot a year later.

Why the strange names for the two newer courses? Well, according to Carrick, “owner Jerry Humeniuk thinks the golf industry takes itself a bit too seriously and that golf should be fun and entertaining – the names reflect that.”

Much of the property consisted of an old sand and gravel pit which had become flooded over time, creating some beautiful, natural looking ponds which were incorporated into the design for the Hoot.

Mature trees on site were spared during construction and remain on the edge of several fairways to challenge accuracy off the tee. Where there were no trees, Carrick planted new ones – over 8,000 of them in total.

The stands of pine and spruce trees and sparkling lakes bring a certain maturity to the Hoot course and these features, along with tee-to-green waste bunkers, frame many of the fairways.

Carrick is very pleased with the final outcome of his work on the Hoot: “There are so many good holes here. Number 3 is through some very tall pines, giving it a North Carolina feel. The 13th is a neat downhill par five with a beautiful pond on the right side of green. The most satisfying from my perspective was number 15, a short par three where we started with nothing, just a flat, open barren piece of ground. Now it's all waste area from tee to an elevated green with some of the many trees we planted. The transformation is so dramatic. It looks so natural, like it's always been there.”