Oviinbyrd Golf Club

Developed in the Muskoka region to the north of Toronto by entrepreneur Peter Schwartz, Oviinbyrd is an exclusive golf club that first opened in 2005 with members playing on a Thomas McBroom designed course.

Öviinbyrd was constructed as a modern members’ course – as opposed to a new layout built to host national competitions – and the comfortably-sized, tree-lined fairways are intelligently routed to make the most of the natural wetland areas and rocky outcrops that characterize the region.

The best holes are on the back nine, especially the run from 12 to 17. The par five 9th is a fine risk/reward hole with a tight fairway leading to a green sited over a large lake whilst the short par four 10th doglegs around water, enticing big hitters to go for the green from the tee.

One or two critics may have questioned the severity of the long par three 14th and the difficulty of the all-carry tee shot on the 15th but other commentators have decried the closing par five hole (with water all the way down the left of the fairway) as unoriginal, complaining bitterly about its blandness.

The Oviinbyrd Golf Club has chosen to remain ultra private – even its website is password protected for members only – with the ever so slightly pretentious byline of “atmosphere, epicure, golf” written on its homepage. We suspect that getting through the gates for a game here may be just as difficult as gaining online access.