Pinawa - Manitoba - Canada

Pinawa Golf & Country Club runs parallel to Pinawa Channel and touches onto the Winnipeg River. This layout features boreal forest, rocky outcrops, intimidating wetlands, and plenty of wildlife.

The fairways are hard and dry while the greens are firm but not as fast as they look. The carts are equipped with GPS, but the Pro Shop is about the size of a prefab.

Three of the par-3s are over 200 yards.

The 15th is my favourite hole, a three-shot par-5 featuring a sharp dogleg left at the 140-yard mark to a green that is guarded up front by a large bunker.

Pinawa features strong finishing holes. The 17th is a short but difficult par-5 dogleg left. You have a downhill approach to a green that severely slopes from right to left. You must hit your approach to the right of the green and watch it funnel towards the hole.

The 18th is a short par that bends to the right then almost a button hooks to the green. A great finishing hole. Overall, I found Pinawa to be a nice layout but extremely dry. Still a great value.

My dad grew up in Pinawa so I've had the privilege to play here multiple times. One of the best courses in Manitoba, some beautiful holes carved right out of the Whiteshell area. Worth the drive from Winnipeg, do yourself a favour and play Pinawa