Top 100 Golf Courses of Canada 2015
St George’s holds off a strong challenge from Cabot Links to retain its No. 1 status.
29th April 2015
Since we first established a ranking chart for Canada in 2006, the distinguished old layout at St George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto has been recognised as the undisputed number 1 course in the land of the Maple Leaf.
St George’s retains its position at the top of our latest listings, but only just. Rising all of nine places to the number 2 position, Rod Whitman’s Cabot Linksis now vying very strongly for the coveted top spot.
This links course is located on the west coast of Cape Breton Island, only opening for play in 2012, and such has been its impact in the three years since it debuted, some believe it will only be a matter of time before Cabot becomes the premier golf course in Canada.
Other moves of interest in the upper reaches of our Canadian chart include those made by the century-old Harry Colt track at Toronto Golf Club (up five to 11), and a pair of modern Thomas McBroom courses, namely the Links at Crowbush Cove(up six to 20) and Oviinbyrd (up five to 22).
Further down the chart, three Ontario courses provide the most significant upward moves: Bob Cupp’s 1991 offering at Mad River rises twenty-seven places to 40, Doug Carrick’s Osprey Valley (Hoot) layout climbs twenty-eight spots to 43 and Greg Norman’s 2007 design at Wyndancesoarsthirty-six positions to 56.
There are nine new entries in the latest listings, the highest of which is the Valley course at the Bear Mountain Golf Resort in British Columbia, debuting at number 51. A couple of Quebec courses also make it into the new chart, Royal Ottawa at position 82 andLaval-sur-le-lac (Blue) at number 93.
The remaining half dozen newcomers are all located in the province of Ontario with two of these 18-hole layouts – Sunningdale (Thompson) and Bayview– technically classed as re-entries, having featured in earlier editions of our Canadian rankings.
To make way for the nine new entries, the following courses dropped out from the 2013 edition of the Canadian Top 100: Brudenell River, Glen Arbour, Glencoe (Glen Forest), Kananaskis Country (Mount Lorette), Kananaskis Country (Mount Kidd) – hopefully Kananaskis will bounce back following the devastating flooding in 2013 – Niakwa, Pine Ridge, Royal Montreal (Red) and Salmon Arm.
As ever, we always welcome feedback when we publish new ranking charts so please feel free to tell us what you think of our new Canadian listings. Top 100 never boasts about producing “definitive” charts but we do think we compose the “most informed” rankings in the golf industry. If you’ve played any of the top tracks below, why not post a review and share your thoughts with us?
| Rank | Course | Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | St George's | No change |
| 2 | Cabot Links | Up 9 |
| 3 | Highlands Links | Down 1 |
| 4 | National Golf Club of Canada | Down 1 |
| 5 | Hamilton (West & South) | Down 1 |
| 6 | Jasper Park Lodge | Down 1 |
| 7 | Capilano | Down 1 |
| 8 | Banff Springs | No change |
| 9 | Devil's Paintbrush | Down 2 |
| 10 | Beacon Hall | No change |
| 11 | Toronto | Up 5 |
| 12 | Sagebrush | Down 3 |
| 13 | Westmount | Up 1 |
| 14 | Shaughnessy | Down 1 |
| 15 | Royal Montreal (Blue) | Down 3 |
| 16 | Muskoka Bay | Down 1 |
| 17 | Coppinwood | Up 1 |
| 18 | Tobiano | Down 1 |
| 19 | Goodwood | Up 1 |
| 20 | Links at Crowbush Cove | Up 6 |
| 21 | Eagles Nest | Up 1 |
| 22 | Oviinbyrd | Up 5 |
| 23 | Bigwin Island | Up 2 |
| 24 | Redtail | Down 5 |
| 25 | Blackhawk | Down 2 |
| 26 | Victoria | Up 7 |
| 27 | Devil's Pulpit | Down 6 |
| 28 | Rocky Crest | Down 4 |
| 29 | Humber Valley (River) | Down 1 |
| 30 | Mississaugua | Down 1 |
| 31 | Predator Ridge (Ridge) | Up 5 |
| 32 | Mount Bruno | Down 2 |
| 33 | Osprey Valley (Heathlands) | Up 1 |
| 34 | Big Sky | Up 1 |
| 35 | St Thomas | Up 6 |
| 36 | Royal Colwood | Up 3 |
| 37 | Essex | Up 6 |
| 38 | Memphremagog | Down 7 |
| 39 | Cobble Beach | Down 1 |
| 40 | Mad River | Up 27 |
| 41 | Calgary | Up 3 |
| 42 | Glen Abbey | No change |
| 43 | Osprey Valley (Hoot) | Up 28 |
| 44 | Fox Harb’r | Down 12 |
| 45 | Greywolf | No change |
| 46 | Rosedale | No change |
| 47 | London Hunt | Up 11 |
| 48 | Stewart Creek | Up 1 |
| 49 | Scarboro | Down 1 |
| 50 | Weston | Up 2 |
| 51 | Bear Mountain (Valley) | NEW |
| 52 | Brantford | Up 1 |
| 53 | Dakota Dunes | Down 13 |
| 54 | Summit | Up 9 |
| 55 | Georgian Bay | Down 18 |
| 56 | Wyndance | Up 36 |
| 57 | Lookout Point | Down 1 |
| 58 | Wolf Creek (Old) | Down 11 |
| 59 | Deerhurst (Highlands) | Down 9 |
| 60 | Taboo | Down 9 |
| 61 | Chateau Whistler | Up 1 |
| 62 | Nicklaus North | Up 11 |
| 63 | Kawartha | Up 6 |
| 64 | Le Diable | Down 5 |
| 65 | Le Geant | Down 8 |
| 66 | Thornhill | Down 6 |
| 67 | Maple Downs | Down 3 |
| 68 | St Charles (Ross & MacKenzie) | Up 15 |
| 69 | Le Maitre de Mont-Tremblant | Up 15 |
| 70 | Cataraqui | Up 2 |
| 71 | Cherry Hill | Down 6 |
| 72 | Copper Creek | Down 11 |
| 73 | Beaconsfield | Up 3 |
| 74 | Oakdale (Homenuik & Thompson) | Down 8 |
| 75 | Ridge at Manitou | Down 20 |
| 76 | Bear Mountain (Mountain) | Down 8 |
| 77 | Heritage Pointe (Desert & Heritage) | Down 2 |
| 78 | Lambton | Down 1 |
| 79 | Priddis Greens (Hawk) | Up 3 |
| 80 | Burlington | Up 6 |
| 81 | Dundarave | Down 11 |
| 82 | Royal Ottawa | NEW |
| 83 | Algonquin | Down 5 |
| 84 | King Valley | Up 5 |
| 85 | Sunningdale (Thompson) | NEW |
| 86 | Magna | Down 1 |
| 87 | Heron Point | Up 3 |
| 88 | Windermere | NEW |
| 89 | Predator Ridge (Predator) | Down 1 |
| 90 | Deer Ridge | Up 8 |
| 91 | Credit Valley | NEW |
| 92 | Laval-sur-le-lac (Green) | Down 11 |
| 93 | Laval-sur-le-lac (Blue) | NEW |
| 94 | Rideau View | Down 1 |
| 95 | Chateau Montebello | Down 1 |
| 96 | Bayview | NEW |
| 97 | Osprey Valley (Toot) | NEW |
| 98 | Eagle Creek | Down 3 |
| 99 | Wildfire | NEW |
| 100 | Black Bear Ridge | Down 20 |
Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses
