Courses where you get the most for your green
Oftentimes, choosing a public golf course to play is more about finding a good deal than crossing a track Jason
off your bucket list. Those latter courses you might venture to once or twice a year; the more affordable ones are your regular hangouts.
With that in mind, SCOREGolf ordered the Top 59 public golf courses in Canada by value to complement its overall Top 59 public course ranking. To do this we divided a course’s peak walking rate (taxes included) by the score given to it by our panellists to yield what we call an SG Value rating. These courses (and almost all public courses in Canada) have lower rates through the week or during twilight hours, but for this ranking we judged them by their most expensive fee.
As you might expect, such a ledger differs substantially from one based purely on course architecture, though a handful cracked both lists. Leading the way in value is Falcon Lake in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park near the Ontario border. The popular course tops out at just $56 and is regarded as a pleasureful escape through a wooded terrain on the water. It usurped Windsor, Ont.’s Ambassador for the No. 1 spot, a course that led the way in our last three Top 59 value rankings. You won’t pay more than $63.28 to walk that excellent Thomas McBroom creation.
Around Toronto, the Mississauga municipal course Lakeview has always been a great deal. Piper’s Heath in Milton, Silver Lakes in East Gwillimbury and Ballantrae in Stouffville have the same reputation, while all three courses at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley made the list despite costing more than $130 to play on weekends. That’s how good those layouts are.
Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf