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A Golfing Love Story
by Ian Cruickshank, a Toronto based golf writer who has written about the game for magazines in
Canada, the United States, Japan and Britain. His ultimate golfing goals are to straighten out his slice and par the
last three holes at Dundarave.
I've spent the last 20 years chasing a little white ball around the globe. I've teed it up in the shaggy
dunes of Ireland, played through a mob of kangaroos in Australia, shanked drives in the stark Arizona desert, and putted
in the shadows of the Rocky Mountain peaks. I've enjoyed them all, but there is one place that I come back to year after
year and that's Prince Edward Island.
![](/web/20061209113513im_/http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/photos/belfasthigh.jpg) Belfast Highland Greens/Clair Perry
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There are lots of reasons for my Island fixation. PEI now has 25 courses to choose from, everything from
family fun, nine-hole layouts, to full-blooded championship courses that rank with the best anywhere in the world.
I like the people here, from the kid in the backshop at Dundarave
who loaded my clubs into the car and then drew me a map of how to get to the best lobster restaurant on the Island, to
LPGA star Lorie Kane. I bumped into Lorie in Charlottetown last summer. She was hanging out with her nieces and
catching her breath before jetting back to the Tour. We talked about how good the golf is now in PEI and how proud she
is to be an Island girl.
I like the fact that everything is close by in PEI. If I wake up feeling like Tiger Woods, I can strap on
the bag and launch it for 36 holes at two different courses. If I wake up feeling merely mortal, I can play 18 in the
morning and flake out at the beach in the afternoon, or take in a show in
Charlottetown or browse the
art galleries. A round of golf does not
have to take up a whole Island day.
I like the choices of places to stay. I've spent my Island golf
vacations in cozy bed and breakfasts, stately century-old inns, sophisticated city hotels and a new five-star resort,
all located just around the corner from the first tee of my next course.
![](/web/20061209113513im_/http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/photos/greengables.jpg) Green Gables/Barrett & MacKay
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And I like the green fees. With my Scottish background, I'm not too proud to admit that price plays a big
part in where I tee it up. The average green fee on the Island is less than half of what you'd pay at any big-city
course. The value for money is nearly as large as the Island welcome.
Out of PEI's two dozen courses, I have a few favourites. You can't come to the Island and not play the
Links at Crowbush Cove. Originally slated as a community-built, nine-hole layout,
the project picked up steam when local golfers realized the possibilities of the land. It stretches along the massive
dunes at the edge of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Tom McBroom, one of the country's top architects, was hired and he created a links course masterpiece. The
accolades came quickly. In 1994, Golf Digest named Crowbush the Best New Course in Canada, and in 1998 it garnered
worldwide attention when it hosted a Skins Game with Fred Couples, Mark O'Meara, John Daly and Mike Weir. Long John was
so pumped up by the PEI experience that he whacked a 355-yard drive on the 9th hole and then, on the 18th tee, yanked his
putter out of the bag and smacked the ball 220 yards down the centre of the fairway.
Crowbush never plays the same way twice. Because of the winds that slice in off the Gulf, it is a Jekyll
and Hyde course. Depending on the conditions, some days it's a seven iron and other days it takes a three wood to clear
the tidal pond that guards the 8th green. Whatever the weather, when I come to Crowbush, I always climb to the back tees
of the 11th hole and look out to the horizon. It's sand dunes and salt water as far as the eye can see – unforgettable.
![](/web/20061209113513im_/http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/photos/eaglesview.jpg) Eagle's View/ Resource Marketing Associates
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The 36 holes at Brudenell River and the adjoining
Dundarave golf course are the most potent one/two combination I ever played. The
River course runs through a terrific mix of heavy forest, rushing water and big-shouldered hills, while the newer
Dundarave course is the Island monster, stretching to 7,300 yards from the tips. Make sure you buckle up your chinstrap
before playing its finishing four holes.
Right across the road is the Canadian Golf Academy, run
by Anne Chouinard, Lorie Kane's coach. Besides offering a full slate of top- flight teaching programs, the Academy is
home to one of the greatest deals in all of golf. For under $30 you can play its tough nine-hole course, and practice
all day with an unlimited supply of balls on its doubled-ended range, two short game stations and 25,000 sq. ft. putting
green. If you don't improve after a day at the Academy, you only have yourself to blame.
Anyone who is under the misconception that Prince Edward Island is flat needs to head to the
Glasgow Hills Resort & Country Club. The course,
which opened in the summer of 2001, zigzags along the high ground, with sparkling blue views of the River Clyde and the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In nearby Cavendish, golfers
can see the works of two Canadian geniuses. The village was once home to L.M. Montgomery, author
of the Anne of Green Gables stories, and is still the site of the
Green Gables Golf Course. It was designed by Stanley
Thompson, the architect behind such classics as Jasper, Banff and Highlands Links.
![](/web/20061209113513im_/http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/photos/clyderiver.jpg) Clyde River/Barrett & MacKay
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As for my favourite hole in PEI, it has to be the 7th at Mill River
on the west end of the Island. The fairway of this par 4 is split in the centre by 11 ponds. If you are lucky enough to
stay dry, the approach shot is all uphill to a green that slants from back to front.
I've got another golf bag full of Island highlights but will keep them to myself for now. Part of the
thrill of playing in Prince Edward Island is discovering your own golfing gems.
For more information on golf on the Island, contact: www.golfpei.com.