lefty42
Aug 15, 2007, 09:55 AM
I had the opportunity to play Humber Valley Resort in Newfoundland last week and I must say I was blown away!
The Good:
It is a Doug Carrick design, and of all the Carrick courses I have played, it definitely takes top honors for me.
As you are driving to the course, you are surrounded on both sides by lush mountains, rivers, and lakes.
Once on the course, with Deer Lake and mountain ranges as a beautiful backdrop for the first 3 holes, you would honestly think you’re in BC.
The first 4 or 5 holes are all downhill, and I was amazed at how Carrick gradually worked the holes back uphill back to #9, to the point where it was almost unnoticeable.
The back nine felt like every hole was played downhill, but again it was very subtle.
The Par 3’s were all quite strong; The 3rd is a shortish hole, elevated tee to a large green, with Deer Creek and Mountains as the backdrop. The 5th forces you to carry a lake, then a waste bunker to a narrow green. The 14th is a beautiful hole surrounded by the Humber River on the right and lush trees left and behind. The 17th requires a well hit shot to make the green as there is a valley in front not to mention large bunkers for those that are just short guarding a very narrow green.
The par 4’s require more finesse than brawn as you have to shape shots, or cut corners to be able to score well. The 15th hole is a fun driveable par 4, but has lots of trouble. The Humber River covers the entire right side of the fairway, and up and behind the green, a true risk reward hole. I am leaving a hole out on purpose so I can talk about it more below…
The 5’s all seem to be reachable for longer hitters – IF you hit it straight with the exception of #7, which is a very strong hole. Playing slightly uphill, bunkers are everywhere to snag loose shots. 18 is a reachable 5 that brings you back to the base of the hill/mountain where #10 tee is. From the tee, you get a true sense of how far down you are.
The Great:
The 10th Hole might just be the most beautiful golf hole I have ever played. From the tee box, you stand 180 feet up from the fairway, with a small waterfall in front of the tee boxes. With a spectacular view from the tee with the mountains and river in the background, It is a tough par 4 with fairway bunkers on both sides to catch any loose balls caught by the wind. Greenside bunkers make it a tough approach shot and Par is an excellent score here. Looking back at the tee boxes from the fairway really shows you the natural terrain of the course. The clubhouse sits just up from the tee boxes which in itself offer another beautiful view.
The Bad:
Fortunately the golf made up for any bad but thought I would share them with you. We arrived over an hour early to practice and to grab some breakfast as we were off at 10:00am. After paying, I asked the girl where the driving range was, and was told that it is under construction. Somewhat understandable considering it is a new course…. I then asked where the putting green was, and was told that there was no putting green, but could use #9 as no one would be coming for a while… I was getting a little frustrated… I then asked if the restaurant was upstairs, and was told that we would have to get back into the truck, and drive back to the main gate, and go around the course to the restaurant…. Not pleased, I then asked if we could get on the course early and fortunately we were able to get on pretty much right away. Not to be outdone, once on the first tee, no one in our group had played the course, so I went back to get a Yardage book. As I grabbed one, I was told that it was $7.00… That’s when I hit my boiling point. I was not rude to the girl, as I know it has nothing to do with her… so I was at least polite.
The golf is 100.00, the cart is 20.00 plus HST comes to 136 and change… I said they had a lot of nerve charging that much for no range, putting green, restaurant, divot tool and the like…. Then charge 7 bucks for the yardage book . The Pro Shop was void of any souvenirs as that particular region had a Come Home year, so the population doubled or tripled for the week. They had no hats with the Humber Valley Logo, no divot tools, no logo’d balls, no towels, but they did have some golf shirts for 95 bucks plus tax. I was disappointed not to be able to get a nice little souvenir from the day since my wife would kill me if I brought home another golf shirt…
I really don’t want to sound petty or arrgant but those little things help bring people back…
My only complaint about the course would be the yardage markers both on the tees and fairways. On the tees, they did not have the permanent markers indicating the distance from that point – they had the markers, but without the permanent markers, you really didn’t know the true distance (especially important for par 3’s). The fairways all had the 150 sticks, but the 250, 200, and 100 markers were smaller than a brick and most did not have the grass trimmed around them so it made it awfully difficult to spot – you really had to walk around to find them.
THANKFULLY, the golf more than made up for these little inconveniences…. And I will of course go back!
I didn’t have my camera, but one of my playing partners did and I am waiting for them to be emailed, once I have them I will post. I have attached a few pics from their website in the meantime though.
www.humbervalley.com (http://www.humbervalley.com/)
If you are ever looking for a reason to go to Newfoundland – this is it!
The Good:
It is a Doug Carrick design, and of all the Carrick courses I have played, it definitely takes top honors for me.
As you are driving to the course, you are surrounded on both sides by lush mountains, rivers, and lakes.
Once on the course, with Deer Lake and mountain ranges as a beautiful backdrop for the first 3 holes, you would honestly think you’re in BC.
The first 4 or 5 holes are all downhill, and I was amazed at how Carrick gradually worked the holes back uphill back to #9, to the point where it was almost unnoticeable.
The back nine felt like every hole was played downhill, but again it was very subtle.
The Par 3’s were all quite strong; The 3rd is a shortish hole, elevated tee to a large green, with Deer Creek and Mountains as the backdrop. The 5th forces you to carry a lake, then a waste bunker to a narrow green. The 14th is a beautiful hole surrounded by the Humber River on the right and lush trees left and behind. The 17th requires a well hit shot to make the green as there is a valley in front not to mention large bunkers for those that are just short guarding a very narrow green.
The par 4’s require more finesse than brawn as you have to shape shots, or cut corners to be able to score well. The 15th hole is a fun driveable par 4, but has lots of trouble. The Humber River covers the entire right side of the fairway, and up and behind the green, a true risk reward hole. I am leaving a hole out on purpose so I can talk about it more below…
The 5’s all seem to be reachable for longer hitters – IF you hit it straight with the exception of #7, which is a very strong hole. Playing slightly uphill, bunkers are everywhere to snag loose shots. 18 is a reachable 5 that brings you back to the base of the hill/mountain where #10 tee is. From the tee, you get a true sense of how far down you are.
The Great:
The 10th Hole might just be the most beautiful golf hole I have ever played. From the tee box, you stand 180 feet up from the fairway, with a small waterfall in front of the tee boxes. With a spectacular view from the tee with the mountains and river in the background, It is a tough par 4 with fairway bunkers on both sides to catch any loose balls caught by the wind. Greenside bunkers make it a tough approach shot and Par is an excellent score here. Looking back at the tee boxes from the fairway really shows you the natural terrain of the course. The clubhouse sits just up from the tee boxes which in itself offer another beautiful view.
The Bad:
Fortunately the golf made up for any bad but thought I would share them with you. We arrived over an hour early to practice and to grab some breakfast as we were off at 10:00am. After paying, I asked the girl where the driving range was, and was told that it is under construction. Somewhat understandable considering it is a new course…. I then asked where the putting green was, and was told that there was no putting green, but could use #9 as no one would be coming for a while… I was getting a little frustrated… I then asked if the restaurant was upstairs, and was told that we would have to get back into the truck, and drive back to the main gate, and go around the course to the restaurant…. Not pleased, I then asked if we could get on the course early and fortunately we were able to get on pretty much right away. Not to be outdone, once on the first tee, no one in our group had played the course, so I went back to get a Yardage book. As I grabbed one, I was told that it was $7.00… That’s when I hit my boiling point. I was not rude to the girl, as I know it has nothing to do with her… so I was at least polite.
The golf is 100.00, the cart is 20.00 plus HST comes to 136 and change… I said they had a lot of nerve charging that much for no range, putting green, restaurant, divot tool and the like…. Then charge 7 bucks for the yardage book . The Pro Shop was void of any souvenirs as that particular region had a Come Home year, so the population doubled or tripled for the week. They had no hats with the Humber Valley Logo, no divot tools, no logo’d balls, no towels, but they did have some golf shirts for 95 bucks plus tax. I was disappointed not to be able to get a nice little souvenir from the day since my wife would kill me if I brought home another golf shirt…
I really don’t want to sound petty or arrgant but those little things help bring people back…
My only complaint about the course would be the yardage markers both on the tees and fairways. On the tees, they did not have the permanent markers indicating the distance from that point – they had the markers, but without the permanent markers, you really didn’t know the true distance (especially important for par 3’s). The fairways all had the 150 sticks, but the 250, 200, and 100 markers were smaller than a brick and most did not have the grass trimmed around them so it made it awfully difficult to spot – you really had to walk around to find them.
THANKFULLY, the golf more than made up for these little inconveniences…. And I will of course go back!
I didn’t have my camera, but one of my playing partners did and I am waiting for them to be emailed, once I have them I will post. I have attached a few pics from their website in the meantime though.
www.humbervalley.com (http://www.humbervalley.com/)
If you are ever looking for a reason to go to Newfoundland – this is it!