Kincardine area golf

[duffer den]

Heading to a cottage from Sunday to Sunday (Sept 4-11) that is just south of Kincardine and though I have played a bit of golf around there, wondered if anyone had any comments/reviews on the area courses?

I played Ainsdale two years ago and it was ok, but at $47 any day of the week, it does seem overpriced. I have also played the 9 hole Kincardine Golf and Country Club course and it was ok for a community course.

I know that there is a newer course called BlackHorse Golf & Country Resort and it appears to be pretty good, but has anybody been there? $37 any day, which seems more reasonable for the area.

Going up north a bit to Port Elgin, options would seem to be Piper's Glen and Saugeen. Are they worth the drive?

Thanks for any input on this.

[Big Shooter]

Heading to a cottage from Sunday to Sunday (Sept 4-11) that is just south of Kincardine and though I have played a bit of golf around there, wondered if anyone had any comments/reviews on the area courses?

I played Ainsdale two years ago and it was ok, but at $47 any day of the week, it does seem overpriced. I have also played the 9 hole Kincardine Golf and Country Club course and it was ok for a community course.

I know that there is a newer course called BlackHorse Golf & Country Resort and it appears to be pretty good, but has anybody been there? $37 any day, which seems more reasonable for the area.

Going up north a bit to Port Elgin, options would seem to be Piper's Glen and Saugeen. Are they worth the drive?

Thanks for any input on this.um, where is Kincardine and all of these places? (dumb city-slicker!)

[duffer den]

Not much activity to my post from last year, though not all that surprising. For those who may actually venture toward Lake Huron for cottage time, though, BlackHorse Golf & Country Resort is a worthy consideration I would say.

http://www.blackhorsegolf.ca/

Fees are $40 every day with a twilight rate of $26, after 5pm I believe. When I played it last fall, right after Labour Day, it was $30 as they switched nice and early to fall rates. I played there twice last fall and again twice last week as this year we had this cottage rental for a week in the summer. I continue to be impressed by the course and the value is a big part of that, though it is also a nice course. Hard to know what to compare it to but since some people here have played Guelph Lakes - it has that kind of feel to it, though not quite as hilly and it doesn't have the environmental areas.

tee/yards/rating/slope
Black - 6836/72.4/132
Gold - 6392/71.1/126
Blue - 5918/68.3/122
Red - 5246/64.6/112

Kevin Holmes of MBTW Golf Design was responsible for this and I would say he has done a pretty good job in creating an above average community style course. The location means this course will never attract people from too far, but it is quite nice for the area that it is in. It is fairly open and driver can be used a lot. Greens roll well, yardages are marked on sprinkler heads and there are the standard 200, 150, and 100 yard markers, though they can be a bit tough to spot from off of the fairway. The course is nicely maintained and though it doesn't have a clubhouse, it does have a trailer like structure that serves it's purpose and they even have some good equipment to buy and demo. A good driving range and practice facility is located by holes 4-6 and as such is a short drive from the course. A decent putting green is available not far from hole #1. Can't comment on food or beverage cart as I don't usually do that and my play was early morning, though I know they have a beverage cart that goes out after 11am.

Closer to Kincardine, and the cottage that we rent, is Ainsdale Golf Course and I utilized it last week by going to the driving range and practice putting green with my 6 yr old. Their fees are $50 every day and for me it is worth the extra 15-20 minutes of driving one way to head to BlackHorse. On Friday I played with 3 members of BH and they have really liked it so far, though for them the convenience of Ainsdale is something they may consider for next year - that extra driving and gas cost adds up when you play a lot.

So for future reference, in case anyone searches, this a pretty good course place to play if you are near Kincardine or Walkerton.

Here are a few pics of the course I took last Friday. First pic is #18 early morning. Second pic is from the tee area on #10. Both 10 and 18 are par 5s. The quarry holes are the talked about ones and so I have #3 from the tee, par 5, and then #7 from the back tee. I actually like the view from the gold tees more as it is a nice drop into the valley - water left and quarry to the right.