Woodington Lakes 18th hole

[Ignatius Reilly]

Were trees taken down on the "tee" side of the lake, or just the ones lining the lake on the fairway side?

I'd think they'd have to have taken some tee side trees to make the green visible from the tee.

[swingeasyguy]

In an update, the explanation for removing the trees on the 18th hole of the Legends was that the pros who play in the Ontario Open there complained that the hole was too difficult because the chute was too narrow. All I can say is this is the new generation of young 'pros' and humans who will destroy trees (hosts of bird nests and animal homes, and CO2 providers for our planet) for the sake of their convenience. If you can't get par on this hole, I can't call you a pro.

[dmcdam]

In an update, the explanation for removing the trees on the 18th hole of the Legends was that the pros who play in the Ontario Open there complained that the hole was too difficult because the chute was too narrow. All I can say is this is the new generation of young 'pros' and humans who will destroy trees (hosts of bird nests and animal homes, and CO2 providers for our planet) for the sake of their convenience. If you can't get par on this hole, I can't call you a pro.

You do know they cut down a whole lot of trees to build most golf courses, right?

[Ignatius Reilly]

In an update, the explanation for removing the trees on the 18th hole of the Legends was that the pros who play in the Ontario Open there complained that the hole was too difficult because the chute was too narrow. All I can say is this is the new generation of young 'pros' and humans who will destroy trees (hosts of bird nests and animal homes, and CO2 providers for our planet) for the sake of their convenience. If you can't get par on this hole, I can't call you a pro.

I was going to say that it doesn't really matter about par, the hole is the same for every player. Play it as you find it.

Then I got a LOL when I read dmcdam 's reply. That's a good point too.

[swingeasyguy]

Yes but to take down more trees because someone think's a hole is hard? At Summit they put a river underground on the 16th par 5 because 4 members complained about it being too difficult. Now most members think the hole is too boring and want the river brought back! My contention is if the hole or game is too hard don't play it, sit home and watch it.

[dmcdam]

Yes but to take down more trees because someone think's a hole is hard? At Summit they put a river underground on the 16th par 5 because 4 members complained about it being too difficult. Now most members think the hole is too boring and want the river brought back! My contention is if the hole or game is too hard don't play it, sit home and watch it.

Or perhaps it was the realization (finally) that the renovation of the 18th by the previous owner was a failure. I have no doubt that all kinds of people complained about that hole. Maybe they wanted to open of the views of the lake from which the course derived it's name. A lake which was only really visible on half of one hole. The opinion of one small group of non-members was the sole reason for the ownership to undergo a costly renovation? Unless you got that explanation from the owners themselves, I'm not inclined to believe it. I also doubt 4 members at Summit were enough to precipitate the expense of burying a river, unless one of those members was the owner.

[ChasingPar]

I played Woodington Lakes Legend yesterday...

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just missed an apostrophe.

You played Woodington Lake's Legend

I'll reserve judgement on the changes to the 18th hole until I see it in person. Bobogo aside, most mere mortals found this to be a difficult hole. Cutting down the trees may be an attempt to make it a bit easier. It might also be just the first step in a redesign to achieve the same goal. I'll say this however: before the changes, you could play Woodington Lake's Legend (see what I did there?) and never really notice the lake that gives the course its name. With those trees gone, you finish the round with a prominent view of it.

In other news, Hidden Lake's hidden lake (Lake Medad) will remain hidden for at least the immediate future.

[swingeasyguy]

Yes I'm still searching for that Hidden Lake, you can see it on Google Earth. The four members I mentioned at Summit apparently had been four of the longest serving members so they carried a lot of weight...but four ruling for 500? A bit out of whack methinks.By the way can't find the lakes at Spring Lakes or Silver Lakes either.

[Ignatius Reilly]

How much of the tree line did they take out?

I've played a few times this year, and the most recent time saw they've moved the green - pretty much back to its old location.

All the trees are gone in the red areas, and for now it's a big ugly like a clearcut on the tee side. The green side cuts have been resodded into rough which is very playable. The tee shot is no longer scary, lots of room for a ball to land in.

The green has been moved to the white area (it's probably a little narrower than shown) and there's water along the left side, so they must have gotten rid of the old green and restored it to being part of the lake. (lakes?)

IMO either one of the changes was required, but not both. I prefer moving the green as the tee shot was really exciting before. The green was just too small, too tough to hold, and blocked from an awful lot of tee shots.

[4underthru9]

I've played a few times this year, and the most recent time saw they've moved the green - pretty much back to its old location.
All the trees are gone in the red areas, and for now it's a big ugly like a clearcut on the tee side. The green side cuts have been resodded into rough which is very playable. The tee shot is no longer scary, lots of room for a ball to land in.
The green has been moved to the white area (it's probably a little narrower than shown) and there's water along the left side, so they must have gotten rid of the old green and restored it to being part of the lake. (lakes?)
IMO either one of the changes was required, but not both. I prefer moving the green as the tee shot was really exciting before. The green was just too small, too tough to hold, and blocked from an awful lot of tee shots.

Thanks for the update, and schematic, too bad more members don't take the time to do that, a picture is worth a thousand words or more.
IMHO that ruins the hole, but with POP on everybody's mind I assume that is the reason.
Nothing worse than waiting on 18th Tee, especially if you have a best round going for you.

[QuentinJJ]

Quite possibly the worst starting hole in the GTA. Just never made sense

1 will be a par 3, but not the first hole as the course will be re-routed. Doug Carrick is designing.

[Pingnut]

Just caught up on this thread and wanted to say I love the first hole. Many birdies have been made