Top 80-61 Courses: Canada’s Top 100 Golf Courses

The wait is finally over. SCOREGolf’s Top 100 is the most authoritative golf course ranking in Canada and has been igniting debates every two years since 1988.

In celebration of SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Golf Courses Ranking, we recently hosted Canada’s Top 100 Golf Giveaway, where we gave away a foursome more than half of the courses on the list. With thousands of entries from coast-to-coast, we want to thank everyone that entered and congratulate all of our winners. And congratulations to our Grand Prize winner Pamela Rawling from Toronto, Ont., who won our Ultimate Whistler Golf Getaway – a trip for four to Whistler and will get to play Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Big Sky and Nicklaus North.

Check out our previous post in the countdown:

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80-61 of SCOREGolf‘s Top 100 Canadian Courses

80.  Bear Mountain – Valley

It’s billed as the Mountain Course’s tamer younger brother, but the Valley Course at the popular Vancouver Island resort is no less dramatic. Jack and Steve Nicklaus crafted a number of spectacular holes in a valley terrain that is anything but flat. Highlights include the par-3 14th with its tee-to-green laced waste bunker and the risk-reward par-5 15th.

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Winner: Patrick Paquin

79. Brantford G&CC

David Hearn’s home track, Brantford is the one course in Canada where Stanley Thompson’s brother, Nicol, gets top billing as architect. Played mostly in a valley near the Grand River, Brantford has always had a reputation as a ball-striker’s course with narrow fairways guarded by tall trees. No wonder it’s churned out the likes of Hearn and Alena Sharp.

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78. Wildstone

Situated on rolling highlands high above the city of Cranbrook, Wildstone has impressed since opening and has the good fortune of being the only Gary Player Design course in Canada. Fairways are framed by tall pine trees while golden fescue and white-sand bunkers provide brilliant colour contrasts.

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Winner: Bernie Budinski

77. Wildfire

Lakefield, Ontario

The best golf course in Ontario’s Kawarthas, Wildfire is a Thomas McBroom gem that holds up well against his more acclaimed cottage-country designs such as Oviinbyrd and Rocky Crest. Using parts of the Canadian Shield for aesthetic beauty, Wildfire presents mostly secluded playing corridors with just the right amount of openness to provide variety.

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76. Rosedale

In the heart of one of Canada’s toniest neighbourhoods, Rosedale is an exclusive haunt on gorgeous property that those living outside of Toronto would never believe is right in the city. Holes work their way through dales, atop ridges and over and alongside creeks. It was designed by famed Scottish-American architect Donald Ross.

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75. Northern Bear

Sherwood Park, Alberta

Northern Bear is one of four Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses in Canada, which is the highest tier in the Nicklaus Design portfolio. Clearly that is a coup for a course that features fairways blending seamlessly with tall trees and five lakes to keep golfers on their toes from the first hole to the 18th green.

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Winner: Susan Schroter

74. Camelot

Camelot, a Thomas McBroom design outside of Ottawa, has a little bit of everything. It has some fantastic land and thrilling elevation changes; it has holes playing through forested areas; holes that look and play more linsky with golden fescue bordering fairways; and views of both the Ottawa River and the Gatineau Hills. The joy of playing here is in the course’s variety.

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73. Kananaskis Country – Mt. Lorette

What a story Kananaskis Country is. After being destroyed by the historic Alberta floods of 2013, it is finally back up and running with its Mr. Lorette course opened to the public this year. The beautiful 1983 Robert Trent Jones design was put back together by Gary Browning but made more playable and enjoyable. In time it will regain the prominence it once enjoyed.

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Winner: Graham Pardoe

72. Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu – St-Laurent, Richelieu

La Malbaie, Quebec

This course is comprised of nines built by Herbert Strong in the 1920s and by Michael Hurdzan in the 2000s, making it one of the more unique Top 100 layouts. It sits high above the St. Lawrence River and features some fantastic plummeting holes that get the heart racing. Large greens will lull you into thinking par is an easy score.

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Winner: Ghislaine Grondin

71. Priddis Greens – Hawk

Priddis, Alberta

Located in the rolling foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it’s of little surprise that the Hawk Course at Priddis Greens is one that’s full of beauty. Bill Newis took full advantage of what is mostly interesting terrain to craft a number of strong holes, especially the Hawk’s par 4s. Parts of the course, along with its sister Raven Course, have been used to host the CP Women’s Open.

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70.  Laval-sur-le-lac – Green

Laval, Quebec

When Mike Weir and Ian Andrew redid Laval’s Blue Course five years ago the previously more highly acclaimed Green Course became overshadowed. But the Willie Park, Jr., design more than holds its own to give Laval one of Canada’s best one-two punches. Andrew recently redid the bunkers to match the Blue.

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Winner: Lindsey Parkin

69. Scarboro G&CC

Scarborough, the only A.W. Tillinghast design in Canada, is built on positively fabulous land that climbs, drops, twists and turns and is bisected by a creek. Quirky holes are aplenty at Scarboro and the course likely boasts Canada’s best set of short par 4s. Ian Andrew and Gil Hanse redid the bunkering several years ago.

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68. Wolf Creek – Links

Ponoka, Alberta

This course is comprised of an existing nine holes at the previous 27-hole Wolf Creek with a new nine original designer Rod Whitman did in 2010. It includes the same old-world aesthetics as Wolf Creek’s Old Course but has overtaken it to be the higher-rated course on the property. Its wide fairways offer plenty of attack options to ideally located green complexes.

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Winner: Lisa Cloutier Cote

67. Glen Abbey

It’s nice to see the longtime host of the RBC Canadian Open jump nearly 20 spots on SCOREGolf’s Top 100 ranking even with its time evidently coming to an end. A much-needed bunker renovation is likely the cause of the jump and while some of the front-nine holes lack lustre, the valley holes still hold up. The Abbey has never looked better.

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Winner: Andrée-Ann LeBlanc

66. Black Bear Ridge

It doesn’t get much better in terms of homemade designs than Black Bear Ridge, which was created by course owner Brian Magee in 2005. One of the top bangs for your buck in Canada, the course features several stunning holes through tall pines, particularly coming home, and is always in pristine shape.

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Winner: Nick Donovan

65. Le Maitre

Mont Tremblant, Quebec

Le Maitre has long been regarded as the best of the handful of courses in the tourist hotspot of Mont Tremblant. It also has the highest name recognition when it comes to architects too as fan favourite Fred Couples collaborated with Graham Cooke and Darrell Huxham. Played along the Devil’s River it features wide fairways, large greens and several wetland areas.

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Winner: Ian Forcier

64. Royal Ottawa

A founding member of the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada), Royal Ottawa was originally designed by Tom Bendelow with tweaks later on by Willie Park, Jr. The course continues to be tweaked but an obvious highlight is back-to-back mid-length par 3s on the back nine that are protected by tricky greens.

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63. Deer Ridge

Golf courses with strong finishes do well in rankings because they leave such a lasting impression. Certainly that’s the case for Thomas McBroom’s Deer Ridge which closes a fabulous long, downhill par 3 with a green protected by water, a tough tree-lined par 4 and a par 5 with a green built into a hill just beyond a hazard.

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Winner: Kyle Picken

62. Maple Downs

Maple, Ontario

Originally designed by William F. Mitchell in 1954, Maple Downs, built on fabulous property north of Toronto, has seen big changes in recent years with Ian Andrew redoing several holes and greens to provide more interest and challenge. The driveable yet tricky par-4 12th hole is as good a mind-buster as there is anywhere.

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61. Beaconsfield

Pointe Claire, Quebec

Stanley Thompson’s quaint Beaconsfield in Point Claire, Que., may be short on length, but it’s no pushover with accuracy required all the way around. Its stretch comes early, on holes three through six, while Beaconsfield’s five par 3s could challenge for the best set of one-shotters in Canada.

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