A friend is volunteering at the Canadian Open this year at Angus Glen and offered me a free day pass for Thursday/Friday. I can’t go Thursday, but Friday I’m going to head down from 11am to about 2pm. The likes of Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson won’t be attending this year, but there’s still going to be some big names including Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Mark Calcavecchia and more.

It must have been hard to get big names to commit to the Canadian Open, especially with the British Open just last week. Luckily the organizers pulled out all the stops and actually chartered a private jet to fly players from the British Open to Toronto.

A host of the top names in golf were shuttled by private jet from Scotland to Canada on Sunday night in order to compete in the Canadian Open which begins on Thursday. The Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), organisers of this week’s Canadian Open, chartered a luxury airplane to fly over 20 golfers and their guests to Toronto from Edinburgh immediately after the Open Championship ended.

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Since my last golf course post I’ve played Humber Valley, Markham Green, Bantys Roost and Remington Parkview.. I really wanted to post about each course I went to this year, but it looks like they are going to be delayed.

I went shopping in Buffalo last weekend at the Walden Galleria.. with the great exchange rate (I got 1.08 at the bank), you can’t go wrong. The only thing you have to look out for, is getting back over the border without paying any taxes on your goods. Here’s what I did: I crossed over at the Peace Bridge and told the border rent-a-cop we were meeting friends in Buffalo and driving to the American Falls. After shopping, we stuffed everything in my golf bag and took the 20 minute drive to the American Falls.. which by the way are amazing. After spending some time at the Falls, we crossed over at the Niagara border. When the person at the crossing asked what we were doing in America, I just said we went to look at the American Falls… he replied “really? I’ve never done that”.

In a strange turn of events, which started with the Facebook application, I have created a Twitter account.. I actually (kind-of) enjoy it and will probably be updating it while I’m in Greece.

• Over 950 Green Fee Coupons at 172 Golf Courses
• Over 400 2 for 1 Green Free Coupons
• Weekend Play at 143 Golf Courses

Each course is given 2 pages, complete with map directions, prices, contact info, policies and course details.
2 for 1, 4 for 2, 4 for 3… the book is littered with discounts.
If anyones up for a round, let me know.

Granite Ridge is comprised of two great courses. The first is the par 70 Ruby and the second (which we played) is the par 72 Cobalt. The course is in amazing shape and is only a half hour drive out of Toronto. Green fees range in the low 40s.

By far the most difficult hole on Cobalt is the 527 yard par 5 7th hole. From the tee a drive of 245 is needed to clear the first water hazard, which runs through the fairway. The remaining 250 yards has water running along the right, with a large bunker in front of a slightly elevated green.

Overall Granite Ridge is a great course, which holds true to their slogan: “The Public Course with the Private Club Atmosphere”.

Overall the course was in great condition, the greens were incredibly slow and the rough was long. The wildlife in the area was awesome; we actually saw a decent size turtle walking through the fairway (moving from one pond to another). Around 7:00pm the bugs came out in full force, so be sure to keep bug repellant in your bag.

The course was built sparing now expense for hazards, both around the greens and in the fairways. The Yellow nine especially had five foot bunkers and heavy water on many holes. The holes tempt you to use driver off the tee, but the smart move is to be accurate with an iron. If you’re in the mood for a 40 minute drive out of Toronto, this is a great course with an impressive clubhouse and learning facilities.

Update May 10 2006: We just played this course for the second time in 7 days.  This time we played the Red 9 followed by the Blue 9.  The course was still as impressive and we actually saw a fox run across the fairway.  I shot my best round of the year – 4 pars, 1 birdie — totaling a 90 on the par 72.

More photos here

Yesterday, a friend and I played Caledon Country Club in Inglewood, Ontario. This course is about 25 minutes north of Mississauga, set on open country land. The course is a par 71 playing stretching around 6000 yards. You have the option of walking or using a cart, but with so many hills and holes so far apart from each other, consider spending the extra money.

The course brings water into play often (10 of the 18 holes), most notably on number 9 (par 4, 298 yards), which coincidently is called ‘Go For Broke’ – enough said. Club selection is vital on a course like this, since narrow fairways, bushes, trees and water come into play very often. Words of advice, stay out of the bunkers, most have huge lips and are unforgiving.

The course is pretty pricey at around $70 CAD and was rated 14th best course in GTA. Overall given it’s still April and we had a ton of rain fall last weekend, the course was in above average condition.

More pictures here