The Beauty of Fall Golf

The Beauty of Fall Golf

Nothing beats summer for golf: perfect course conditions, long hours of sunshine, and enough warmth to make the ball go a little farther. But for me, fall golf in Canada isn’t far behind. Sure, you have to adjust to the crisp air and abandon your Bermudas and short-sleeve golf shirts for pants and fleece. The fairways and greens can be a little uneven, and this is when many courses schedule their aeration programs. You also occasionally have to search for your ball among the leaves accumulating in and around the fairways.

But Eastern Canada boasts breathtaking scenery and diverse landscapes that become even more spectacular in the fall colours. Even better, the “fair-weather” golfers have put away their clubs for the winter, making it possible to play most rounds in under four hours.

With most local club competitions over, it’s also a time to put aside the unforgiving nature of stroke play and enjoy friendly matches and different games where the scorecard takes a back seat to simply having fun.

One of my fall highlights was my annual match with my longtime friend Richard. We met halfway at Brockville Country Club, one of Eastern Ontario’s older golf institutions, with roots going back to 1914. The most important chapter in the course’s architectural history came in 1930, when Stanley Thompson visited Brockville. The Stanley Thompson Society credits him with redesigning the original nine holes and likely supervising the associated construction work. The Society classifies the nine-hole redesign as verified Thompson work. In 1976, the club expanded to 18 holes, retaining seven of the original holes and constructing 11 new ones. Our guess was that the original holes were the ones closest to King Street, but the “new” holes aren’t that easy to identify. They too feature mature trees, rolling terrain, elevation changes, strategic hazards and interesting greens rather than the wide-open, length-driven design of many modern courses. It made for a great setting for our annual match.

Another fall highlight was the opportunity to play Rideau View Golf Club again, a private club in Manotick, south of Ottawa, with a history closely tied to Ottawa’s Jewish community. I played it as part of a four-man scramble organized by the Canadian Golf Course Owners’ Association. I hadn’t played the course in more than ten years, but it was even better than I remembered.

The property is naturally undulating, with numerous elevated tees and greens that create a great variety of holes. It has a peaceful, rural setting, with mature trees and very little residential intrusion—one of its most attractive qualities. The large, deep and sharply defined bunkers are another defining feature. Many are conspicuous enough from the tee to have a strong visual and psychological effect as you think about how to play the hole. Rideau View’s bunkering gives the course considerable architectural personality and helps explain why it can feel difficult even when the yardage isn’t overwhelming.

A third fall highlight was the 3-club competition at my home club, Hautes Plaines. There’s something particularly fun about playing a three-club competition at your home course. At Hautes Plaines, it becomes a real test of imagination and strategy. With only three clubs in the bag, every shot requires a decision: Do you try to manufacture a different trajectory with the same club, take something off it, open the face, or simply accept that the perfect shot may not always be available? Around the greens, the creativity really comes out. A bump-and-run with a 7-iron instead of an elevated pitch shot, a three-quarter swing while choking down 1-2 inches on a 5-wood to try to hit a green 175 yards away, a delicate shot with a club you wouldn’t normally choose—it forces you to see and experience the course differently. Suddenly, distance isn’t the only consideration; angles, slopes and where you want your next shot to finish become just as important.

At Hautes Plaines, a rather short course requiring precision, my choice of a 5-wood, a 7-iron, and a 52-degree wedge, which I used to putt, turned out to be a pretty good choice. I was able to get to the green - or very close - in regulation on almost every hole. With four 3-putt greens, a part of me still wonders if I should have included my putter (usually the best club in my bag) instead of a wedge, but I also sank two putts of 15 and 8 feet for birdies blading my wedge!

What surprised me most about playing with just three golf clubs was how little it affected my score. In fact, I was able to shoot a score remarkably similar to what I would normally shoot with a full set. Without the temptation to reach for every club in the bag, I found myself thinking more carefully about each shot, focusing on keeping the ball in front of me and playing within my abilities. Leaving my unreliable driver behind eliminated many of the costly mistakes that quickly turn a decent round into a frustrating one... Instead of trying to hit the perfect shot, I concentrated on finding a way to get the job done. I had to be creative, playing different and sometimes unusual shots that I might never have considered with a full set of clubs at my disposal. It was a refreshing reminder that golf isn't always about hitting the ball farther or having the right club for every situation. Sometimes, it's about course management, imagination, and making the best of what you have.

Perhaps just as rewarding was the feeling of freedom that came with carrying a small bag over my shoulders again. It took me back to my junior years, when golf felt less complicated and the joy came from simply being out on the course, figuring things out as I went along. Playing with three clubs didn't just lighten the load on my shoulders; it seemed to lighten my approach to golf itself. And in the process, it reminded me that sometimes, taking something away can actually give you so much more.