Passing Grade for Dragon's Fire

The Duffer's Dream Tour held its latest round at Dragon's Fire Golf Club, a brand spanking new course located in Carlisle, Ontario. I don't have time to write my usual post round analysis, so here instead is my review of the course, as shared with a couple friends who are fellow golf enthusiasts.

I played there yesterday. I was worried due to all of the negative reviews I had read, but I have to say that I was more than pleased.

The greens were very smooth and consistent, even if a little slow. Two holes is all it takes to get a feel for the greens. After that, there is no reason for players to complain about the slowness of the greens. I heard someone describe them as "slow as molasses" and that was a huge exaggeration. Someone else described them as "shaggy" and that was not the case when I played there.

Some of the fairways were a little hard. This made the ball run nicely, but it was difficult to take a nice divot from the fairway. There were some bare patches on the fairways, but I had to look hard to find them. I have played at many courses that have more bare patches than Dragon's Fire did and those are mature courses.

As discussed, there are numerous tee boxes to choose from. I will just add that they are all square, perfectly level, and in great condition. Another great feature of the course is the fluffy white sand in the bunkers. I was in it a number of times and I can tell you it is like butter. It allows you to play a sand shot the way instructors teach you to. On far too many courses, the terrible sand does not allow you to play shots the "proper" way.

A piece of advice is to hit the fairways, which in most cases are quite ample. This course penalizes missed fairways severely, with wooded areas and two-foot long fescue just a few yards away from the fairways. If you miraculously find your ball, you will not be able to hit out of the fescue. On the positive side, course officials told us to treat all wooded areas as lateral hazards, even though they aren't all staked yet. At least this way, you are penalized a stroke, but not distance.

Finally, one last word about the "driving range". It is terrible. They just didn't have the space, so the end result looks like someone's backyard. It's fine to practice your pitching wedge and high irons, but that is all.

Overall, I think Dragon's Fire is a very good course that will get even better. The price is a little steep, but I think they will be able to command that price, based on competitive courses nearby. By the end of the season, I think Dragon's Fire will be considered better than nearby courses such as Hidden Lake, Crosswinds, or Piper's Heath.

With the review complete, here's how I performed:

Score: 103
Par: 72
Putts: 35
Fairways: 7
Greens: 3