5 hardest public courses in ottawa?

[jvincent]

If you check the thread where I posted a KML for my round at Loch March I think you should see elevation changes with the right viewer.

[Leejanzen]

For those who've played both, does Loch March have more changes in elevation than Le Sorcier?

[jvincent]

I would say that LM has much less change that Le Sorcier. Loch March is a pretty easy walk, IMHO.

[stevek]

Loch March is an easier walk. Also, Sorcier is Mandatory Cart - likely does have more elevation. The two times I've played it were VERY slow so I don't play there anymore.

[LobWedge]

Google may not show the elevations. I believe this course has the most elevation of any course in the area. The club house overlooks many of the holes from a great height. (#1, #10, #14, and #17 are all with-in view of the club-house)

Other than the no-see-em bugs this is my favorite course.

#1 - Down about 35 feet to the fairway. Level the rest of the way.
#2 - Level.
#3 - Steady climb of about 10-15 feet.
#4 - Fairway drops about 5 feet. Slightly elevated green.
#5 - Slightly elevated tee. Rest of the hole is level.
#6 - Level from the tee (fairway slopes right). Uphill about 20 feet to the green.
#7 - Down about 35 feet to the green.
#8 - Steady climb of about 20-25 feet to the green.
#9 - tee and green are level with each other, but the fairway in between drops about 10 feet.
#10 - Same as #1, but add 5 feet if you're playing the back tee.
#11 - Level. Green slightly elevated.
#12 - Down about 15-20 feet from the tee. Slightly elevated green.
#13 - Level
#14 - Down about 25-30 feet to the fairway (depending on which tee you play). Level from there on.
#15 - Level.
#16 - Slight uphill to the green.
#17 - Down about 25-30 feet to the fairway. Green elevated about 5-6 feet.
#18 - Down about 10-15 feet to the fairway, and then up about 20-25 feet to the green.

[nokids]

9-04-2009 @ 7:56 am. I have a date with the Lochness Marchster.

[adam]

I find it weird that the Marshes plays so hard from the back tees and yet I find it a very easy course from the whites, compared to a few others I've played from the whites this year (Glenmar ). Is this the case for Stonebridge or Loch March, do they play about as easy as any other course when played from the whites?

[jvincent]

Depends on your game.

LM has what I like to call "sneaky trouble". It's very easy to get out of position and when you do that scoring can be tough, even from the white tees.

Stonebridge is all about keeping the ball in play. If you are crooked off the tee, you are toast no matter what tees you play. From the whites you can easily play SB with iron off the tee on the par 4/5s so keeping it in play shouldn't be a problem.

The Marshes is pretty wide open off the tee so moving up to the whites takes a big chunk of yardage away.

[Ruskie]

Never played SB from the tips, but I find that there's really not a lot of difference between blues and whites. Being an average hitter, I still have to play driver off the tee a lot from the whites. I could probably throttle down to a 3-wood, but a long iron would leave too many mid-to-long irons into the greens that are hard to hit with a wedge. Par 3s are quite a bit tougher from the blues though.

[jvincent]

Compared to the whites SB is quite a bit tougher from the tips.

[Tbone]

There is a huge difference from the whites to golds at The Marshes.2 completely different courses.

[Bull147]

My 5 would be:

1. Loch March
2. Stonebridge
3. Marshes
4. Pakenham (Canyon 9)
5. L'Heritage

I have had my 2 worst Tin Cup moments at Pakenham, culminating in an approach shot off the roof of the clubhouse during a round last October (tapped in my chip for a 10, though). I will never play there sober again!

[nokids]

it was the tale of two 9's. first 9 was awesome, except for my tee off on #1 which went straight into the lake. i was on my way to a 84 if i kept it up. however the back 9 was the pits. by hole 12 my spirits were broken. shot of the day was when my teeshot on 13 hit the stones that surround the hole. the ball popped straight up in the air and we wondered if it would go forward or back. splash!!!!

overall it was a great round. beautiful course, but i wont go back there until i get rid of my fade/slice. i came to Loch March with 9 callaway hx one balls; and i left with a dunlop, nike, and a callaway warbird. i lost 9 balls!!!

[jvincent]

That's one harsh back nine. How did you manage to make a 7 on #11?

[nokids]

That's one harsh back nine. How did you manage to make a 7 on #11?

i was to the right of the green in 2 shots!! but on my third shot the ball was lying an inch from bricks along the cart path. i didn't know if that was considered part of the cart path or not, so instead of moving it with a penalty stroke at worst, i tried to chop it at a very bad angle and the ball went to the OTHER side of the green. then a bad chip, another chip, then 3 putt. that's the hole that killed me. i never regained my confidence after that.

[LobWedge]

Ah, the Loch March Monster claims another victim. Like jvincent says, it's the kind of course that sneaks up on you. When you look at the scorecard it doesn't look like much, and then before you know it, you look at your card and say, HOLY CRAP!

I've had my issues there over the years (an 11 on #7 comes to mind ), but the more you play it, the more you appreciate how much you need to manage your game there. I've always loved that course, and since Eagle Creek went over to the "dark side", it's now my favourite public track in the city.

[Kilroy]

bricks along the cart path. i didn't know if that was considered part of the cart path or not,

It does not matter if the bricks are part of the cart path. If they are indeed "bricks", then they are man-made, so therefore they would be classed as an immovable obstruction. Free relief would have been available to you. It's a shame if that event was pivotal in your collapse.

[byerxa]

but the more you play it, the more you appreciate how much you need to manage your game there

It is a course that will grind the life out of you when the A game is not in town

I originally was never a big fan of the course and always shot poorly there. It turns out I was playing the wrong tees. I was always playing the whites because that's what my buddies wanted to play. Then one day last year it was just me and dreaded_snowman going off one morning and it was not busy so I said, hey lets play the blues. The course was very wet with no roll but I ended up shooting an 84 with a very sloppy (short game brain farts) bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch from 8 thru 11. The best I ever shot from the whites before was 89. I found the course much more enjoyable from the blues. Holes fit my eye much better and it seemed like a different course. Just goes to show you should play the tees that suit your game and not go too long OR too short.

[nokids]

It does not matter if the bricks are part of the cart path. If they are indeed "bricks", then they are man-made, so therefore they would be classed as an immovable obstruction. Free relief would have been available to you. It's a shame if that event was pivotal in your collapse.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[HATTERS]

I have played the marshes twice this year, once from the gold and one from the whites and it changes the course compleatly . The second hole 640 is a beast I hit driver 3wood and still came up short and pitched on wit a wedge, From golds to white's it is 2 diffrent courses