Gatineau re-opening

[JRP1997]

Just call 819 557-4411 til next thursday; then you will call 819 557-4433 after that. They will only take Visa and Mastercard and cash til thursday; then phone lines will be in for that second number and then internet bookings and interac will be available.

The houses are pretty far from the fairways; not comparable to Hautes Plaines at all. You have to really go sideways to hit one.

Really remarkable design and like Dan "Kilroy" says there are about four or five fairways that are not mature yet and this will not be the old Gatineau; this is something special. I have talked to people coming off the course today and they are really impressed.

For those paying green fees; your next game will be free ; the only catch is that you have to bring a friend and he pays full pop like you did; in other words; you can split the cost of the Green Fee and you have to play that game by June 11th.

See you at the Gat.

[Sakuraba]

Really anxious to hear from someone who played. I think it looks really nice, a lot of potential for sure there.

[John]

Yep Sak i'm in the same boat as i'm thinking about getting out there this week. Anyone who played pipe on up!

[Duckhook81]

I played it through GolfXtra the day it opened for 19$, the tee's and green's are nice ... but IMO all the fairways are not in great shape, they are all hard and patchy.

[LoisDNominator]

I spoke to the shop this morning and apparently they are selling an unlimited season's pass (booking 7 days in advance) for $1800, including taxes.

[Kiwi]

Booked for this Friday, looking forward to it, based on all the positives on this Forum.

[iggsplode]

got it booked for tuesday morning.. can't wait.

[Kiwi]

Favourably impressed with this "new"course. Played with two other first timers who said that only one of the original holes remains. The tee boxes and greens were in super shape. The greens could have been a little faster for my liking but nothing wrong with them. Fairways were mixed good and bad and all very hard, so lots of bounce and role. Worst thing I can say is the distance between holes. Long walks over very large construction grade gravel. Considering where they are after only a few days looking forward to going back in a few months to see how all the work is paying off. Worth the time and price and the houses can't be that close because I didn't hit one.

[STONE_COLD]

Just came back...Nice design...need to mature. Back nice is easier than the front. You have to walk a lot between the holes. A lot of potential but I hope the Manager over there will take care of it and will not become like 'Les Vieux-Moulins' golf course. Rest of the comments are the same as 'kiwi'.

The new clubhouse will be installed in about 3 months. It is already there sitting on blocks near the 6th hole.

[John]

Just played and i'll give it about a 6 out of 10 for now. Fairways need a whole lot of TLC and it's a very long walk. Four of us played interrupted in just under 5 hours and we are not slow golfers. I might be back this year for a late aft round but it needs some good time to mature.

[joceber]

Played Sunday morning 9:00 am. Not too many golfers.
This new layout is very nice!
Lot's of potential, being that close to home.
I won't miss the old Gatineau.

Cross your fingers, that earth falls from the sky,
since fairways need MORE !!! Unless grass covers more fairway in future.
Big rocks can be seen on course.
Very close to green... witch are quite amazing in return, for a new course.
Just a tad slow for the better golfers. Greens are huge, get the long putter.

Add too moved the ball to void damaging my TP TM irons.

Long and tick rough will eat your ball alive.
Pay lots of attention of errant balls that goes for pee.

Cart path are too close to greens on some instance, hopefully this issue is going to get resolved, since this course is proning for cart riding considering the distances between holes. Walkers are hoping for smaller crush stones.
I ate to see my ball kicking in the woods when hit close to green on long iron shots.

No ball washer, and the round start's at the 15th hole par five.

The future first hole is going to be handicap 1.
Personally, I hate to start the round with the toughest hole.

Don't forget to bring plenty of water or fluids, or else you might die of thirst.
No water on course and no cart lady to fill in your thirst.
It’s summer heat out there!

Thank you Stan ! It was worth the wait!
Enjoy this new course! Golf season is here.

[iggsplode]

^ i agree with the above review alot, it sums up my whole experience very well.. i played it yesterday morning alone and here's my thoughts. keep in mind by 8:00 when i teed off it was VERY humid and sticky and it's set in a very swampy area so you can imagine how it felt at times. i also dont deal with heat like that very well either so i wasnt enjoying the day itself very much. had i not been obligated to pay for my booking with EG i would have stayed home.

it was a mixed experience for me, i didnt have a good round of golf, certainly one of my worst in the last 2 years but as for the course itself, it has tons of potential and i love the layout mostly.. some of the holes are just plain awesome with lots of character. there seems to be sand traps everywhere but not in a bad way by any means. the course does need some time to develop, but whats there now should be a good indication of what the final product will be like. the inclusion of some benches and ball washers sooner rather than later would be appreciated, as well as some sort of refueling station or cart service. its not fun running out of water in the middle of nowhere in dead heat with no stops near a clubhouse or anything. there were also a couple of REALLY short par 3's i didnt like very much, seemed to be slapped together as an afterthought with no character and out of place from the other holes, but the majority of the rest made up for it. im also not a fan of playing in the middle of a housing community, there's a couple holes that are literally surrounded by backyards from tee to green.. not close enough that you think you'd hit anything or anyone, but definatly close enough to make me feel weird about it. all minor things.

but now for my biggest gripe. the fairways may be good but the rough is just plain nasty.. it's well kept but its the thickest ive ever seen. i brought 14 balls with me and had to walk off without playing the last 2 holes after i lost my last ball off the 17th tee(well, 13th tee technically as 15 is the current starting hole). all day i was losing balls in spots i should have easily found and played, but i lost 3 in the rough off the first hole alone. it was my own fault i guess for not paying as much attention to the ball location until i realized it didnt get much better. had a couple shots that landed within 20 yards of the green to either side that i never did find. by the time i was done i was very frustrated and annoyed.

it's a great course, but in all honesty i found it far too difficult for me, someone who doesnt find the fairway that regularly anyways. maybe it was just a bad round coupled with unbearbale heat. i'll definatly be back again later but for now i need to rebuild some of my confidence around some of my other home courses that i play better. i do recommend anyone to try it at least once.

[leftylucas]

Man, those walks between holes must have been a killer yesterday.

This is going to be a great course once they clean it up a bit and the bare spots fill-in. I find their pricing to be high for the area, you can play Sorcier for the same price and the cart is included, a better value in my eyes. Then again I rather play the Gatineau than Cartier which is even more expensive

[iggsplode]

Man, those walks between holes must have been a killer yesterday.

This is going to be a great course once they clean it up a bit and the bare spots fill-in. I find their pricing to be high for the area, you can play Sorcier for the same price and the cart is included, a better value in my eyes. Then again I rather play the Gatineau than Cartier which is even more expensive

i agree.. as bad as the round/day i had ive found myself thinking about it alot. there are some really well done holes there. ive yet to play le sorcier, but im confident in saying that gatineau will easily be the nicest public course in aylmer. it's $10.00 too expensive tho. maybe a free bucket of range balls and a bottle of water like cartier would make me think otherwise. nothing big, but a nice perk.

the walks were a killer, but at the same time i appreciate courses that have some distance between holes.. on my long journey to playing better golf i still struggle with ball control and knowing im not going to end up putting the ball near anyone else on another fairway gives me peace of mind and lets me relax a bit more..

[Sacs]

Well finally played the Gatineau... Ok I will allow that its not finish ...club house has not been put up yet and you start on the 15th hole for now. Yes its buy one round get two if you play it within 30 days.

The layout is very interesting and the greens where great and fast ..and not dried up ...as for the fairways ...I was disappointed ... very patchy on some of the holes. I was very surprised by this as some of the new holes where installed a few years ago and they do remind me of the old gatineau ... clay patches ... The sand traps are very cheap sand as most contain little tiny rocks like gravel... that is not the kind of sand I want to hit. (Also not maintained at the moment as they are so busy with other things and if its like any of the course course this guy manages .... this course will soon dry up.

Conclusion the price is not worth it when 2 for 1 stops .. the worst part about this there will be people who will pay the price as they don't know better ...cause I can think of 10 course that have exquisite fairways and are below the price of what they are asking for.

Other things to consider ... no putting green at the moment, drive range yes.

As for walking the course Yes you can ... but add 1000 feet to your walk and expect to walk through peoples back yards and there are quite some distance between holes... I strongly recommend shoe covers as the walkways are all large crush stones which will damage cleats very quickly. Some area had no grass to walk on which you could not avoid the harsh rocks.

If this course is maintain properly and the fairways are given the proper attention and seeding ..it could end up being quite nice... mind you I'm again weary of yet another poor man ...rich man golf course.... but I guess with corporate passes it will help the common guy ...but these course had better be careful ..... they don't charge themselves out of the interest of the common guy.

[leftylucas]

Excellent analysis of the course. I really do hope that they are able to bring it to its true potential and that they have the funding to do it.

[Chieflongtee]

if its like any of the course course this guy manages .... this course will soon dry up.

.

Not sure it is managed by the same folks you are refering to. Who manages it?

[iggsplode]

right now its run by the family that owns champlain and les vieux moulin. they're managing it for 2 years and then turning it over to richcraft, the developers of domaine de golf neighborhood.

[joceber]

May be familiar to some of us...

[leftylucas]

Some of those homes have a great back yard onto the ponds etc, pretty nice.

[luckyme]

Played there last Monday. Boy, the walk between holes was long and a killer especially on the rough gravel! In my opinion, the course is far from finish and should not have been opened now. The regular green fee of $59 is too high for a course of that caliber. At this rate, there are many better courses such as Canadian, Cedarhill etc. Some of the houses are so close to the course you can almost walk into their backyards by mistake. Roughs are way too long and unmanaged as mentioned by a few people here.
The only good things to point out are the tee areas and greens - they are fairly well-maintained. We will not be back there soon.

[rossigm]

Just played the “New Gatineau” course this morning and I must say I was disappointed with the course condition, being closed for almost 3 years I thought they where going to pull out all the stop sign and offer us a great course! The layout is really nice (way too much walking between some of the holes) huge tee boxes and huge greens are the only plus side! Fairways are terrible; I thought that in 3 years of work they would have at least covered the fairways with a good base of sand/topsoil but NO where still playing on clay like the old Gatineau course. The only difference is that they have a sprinkler system so it won’t dry up like the old course (unless they run out of water like at Les Vieux Moulins). I know the course is new but I don’t see any potential of getting any better when the base is no good. Let’s just say I didn’t have to repair any divots on any of the fairways. For what they have to offer the price is way too high, the green fee should be $45.00 not a penny more.

If you plan on walking the course bring at least 2 bottles of water, I ran out after 12 holes as they don’t have any cart girl and no water bottle on the course and it wasn’t that hot today 21 degrees/partly cloudy.

PROS:

- Nice Layout
- Nice Tee Boxes
- Nice Greens

CONS:

- Over Price at $59.00 (cart NOT includes) add $16.00 per person for a cart
- No starter (5 foursome grouped up at the fisrt tee including 4 women that wouldn't shut up while we where teeoffing :-(!!!!
- Too much walking between some of the holes
- Fairways are really hard with a clay base + rocks…..
- Average sand in the bunkers (Hard)
- Cart paths are made of oversize gravel
- Only the 150 yards makers are installed in the fairways
- No ball washer
- No cart girl
- No drink offered at the pro shop either (Dicky Moore Trailer for now)


Let’s just say I won’t be going back this year, not at $59.00!!!

My two cents.

Ross

[triple-bogey]

What a difference 2 weeks makes. I was there with my friend 2 weeks ago (2 for 1 deal) and found the fairways to be in relatively good shape, tee boxes and greens were excellent.

We went back today (to redeem our free game) and some of the fairways were in rough shape (scraped a rock with the bottom of my club in the #2 fairway on my practice swing!). Fringes were all dried up on a few of the holes. Tee boxes were mostly ok, but deteriorated from 2 weeks ago.

Greens were super fast today (like shooting a puck across the ice). Damn ball just wouldn't stop. Didn't see any sprinklers working today, despite these bad conditions.

On the plus side, they were offering a free bottle of water to every golfer.

Don't think I will be returning soon, especially not at the current green fees.

[iggsplode]

i think alot of courses are suffering from the lack of rain.. hopefully the next week or so will bring some life back into some of these courses.

[STONE_COLD]

Is the promo "Buy one round and play a free second round within 30 days" is still on ?

[triple-bogey]

Yes I am fairly certain that 2 for 1 is still on. You have to play your 2nd game within 30 days.

[triple-bogey]

Was there again a few days ago (recently joined EG so the damage to my wallet is now bearable ).

A few noteworthy improvements: ball washers have now been installed, and a cart girl went by twice to sell refreshments. I wish they could install the 200 and 100 markers though. Misread the distance on a couple of approaches...if my kids are paying attention to all the hints that I have dropped, hopefully I will get a scope tomorrow for Father's Day

[Marcos]

Played for the first time today and I am very impressed with the course design and the greens even if they are a bit on the slow side like most new greens.
However, the walk between holes is ridiculous. It took a bit of an effort for me to wlk the course today with no water,no cart girl.Some of the tee-boxes are very close to peoples yards and num. 14 hole has some power lines and some transformers going right through it. Also the driving range lights come into play if you spray one on that hole.I would recommend carting as it took me forever to play as a single and the course had virtually no one on. I dont think you can play this course as a foursome while walking under 4 and half hours. But,it is a great course and I still enjoyed myself.If they have a special, its worth going to play it.Hopefully, they will keep the fairways in better shape in the future. Its starting to be pretty hard and bare in some spots.

[triple-bogey]

Concerning state of the fairways, management at the Gatineau is the same as Le Vieux Moulin. If the LVM fairways are any indication, things are only going to get worse at the Gatineau. That would be a shame since it has so much potential.

Played for the first time today and I am very impressed with the course design and the greens even if they are a bit on the slow side like most new greens.
However, the walk between holes is ridiculous. It took a bit of an effort for me to wlk the course today with no water,no cart girl.Some of the tee-boxes are very close to peoples yards and num. 14 hole has some power lines and some transformers going right through it. Also the driving range lights come into play if you spray one on that hole.I would recommend carting as it took me forever to play as a single and the course had virtually no one on. I dont think you can play this course as a foursome while walking under 4 and half hours. But,it is a great course and I still enjoyed myself.If they have a special, its worth going to play it.Hopefully, they will keep the fairways in better shape in the future. Its starting to be pretty hard and bare in some spots.

[mikep00]

Was there this morning. Fairways are the worst I have ever seen. Overall it was the worst golf experience I have ever had. Will never return.

On a side note. The greens were in nice condition. That was the only aspect of the course that didn't receive a failing grade.