I took some vacation time from work this past week and packed up the family for a week on the south shore of Montreal visiting the in-laws.
While it wasn’t billed as a golf vacation, I was lucky enough to arrange three games while in town. The first stop, Wednesday morning was the West Island’s Royal Montreal. The second stop was Thursday morning at Golf de Saint-Cesaire.
Getting There
Sainte-Cesaire is located about 40 minutes east of Montreal’s south shore. The course is located a couple of km’s north of highway 10.
Leaving at 6:30am means smooth sailing, but getting out there for a mid week round after work would likely be more of a headache with commuters jamming up the 10 heading home from the city.
The Course
The course is a mid range public course. The conditions and difficulty of the course reflect this well.
The par 72 course plays between 5100 and 6500 yards and is rated between 68.2 and 71.2 with slopes between 112 and 122.
The course features the traditional layout of 4 par 3s and 4 par 5s. The par 3s are all mid range. The front 9 par 5s are mid range, but the back 9 par 5s are short.
The course makes good use of water throughout with a number of holes featuring ponds just off the fairway, requiring accurate shots.
The conditions were good, but as expected for a mid range public course. I didn’t see any particular problem areas on any fairways, the rough was well maintained and thick.
The greens were generally big, soft and slow. Like most public courses they likely get too much traffic to cut them too short, but they were well maintained.
My most memorable hole was the par 4 8th. At only 296 yards it is just about drivable, but water down the right and woods on the left really make you think about whether you want to hit driver or not.
Practice Facilities
The course features a big practice green just off the 18th green. They also have a range, behind the practice green running down the side of the 18th hole. I didn’t make it to the range so can’t comment on its quality.
Clubhouse
A couple years back they had a fire that destroyed the club house, but a new clubhouse had just opened in the weeks prior to our game. The clubhouse is very nice and provides the visitor a really great first impression. Like many clubhouses it looks a lot bigger from the outside than it actually is.
Value
To play on a weekday morning with cart was $55. This seemed about right for the quality of the course. I didn’t feel they were under or over charging.
Bits and Bites
- I thought I had it all figured out when I went out in 38, but came home in 41 for a 79. I lost a couple of shots based on not knowing the course.
- I collect logo golf balls of the courses I play, I was disappointing they didn’t sell logo balls.
See you at the turn
Brewcee
Brewcee's Golf Blog 
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