The golf course at Muskoka Bay Club Resort sits at “The Gateway to the Muskoka Lake District” ( Ontario) and it’s within this rugged landscape that Doug Carrick designed a layout that blends in beautifully with its surroundings.
Part of a large residential development, the course opened in 2006 to great critical acclaim for a creative routing that takes it over rocky cliffs, through deep wooded valleys and around scenic wetland areas, flowing effortlessly from 1st tee to 18th green.
Featuring dramatic elevation changes and undulating, tree-lined fairways that wind their way around the property, the layout is characterized on almost every hole with at least one natural Muskokan rocky outcrop.
Forced carries are inevitable on such tortuous terrain but the architect took care to elevate many of the tees, giving golfers a view of the landing area and reducing the number of blind shots. For big hitters, the par fives are maybe reachable in two shots – except for the uphill 14th which measures all of 593 yards from the back markers.
Our favorite hole at Muskoka Bay Club
Hole 3: Par 4, 399 Yards – “Lost Lake”
Our favorite hole on the course! There is a diagonal ridge in the fairway that MUST be carried if one wants to have any sort of view of the green. From the black tees, it is around 210 yards to carry the ridge down the middle, a fair bit less if you bail right and a fair bit more if you take the aggressive line up the left. There is a very big difference in the approach from a tee shot that fails to carry the ridge. The shot is blind and the green is clearly designed to be approached from the right. Short of the green a ridge on the right will assist a player coming in from the left.
In conclusion: a very scenic golf course with many thrilling shots, but several long forced carries, an unwalkable routing and a few too many downhill tee shots.
