Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club


Nestled under the northern rim of the Niagara Escarpment as it winds its way past the western tip of Lake Ontario, Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club has been known for nearly 80 years as “the treasure in the Valley.”

When legendary golf course architect Stanley Thompson first set foot on what was then Woodley’s Farm on the western outskirts of the town of Dundas in the spring in 1929, it was still a working farm, recently purchased by a consortium of local businessmen intent on creating a new golf club. By all accounts, Thompson was delighted to have at his disposal such a raw and unspoiled landscape and set about creating a routing that remains essentially intact today.

The first nine occupies the centre of the property, winding its way from the gentle downhill par-five opening hole to the treacherous 230-yard par-three ninth. The second nine explores the rugged perimeter of the 160-acre tract in a relentless clockwise routing, finishing with the challenging 461-yard par-four 18th that runs parallel to the escarpment and the main branch of the Bruce Trail. At any time during a round, the gallery may include a doe and her fawn foraging in the rough.

A testament to the timelessness of Thompson’s design is the fact that, in an era when unprecedented technological advances in golf ball and club design have rendered many old courses obsolete, Dundas Valley’s modest dimensions continue to defend par with the best of them. Many’s the scratch player who has stood on the first tee brimming with confidence to be facing a 6,400-yard golf course only to trudge off the 18th green a few short hours later wondering what just happened.

“The secret here is the sloping greens and the difficulty of the part threes,” says head professional John Kirkwood.

In an age when people are hitting the golf ball further and further, Dundas Valley’s course record of 63 has stood for nearly 30 years. Thirty-eight-year member Gary Bartlett, who at 17 became one of the youngest players ever to compete in the Canadian Open, shares that mark with former head professional Adam Brown, now the director of golf at the prestigious National Golf Club. Bartlett shot his 63 in 1979, a score that wasn’t matched until Brown did it in 1990. No one has equalled that score in competition since then.

A much-needed multi-million-dollar irrigation system has been a key to the dramatic improvement of the conditioning of the golf course over the last decade. In 1999, a system of ponds was created to support the new watering system, introducing the element of water hazards to five holes on the front nine and one on the back nine. The past two seasons, under course superintendent Jamie Cutting, have produced playing conditions unprecedented in the club’s history.

“If, on a scale of one to 10, today’s conditions are a 10, then 10 years ago they were a three,” says Bartlett. “The course is in better shape now than at any time in my memory.”

What needed no improvement is the spectacular view from the balcony of the clubhouse. On a warm summer evening, with shadows playing over a vista of stunning natural beauty, helped along by Stanley Thompson’s handiwork, there is no arguing that this is, indeed, the “treasure in the Valley.”

For further information regarding membership please contact the Club at (905) 628-6731