GolfPass Icon
Rating Index Rating
Tooltip Information Icon
4.6
468 Reviews (468)
5 Stars
195
4 Stars
223
3 Stars
37
2 Stars
9
1 Stars
4
Conditions
4.7
Value
4.0
Layout
4.3
Friendliness
4.6
Pace
4.7
Amenities
4.3
99.2%
Recommend this course
438 out of 468 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.8
4 Reviews (4)
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
1
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.8
Value
4.0
Layout
4.5
Pace
4.8
Amenities
4.5
StaffFriendliness
4.8
100.0%
Recommend this course
4 out of 4 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.6
5 Reviews (5)
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
2
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.8
Value
3.8
Layout
4.4
Pace
4.8
Amenities
4.4
StaffFriendliness
4.6
100.0%
Recommend this course
5 out of 5 reviews
Read Reviews
frame.svg
AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
circle-star.svg
Course Highlights
Settlers Ghost impresses with beautifully maintained conditions, a creative elevation-filled layout, and lightning-fast greens that challenge all skill levels. Friendly staff, smooth pace of play, and strong value make this Horseshoe Valley gem well worth booking.

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6311 yards
Slope 132
Rating 70.0

Settler’s Ghost Golf Club is located just outside of Barrie on what was formerly an important Huron Indian settlement. The golf course is an homage to the former inhabitants of the land, including the Huron Indians and emigrants from the British Isles. The golf course was built to maintain the historical integrity and scenic features of the rustic, rolling landscape. The dramatic elevations throughout the course offer stunning panoramic views of the Niagara Escarpment and the Georgian Bay. Settler’s Ghost Golf Club is relatively short at 6,311 yards from the back tees, but there are still some lengthy shots that will appeal to long hitters, including the par-5 eighth, which stretches to 539 yards.

Book a Tee Time at
Settlers' Ghost Golf Club
Powered by GolfNow.com

Course Details

Year Built 2004
Architect John F. Robinson (2004)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Pull-carts Yes
Caddies Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Proper attire is required.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities

Accolades

The Best Way To Book Is With GolfPass+ Annual
golf ball.svg
$120 in monthly tee time promo codes
waivedfees
12 rounds of waived fees
redeemtrophy
GolfPass Member Pricing
teetime protection.svg
Tee Time Protection

Reviews

4.6
468 Reviews (468)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 28
Patio Dining 25
Brunch 18
Course Challenges Include:
Elevation Changes 51
Undulating Greens 34
Bunkers 25
This course/club is great for:
Locals 33
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 33
Advanced Golfers 30
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 44
Convenient to the City 15
In the 'Burbs 9

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Fair weather
Used cart

a nice course

the only negative were the rental club

Worst I have ever had but to their credit they did not charge for them

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 12
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Used cart

Fall View is a bonus

Excellent shape for this time of year, well done Settlers

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Poor weather
Used cart

Great course

Settler's Ghost is a great course. Several holes are blind off the tee due to the hilly nature of the course and flat lies are hard to come by. Greens, traps and fairways are all in excellent condition. The bonus today was $10 per person green fee plus tax and booking fees, but including cart!

Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap Don't know
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Fair weather
Used cart

Scenic

A beautiful course, very scenic and great variety in the holes. Challenging enough but nothing that you would find to be overwhelming. Look forward to playing there again. Lots of blind shots for a first timer there.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

A lovely day of Fall golf

The course was in great condition, fairways almost perfect. First time playing there, needed to drive forward several times to know if the approach was clear. A 'map' of the layout of each hole would have helped. Overall, a beautiful course in great condition.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Fun Track

Fun course, great condition with a 12 dollar replay.
Gettable par 5's with tough greens. Very Enjoyable.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 20
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

love the layout

This course is always in excellent shape. Greens had just been aerated, but that's fall golf. They're generally very fast and true

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

enjoyable course

enjoyable day. slow groups in front especially back 9.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 56
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Aerated

We would not have driven to Barrie from Toronto if we knew in advance that the greens had sand on them and had been recently aerated.
If the greens would have been better we would give them a 4/5 overall.
Just a couple of minutes off HWY 400 makes it an easy course to get to.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

driven past course a thousand times

Live in the area and finally decided to try out the course for the first time. Staff seemed friendly, especially those in pro shop and starters. Play was slow pace but we had been forewarned so I was ok with that. Tee boxes and fairways were in good shape. Greens however were terrible, lots of sand. I would have been more disappointed if I had paid full price for a round. Lastly the drink girl could have used a more friendly approach when speaking to our group about the "rules". For this reason I must give the course a 1 star. Sadly, won't be going back and won't be recommending the course to friends who come to this area to play.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Friendliness Poor
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 25
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

hot deal

worth the drive up from GTA. small greens guard relatively short yardages.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 59
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Interesting Challenge

Great test of golf. Great scenic views on a lot of holes. Greens a bit slow for what we were used to. Only negative thing I found was a lot of hidden holes where you couldn't see the group ahead and some balls were hot into us as well as we hit into the group ahead as well. We finally would send someone out ahead to watch for this as well as see where our shots ended up.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 15
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Good Day

Course very lush and nicely appointed. Lots of hills and valleys to challenge you. Picturesque vistas. Play was slower than it I would have liked as course crowded.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 15-19
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Fair weather
Used cart

greqt course

really nice conditions. Greens were fast and challenging. Fairways were in great shape. Very hilly, a tough walk if you have mobility issues.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

happy golfer

One of my most favourite golf courses. The views are spectacular, the course layout is challenging yet far. Got a hole in one Aug. 18, 2014 on hole 7, par 3, yahoo!!!
Great value for the money.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Course not at its best - lots of rain in past week

I play the course once or twice a year. It is a fun course and I generally enjoy it. It is a bit quirky with many blind tee shots, especially on the front 9. On a slow day it is best to take a cart fwd to see if fairway is clear. Played on a Sunday mid afternoon - 4.5 hrs is too much. Not a Marshall in sight. Our 3-some had to wait on every shot. Often 2 groups waiting on the tees. Perhaps they are putting out too many golfers with not enough time between tee times. In the past, the course has been in good shape with good, smooth greens with lots of movement and speed. Ths day the course was not at its best. The greens have not yet fully recovered from the winter (in August) or they are having some other problems. It looked like the front 9 greens had been aerated fairly recently or not yet recovered from a previous aeration a while ago. The greens were generally slow and bumpy. There had been a lot of rain in the past week, so maybe this is the reason. All that aside, I would recommend it and would go back again.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
First Time Playing

Bring a helmet.

Was highly anticipating this round as I have driven past the course many times and the holes you can see from the road look quite nice. Add in a slick website with great photography and you have all the makings of elevated expectations that are going to be hard to live up to. Arrival at the course was great, surprised to be greeted with a gravel parking lot and "pro shop" tucked into a building behind the clubhouse with no obvious signage. Once green fees were settled up it was off to the 1st hole to be greeted by a celebrity look-alike starter from SNL's past, keeping with the ghost theme I guess.... She warned there were a "few" blind holes and that once we were through those it was "all good". Suffice to say, the vast majority of the holes on this course are blind, which wouldn't be a huge issue if the club pro-actively were to supply maps either on the scorecards or provide a hole layout diagram by the tee boxes. Couple this blind-ness with the fact that every hole has a very narrow fairway (the course feels like its crammed into 4-5 acres at times) means you need to be constantly on the lookout for stray balls from other holes on the course. Also, as the course is very hilly, any attempt to yell or hear someone yell "fore" are absolutely futile. As you progress around the course, this reality begins to wear on you and completely distracts you from your game or even allow you to enjoy some of the nice views the course does afford you. Gripes of the course aside, the fairways were in OK shape but the greens were far too firm and sandy, meaning that pretty much all shots landed from 100+ yards out on the green went rolling right off. I know golf is supposed to be hard, but it was borderline ridiculous. Astonishingly, we were able to finish our round, not without dodging a few balls and having one or two nearly strike the cart. Even though we escaped unharmed, nobody in my group would consider going back to this course at any price, its simply far too dangerous and far too blind to enjoy. In closing, I will reference my review title, which I admit came from another in my party. The absolute highlight of the day were the pencils, which stayed sharp through the duration of the round, ensuring the scores on the scorecard were highly legible.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Rough Shape and Too Many Blind Spots

We found the tee boxes very chewed up and the ground was fairly hard and the fairways were not in the best shape. Greens had just been sanded so they were not playing very well either. We also noticed that there are no hole layout pictures either on the tee boxes or on the scorecard so if you're playing this course for the 1st time you have no idea where you're going on each hole and add to that, a lot of the tee shots are blind. We were worried about getting hit by someone else's tee shot a lot of the time.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 25
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

pace of play slow

rate of play was so extremely slow that we quit after 13 holes.Course is in excellent shape and staff extra friendly .

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

overbooked

very slow play,and yet had a marshall out telling players to speed up their game.The greens showed a lot of sand and seemed slow and sticky.There was a lot of blind holes and inaccurate yardages posted,our partners described the course as quirky.I dont think this course measures up to other courses in the area.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Nearby Courses
Barrie, Ontario
Resort
2.8932756271
505
Barrie, Ontario
Public
3.7570422535
284
Elmvale, Ontario
Semi-Private
3.6666666667
3
Shanty Bay, Ontario
Semi-Private
4.0404312668
107
Shanty Bay, Ontario
Semi-Private
4.0404312668
107
Shanty Bay, Ontario
Semi-Private
4.0404312668
107
Minesing, Ontario
Semi-Private
3.3444444444
90
Barrie, Ontario
Private
0.0
0
Orillia, Ontario
Semi-Private
3.5563909774
39
Barrie, Ontario
Semi-Private
0.0
0
Barrie, Ontario
Public
4.0555130644
582
Now Reading
  • Home

  • Memberships

  • Library

  • Account