Chedoke Civic Golf Course - Beddoe

I've played the Beddoe course at Chedoke for years. I never get tired of playing there. Each hole is unique and requires a thoughtful approach. The four finishing holes up and along the escarpment require precise tee shots. On the drive up to the pro shop, we were entertained by a family of deer. If the City of Hamilton could somehow afford to improve the conditions of this course, I know it would get more play. Please give the Beddoe a try. You won't be disappointed.

By far and away the better of the two courses Chedoke has to offer. Course was in very good condition, and offered great value.

This is a nice municipal course. I'm a Stanley Thompson fan anyway and it was one of his that I hadn't played (although the original layout has been modified greatly).

Greens were slow or 'fuzzy' as we described them. Tee boxes were not up to what I would expect and the snackbar closed at 4 (we had a late afternoon time). Bunkers were maintained but looked like they could use a bit more sand. Not terrible but not 'wow' either. Even after a great deal of rain the previous few days, the course had drained nicely. No standing water.

Some nice challenging holes and I'd go back.

An older style layout playing 6000 or so yards from the blues. Offers a number of hazards, both water and sand. Lies can be challenging as course is cut into side of the escarpment. Well maintained, friendly staff, tee times on time. Quite enjoyable.

Cart paths, areas around tee boxes, lower areas require maintenance or re-surfacing. Example: many broken cart paths and bald areas around tee boxes

This city course is well above the lake and you can have a beautiful view of Hamilton.

Teeboxes are already in rough shape.bunkers are inconsitant,greens are ok now but will get worse in season. Play is usually slow from members.

It's better than the Martin, but for the price, there are many other courses I'd play before returning. Greens where in great shape though. A decent public course but very slow because of that, and be careful for stray balls. They come at you from all directions.

The fairways are exceptionally bumpy for driving a cart. I've never been jostled so much before on a golf course. That said, the grass is well mowed and the greens are in good shape.

Although the greens were recently aerated which made putting a little bumpy the ball still rolled out fairly well. Cart paths could definitely use some work. They need to make a first cut of rough. Right now it is fairway or long rough. It's a huge penalty if you are only inches off the fairway and very hard to spot your ball in 4 inches of grass. Overall a good course and an excellent price on GolfNow ($27.00 cart incl.) @ 12:21pm. Wind speed makes this course challenging to all levels of golfers.

Pros:
- Good hole design. Lots of variety in layout, terrain, hazards, and greens. Challenges golfers of every level. Plays about 6,000 yards, par 70, but feels much longer.
- Staff is friendly. The players around the course were also friendly -- didn't see any hot heads on the course, and the pace of play was fast.

Cons:
- No signage whatsoever, starting from the highway. Eastbound on 403 there was no advance sign for the Aberdeen exit, then off the highway the "Chedoke" sign to turn right was hidden behind a bridge. Then on the road itself there was zero indication of turning left to get to the clubhouse/proshop parking. If you went straight, you'd think you were there, because you see a practice green, but that parking lot is a dud (and who knows why there's a practice putting green there). The pro shop is then miles away from the actual parking lot. If you haven't played on the course before, you'd make the same mistake and park really far away, then having to walk all the way back and narrowly missing your tee time (of course, after the initial problem of trying to find the course).
- No signage on the course; i.e. good luck trying to find out where the cart paths are for the next hole, or even just trying to find the next tee box at all. Particularly around holes 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12, it gets very confusing as you're now criss-crossing with other holes, narrowly avoiding tee shots from other golfers as their shots whiz over your head while you search for the other hole. I think only hole #11 had a useful sign, but even then the cart path was directly behind another tee box (and we had to wait for a foursome to tee off there well away from that location to avoid distracting them or getting hit). Some of the stone blocks that indicate the hole and yardages were damaged right where the hole number is supposed to be, making it that much harder to distinguish the tee box of one hole from another. Recommendation is to follow the course map carefully and mentally plan the right cart path to take ahead of time.
- The tee boxes, cart paths, and fairways needed a bit of tending. Tee boxes were hard as a rock, and driving the cart on the course felt like off-roading. I think my playing partner hurt his back more riding the cart than he would have carrying his clubs. If you are okay using a push cart and don't mind a good hike, forego the golf cart on this course.
- One too many long par 4's. At least one of them can be converted to a par 5, considering the 9th hole par 5 is shorter than the 10th hole par 4. Not necessarily a bad thing had the layouts been different, but holes 9 and 10 played very similar. Hole 7, a long par 4, would be a good candidate to be a par 5 if they could move the tee boxes back a little. As a par 4, it is a bit frustrating to hit two perfect shots, achieving maximum distance as a novice, and still land in front of the green but not on it (almost impossible to get on the green in regulation for a novice).
- A bit noisy being right beside a highway. Also saw a homeless person jump the fence from the train tracks right on to the golf course.
- Too expensive relative to other courses of similar quality in the Burlington/Hamilton area. You are essentially paying for location (close to downtown Hamilton/McMaster).

Overall:
Good individual hole design, bad overall course layout. Would be worth it for out-of-towners if the cost was less. It seems this course has no problem attracting locals.

Greens were recently aerated so they were a little rough.

We unfortunately were only able to get through 9 holes (due to hail storm in May!), but if the second nine is any indication of the first, it is this:
It is a municipal course and should be viewed as such. Fairways were lush enough, but need some more care, but this could be in preparation for the long season ahead. The greens were fantastic. Where other areas of the course were not great, the greens made up for it. Fantastic roll on them and when fixing pitch marks you could see why, deep rooted top soil.
We stopped because of the weather and were kindly given a rain-check for the back nine and we will most certainly be back to try it out!

This was a beutiful course but it needed better maintenance . Deep grass really spoiled this course.

Challenging part 70 lots of sand traps. Entire course in excellent condition pace of play was maintained and great views of the hamilton escarpment. Give it a try won't disappoint

I have played this course for over 40 years. It is a Stanley Thompson design set against the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, with great views of the city from the many elevation changes typical of a Thompson design. It is a challenging course to walk (Hole 15 is nicknamed "Cardiac Hill") for those not in good physical condition. Because the course is still owned by the city its condition is not optimal because of the expense of paying city workers to maintain it. If you can look beyond the poorly maintained cart paths and some bare patches around greens it can be an enjoyable golf game. At par 70 and 5,800 yards is will not overpower the beginner, but the mature trees and doglegs will challenge experienced golfers to place shots to different sides of the fairway to give full access to the green. $35 with a cart was a great Golfnow deal.

Price was great. Played solo so it was barely over 3 hours to play. Was waved through by a twosome and other than that never came into contact with anyone. Bit chilly until midafternoon, but it was November. Leaves on fairways were being blown off by staff. Course was in great shape. Cant wait to play it again next year

Fall and spring are the best times to play this course. As a muni the conditions can vary but the layout is superb. The final 4 holes are a real test.

Years ago I would say this course was a cow patch but now WOW. Course is in the best shape I have seen. Greens are firm and take the line perfectly. Fantasic value compaired to surrounding courses eg Knollwood, Glancaster, Southbrook. If your looking for a stress free round this place is great. Tee shots can spray all over and still have a shot.

Different elavations, creeks and hidden greens make this a challenging course. Fairways are wide (although I seem to keep hitting the tree line). The greens are bumpy. Balls have difficulty just keeping straight on the greens.