Royal Ontario Golf Club

Like most Kaneff courses, it seems to have a brand identity problem. It wants to be positioned as a upper tier course but it also wants to put through as many golfers as humanly possible. So you have a nice course, lots of nice detail touches like flower beds. But then the tee decks are severely beat up. Lots of slightly cheesy signs urging deals. And we had a group of four in front of us who took, no word of a lie, about 10 minutes to play each of their four shots every time. Groups were backed up for miles and no sign of a course official all day. Drinks cart appeared every ten minutes in the beginning then suddenly disappeared altogether. But it's a nice layout, the fairways and greens were in good condition. The clubhouse is good with a beautiful back patio overlooking the course and the setting sun. They just need to decide who they are -- if they want to be an upper tier course, they need to clean up the ragged edges.

On 2 separate holes there were grounds crew mowing the green as we were approaching, about 80 yards out. In one case we got their attention and they stopped their machines, one of the mowers was stopped in front of the green?!?!?! On the other hole we weren't able to get their attention at all. Couple that with a wait staff in the club house that forgot to order the meal for someone at our table, and then not even noticing that 1 person had no food, I'm going to give this course a pass, too expensive for this kind of service. I've received better attention at municipal courses.

Course was well maintained and greens were rolling fast and true. However, 6 hours for 18 holes is too much and it wasn't the first time it had happened. Seems to be like it every time I golf here.

I thoroughly enjoyed the golf course. It was in excellent condition, challenging, but very fair. I was extremely disappointed in the pace of play. It took me over 6 hours to play this course on a Saturday afternoon. For some reason, the club felt it was a good idea to send foursomes out in the middle of a scramble tournament.

Club staff was very helpful and friendly.

GPS of golf carts would be helpful as there are many subtle dog legs and blind shots...I would have been lost without my iPhone GPS.

Not only will you use all fourteen clubs, make sure the putter is working. This is a well designed course with water and trouble in the right places. Picking your lines and targets are important. You'll have a fun challenge, and I'd be surprised if your score is the best score you'll shoot this year compared to other courses.

Play it, you won't regret it ,...in fact you will want to play it againg because it will beat you the first time but if you change your approach it's winnable!!! very mature course setting.

I found this course to be in very good shape. It's not very long (from the whites), so you can concentrate on accuracy off the tee. There is a good variety of holes, with plenty of hazards to get your attention. The greens were large and had a lot of slope to them. I have played the course several times using golfnow. The one time I didn't, I found it to be quite overpriced.

There are a lot of much better courses in the area which are cheaper. Even with the Golf Now rate the course was expensive for the level of service, and condition of the course.

The course was overbooked with waits on every hole. Even worse; the marshalls were telling the people waiting to hurry so they could start their tourney on schedule. Don't charge premium prices then run your course like conveyor belt. Don't expect paying customers accommodate your intentional overbooking by running through a round. Never again.

Arrived a little late (sorry) yet still not a hitch in the day. This is a great track and the value is amazing for Oakville with the rate we got. Pretty cute cart gal to, though, unfortunately, no Caesars!
This is one if my favorite (affordable) GTA courses. Cheers

The course is well maintained. Staff is super friendly. Beverage cart girl, Melody is a sweetie. Course was challenging but not rediculous.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course very nice greens good speed, fairways were firm and fast so the course didn't play as long as it might.
PACE OF PLAY was an issue for some in my group.
Marshall wasn't interested in speeding up offending groups as the "weather was so nice, so relax"
I had a lot of short wedge shots into greens should have played blues as a minimum, Only needed driver 4 times due to water and nothing gained by using it.
Want to go back but will definitely play blue or gold.

Good course and rate of play. Service was excellent and the staff at the pro shop were very accomodating.

Excellent course, but horribly slow, with rude, ineffective marshalls

A great course with some challenging holes, overall I like the course. On the service area it could use additional staff on some areas, for instance there was only one attendant serving at the bar and outside tables.

For this time of the year, I found the course to be in great condition. Greens and fairways are well maintained. Pace of play exceeded expectations as my twosome finished the round in less than 3 hours. I would recommend this course to everyone.

Overall, a challenging course that is well maintained. There are enough blind tee shots, slight doglegs, deep rough, fescue, and water to create issues requiring time to look for (lost) balls. I've played Royal Ontario enough to know that rounds can be slow if you, your partners, or the groups ahead of you miss the middle of the fairway, or go long on approach shots.
We did not see the food/beverage cart often on the course, so you may want to have a snack or drink in your bag when you tee off, or at the turn.
There is a decent range (mats only on the day we played), and a good chipping putting area to iron out the kinks before you step on the tee. Also, a very walkable course.

I played this course for the first time. It was well worth the great Golf Now Deal! $35 - less than half the reg green fee. It's introduced me to the course, and I'll come back with friends.

Nice club house, well groom flower beds, fairways and 1st cut were in great shape, greens are still a little long as its early in the season, but playable.

AS with other Kaneff courses I've played, it has a few 'goofy' holes, 292 par 4 that you can't hit more than 8 iron off the tee - just doesn't make sense!

We had a 'slower' group in front of us, and their etiquette took away from our experience (just play for the enjoyment of the game - 5 mins lining up a 4ft putt in a recreation game hmmm).

Thanks to Golf Town (even though I didn't appreciate the $6.80 plus taxes sir charge for completing the transaction) and thanks to Royal Niagara for offering a great deal!

This course requires concentration to post a good score. If you want a challege play this course. There is a lot of beautiful holes and a fair amount where water comes into play.

Well worth the money when booking through Golf Now, staff very friendly - helpful.

Pace of play (7:10 start) was great, played in just over 3 hours.