Royal Niagara Golf Club - Old Canal Course

Always have a good round of golf here , and hopefully always will. Greens were a little rough from people not fixing ball marks but that goes with the time of year I guess.

Course in great shape . Staff friendly . If you're not hitting the fairway your in trouble ! I just wish players would fix their ball marks .

Greens were furry. Traps not raked. Tee offs grass was long. It was 33degrees. No carts for water or water on course. Not acceptable

A good hot deal value, but be aware of the tricky greens where 3 putts (or more) are routine. Would give them a better rating except for poor visual cues on some holes, as well as my favourite golf course peeve, a lack of sand in most bunkers. If you design hard pro style bunkers, at least give us some sand to play from! And the tees were also in need of mowing on most decks. All in all, they are worth a play.

Very nice clubhouse and amenities. We played the Iron Bridge and Old Canal courses. Although there are several interesting holes and fairways are in good shape, I was disappointed with the quality of the greens. They had many ball marks and bumps and where spongy and slower than most courses I have played, making putting very unpredictable. A couple of sand traps were pretty firm as well.

Nice course to get around and enjoy your day.Only problem was the electric golf cart died near the top of the Escarpment course.

It's rare for me to visit a golf course when it first opens, then return 15 years later as I did to Royal Niagara Golf Course. This gem of a course is located in Niagara on the Lakes, Ontario. Royal Niagara has matured, it's stunningly beautiful, demands respect, and its fiery side creates unwanted drama for many golfers. My golfing skills have greatly improved since my last visit, but Royal Niagara has also dramatically improved. When I first played Royal Niagara it was a diamond in the rough, now it's a highly polished gem, worthy to be captured for golfing glory and pride.

     Royal Niagara makes a bold statement with the addition of the Old Canal Course. I had the pleasure of playing this course under near perfect conditions; partly cloudy skies, 80 degrees, no rain, and mild wind conditions. The day before I played the course I picked up a course guide booklet, which I read! This gave me a slight familiarity with the course and assisted in my course management plan. When I stepped onto the first tee of this Links-style course, I was mentally ready and in my comfort zone.  The course has 5 sets of tees for all skill sets; I played the Blue tees with a slope rating of 71.5/ 137 at 6442 yards, verses 75.0/ 143 from the Black (championship) tees at 6970 yards. Looking down range on the first tee, I noticed a creek that ran diagonally the full length of the fairway. Rather than pulling out the driver on this 363, par 4, I chose my 2 hybrid to start my round. Hitting the fairway and having a 133 yard shot into the green, is a nice start. Hitting the green, 2 putting for par, says the game plan is working.

     After parring the first 3 holes I'm glad that I took the time to study the course guide and stuck to the game plan. Hole 4, a par 4 dog leg left, offers excitement for good players, perhaps a different kind of excitement (drama) for those with questionable skills, and forced me to tweak my game. A tee shot here must be straight and long, preferably on the far side of the fairway and inside the 150 marker. The approach shot into the green justifies a long hard look. What you will see is a large pond in front and to the right of the green, and hree large sand traps between the pond and the green. Left of the green is thick rough, small hills and trees. In back of the green is a steep slope with deep thick grass. The green itself is quite wide, but not deep and it's two tiered. What you don't see or fail to notice is the green slopes from back to front, and away from you, the second tier is on the far right, there is thick rough behind the sand traps and finally the green is relatively fast with subtle breaks. The view is pretty intimidating but if you are wearing your big boy pants, you can step up and nail the green. No problem.

     At the end of the day I shot 38 on the Old Canal Course and 41 on the Iron Bridge Course. I found the courses to be architecturally destinctive and aesthetically delightful,  very challenging but not overwhelming. My favorite holes were #3, #6, and #9 on the Old Canal Course. To fully appreciate the days' golfing experience a must stop for me was the Grille. I ordered the Chef's special (Cowboy Steak), a glass of their Argentina Malbec Red Wine, and watched the Sunset while looking over the Old Canal Course. What a beautiful memory. I recommend Royal Niagara for all golfers to experience.

The course was in good shape but the greens had a lot of ball marks that were not repaired from previous rounds.

nicely kept coarse. greens were fast but not hard to hold if you hit the ball high. cost 32 bucks with cart so great value. people fix your ball marks as that took the most time . will play this coarse again.

It seems like this course gets worse by the year. When it opened it was a gem, but apparent cost cutting has taken its toll. Staff are marginally friend, rangers are like pepin Tom's watching you. Better value elsewhere in my opinion.

Tee boxes badly beaten up and wet plus the greens looked like the Irish Riverdance group had just performed. Spent a great deal of time repairing green before every put.

Very challenging. Well groomed. Friendly staff. Overall great experience.

Played as a twosome and started15 minutes late as they let a single tee off just before us.

Caught up to a scramble tournament with six holes to play. Played two more holes and quit as play was ridiculously slow especially with the barefoot lady tending the pin while pounding back a beer.

The course looks like it is in good shape until you are out there. Tee Boxes are in need of some care! Fairways are in ok shape with a few spots that need some looking after. Then there is the GREENS! These are in the worst shape I have ever seen on a course. People need to fix ball marks properly and the course needs to be on that! The greens are pocked all over so no matter where you are you put through old badly fixed divots! Not worth the $62 we paid to play. What a let down!!