Royal Niagara Golf Club - Old Canal Course
About
The Old Canal Course is one of three nine-hole courses at the Royal Niagara Golf & Country Club. Situated between the scenic Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail, the Old Canal Course is named after the historic 120-year-old Welland Canal that borders it. The challenging layout was designed to championship standards, employing several tricky elements including carefully sculpted fairways, rolling greens, and king-size bunkers. True to its name, the golf course features plenty of water throughout. There are several dramatically placed tees perched on the edges of the canal, providing stunning scenery that is unmatched in the Niagara region. All three courses at Royal Niagara Golf & Country Club were built to the same high standards, but each one offers a unique set of challenges.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 36 | 3563 yards | ||
| Blue | 36 | 3307 yards | ||
| White | 36 | 3099 yards | ||
| Red | 36 | 2739 yards | ||
| Green | 36 | 2240 yards |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 72.5/140 | 382 | 521 | 413 | 426 | 218 | 576 | 171 | 443 | 301 | 3451 | 6984 |
| Blue M: 70.7/134 W: 77.1/142 | 363 | 505 | 385 | 400 | 177 | 538 | 148 | 415 | 280 | 3211 | 6515 |
| White M: 68.2/128 W: 74.5/137 | 340 | 482 | 356 | 374 | 154 | 519 | 127 | 390 | 270 | 3012 | 6080 |
| Red M: 65.6/112 W: 70.3/131 | 312 | 439 | 292 | 334 | 133 | 432 | 107 | 364 | 265 | 2678 | 5407 |
| Green M: 62.2/106 W: 66.2/119 | 235 | 360 | 225 | 275 | 133 | 385 | 107 | 290 | 265 | 2275 | 4450 |
| Handicap | 12 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
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Great place to play
We played very early in their season, but the conditions of the course were great considering it was so early. We could almost watch the greens get greener as the day went on. Challenging enough for an experienced player, but good for beginners also.
Will definitely try to play there again!
challenging tee shots and greens
would easily pay $50 to play this course in the great condition it is in
Good deal as Fire sale
For a fire sale price of $20 this was a good deal. I would never pay full price though. When we got there our tee time was wrong by 30 minutes and they had also split up our group. The starter worked magic and fixed the problem (thumbs up for that). It's been over a week since we had rain and the bunkers were more like ponds. A few inches of water in each and sloppy muck for sand. Greens hadn't been cut and were terribly slow. Poor yardage marking (only 100, 150, 200). No sprinkler head yard markers, no GPS and no reflectors. Even with Pin Seeker I could only bounce a reading off the people ahead. Pace of play was too slow. 4hr 45min is unacceptable. People say 4.5 hrs is 'normal' and even that is too long. It should never go over 4 hours.
wonderful course, people were terrific in getting us going
Very nice course, picturesque layout,,,the only negatives were really provided by mom nature!! The sand traps were mostly full of water, they were pumping them out while we were there,,but 3 inches of rain will do that! One of our foursome actually lost a ball in a bunker! This also meant the greens were alittle slow,,,but very well maintained. Overall, great course,,,good experience all round!
just the prettiest course I've played this year
great course, greens are challenging and great shape, very good tee boxes and super fairways. sand traps were very wet and unplayable due to rain 4 days ago, may need better drainage
General layout is impressive
Unfortunately, the considerable rains we had leading up to my tee off had a great effect for my round, so my review will be negatively influenced. The fairways were saturated, which surprised me since I teed off after (what I thought would have been) enough time for the course to drain. We were not allowed to leave the paths with our carts which lead to a very frustrating round. The lack of yardage markers compounded to our frustration. Understandably the fairways had not been cut, which led to poor lies in the fairway, the bunkers had been washed away, with no signs of repair.
A very picturesque course with plenty of satisfaction and challenge.
Played the 'iron Bridge' and 'Escarpment' courses. Tees, fairways and greens all in excellent condition. The weekend golfer will enjoy forgiving fairways and outstanding scenery. Low handicappers will be challenged from the 150 yard marker with green side bunkers and thick fringe grass. Definitely a 'must play' for the avid golfer.
Bset conditions ive seen here in years
I,ve played here many times over the years. Conditions have improved. Fairways, greens, and tee offs all in good shape. The staff are very attentive and polite. I was so impressed I just booked another round this weekend. Keep moving forward Niagara.
nice layout
tees in poor condition. Greens needed to be cut very slow. Could be a great course with some up grades. Nice layout. Needs GPS for true yardage was surprised they didn't have them on the carts. Overall I did enjoy would play again.
good course
Overall, we were very pleased with the round here. Each hole was interesting and enjoyable. The fairways were reasonably maintained but not great. The bunkers were horrible and pretty unacceptable. The greens were good.
Very good layout, conditioning should be better.
Royal Niagara is an interesting course, and a difficult one to review because it has good days and ugly days. This particular day was closer to ugly. After a heavy rain that happened two days earlier in the week, nearly every bunker had 5+ inches of water in it. I ended up losing 2 balls because of this, however on other holes i found 5 from people that lost balls in a similar fashion. The green were slow, and roughed up with ball marks, spike marks and weren't consistent. The rest of the course was in good shape.
Maintenance aside, the layout, elevation changes and uniqueness of the holes make this course very fun to play over and over. Many of the holes have scenic views and aren't spoiled by the maintenance issues of the greens and bunkers.
We played iron bridge (definitely my favorite) and Escarpment. The pace was slow on the first 9 due to a morning tournament, but the back was pretty open.
I find many of the reviews here are overly hash, but like i said this course will always have good and bad days and I've seen it on both sides. For $50 or less from golfnow this will always be a great value and an enjoyable golf experience, but i wouldn't pay more then that.
Disappointing
Poor tees, poor greens, very disorganized, very slow play
Good Value
Played Iron Bridge and the Escarpment. Nobody in front of us and completed 18 in 3hrs. 45min. Holes were enjoyable but conditioning seemed to be lacking. Greens were slow and needed to be mowed yesterday. Staff was friendly, great value on Golfnow, and all in all a good experience.
Good course. Would play it again. Staff needs to watch slow play!
This was a good golf outing for us. The course is well maintained. It was a busy Saturday, and play was slow. Marshalls could have done a little more to spped up slow groups.
My wife and I would definitely play this course again.
The course was challenging but enjoyable
I played with my wife and son (high 70's player). Our scores were higher than normal with 138 slope from the blues. Every hole on the Iron Bridge course was interest particularly with the stiff wind. The Escarpment course was more wide open but still presented it's challenges. Small greens were guarded by strategically placed bunkers. Great experience!
Great value
Two people cancelled at the last minute due to their child being injured. Can I get credit for the two players?
Worth the money for a 40min drive!
I've played this course a few times now and enjoy it. Some holes are very forgiving and some you have to thread your ball into perfect position. On the recent day I played a couple fairways were a bit on the spongy side... too much water. So it was a lift...clean and place area. But overall a good course.
Excellent layout let down by shabby conditioning
Perhaps a victim of the Niagara Golf Boom and Bust, Royal Niagara is an excellent course let down by poor course conditions. This poor track was screaming out for a little TLC. Tee decks were shaggy and lumpy, fairways were scruffy, and greens were quite possibly the slowest I have ever played. The greens literally looked like they hadn't been cut in three days, so putting was nearly impossible. Bunkers looked reasonable although I didn't play from any. Some greens were obscured by overgrown reeds that desperately needed to be trimmed down. It's really a shame, because it is a nice layout with plenty quality holes with nice hazards, bunkering, and mounding.
I'd love to return if/when the course receives the kind of conditioning it deserves, but I suspect that Royal Niagara is working hard at cutting operating costs.