Royal Niagara Golf Club - Old Canal 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.

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.

Poor tees, poor greens, very disorganized, very slow play

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.

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 is very beautiful and wide open fairways

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!

Two people cancelled at the last minute due to their child being injured. Can I get credit for the two players?

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.

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.

Greens and fairways were well taken care of. It was a little dry not the courses fault " little drought".

Very nice course but I don't believe that walls of vegetation should take away your ability to see the green from the fairway. This happens on more than one hole

Play was slow . Ball washer stunk...water was black and smelly.

Played here in a foursome. We found the staff nice, ran into marshals a few times during the round and we were always on time. We all thought this course was in excellent condition. I would agree that the greens were slower then I expected but with the practice green rolling the same it didn't really affect us as it's the same speed throughout. The bunkers and fairways were in very good condition, we all enjoyed this course.

Always in top shape, fun, challenging course. Great scenery! Often play there with the wife. She can score well, & enjoys it.

The staff was not friendly. Did not greet us upon arrival. They did not monitor golfers teeing off. On our back nine we had a single tee cut in and tee off between us and 4some in front of us. Then a twosome tried to cut in on the 11th?
Greens were slow and terrible condition as were the tee boxes(not level and all chewed up) No wonder they have so many tee times on GolfNow.

It was like a Club Link course in the quality of fairways, clubhouse and layout. The greens were pretty sticky and needed some maintenance, though. Next time I have a chance for a getaway to Niagara Falls, I sure will try this course again.

The course layout was great. I am used to playing a course that has the fairway's and greens cut every day. The greens were long and very slow. Must be their way to cut expenses.

The greens were very slow and well marked up. The greens should be in far better shape than they are. Makes a round very fustrating when you have to put like the films from the 60's to get the ball to the hole ! Price on Golf Now was very reasonable, but for a 4PM tee off, pace was slow at 4 hours, waiting on every shot.

Would not rush back anytime soon, even at a very low price ! The condition of the course does not make it worth the drive from the GTA.

I've played Royal Niagara a few times since they opened about 10 or 12 years ago and as usual the course was the definition of MEDIOCRE. Certainly not GOOD but not terrible and OK for $45 inc. cart. I must say it is probably in the best shape I've seen it since the first year or two but that's not saying a lot since the last couple times I played there it was in poor condition and with all the rain we've had in Niagara this summer there's NO excuse for a course not to be in decent condition. I played the Escarpment 9 which I believe to be the best of the 3 nines. And for only the second time I played the Old Canal 9 which is by far the worst. The first time I played the Canal 9 I hated it but thought maybe I just had a bad day and would give it another shot. Sorry to say though if you can avoid the Canal 9 I advise you to do so. The first 3 holes of the Canal 9 are truly awful unless you like quirky silly design. The 4th hole is probably the best hole on that 9 and the rest are just a bunch of pedestrian, non-memorable holes. If you're visiting Niagara and looking for somewhere to play there are MUCH better options for about the same $$. Certainly, either of the Legends on the Niagara courses (Battlefield or Usshers Creek ), Hunters Point or Whirlpool are far superior courses to Royal Niagara. Or if you don't mind spending a bit more Grand Niagara is probably the premier public course in Niagara although some might argue Peninsula Lakes or even Hunters Pointe are better.