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34 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2007 NEW LINKS: Piper's Heath Golf Club, located on Trafalgar Road between Oakville and Milton, is the newest course in Halton, opening for business last month. The linksstyle facility is 7,016 yards from the back tee blocks and provides an interesting test of ability and strategy, according to Oakville Beaver sports reporter Herb Garbutt. Halton's newest golf course provides plenty of options Every golfer loves to watch the pros struggle. If the average hacker says they don't take any pleasure from watching a pro dunk a couple of balls in the pond or three putt from 10 feet, they're lying. We golfers like to know that even the pros occasionally do the things that we've done dozens of times. However, in making courses more difficult for the pros, it seems there is a tendency to equate a good course with a difficult course. But if a course is so hard for your average golfer that it makes them want to snap their clubs in half and give up the game, is that really a good course? Let's face it there's a reason the pros are on TV and we're on the couch watching them. The other side to this equation is that if a course doesn't provide any challenge, would you want to keep going back? It's a tough task to satisfy the scratch golfer and those of us who still put up the occasional snowman. Halton's newest golf course -- Piper's Heath, located just north of Oakville on Trafalgar Road -- seems to have successfully walked that fine line. The course's five tee blocks measure anywhere from 5,033 yards to 7,016. The difference from the whites and the blues is minimal on the front nine (just 168 yards) but the back is quite another story. The blues on the15th hole set you back 117 yards, turning a 454-yard par 5 into a 571-yarder and the 10th hole goes from a long 513 yards to a 607-yard monster. But more interestingly, it's the decisions the course forces you to make that really help it achieve its balance. Course designer Graham Cooke, an accomplished amateur golfer and three-time winner of Score Magazine's best new course in Canada award, set up the course in such away to allow players to follow safe routes to the green while giving risk-takers an opportunity to make difficult, yet rewarding shots. Piper's Heath is the type of course that will likely take two or three rounds just to figure out the various possibilities and what chances are worth taking. The decisions start on the very first hole. You can safely play your drive to the left side of a wide fairway or try to carry over a marsh and a large fairway bunker to the right -- which, if you're successful, gives you a clear line into the green for your second shot. Other interesting calls on the way: · Going for the green in two on both 14 and 18 where a wetland awaits to collect balls if you don't hit two good shots. Fourteen is particularly dangerous with an elevated green and a pond and sand to the right should you miss on your approach. · No. 15 entices players to cut the corner on the dogleg to reach in two but the green is protected by numerous deep bunkers that will make you think twice. · The par-3 eighth can be a lion or a lamb, depending on the pin placement. A pin to the left will make your life easy, while middle and right placements not only require a carry over water but are also guarded by a pot bunker in front that the thin green wraps around. Construction began on the course in October of 2005. The course was built north to south so some greens and fairways on the front nine, particularly No. 7 which runs along the southern border of the property, still need some time to mature. Few seemed to mind, though, as 550 rounds were played on the opening weekend in July. Golf is entertainment Co-owner Marc Gruehl, whose family has owned the property since the mid '80s, said a gap was identified in the $75-$100 price range for public golf courses (prime time green fees are $79). "Golf is no longer just golf. It's entertainment," Gruehl said. "People have to feel they are getting value for their money." The fact that the course is an easy walk can help keep the cost down as well. Golfers also get a free bucket of balls for the driving range to get ready for their round. Putting and chipping greens are also among the practice facilities available. The range, like the clubhouse restaurant, is open to the public, and lessons are available. While the current clubhouse may be See Piper's page 35 www.icesports.com 905-845-6989