Fore-Play in Northern Ontario

By Edith Hall Friedheim

"Tennis is too confining. You have to hit the ball over a net in a limited area. With golf someone hands you 100 acres and says 'Go have fun'".

Scott, my pro at The Inn at Manitou, has a point. As someone who admits her handicap is her clubs, I nevertheless prefer golf to tennis simply because of the scope, the sweep of the course, and the masochistic nature of the game, which keeps me coming back in spite of excruciating defeats. I've lost with the best of them on courses from Vermont to Hawaii, each time swearing I'll never again subject myself to this kind of humiliation. But something happened recently at The Inn at Manitou, a five-star resort in McKellar, Ontario. I signed up for a lesson in my short game, and found pitching and putting skills I never knew I had. Scott, my pro that day, had the patience of a saint, as they say, and never once condescended, even when I hurled my clubs clear across the green.

The private par-72 Ridge at Manitou Golf Club is a very special facility. Judged Best New Course by Golf Digest and Fairways magazines, the Ridge meanders through 10 acres of forested fairways, greens, granite outcroppings, ponds and bunkers. Designed by a well-recognized Canadian golf architect, the Ridge extends playing privileges to every guest at The Inn at Manitou, whose Golf Academy I attended in early October. Jim Pearson is the head pro, but his associates are equally experienced in analyzing and teaching the mechanics of the perfect golf swing though the use of visual aids, explanations and demonstrations. The academy also has an indoor learning center and covered tee boxes for inclement weather.

Some terrific 3, 4 and 7-day packages have been designed for guests of The Inn at Manitou; these include a Beginner Package, with a daily one-hour lesson plus an hour on the putting green; an Academy Package for intermediate players, with a daily three-hour group lesson and all-day use of the facility; and three different Practice and Play Packages for golfers for whom instruction is secondary to playing time.

I might never be the kind of player who challenges the wizards of PGA, but thanks to the Academy at Manitou I'm on much friendlier terms with that most humbling of all human endeavors – golf.

The Inn at Manitou Golf Academy
McKellar, Ontario, Canada
1-800-571-8818; www.manitou-online.com