by MARC ATCHISON | TIMBER RIDGE GOLF

Over the years, we must have passed them dozens of times while heading to Montreal – that necklace of towns and villages strung together along the 401 that we were always too much in a rush to stop and explore.

Cobourg ... Colborne ... Brighton ... Trenton ... Just names on highway signs to us.
That was until last week, when a friend invited me to play a round of golf in that area, which she called "Muskoka without the traffic jam."

"If you haven't played Timber Ridge, you haven't played one of the top golf courses in Canada," my friend told me. The offer was too tempting to turn down.

So off we headed in the direction of Brighton, the sleepy little community that sits on the edge of Prince Edward County - about 75 minutes from the Don Valley - where Timber Ridge Golf Club is located.

Tragically Hip, the Canadian rock legends and golfing enthusiasts, couldn't stop singing the course's praises after playing it, and the media have been giving the course designed by Stephen Ward rave reviews ever since it opened in 2001.

It doesn't take long to fall in love with Timber Ridge.  From the first tee you can see this course is a classic - wide, forgiving fairways meander through the lush, rolling terrain of Northumberland County and lead you back to a quaint country clubhouse.
In between, there are a series of challenging but fair holes that have inspired others to compare Timber Ridge to some of Canada's greatest courses.

In my opinion, Timber Ridge is in a class by itself. The 1st hole sets the stage for the entire course with a combination of parkland and links style golf. A short, double dogleg, par 5 that forces you to lay up in order to avoid all the trouble the surrounds the green.  One of my favorites was the 17th hole.  A short par 3 that drops some 75 feet to a long and narrow green.
















With over 80 bunkers and knee-high fescue, positioning is the key to scoring well on this layout.  And, don’t be fooled by the seemingly short length of 6203 yards from the blues, it still have a course rating of 72 with a slope of 143. Keep it on the fairway or pay the price.

Golf doesn't get much better than this. The service, course conditions, challenge and amenities here all combine to make Timber Ridge an experience that makes you want to take a hotel room and play it again and again.
















Besides Timber Ridge, the area offers a number of other excellent golf challenges like the recently completed Black Bear Ridge, located outside nearby Belleville. But Van Veld is astute enough to know that golf tourists are a demanding lot and after a round they need good food and accommodation - not to mention the odd spa - to keep them happy and coming back.

"Prince Edward County is now home to some very lovely inns, restaurants and B&Bs," a club member told us after our round. "And there seems to be more and more coming on line every year."Towns like Cobourg, Colborne, Brighton, Trenton and
Belleville all have a lot to offer tourists and people are beginning to stop and take notice. We're not Muskoka yet, but we're getting there."

And that's a good thing for tourists, who can enjoy all that beautiful Northumberland and Prince Edward counties have to offer - and that includes some of the best beaches anywhere – for a lot less than what Muskoka vacation spots are charging.

Take Timber Ridge, for example. A course of this quality in majestic Muskoka will cost you well over $125 CAN without a power cart on weekends. At Timber Ridge, the weekend green fees are less than $80 CAN - with cart. That leaves tourists plenty of money to spend at the inns, hotels and restaurants in the area. And, like my friend said, there were no Muskoka-like traffic jams to contend with - at least not for now!
















For more information, you can visit their extremely comprehensive website at www.timberridgegolf.net. For tee times, call them toll free @ 1 866 228 4653 or email them at info@timberridgegolf.net

________________________________________________________________________________

Marc Atchison is the former Travel and Golf Editor of Canada’s largest daily newspaper The Toronto Star. More of Marc’s stories are also available on www.tnnworld.com.