by GOLF-SOUTH STAFF | VISIT MONT TREMBLANT

On the first day of the vacation to Mont Tremblant, a doe and her fawn amble in front of a tee block at Le Geant. The deer of course know that the safest place to be when I’m ready to launch a drive is straight ahead. It’s another tranquil and exhilarating moment during an awesome golf experience.

The second day is not as tranquil, but a test of golf
skill and nerves. Le Diable, the much nastier sister
course to Le Geant, can play havoc with golfers whose
shots stray wayward. The devilish red sand waste
bunkers seemingly have magnets, specifically to
the Nike golf balls I’m using on this day. For some
reason, perhaps because I’m not a particularly
straight hitter, my golf balls consistently avoid the
long, narrow fairways, preferring the sand. For one
day at least, I feel like Lawrence of Arabia. So much
sand and so little ability is not a good combination.

These are two of the wonderfully wicked and majestic
golf courses of Intrawest Resort at Mont Tremblant. 
Close by are a number of other great golf
experiences that should not be missed if you are
planning a visit to the area they include Club Link’s
Le Maitre, Gray Rocks’ La Belle and La Bete, and
Manitou.

The village of Tremblant, at the bottom of world-
class ski hills, has plenty of magic of its own. The
view is breathtaking. You can take gondolas up the
mountain and take in the mountain’s entire
splendor. There are restaurants and shops galore
and with over 1,900 rooms there are many styles of accommodations to choose from.

If golf is not your thing…………is that possible?  There’s no shortage of other things to do; horseback riding, whitewater rafting, tennis, ATV tours, fly fishing, or you can just kick back in a spa or just lay on the beach. There’s a Champ Car World Series race. And there’s the International Blues Festival, which always attracts huge crowds.
A couple of hours north by car of Montreal and about the same distance east of Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, Tremblant is certainly about much more than the golf.

But it’s the golf we’ll focus on.

The Raven course, Le Diable, put
together by Michael Hurzdan and Dan
Fry, is more than a “grip it and rip it”
course. Don’t go left, home of the waste
bunkers. The fairways snake through the
heart of a huge red pine forest.

This course hosted the 1999 Skins Game
(with Mike Weir, John Daly, Fred Couples
and David Duval) was named the Best
Public Golf Course by Score magazine in
2003. Golf Style also placed it in its Top
10 Courses in Canada and Golf Digest
gave it a rating of 4½ stars.

At a distance of 7,056 yards, the par-71 Le Diable is tough, but fair if you keep the ball in the fairway. Even with the lift and place rule, hell hath no fury like trying to whack the ball out of the cavernous waste traps. The slope rating is 135 from the blacks and 130 from the blues.“On hole No. 3, when you play the course in May, you can see the snow on the mountain,” said Luc Geoffroy, Le Geant’s supervisor.

Le Geant, designed by Thomas McBroom, is more for
the social golfer: Plenty of scenery with plateaus that
are sculpted into the mountain side ….. some great
views of the mountain and village … and plenty of
wildlife. The course keeps you on your toes, it is tight
in spots, so club selection is very important.  The
18th hole is a treacherous 457 yards from the double
black tee blocks, was rated the best par-4 in Canada
by Score. “When you tee off on 18, you can see the
lake over the trees,” said Geoffroy. “Each hole is
special.”

The par-72 course plays at 6,836 yards.  The slope
from the double black is 131. “The greens are
tough,” said Geoffroy. “Sometimes you can’t see the
slopes and if you don’t know the course, it can be
tough to read the greens.” The resort offers package
deals, and the golf experience doesn’t have to be
expensive. You can book online … and you can golf
for as little as $69 CAN for twilight rates.

You can also check out the wonderful Mont Tremblant
Golf Academy. One day with five hours of lessons will cost you $249 CAN, with four days running approximately $879 CAN.

You’ll find a good mix among the golf clientele.“(Percentage-wise) it’s probably 40-40 for Ontario and Quebec, maybe 15% American and 5% foreign,” said Geoffroy.
While you’ll be buzzing about the golf, it’s really the whole Tremblant experience that’ll keep you come back for more.“People who come here are on vacation,” said Geoffroy. “It’s not like you’re playing in the morning, then going in to work. This is relaxing.”
















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