Belleville, Trillium WoodTrillium Wood Trillium Wood Golf Club is 5km north of Belleville on Hwy#37 just off the 401. I used to play in an amateur league called the Mulligan Tour in Ottawa. We used to play championship and inter-league events at this course for years. Somehow, I never could make it out to play when scheduled. It is a long haul from Ottawa, but Trillium Wood got rave reviews from all my teammates whenever they played there. It is well worth the wait. I booked ahead and visited the evening before I played. Trillium Wood has an excellent practice area. Great grass tee and separate chipping green with a bunker for sand game practice. The grass tee area was "pristine"; you could easily find untouched sections to work on your irons.
So I got some much-needed practice. Confidence for tomorrow. I introduced myself to one of the pros, Stephen McCurdy who immediately paired me with members so that I would have help navigating the course. He gave me a players guide that is a work of art, showing hole layouts and detailed yardages. He said, "Here you are, Al, do your homework and we'll see you tomorrow morning." Next day, 9:10am, I met the members of my foursome: Paul MacLellan, Bob MacKenzie and Bob Ferguson. Ferguson and MacLellan were both members and MacKenzie was a frequent guest. They were very knowledgeable golfers and very helpful during the round. They were even the same age as I was, so it was a super group to be with. We hit it off right away. Great group of guys.
Figure above showing, left to right: Bob MacKenzie, Paul MacLellan and Bob Ferguson We played from the blue tees, measuring 6148 yards. Trillium Wood measures 6652 yards from the championship gold tees so the blues are a very good test. Slope rating is 135. The guys even pointed out good holes for photos as I carried my camera with me. Have a look at he pictures here, but more are included on my Facebook page. (see Allan Andison on Facebook.com). Paul MacLellan is a very nice player. He hit all his clubs really well and was pretty long, too. We is an easy pick to break 80 whenever he plays and par is a very realistic objective. Wish I could say the same. Both of the Bobs were good players in their own right. You could tell the experience. They shaped their ball-flight and knew where to miss a shot to minimize the damage. Paul had a putter like I had never seen before. It looked normal at first glance -- he rolled the ball on the greens very well -- but it caught my eye after about three holes. The putter head was a round bar of stainless steel. Yes, it is "home made". Paul thought of the idea and had his brother cut him a piece of drill bar from his shop in Hamilton. Paul did the rest. Have a look, it is a cool club. I think the round edge puts a good forward roll on the ball, helping it track to the hole. Paul sure liked it and the results spoke for themselves. One of the most interesting putters I've ever seen.
I think the industry does more design work with putters than any other club. Driver heads get bigger or change shape, but everything in the putter gets tweaked including shafts, heads, grips and hosels. Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a guy like Paul and another beauty club comes into being. Whatever gets it in the hole. Paul even has a name for it, he calls it the Landon-One. It's named for his son, who was born about the time he came up with the idea. Paul proudly posed for the picture below.
Favorite Holes Bob Ferguson gave me a tip to photograph hole number four. So I did; it is very worthy of its portrait.
Hole four is tricky, even diabolical depending how you play it. I played it badly. The fairway bends downhill and to the left, guarded by a pond and large tree along the left side. Trees also line the right side. Paul and the Bobs hit beautiful tee shots, right to the corner of the dogleg, near the one-fifty marker. My ball went right for some reason, into the rough and blocked by a tree. Punched out with a bad iron too short into the water; drop, hit into a green side bunker. Blade a sand wedge too far across the green and presto, a quick seven on the par four. My harmony was ruined, briefly. Paul and the Bobs consoled my bruised pride and off we went to the rest of the front nine. I managed to keep my score at 3-over the rest of the front, limping in with a 43. I kept pace with the Bobs, but Paul had a stellar 39 without even playing close to his best. A few bad chips around this course and you're in a world of hurt in a hurry. I loved the front nine, it was scenically superior to the back, which is more open and flat. Overall the course was beautiful; the rough is up and the greens were firm and fast. The day could not have been better for golf. The heat was at 27C but the breeze was welcome. Bugs were down, thanks to an ingenious fly trap device which I had never seen before. Bugs Be Gone Trillium had several weird looking contraptions that the guys told me were Horsefly Traps. They work, bugs were definitely down from my experience on other courses this year. The photos below, indicate that the designer knew what he was doing. Lots of trapped flies meant fewer to annoy us golfers. We had no bug problems all day, which was really nice. Horsefly Trap device
Horsefly Trap close-up
I sure hope they have these traps on the prairies. Anybody reading this in Manitoba, please take some to your nearest golf course right away. Thanks from me in advance. Return to Best-Strategies-For-Better-Golf Home Page
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