Michael Grange
Sports Reporter
Saturday, June 19, 1999

Toronto -- Feel the envy for Harry Allard, the man behind Woodington Lake Golf Club in the village of Tottenham, a 50-minute drive northwest of Toronto.

Savvy enough to see a bargain, wise enough to have a vision, and skilled enough to execute it, he bought the half-completed golf course -- well off the beaten track -- in 1994, and turned it into a jewel that is rapidly rising in the ranks of the area's top golf courses.

Woodington Lake may not be the best-known golf facility in Southern Ontario, but before Allard is done with it, it may turn out to be the best to play.

In the five years since Allard bought the then financially struggling club nestled in the rolling, wooded, wetlands near Orangeville, he has completed the back nine, enlarged and redesigned the greens, rebuilt the 70 bunkers and filled them with that eye-catching white Ohio sand, added three ponds, cart paths and transplanted 2,000 fully grown trees.

New for this year is the completion of one of the most impressive clubhouses anywhere. The 2½-storey building is octagonal in shape with a dining room and veranda that looks out on Woodington Lake and the approach to the 18th green.

Considered as a whole, the undertaking makes you think: "What have I been doing with my time lately?" Presumably not building noteworthy golf facilities. Playing them maybe . . .

Anyway, there are worse ways to spend time than playing Woodington. Much worse. For in his flurry of activity Allard, who started in the golf business 50 years ago as a caddie, has never lost sight of what makes a memorable golf experience.

As one would expect, the grooming is typically perfect, or as close to it as one could ever want. The fairways are lush, and the greens are fast and roll true. There's a lot of sand in play here, but it's always playable. It's rare to spend a round here and not see maintenance staff attending to one detail or another, and everyone who works there seems happy about it.

Add to this the fact that the pace of play is generally at or under 4½ hours and the peak rate is $70, and you've got a great day on the links.

But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of that attention to detail is that it frees the golfer to focus on the surroundings, as the 6,998-yard track bends around, through and over environmentally-sensitive wetlands with blooming wildflowers, thick woods and rolling fields.

The first hole is arresting. The 380-yard (from the blue tees) test demands a drive down a relatively narrow fairway that must stop at the 150-yard marker or risk carrying into the wetlands that separate the fairway from the green.

Even the best drives require a solid mid-iron to the large green that sprawls below if the pin is at the back. If you don't quite get it to the end of the fairway, just pray that the pin is at the front or you'll either have to (a) get up and down from the landing area in front of the green or the front bunker or (b) pencil in a bogey five.

There's a breather to be had on the next hole, a 490-yard par-five, as long as you miss the long bunkers on either side of the fairway protecting the second shot landing areas. The par-three third is reasonable as long as the wind is behaving, although it does offer an excellent view of much of the front nine from its elevated tee.

But the next stretch -- a par-five with a twisting, cantered fairway and steeply crowned green; a demanding par four requiring a mid-iron to an even more steeply elevated green; and the toughest par three on the course (189 yards with a long carry over wetlands) -- takes your breath away, and can bury you before you get it back.

There are a lot of stretches like that at Woodington, including the first six-holes of the back nine, which are as treacherous a third of a golf course as you'll encounter anywhere in Greater Toronto.

Quibbles? There are only two things that could make Woodington Lake an even more desirable destination.

For one thing, the course is semi-private, and although its provides a warm-up area and a well-maintained putting green for daily fee players, its full-scale range and practice area is reserved for members only. Time spent at Woodington generally reminds one that more practice is necessary, and it would be nice to have a place to work on the short game.

For another, Woodington's last three holes -- a short par three where wind is the main obstacle; a generous par five and the aesthetically beautiful par-four 18th (a gorgeous tee-shot into a valley) -- while impressive by most standards, don't quite measure up to those set by the previous 15 holes. A work like Woodington demands a boffo ending.

Ah, but leave it to Allard, who never rests.

He's halfway through moving the final green about 50-yards left and 20 yards back from its current location, which will place it squarely across the lake from the fairway, and directly under the veranda of the clubhouse.

The end result will be golfers facing a heroic par over water or a very public and very wet double bogey in front of a gallery of sun-soaked onlookers who have just been through the same thing.

That will be an improvement on the near flawless, and the suitably boffo ending a track of this calibre deserves.

Where: Woodington Lake Golf Club, 7110 Mill Street, Tottenham, Ont. A 35-minute drive north of the airport, northeast of 9 and 50, five-minute drive north of Hwy 9, west of Hwy 27.

Head professional: Harry Allard.

Statistics: 6,998 yards from the back with a slope of 132 and a rating of 74.4; 6,463 yards from the blue tees with a slope of 131 and a rating of 71.9.

Facilities: Putting green, warm-up range, lockers, club rentals, full-dining room and pro-shop, meeting and banquet facilities.

Fees: $70 on weekends before 1 p.m.; $60 after 1 p.m. and $50 after 3 p.m. On weekdays it's $60 regularly; $50 after 3:30 p.m. and $40 after 5:30 p.m. Carts are $16 a rider.

The word: Do yourself a favour and play it. Contact: 905-936-4343 or 1-888-265-1987.