Treherne’s nine-holer can be played as 18

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2022 (1268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This week we head out west to one of my favourite regions of the province, the Manitoba escarpment. Last season we looked at Miami and McCreary, two great little courses built on the Lake Agassiz beachfront. This time, we visit Treherne’s Tiger Hills and the Delahunt Golf and Country Club.

Some courses around the province tag on the “country club” part of their names without much to back it up. Delahunt, for example, does not have tennis, polo, nor a spa. It does, however, have a large, modern clubhouse. Weddings and tournaments should be no problem for this capable and inviting space.

Like Lundar, discussed last season, Treherne’s nine-hole course tries to give the 18-hole golfer a different experience between the front and back nines. Many of the holes have different tee boxes, which either change the yardage, the view, or both. For example, the par 3 fifth hole plays at just over 100 metres off to the left, but the same fairway’s tee for No. 14 is at around 160 metres and plays from the right. This approach either puts the sand trap beside the green in or out of play, depending on the tee box.

Your round starts off with an easy, wide-open par 4. The next hole also has a wide fairway, but it plays quite long, even for a par 5. Deep sand traps lie at 10 o’clock and 5 o’clock around the green. It is also the first example of many of the unusual greens on this course. Almost all the greens at Delahunt have distinctive bumps, mounds, and curves. Many also have a strange dome-shaped aspect to them, like someone took an ice-cream scoop to a soil pile, plopped some earth down, and covered it with turf green. To avoid some frustration, you may opt to try shooting some darts with your lob wedge to make your ball sit. Otherwise, bump and roll approaches may see your ball rolling off the mound and back into the short stuff.

No. 3 introduces a narrowing of the fairway. Thick tree growth exists on the left of the fairway and behind the green. The right side of the fairway is shared with No. 2. The green has a nice approach from the front, but not from the back. Hole 4 is similar to No. 3, but has bush on both sides and plays a bit shorter.

Hole No. 6 and the aforementioned No. 5 are both par 3s. The differences between the two are that five funnels into bush, and 6 funnels out. Hole 7 is a largely open par 4, with two impressive spruce trees guarding the green.

Hole No. 8 would be my pick for this course’s signature hole. It is a 90-degree dogleg right. Your drive on this hole must be well played. To aid in your decision making, it has a sign on the tee box giving you all the distances to the hazards, which include a marsh, a fountain-adorned water hazard within a short drive’s distance, and a deep sand trap for long-ball hitters. All of this is lined on either side by thick brush, so extra balls in the bag might be a good idea on this hole. Once you make the bend, the rest of the fairway is straight forward. Just to make sure you’re being challenged, the large, undulating, domed green is the club’s most difficult.

Coming home on No. 9 is a long par four, but coming home on No. 18 is an even longer par 5! It is a nice, wide-open hole, but a cluster of trees may frustrate your drive when teeing off from the No.18 box. Busy Highway 2 on the left is out of bounds, so errant left hitters will hopefully have the good sense not to look for their balls.

You may need to book a tee time on the weekends through trehernegolf.com. When I went to play on a Saturday afternoon, there were no motor carts available, and I was told any carts coming in would need to be recharged as they don’t last much more than 18 holes. They also have a very small fleet of rental carts compared to most other courses I’ve visited. Fortunately, the walk is very pleasant and flat, except for the aforementioned greens. You may also need to show kind patience with the enthusiastic but young (read: inexperienced) clubhouse staff.