Canoe Club Golf Course has big potential

Winnipeg

St. Vital

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/05/2025 (238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Welcome to the 2025 golf season! Last year at this time, I listed visits from the past season, and the year before that, I spoke about local nine-hole courses good for warming up for those future golf road trips. Those articles are available on the FP Community Review website for you to revisit at your leisure.

Today’s article looks at one of our local courses perfect for ironing out the winter wrinkles from everyone’s game. Affected by the much needed construction on the St. Vital bridge, this course has been in the news recently. Hoping to turn their fortunes around with its new City of Winnipeg management team, the Canoe Club Golf Course is today’s featured course.

A fellow member of the the fourth estate, the CBC, filed a report at the end of January about the takeover of golf operations by the city. It cited that poor maintenance and years of back taxes were challenges with which the course could not easily cope. Construction on the bridge over the last two seasons was the major factor, according to some long time members I spoke to during my round. Rather than let it degrade further, the city decided to absorb operations with hopes to revitalize the course. All the flags on the greens now proudly flap the name City of Winnipeg.

I visited this set of links on the last weekend of April. This is very, very early in the season, and the grass is only starting to shade towards green. Keeping that important fact in mind, there are definitely signs of neglect at this offering. The sand traps are in very poor shape, as are the majority of the greens. Signage is hit and miss, some tees have benches where others do not, and if you’re driving a cart, you’ll quickly experience fairways reminiscent of Tuxedo; rough and uneven — like a practice mortar range.

Did I come away from Canoe with a ‘beverage half empty’ opinion after reporting all that? Not at all! In fact, I really see the potential of this course as a municipal offering. The pricing for a nine-hole is quite reasonable, considering how conveniently close this course is to downtown Winnipeg. I wonder how many downtown hotels promote a golf course so close to their properties? The club is easy enough to access and play for Winnipeggers that this course could be an excellent choice for high schools, and the public alike, to teach and train new golfers. Walkers will not have any difficulty here, as the course has no significant elevation changes, and the pathways between sides are all paved. If the club had public dock access off the Red River (and with a name like the Canoe Club, they should), you could easily moor up your boat and be on the first tee in seconds. Are you listening, new management team? River access is already happening, for some creatures. Evidence on hole 2 suggests an aquatic based arborist team decided a large Aspen mid fairway had to come down — and I don’t think they pulled a work permit!

The pro shop is not located in the impressive Canoe Club building itself. Rather, keep driving, stick to the left of the parking lot, and head towards the blue and white machine shop. Tee times are online, but when I went, there were lots of open times. That will hopefully change as the new promotion team gets to work. There is no restaurant here, but there are beverages and snacks available in the pro shop. Riding carts are available, but there is not a huge fleet of them. This course is promoted to be an offering friendly to walkers, and there are plenty of pull carts available. There is no driving range, but there is a practice putting green.

The course itself starts off on a long four, then a five, both using the beautiful Red River as scenery and out of bounds. The course does not offer up a par 3 until the fifth hole, so if you are training new golfers, use the alternate red tee markers to make the round easier to manage. After hole 5, you need to head to the opening in the fence, and follow the newly paved path to the north, then east. A clean and well lit tunnel goes underneath all four lanes of Dunkirk and takes you to the “back four”. Hole 6, unlike many of the other fairways, opens up to a wide swath of grass. Hackers can have at it here! Finishing your game is a treat for tired beginners, as the last two holes are both par 3s. Overall, the hole offerings are interesting and the layout is enjoyable.

I will return towards the end of the season to see all the changes Winnipeg’s management team has infused into this cute course. Tee times can be made online at www.winnipeg.ca/recreation-leisure/golf-courses/canoe-club