'Ideal land for a picturesque golf course'.

Ron Dennis doesn't fancy himself as the next Pete Dye, but his first swing at designing a golf course proved he possesses all the right instincts. Since its June 2003 opening, Parry Sound's Seguin Valley Golf and Country Club has drawn rave reviews as one the best new courses in Ontario.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Dennis, 72, retired 12 years ago as Air Canada's chief pilot and director of flight operations. But he's been busy helping to create a hidden gem in the middle of cottage country.

Dennis' friend and fellow pilot Robert McRae also flew with Air Canada until the 1960s when a medical problem short-circuited his flying career and he went into the investment business. He eventually left that profession and acquired 2000 acres of rugged Pre-Cambrian Shield bushlot in the Parry Sound area over a 15-year period.

The course's visionary and Dennis' business partner, McRae passed away last June. But his legacy lives on.

McRae always liked the aesthetics of golf courses and felt the topography lent itself to that rather than just straight real estate development.

"It was very attractive land, and as it turned out, ideal land for a picturesque golf course," says Dennis. Tributaries of the Seguin River run through it and water hazards come into play on eight holes.

But like the property it sits on, the project got off to a rocky start in 1998.

The course's development was stalled for the first two years until McRae asked his old friend Dennis to come north and oversee management of the whole project.

"That's what I've done my whole life, managing people, and pilots are no different from anybody else."

He plunged in, moving his family north from Mississauga. The contractor involved wasn't skilled at building courses in Northern Ontario, says Dennis, who noticed the drainage and irrigation systems installed were "all wrong" and the course layout was a nightmare.

"Some of the ideas they had were not going to make it a very enjoyable course to play or look at," says Dennis. "The place was a mess and had to be re-done."

They hired Bracebridge-based course designers Bruce Evans Ltd. to help out. With course designer Ted George, Dennis went tramping about the 300-acre parcel, making revisions to the cart paths, re-situating the tee decks, and picking out the location of the practice and chipping greens to make the overall layout more functional and picturesque for the customer.

"It was one of the most fun things I've ever done. It was real challenging (to organize), so all the construction was done in the proper sequence."

Dennis says the course isn't necessarily styled after any particular designer, and he didn't draw inspiration from other tracks.

"It fits the topography. We've got very unique elements to the course ... you have to see the course to appreciate how we utilize the views. We've changed an awful lot from what (the original contractors) were going to do.

"We tried to balance out the playability of the course with taking advantage of the scenery (while) keeping costs in mind."

Amidst a stable of premium properties in the area that includes upscale resort courses such as Deerhurst, Taboo, Rocky Crest and The Rock, Seguin Valley has quickly emerged as being on par or surpassing those tracks for its playability and stunning views.

Tee It Up Ontario, a golf Web site, picked Seguin Valley as the best new course in Ontario for 2003.

The public golf course occupies only 300 acres of a larger, rolling 2,000-acre spread just off the newly four-laned Highway 69/400, about a half-kilometre down Badger Road from the Jolly Roger Inn.

Par to the people

The dream evolved from McRae's idea to utilize his vast land package to bring some recreational value to the community.

That is one of the reasons the course offers no private memberships and will remain open to the public, despite its name.

"Bob liked the sound of that country club idea."

Dennis says Seguin Valley is designed to be a relaxed atmosphere.

With five tee decks on each hole, the course is accommodating to all abilities of golfers from novices to the more competitive players.

Among the course's unique features is a floating bridge, a 180-yard link from the tee deck to the green on the par three Hole No. 7, one of the many signature holes on the property. Dennis believes it's the only one of its kind in North America.

Each hole on the 6,900-yard course has an aviation theme named after an aircraft flown by Dennis and McRae during their Air Canada and RCAF careers.

The soon-to-be-finished 14,000 square foot pine log clubhouse features a massive 40-foot cedar tree centre pole inside, shipped in from British Columbia. St. Jacob's Mennonites built the three-winged structure in southern Ontario and reassembled the building on-site.

The interior remains unfinished. Dennis is still mulling over how to make it more functional and welcoming for repeat golfers as if Seguin Valley were their home course.

Dennis says he didn't want to design a championship course that was pure target golf but create an enjoyable experience for all levels of players, one that placed a premium on the management of your game.

"They're not holes that beat up, but you have to think you way through," he explains. "I tried very hard not to create so much difficulty that people wouldn't want to come back."

Green fees during the peak summer period are $100 with cart included. Other shoulder season rates vary from $75 to $85.

Won't you be my neighbour?

Plans are in the works to develop large estate lots with the first phase of 30 lots expected to hit the market this year, as soon as formal township approval is given. The properties would abut and link up with the Seguin Trail, a major recreational snowmobile and hiking path.

No prices have been advertised, but individual lots would range from three acres to as large as 10 acres.

Now with a course under his belt, Dennis wouldn't mind tackling the challenges of designing and building another.

"I got huge satisfaction out of creating something that had to be re-done. Every day it was a fun thing to go out and say we should blast here ... and move the cart path to the other side of the fairway because it would work out better."

In talking with the superintendent about their 2005 plans, Dennis says the course is in top condition and they expect no major alterations aside from cleaning out some areas of the fairway rough and digging new strategic bunkers here and there.

The property includes a bed and breakfast property, which may be rented out privately to golfers for the summer. Dennis is also working with the new owners of the Jolly Roger Inn to develop some stay-and-play packages.

www.seguinvalleygolf.com

By IAN ROSS 

Northern Ontario Business