Club de Golf de l’Ile de Montréal

Next time we will bring binoculars!

Overall Impression The Île de Montréal Golf Course is located 20 minutes from downtown Montreal, Canada at the eastern tip of the island. Two 18 hole golf courses make up this public golf club with a membership base established in 2003. Both courses were part of the Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and promote nature conservation and the use of local plants that are native to the area.

The Island Course and the Ireland Course were designed by Pat Ruddy, a renowned Irish golf course architect. We enjoy playing both courses depending on the weather and our need to be challenged. The Island Course (formerly known as the North Course) and the Ireland Course (South Course) offer two very different experiences. I prefer the first course as it is more traditional in nature with trees and water features in play whereas my husband and our teenage son prefer the Ireland Course for the strategy required in playing a challenging links course.

The Ireland Course is a par 70, 7180 yard links course with undulating fairways and large slick greens. Most of the course is raised and several greens are either above or below your stance. Water is in play on only one hole, and actually is not in play for the women’s tee box. This does not mean that the course is easy! On the contrary, pot bunkers and sand bunkers are located strategically and several fairways narrow down at the most annoying distances. The fescue is deep and has devoured several of our golf balls. Accuracy and strategy is the key to playing a satisfying round of golf on this course. The wind is definitely a factor and on hot sunny days there is very little shade. Although we enjoy walking this course, carts are often handy. We find this course quite a challenge to play and our scores are generally higher than usual. But oh! The satisfaction when I get a par on this course because they are not achieved easily!

The Island Course, a par 70, 6603 yards, is a more classic style forested course located on the other side of the highway. To reach it we pass under a short tunnel and emerge on the wooded side of the property. Lower in elevation than the Ireland Course, the wind is not quite as important a factor as on the other course however the second and third fairways are wide open. This course abuts the Nature Park of Pointe Aux Prairies and, as a consequence, wild life is abundant. The fairways are larger with more variety in the landscape. Trees, water and sand traps are often in play. In fact hole Number 5 is an exhausting 516 yards. And to top it off, we have to play to an island green! Strategy is the name of the game here also.

The Club House has the necessary amenities and is often used for wedding receptions and private parties. An outside and indoor pub is the perfect place to add up our score card and to have a basket of the best homemade potato chips I have ever tasted. I have to admit that they also make great sandwiches, but we found that the last time we played the beverage and food cart appeared only once on each nine. I always pack a water bottle or two. The Club House offers full meals on the terrace and the inside pub. There is an upper level deck and an observation tower that is four stories high. From this vantage point we can overlook Montreal to the west (with spectacular sunsets) and watch the golfers play the last three holes of the Ireland Course. Our son played in a tournament here last year and we enjoyed observing him from the upper deck. Next time we will bring binoculars!

Opened 2003

Putting-Chipping Greens Yes

Carts available for a fee. Course may be walked, pushcarts available for a fee

Driving Range Yes

Club Rental for a fee, Cobra

The Ireland Course 18 holes Par 70

Slope: Men: blue: 128, white: 118

Women: red: 118

The Island Course 18 holes Par 70

Slope: Men: blue: 118, white: 113

Women: red: 115

Date Of Most Recent Visit November 2010