Our recent golf trip to Prince Edward Island took us to a course we hadn't played in previous visits - Dundarave (see my previous post) - and to a long-standing favorite that we'd played twice before. The Links at Crowbush Cove.

The Links at Crowbush Cove represents an interesting experiment undertaken nearly 15 years ago by the provincial government of Prince Edward Island.

Tourism is one of the mainstays of the Island and the government of the day realized it had to develop different kinds of attractions to bring as wide a variety of tourism to the Island as possible.

So it got into the golf course business, financing the development and maintenance of no less than four courses on the island. The politicians also realized that it would be a good idea if golfers had a place to stay when they came to play. Consequently, a business arrangement was struck with Rodd Resorts. Rodd would build resorts alongside the courses and reap the benefit of the lodging business that would be generated.

And it has worked for both parties. However, there is a new government on the Island now and it campaigned to sell the publicly owned courses so they would no longer be a drain on the coffers. One source told me during our visit that last year the four golf courses lost a combined 1 million dollars. That's all.

But now the current government is faced with living up to its election promise and, after a year on the market, no one has yet stepped up to make an offer on the golf courses.

The whole issue is complicated by charges of profiteering and so on but has had no impact on the quality of golf at any of the courses, least of all The Links at Crowbush Cove.
Crowbush Cove is located along PEI's north shore, so ocean views - and ocean breezes - are bountiful.

The course was designed by the renowned Tom McBroom. It's only a tick or two over 6900 yards from the championship tees but it features McBroom's signature deep bunkers strategically placed throughout the 18 holes. Sand is White Silica, which remains fluffy even in blustery ocean settings.

Creeping bentgrass is the grass of choice from tee to green. Speaking of the greens, they're a little slower than Dundarave's, running at about 10 on the Stimpmeter.

But McBroom designed them with plenty of undulations, crests, slopes and crowns, providing for all sorts of diabolical pin positions.

The weather during our trip was not good. It was cool, grey and very windy. After being blown off Dundarave the day before, we faced the same conditions for our round at Crowbush.

I spoke with Tim Arnold, the Rodd Resorts general manager at Crowbush and we were able to re-schedule our round for the next day, Sunday.

Well, dawn broke on Sunday and the conditions weren't much improved. The winds had dropped a little and the temperature warmed up a degree or two but it was another grey day.

Still, it was Crowbush Cove, ranked by Golf Digest as Canada's best new course when it opened in 1994 and site of last year's tilt between Vijay Singh and Mike Weir, so off we went.

The course opens up with holes that lead the golfer away from the ocean but turns back towards the water - and back into the wind - on the par 5, 5th hole, 567 yards from the white tees.

The hole demands that you position your lay-up shot close enough to clear the large pond in front of a very shallow green. An ideal lay-up should leave you 150 yards for your third into the green. Too little club and you're wet; too much club and you find one of the two large pot-bunkers guarding the back of the green.

And with the wind blowing hard, it was a challenge. McBroom has designed a bail-out area to the right of the pond for those who leave their second shots too far back for that very reason.

This course is filled with memorable holes. The par 3, 6th, for example, looks like a straightforward 156 yard hole until that wind whips up over the trees, hanging up your short iron and leaving your ball to drop into the water and cattails left of the narrow green.

Then there's the par 3, 8th hole, 161 yards and all carry over salt water with bunkers perched menacingly behind the shallow green. Or 16 where your tee shot into the wind must carry 210 yards minimum over the ocean in order to find the fairway.

It's a beautiful course, plain and simple. But when you combine that with a stay at the Rodd resort on the property, the experience is outstanding.

What a treat. It's 5-star all the way. I don't know which is better: the wonderful, spacious accommodations or the superb food and wine in the resort's dining room.

General Manager, Tim Arnold, admits he's an organization freak and it shows right down to the smallest details. Everywhere are the little, extra touches that bump up the resort to a full 5-star rating.

But let me tell you one thing. You have to eat in the resort's dining room. If you like beef and you like it rare, order the tenderloin. Mouthwatering. And wash it down with a bottle of Mike Weir's Cabernet. Hey, it's a golf resort, right?

Now, I'm not much of a dessert guy but they've got some humdingers.
We had dinner with Tim and his wife, Lori, and Tim ordered a dessert called a "Sushi Slide".

It turned out to be thin melon wrapped around berries, sushi-style, and presented on a stand that resembled a small spiral staircase - hence the "slide" element, I guess.

It was amazing to look at and delicious to sample. That dining room would get 5-stars in a Michelin guide, I suspect.

Crowbush Cove is still a top ranked golf course in Canada and deservedly so. Green fees are ridiculously low for such a course, too, by the way. But when you combine the golf with the resort, your golf holiday shoots several notches higher in quality and satisfaction.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.