Course Review: Westminster Trails Golf Club, by Jeffrey Reed

(November 2005)

Copyright 2005 London Ontario Golf

Reviewing an Ontario golf course in November normally requires leniency from a scribe, but none was required on this unseasonably warm day at Westminster Trails Golf Club in London. In fact, despite a tough year all around for area golf courses, thanks to heat and drought, and considering the time of year, Westminster Trails played wonderfully.

Now, that’s not to say that this popular public course is one of the best in the area. Sure, it’s a links-style course, but management could still beautify the course more than they have at present. It’s bare bones currently. However, I was amazed by the plush fairways and excellent greens – some of the best amongst local public links. I understand clay soil has made it difficult to grow trees, for example, so if you focus solely on your game, you’ll enjoy your round immensely.

Three sets of tees – 4,910 yards, 5,739 yards and 6,160 yards from the tips – allow golfers of all levels to test their skills. While fairways are wide open, and fescue doesn’t offer much rough for the low-handicapper, constant whipping winds, and crowned greens are the great equalizers at Westminster Trails. The greens are undulating, to say the least, and require pinpoint accuracy – not to mention conservative play – in order to make par.

Six par-3s, eight par-4s and four par-5s make up this par-70 track, out at 35, in at 35. The front nine is quite barren, save for the club’s signature hole. No. 2 is a 121-yard saucer-shaped island green demanding a soft landing, and presenting a tough birdie putt no matter where you land your pill. It’s a hole in sharp contrast to the opening hole, a par-4, 372-yard challenge, uphill to a rolling green. The 512-yard par-5 3rd hole features a slight dogleg left, and a green sloping right to left with bunkers at back. No rest for the weary at No. 4, a tough 176-yard par-3 with a false front greenside. The green at the par-5, 502-yard No. 6 boasts more bumps than a roller coaster – the order of the day at Westminster Trails.

The real beauty of Westminster Trails rests idyllically on the back nine. From the tee at No. 10, you’ll hit over a large pond, uphill to a landing area with a bunker waiting to grab errant shots. It’s a 374-yard par-4. One of the nicer designed holes, par-5, 490-yard No. 12 is a dogleg left, with plenty of rough at the left landing area, and water in front of the green ready to clutch your approach shot. No. 13 is the prettiest hole, a 175-yard par-3 with elevated tee, overlooking a heavily wooded ravine and marsh area. Again, this green slopes everywhere, so par is a good score.

No. 16 at Westminster Trails is a quirky hole – a 555-yard par-5, sharp dogleg left, where par is a great score. From the tee, you’ll hit driver, downhill into a valley with bunker left ready to snatch a short drive. Your smart second shot is a long iron or 3-wood into a bailout area to the right; go for the green over water and woods and you’re definitely long off the tee – and probably nicknamed Tin Cup. The green slopes off dramatically and demands a dart anywhere on the putting surface – forget about going for the flag here. Lay up, hit a wedge on in three, and pray for two putts. I bogeyed this monster and rushed to the next tee at the par-3 17th, a 144-yard uphill hole over a very large pond. The finishing hole is a 398-yard par-4 with elevated tee and wide-open fairway leading to yet another undulating green.

Westminster Trails opened for business in 1990, and is now part of the same ownership group claiming Maple Ridge Golf Club, and East Park Golf Gardens. Westminster Trails’s strength lies in its challenging greens, and playability, making it one of the more popular public courses in London.

Westminster Trails Golf Club
London, Ont.
519-668-6121
Green Fees:
$32 weekdays, $36 weekends, cart $28/$30
www.westminstertrails.com