Is Ontario Canada's Best Golf Destination?

Before this trip, Ontario wasn't somewhere I had ever really considered as a golf destination.

To be honest, until becoming mates with Mac, it wasn't really on the radar at all. But over the years we've watched him spend more and more time in the region, constantly talking about the golf, the people and the quality of courses, while somehow always coming back with incredible content, it quickly became one of those places we knew had to make the cut for a Working Holiday episode.

Over the past 12 months, the crew has explored more of Canada's golf scene than I ever knew existed. Every couple of months Mac would throw another destination into the group chat and it got to the point where Pete and I would just look at each other and ask, "There's more? Still?"

As usual, these Working Holiday trips are built around Mac's existing schedule, and this one was no different. His reason for being in town was the RBC Canadian Open, where he'd been invited to play in the Wednesday Pro-Am. From there, the week took us in a completely different direction. We headed out to the suburbs to see where Mac grew up, played a couple of the local muni tracks that shaped his game, stumbled into an incredible members' day at one of Toronto's premier private clubs thanks to a last-minute schedule change, before finishing with what would become the standout of the trip, a drive north to Lake Muskoka to experience Muskoka Bay Resort.

Here’s a list of where we played:

TPC Toronto Osprey Valley: 3 courses on property. Greens fees pricing from $150-$250 USD.

Foxbridge Golf Course: The local muni. $35 for 9 holes or $70 for 18 holes.

Wooden Sticks Golf Course: Insane replica golf course. Greens fees pricing from $180-$220 USD.

Coppinwood Golf Club: Private club. We’re thankful for Mac’s friends.

Muskoka Bay Resort: Incredible golf course with onsite lodging. Greens fees around $200 USD.

Looking back, it was probably the perfect snapshot of golf in Ontario. Tour-level venues, neighborhood munis, exclusive private clubs and destination resort golf, all packed into a single week. One thing this trip taught us is that there isn't one right way to experience Ontario golf.

If you're chasing bucket list golf, you could quite easily build an itinerary around the championship venues alone and have an incredible week. But if you want to experience the region the way we did, I'd encourage you to mix it up. Pair the headline courses with a couple of local munis, don't be afraid to drive an hour or two outside of Toronto.

The city has an energy that deserves more than just being somewhere you sleep between rounds. Pete and I managed to catch a concert at a retired airstrip one night, then based ourselves in Kensington Market, which put us right in the middle of the nightlife, great coffee spots and some seriously good local breweries. Those little moments away from the golf ended up being just as memorable as anything we did on the course, and they're a big part of what makes Toronto such an easy city to recommend.

And one final tip, don't underestimate Toronto traffic, and avoid the Toll Rode… It has a sneaky way of adding up and the invoice in the mail can come with quite the shock.