{"id":1734,"date":"2010-09-14T15:32:06","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T22:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwallach.com\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2011-02-20T10:19:16","modified_gmt":"2011-02-20T17:19:16","slug":"to-the-manoir-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/golf\/1734\/to-the-manoir-born","title":{"rendered":"To the Manoir Born"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>\n

If Montreal is Quebec\u2019s Paris, than Quebec City is the province\u2019s Provence.\u00a0 Or something like that.\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve walked the leafy streets and enjoyed a meal (or an overnight) in the historic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, head toward Le Malbaie in the Charlevoix region, 90 minutes away.\u00a0 On a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River stands the Fairmont Manoir Richelieu, which has attracted guests for more than a century.\u00a0 Originally built to cater to luxury steamship passengers, the first hotel burned down and was rebuilt out of stone in 1929.\u00a0 Rated as Canada\u2019s golf resort of the year, the Manoir\u00a0 has 405 rooms, three restaurants, spa, casino, formal gardens, extensive wine cellar, art collection, and the old-world feeling of comfort in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

The original golf course was designed by Herbert Strong and inaugurated by U.S. President Taft in 1925, but underwent a complete renovation by Darrell Huxham, who also created nine new holes.\u00a0 The course provides tremendous river views from virtually every hole and from the entire one-mile path from the hotel to Cardinal Point, where the clubhouse offers 720-degree views\u2014which is to say you\u2019ll look at the 360-degree views at least twice.\u00a0 Rock outcroppings, great angles, extensive mounding, greens encircled by trees, and occasional blind tee shots characterize the golf holes.\u00a0 The river STRONGLY influences the occasionally hilarious but consistently difficult greens.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

The Saint Laurent nine opens with one of the most spectacular views in golf\u2014 from a tee box towering above a fairway far below and studded with bunkers, and the St. Lawrence River curling widely in the distance.\u00a0 Number two, a short par three with the river beyond, seems to drop off into infinity.\u00a0 Holes two, four, and six are all terrific par threes of various distances that call for different types of shots.\u00a0 In fact, the variety of approaches required by the Manoir\u2019s holes is one of its greatest treats.<\/p>\n

On the Richelieu nine, the second fairway is split by one of the rocky outcroppings that lend beautiful aesthetics to the entire course.\u00a0 Stay right for a better entrance to the green 370 yards away.\u00a0\u00a0 Number five is perhaps the best par three on property\u2014165 yards with a steep rock canyon and the river to the left, and an upslope to an amphitheatre green protected by four bunkers angling from short right to back left.\u00a0 Beware the 295-yard seventh hole where a local fox has been known to run up to golfers and actually grab their putters\u2014which in some cases could represent a merciful intervention.<\/p>\n

The Tadoussac nine begins with a mid-length par three before presenting one of the toughest holes on the course\u2014with bunkers in mid fairway and one of the most maddening greens ever built.\u00a0 Has anyone mentioned that the putting surfaces slope hard toward the river?\u00a0 The lovely third hole is a tree-encapsulated oasis, whereas number four requires a blind shot over mounds to a green 323 yards away.<\/p>\n

At the end of your round you’ll have one of Canada’s finest holes to return to for great comfort, if not sympathy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Montreal is Quebec\u2019s Paris, than Quebec City is the province\u2019s Provence.\u00a0 Or something like that.\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve walked the… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,2227,17],"tags":[5243,5283,944171],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-fairmont-hotels","category-courses-and-travel","tag-quebec-golf","tag-manoir-richelieu","tag-fairmont-hotels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/09\/LMR_24438411_LMR-034.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1734"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2231,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions\/2231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}