A Bright New Beginning
The year 1963 marked a bright new beginning for Summerlea. The move from Lachine had been completed, the clubhouse was under construction and the two golf courses were playable. That spring neither roads, parking lots nor landscaping had been started, and the area surrounding the clubhouse was a sea of mud. Limited clubhouse service began April 11 with full service by June. Much credit was due to Manager John Collins and his staff, who worked hard under some very difficult conditions.
It would take the rest of the decade to bring the Summerlea golf courses to a highly anticipated degree of excellence. Unpredictable Quebec weather (too much snow or lack of snow, ice, wet and dry summers) required constant maintenance, including reseeding, aerating, filling sand traps, watering, tree planting and keeping abreast of new technology.
The hilly, new golf courses were a great physical change from the flatter terrain in Lachine. From the beginning, there were complaints about the back nine of Cascades. It was tougher and more tiresome than the rest of the course and took about 30 minutes longer to play. Of particular concern was the 18th hole. At that time, the final hole ran parallel to the parking lot, taking a dog-leg to the left and ended in the area below the clubhouse. The rolling green, sloping towards a small lake, made for very difficult putting. Finally, the players had to climb the steep hill to the clubhouse.
After much discussion, it was decided to change the rotation of this back nine so that the most exhausting holes were at the beginning instead of the end. This was more satisfactory, except that the 18th hole became the 13th requiring a long uphill climb to the almost-impossible-to-putt green and then a long walk to the 14th tee.
In 1971, the problem was solved by the purchase of 30 arpents of land west of the Cascades back nine for the sum of $30,000. During the original purchase of the property the club could not successfully negotiate the purchase of this piece of land. Now able to relocate the 13th hole to its present site, in 1974 the present-day rotation of the back nine emerged. Still a long walk, it proved to be a more satisfactory layout. The original 18th green became the practice chipping green. Later, three holes were constructed including one over the small lake. These holes were much used by the juniors and pre-juniors.
Marion Dunn