The Niagara River and gorge provide a stunning backdrop to the parkland-style, 18-hole layout by Stanley Thompson. (Image: Niagara Parks)
Opened downriver from Niagara Falls in 1951, Whirlpool Golf Course is undergoing a multi-year redo aimed at returning the classic Stanley Thompson design to its original glory.
Stanley Thompson. (Image: Stanley Thompson Society)
Majestically set atop a cliff downriver from thundering Niagara Falls, Whirlpool Golf Course has been a top attraction in Canada’s most popular tourism region since opening in 1951. The classic design by the legendary Stanley Thompson is now undergoing a multi-year restoration by Ian Andrew primarily aimed at returning tee boxes to their original locations and eliminating bunkers and side mounds not part of the original design.
The Niagara River and gorge provide a stunning backdrop to the 18-hole design by Thompson, widely regarded as Canada’s greatest golf architect. Whirlpool was one of the last courses built by the Golden Age designer of such iconic Canadian courses as Banff Springs Golf Course, Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course, and Highlands Links. Thompson’s gently rolling parkland layout features evergreen-lined fairways, his trademark linked bunker complexes, and greens left open at the front. A handful of tee sites are elevated, with views that demand golfers tee it up from the tips, even if the rest of their round is played from the forward tees.
Ontario-based Andrew is a noted expert on the work of Thompson, having restored several of his courses. Andrew conducted an extensive assessment of Whirlpool, one of three 18-hole courses operated by the Niagara Parks Commission, to identify the various (now unwelcome) modifications made through the years to Thompson’s course.
Happily for golfers, the restoration project will be be executed in phases to minimize disruption to public play.
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