On Friday April 16 I played my first round of golf at the Weston Golf and Country Club, and it was exhilarating. What an incredible course, with excellent conditions given how early it is in the year. The atmosphere was quite friendly, and the game itself was quite challenging.

As part of the Humber Valley water system, the course has a nice balance of flat, ascending and descinding elevation on holes. There are a few water hazards, not many, but enough to pose potential risk to a final score. The Weston is definitely a course where you want to hit in into the fairway, as the rough and bunkers can be quite treacherous. Finally worth noting are the high quality and at times steep slopes of the greens that make 2 putting let alone 1 putting a genuine accomplishment.

Established in 1915, and designed by Willie Park Jr. the Weston was ranked 17th in Golf Digest’s 2003 rankings of golf courses across Canada. A par 72 with rating/slopes of 73.2/133 71.3/128 69.9/125 for Men and 77.9/143 76.0/137 74.1/134 69.9/122 for Women, and a yardage total of 6728/6466/6137/5833.

Legendary golfer Arnold Palmer won his first professional tournament at the Weston Golf Club in the 1955 Canadian Open. Look for there to be a significant event around the fiftieth anniversary of his victory in 2005.

So the Masters Tournament in Augusta Georgia is at the half way mark, and that means time for the field to be cut. Unfortunately John Daly missed the cut by one stroke. He played well, but made a few small mistakes to put him over. Similarly Mike Weir, last year’s champion, also did not make the cut. His first round was horrendus, and even though he had 2 under for his second, it was not enough.

With two rounds to go, look to Phil Mickelson to be the one to beat. K.J. Choi also has that air about him that suggests he has what it takes to win the tournament. This will be a difficult finish, the current leader Justin Rose is at 6 under, a small margin with a strong field in pursuit.