We asked readers, “What was your best golf experience in 2025?”

Here’s what they replied:

I was playing a staff match play event at Redcrest ( where I work part time). I’m a 10 handicap and my partner was a 14. Our first round match was to play the club pro CJ. He is a zero and his playing partner was a 5. I’m thinking we don’t have a chance! Well, I just happened to play my best round of the year and we closed it out on the 17th. The best part was the entire staff rooting us on to take down the pro! For weeks after all I heard was “are you the guy that beat CJ?” CJ called me a sandbagger. LOL

Jeff Goldhar
Aurora, Ontario

*****

My husband and I were staying with friends house at the Verandah in Ft Myers. For the first time in my 50 years golfing I had four birdies in one round on the Old Orange course. Not to be out done, my husband had his fourth hole in one the next day on the Whispering Oak course there. Two very fun rounds.

Marg Bickerton
Ancaster, Ontario

*****

My husband Phil and I did a combo trip to French Lick Resort and Big Cedar Lodge in August. The Pete Dye course at French Lick was excellent.  The Payne’s Valley and Cliffhanger courses at Big Cedar Lodge were awesome and definitely the highlights of the trip!  The scenery was amazing…  water falls, elevation, everything you could want!  Accommodations and restaurants at both resorts were great.

Catherine Christoff
Aurora, Ontario

*****

Every September since 1986, just after Labor Day, a group of about a dozen friends gather for a two-day golf tournament with camaraderie above all else, and the golf itself taking second place. The best Stableford score from either round wins the trophy. Tradition holds that the winner chooses next year’s venue and handles the tournament arrangements. I had the pleasure of keeping the trophy on my mantle for the past year.

For 2025, I selected Port Dover, a charming town on Lake Erie about two hours from Toronto. While online research gave me some ideas for golf courses and accommodation, I wanted to see the town first-hand. So, a fellow golfer and I took a sunny drive down in May. After a long and fruitless search for lodging, we happened to stop for lunch at the Erie Beach Hotel. We discovered it is a local institution with over a century of history and a cozy, welcoming feel. That settled our choice for where to stay. Equally serendipitous, we discovered Springview Farm Golf Course—once a tobacco farm, now an 18-hole, par-65 course that is short, scenic, and challenging, with undulating greens that raise one’s blood pressure. This course has been run by the Boerkamp family for three generations and the green fees are refreshingly reasonable.

Although I didn’t win this year, I came pretty close to back-to-back victories. And these were the two most wonderful rounds of 2025 for me. Everyone appreciated the course, and especially rewarding for me is this year’s trophy winner has already decided that it will be our battleground in 2026.

Kailash Bahadur
Toronto, Ontario

*****

The ultimate memory of 2025 was seeing Europe retain the Ryder Cup. Despite a closer finish that many would have anticipated after the first two days, team Europe came through when it counted. The image of Shane Lowry making that crucial put will stay with me for a long time.

A second standout memory for me was winning Cardinal’s Kettle Creek Adult League.

John Beard
Newmarket, Ontario

*****

My best golf experience this season was playing in a mixed member tournament with my wife Marilyn at our club, Kawartha Golf Club.   After 18 holes of regular play we went into a 3-hole playoff with 2 of our up and coming junior golfers.   (We were old enough to be their grandparents.)   They beat us on the last hole, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Roger Self
Peterborough, Ontario

*****

I have two experiences from this year on the golf course. I have been a member of a golf course close by since 1996. I witnessed three hole’s in one this year from two of my golfing buddies and I scored 6 birdies in a single round which impressed the pro, hard to impress a pro. I enjoy reading your columns, keep up the good work.

Dave Wylie
Manotick, Ontario

*****

My best golf experience of 2025 was a combination of hard work, luck and good coaching in order for me to win the Forest City National (London, ON) Senior Ladies Golf Championship for the 3rd time in a row.  I have always loved practicing but this year was especially frustrating because I had developed a weird swing in 2024 due to hip arthritis and pain. My hip replacement went well in Feb 2025 so I had no physical excuses to play well.  Unfortunately a hip replacement doesnt replace the mental memory, fears and bad habits.  I was 4 shots behind going into the final round.  I managed to catch up a little and was 2 shots behind going into the 18th hole.  I was fortunate to pull off a win thanks to the great coaching of my husband, John.  It is a tricky game to teach/coach but he thinks creatively and is a superb golfer himself, having shot his age in the last 12 of 13 years.  My hero!

Deb Nicol
London, Ontario

*****

Best golf experience was the annual 3 Generation Challenge with my son and grandson.

Hugh Mackay
Belleville, Ontario

*****

For me it was a membership at LePortage in Cheticamp N.S. We spend our summers there so it was worth it for me financially. Also got to play 40 rounds but still can’t break 100 🤨

Frank O'Gorman 
Embro, Ontario

*****

My son lives about 4000 miles from us but finds time annually to visit. We made a tee time at the beautiful Bell Bay Golf and Country Club in Baddeck on Cape Breton Island. The weather was exceptional and I was to drive and meet up with him at his second home in Ben Eoin. He was to take his vehicle and I suggested a route I thought at the time would save us time. To make that part of a long story short…no way. We had to call the pro shop and advise we will be late for our tee time..no problem. Well, our golf day was perfect, the score was fine but to top it all off, our time together was PRICELESS.

Elmer McIntosh
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

If you would like to add your own best golf experience from 2025, please use the Comments section below.