Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue – Hole by Hole
In a recent visit to Quebec I was fortunate enough to play both the courses at the Laval-sur-le-Lac club. In my first post from there I gave a hole by hole description of the green course along with a history of the club. In this post I’ll give a hole by hole description of the Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue course which I think is a masterpiece by Mike Weir and Ian Andrew. Please read along and see if you agree.
While the green course dates all the way back to 1917, the Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue course is a relative newcomer. It began as a set of two nines, one designed by Howard Watson and the other by Graham Cooke. Then in an effort to create a course capable of hosting the Canadian Open, Mike Weir and Ian Andrew were hired to do a complete redo which was completed in 2013. The result was a course that is now considered a modern Canadian masterpiece, currently rated #28 on the SCORE Golf Top 100.
I first played it in 2014 as part of a Golf Journalists Association of Canada outing just after the RBC team, which then included Ernie Els, had completed a round. It was my first and only time of experiencing a golf course that was set up for the best players in the world.
While Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue can play as long as 7,193 yards, there are actually up to nine different configurations depending on which tee box you choose on each hole. I will be playing the very modest white/green combination that comes in at only 5,567 yards and there’s a good reason for it. A great number of the greens are elevated with some severe run offs. They are designed for players who can spin the ball, of which I am most decidedly can not so I need as short an iron as possible for my approach.
OK, let’s do this.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #1 – 519 Yard Par Five
The first thing you will note if you’ve already played the Green course is that the fairways on Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue are much narrower. This is not an easy tee shot, but given the length of the hole driver is really the only option. Fortunately for me my natural right to left ball flight makes it a tad more doable.
Having succeeded in staying in good position off the tee one faces this daunting second shot. Not only must you avoid the trees that crowd the fairway, but also the trap on the left. From here you can see that the third shot will be to an elevated crowned green that will not hold anything that comes in low. There is no choice but to try to get a three wood as far as possible and hope for the best.
The other thing you see from this photo is the superb conditioning that you get at the best private courses. This is just a beautiful site to behold, even if it’s a bloody difficult shot.
Well I’ve avoided trouble and now face an even harder third shot than the first two. The pin is not even worth thinking about so a lob wedge to the middle of the green is the smart play. It doesn’t work and I roll off. The good news is that the grass is so closely mowed around the green that you can putt back up which I do with a 5 hybrid and salvage a bogey.
I’ve survived the first hole, barely, but can I do the same for the next 17 holes? Frankly I’ll take a 90 on this course any day.
#2 371 Yard Par Four
While the first hole suited my ball flight, this left to right dogleg does not. It’s a more generous fairway than #1, but I’m still going to start off down the right tree line with a driver to be able to reach in two.
That’s a long way in to a small green guarded by bunkers on either side, but a low running five wood might do the trick. I come up short, but once again manage to putt my way to another bogey.
BTW the greens at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue are in excellent condition and quite fast, but not unfair. They certainly could be cut to a ridiculous degree on the stimpmeter for tournament play. That’s how they were the first time I played here and I got a humbling lesson in just how good pro golfers have to be on PGA Tour greens.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #3 – 136 Yard Par Three
Thank god this is only 136 yards. Even from the championship tees it’s only 176 yards which gives you an idea of the difficulty of holding this elevated green that slants off to the left. That leaves little chance for getting close to this pin placement without bringing the right bunker into play. For me the smart play is to try to land just between the traps and hope it lands softly enough not to go too far to the left.
My strategy does pay off with the first par of the day.
#4 468 Yard Par Five
This is the #1 stroke hole at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue and from the tee it looks it. Given it’s relatively short distance I opt to play it safe with two consecutive five woods which leaves this approach shot.
Wow, is this a hard looking third shot! I must clear the bunkers and let the ball drift down toward the pin. Even if I clear the bunkers it has to be by enough for the momentum to keep the ball rolling, but not so much that it just flies over the back hump. It turns out that the green is large enough that I probably could have aimed straight for the pin, but that would have required exact precision. This really is a thinking man’s hole that is as challenging as a short par five gets. My approach comes up quite short followed by a three putt bogey. I’m not unhappy with that.
#5 Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue – 308 Yard Par Four
Here’s a hole that I loved, but only because I got to play from the green tees. This is the look from the white tees which plays 382 yards uphill and trust me, that carry is a lot longer than it looks from this photo. Yes I can do it, but not so much that I could challenge the traps which would leave me no choice but to aim for the fat part of the fairway and a really long uphill approach shot that probably wouldn’t get there.
Here’s the look from the green tees and now I can challenge those bunkers and definitely reach the green with the approach.
Here I am in perfect position for the second shot, but it’s no gimme with yet another crowned green. However, there are no bunkers anywhere near the front so I aim for the front and roll on for my second par. Technically this is the #3 stroke hole, but clearly not from the green tees.
This hole is a classic case of playing from the right tee box.
#6 118 Yard Par Three
To me this hole is an optical illusion because it looks far longer than 118 yards from the green tee box. I cannot convince myself to use a 118 yard club or to go anywhere near that pin. The result is I’m way out right and must chip back downhill risking bringing the bunkers or even the water into play. I end up with a bogey on what should have been a fairly easy three.
I think what threw me off was that bunker to the right which really doesn’t make a lot of sense and is kind of a trick by Mike and Ian into convincing you this hole is harder than it really is. If I get to play it again, I won’t be fooled.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #7 – 267 Yard Par Four
This is the almost obligatory driveable par four now found on most modern golf courses. For the pros it’s 333 yards so within range with a perfect drive. For me it’s not reachable so the smart play is just to stay out of trouble and try to land somewhere short of the right bunker staying well away from the water.
My hybrid off the tee comes up pitiably short and now this supposedly easy par four is far from it.
I do clear the bunkers on my approach, but am left with this third shot. From this angle you can see why driving this small green where everything runs off is no mean feat. I don’t get up and down and suffer a double. I earned it for being such a chicken off the tee.
#8 – 316 Yard Par Four
This is virtually an impossible drive for me and I suspect a lot of players. If I could get enough loft to go over the right hand trees I might attempt driver, but instead opt for a three wood and just take dead aim at the bunker straight away. What you can’t really see off the tee is water to the left around where those willows are. Even more reason to keep the driver in the bag.
By some miracle it works leaving this approach which is no gimme, but with a straight shot with the right short iron it is quite manageable. I manage to get back on track with a par.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #9 – 359 Yard Par Four
After the last two tee shots at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #9 looks like a cake walk. It does taper off, but there is a very generous landing area. Time for driver.
I did hit my best drive of the day here, leaving this approach to another green that slants downward right to left. If I can stay on top there might be a chance for birdie. My only rule is, and I’ve stuck to it so far, avoid the bunkers at all costs. I do and actually have a makeable 20 foot birdie putt, but miss for a second straight par and a satisfying end to the front nine.
#10 – 367 Yard Par Four
The back nine at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue starts off with one of the many doglegs to come, this one not as severe as most. This plays 480 yards from the back tees, but still only ranks as the #12 stroke hole. My ball flight is going to take the trees on the right out of play, but will leave me with a long uphill approach shot.
As I do at least once on every course, I forget to take the approach shot photo. and that is the case on #10. It was, as predicted, a long uphill approach that came up short and resulted in a bogey.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #11 – 343 Yard Par Four
This is where things start to get real interesting at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue. It’s another quite severe dogleg right with an inordinate amount of bunkers. While it doesn’t look like it from this photo, there is actually quite a bit of fairway behind the first bunker on the right and the green. I opt for driver and aim down the right side.
That approach works, easily clearing the fairway bunkers leaving this approach to what is the #2 stroke hole at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue. This is not an easy second shot. To get anywhere near the pin I will need to clear the right hand bunker as the ball will go left after landing. Hard or not, just look at this design and the many shades of green that make it a beauty to behold.
#12 – 285 Yard Par Four
Another baby par four that is a real enigma off the tee. Do you try to get to the upper tier and play it like a dogleg or just go straight at it. Either way the bunkers are a real risk. This is where a range finder is a must. Figuring out the distance to each set of bunkers will help decide what club to us. It could be anywhere between driver and 3 hybrid for me.
Once again, as on #7, I play way too conservatively and now have this beast of an approach. Gee, only about six bunkers to worry about. The reality is that a well struck 7 iron will take them all out of play and by some miracle I pull that off for a two putt par.
This is a great little par four and not just because I parred it.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #13 – 477 Yard Par Five
For the first time player it’s not easy to figure out where to aim on this tee shot. From the tee it looks like it’s a dogleg right when in fact it’s the opposite which I found out to my pleasant surprise when my drive headed that way naturally.
Lots of room for the second shot. The smart play is to go right to take the two huge bunkers on the left out of play on the approach.
Who said I was smart? I ended up here for the approach and made a huge mistake. I assumed the green began right past the bunkers and played a lob wedge, only to find out that it was a good 150 yards away. That left another lob wedge to salvage a bogey. Another hole I’d love to play again knowing what I know now.
#14 – 108 Yard Par Three
It seems like forever since there has been a par three at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue and I’m more than glad to move to the easiest hole on the course after the mishap on #13. This is pretty straightforward unless you come up short and roll back down what acts like a false front, but is actually part of the green. Seeing that I over club and go off the back which is just as bad. Another bogey on an easy hole.
Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue #15 – 316 Yard Par Four
The first true blind tee shot at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue is tempered by the shortness of the hole. It’s clearly a severe dogleft right and a three wood should give me a decent approach and take the fairway bunker out of play. It’s obviously there to challenge big hitters and that’s not my game.
This what I have left and it’s a matter of choosing the right club on this uphill approach where short is better than long. For me it’s a five hybrid and it gets the job done for a well played par. Again, just step back and enjoy the beauty of this setting. Mike and Ian did not have mountains, oceanfront or even rolling hills as their natural terrain in designing Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue and yet have created some of the nicest looking golf holes you’ll find anywhere.
#16 – 349 Yard Par Four
This hole is almost a repeat of #15 with another blind tee shot on a dogleft right. The added length means I’m going to use a driver and this time I am going to challenge the trap because from the white tees it does look like I should be able to clear it. What you can’t see from the tee box is another trap on the other side of this narrow fairway.
Turns out the trap was a lot further than it looked from the tee and I didn’t even reach it leaving this long shot in to another crowned green. Bogey is a good score on this #4 ranked hole at Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue and I was quite happy with it.
Laval-sur-le-lac Blue #17
The final par three at Laval-sur-le-lac Blue is 135 yards from the green tee box and features another elevated green that rolls off in every direction including those two bunkers. I take one extra club, land way on the back and three putt. These easy par threes are killing me.
#18 – 325 Yard Par Four
The finale at Laval-sur-le Lac Blue features the third blind tee shot in a row on the last three par fours. This one takes a very slight turn to the left and there’s no reason to go anywhere near that bunker on the right.
This is a very tough pin placement on this slanted green. I don’t want to get too far above the pin, because I might never be able to stop the ball on the way to the hole. But I don’t want to bring the trap into play either. My phobia of traps makes me go way to far right and I have to fight to salvage a bogey.
Wow, what a course! I survived with only one double and no bunkers, but that was more thanks to good luck than good play.
If by chance a member offers to let you play a round at either Laval-sur-le-Lac Blue or Green, jump on it. These are Top 100 courses for sure.