Bigwin Island Golf Club

The verdict

Bigwin Island is the kind of course people plan a whole trip around. The setting is the headline: the club occupies an island in Lake of Bays, so you park on the mainland, board a boat and arrive at the clubhouse by water, which turns an ordinary round into an occasion before you have hit a shot. The land carries history too, because a Stanley Thompson course once stood here in the 1920s when Bigwin was a celebrated resort island.

Doug Carrick took that heritage and built a modern championship layout that makes the most of the rock, water and pine. It plays firm and scenic, with elevation changes and lake views that reward the camera as much as the swing. Bigwin is private, but it opens to public play at certain times of year, which makes it one of the great bucket list rounds of a Muskoka golf trip if you time it right.

The holes worth the trip

The round begins with the crossing, and that boat ride genuinely matters: it separates Bigwin from the everyday and puts you in holiday mode before the opening tee shot. Once ashore, Carrick uses the island's contours to deliver elevated tees, fairways that tumble between stands of pine, and greens perched to catch the eye and the wind off Lake of Bays.

Carrick is one of Canada's most respected architects, and Bigwin shows his hallmark balance of width and strategy. There is room to drive, but the smart line is rewarded with the best angle into greens that are bold but fair. Several holes flirt with the water and the granite that define this part of Muskoka, and the variety of tees, from around 5,346 to 7,166 yards, means it suits a wide range of golfers rather than only the long hitter.

What lingers afterward is the sense of place. Few courses combine championship design with a genuine island arrival and resort era history the way Bigwin does. Bring a camera, build in time on the deck before the boat back, and treat the whole day as the experience, not just the eighteen holes.

Where to stay nearby

Bigwin sits in the heart of Muskoka cottage country, so the natural bases are the lakeside lodges and resorts around Lake of Bays, Baysville, Dorset and Huntsville. Many visitors play Bigwin as part of a stay at a Lake of Bays lodge that arranges the tee time and the boat, which is the smoothest way to do it.

For a fuller Muskoka golf trip, pair Bigwin with the other northern Ontario gems within an easy drive. Add Doug Carrick's mountainous Muskoka Bay Club at Gravenhurst and the rugged Deerhurst Highlands at Huntsville for a three course week that captures the granite, pine and lakes of the region.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around Lake of Bays.