Long Weekend: Montreal/Canada

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Vive Le Golf

By Peter Finch

Club de Golf de l'île de Montreal pays homage to Irish links.

Apart from Royal Montreal, site of this year's Presidents Cup matches, Quebec's largest city isn't particularly well known or appreciated by American golfers. Yet a number of quite good public or semipublic courses have sprung up in recent years. Tops among these are Club de Golf de l'île de Montreal ($45-$65 Canadian, $43-$60 U.S., cgimgolf.com) and Golf Saint-Raphaël ($70-$150 Canadian, golfstraphael.ca).

CGIM, as the first is known, is at the northeastern tip of Montreal Island and features a pair of courses by Patrick Ruddy, architect and founder of Ireland's highly regarded European Club. The difficult Ireland Course looks to have been transplanted directly from the Auld Sod, with massive dunes, deep pot bunkers and narrow, fescue-lined fairways. Saint-Raphaël, across the street from the very private Royal Montreal on Bizard Island, has two woodsy parkland 18s. The stronger is the Blue Course, which opened in 2004 and carries the higher green fee in part to limit play by nonmembers.

Other worthy daily-fee courses include Le Challenger ($94 Canadian, golflechallenger.com), a lush and linksy course that will be plowed under for homesites in two years, and the Falcon Golf Club ($55-$65 Canadian, www.thefalcongolfclub.com), an appealing and well-maintained 18 in a neighborhood of McMansions approximately 45 minutes west of downtown. (Note: It lacks a clubhouse.)

A fun, municipal-like alternative to these higher-end courses can be found at Golf des îles ($33-$42 Canadian, golfdesiles.com ), just east of the city on tiny Pinard Island. You'll leave your car in a park, and ride a water taxi across a canal to the course. Among the highlights: memorable views of the Montreal skyline.

GET THERE

Illustrations: Christopher Niemann

Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) is 20 minutes from downtown. By car, New York is six hours, Boston five. The golf season runs April-October, but it can be quite chilly in those nonsummer months.

STAY HERE

Historic Old Montreal, with 17th-century buildings, is home to the hip Hotel Nelligan ($190, hotelnelligan.com) and its rooftop bar. The luxurious Le Saint-Sulpice ($260, lesaintsulpice.com) is behind the Notre-Dame Basilica.

VISIT HERE

Eighty percent of residents are French speakers -- though many can converse in English. Want to return the favor? Here are a couple of French-Canadian phrases you can use on the course: "Too tay fay voe-LAY" ("You were robbed") and "Ma frappay uhn OWE-trah" ("Gonna hit another").

EAT HERE

Montreal's Latin Quarter, just east of downtown, is your best bet for casual cafes and al fresco dining. Champs, a two-story, downtown landmark, has legal sports betting.