Golfing with good friends at Black Bear Ridge in Belleville built-in fun

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It was a real party of “fore.”

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As in four lifelong friends and amateur golfers of various skill levels experiencing a pretty perfect golfing weekend at the 900-acre property Black Bear Ridge, about two hours east of Toronto.

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It was as much a ‘Big Chill’ deep dive — I go way back with my Vancouver pals Joey Filippone (kindergarten), Diane Jackson (Grade 4) and Rory Workman (first year university) — as it was a real workout.

A golf lesson on the 300-yard-plus dual-sided driving range and indoor yoga session were also included leading up to hitting the 18-hole award-winning Magee Championship Course, ranked No. 19 in Canada by Score Golf, and 9-hole executive short course over two days.

We made our way on an early Friday afternoon from Toronto with a mid-trip lunch stop in Port Hope (picking up a vintage Arnold Palmer cardigan for Rory, no less, at the local thrift store Second Helpings) to arrive at Black Bear Ridge’s eight-bedroom, four-bathroom Carter House which sleeps 16, one of three houses you can stay at on the property.

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Our house, about a 10-minute walk from our club rentals and carts at the pro shop, included an indoor fireplace, state-of-the-art chef’s kitchen, 75-inch television, Sonos audio system, wraparound deck with integrated fire pit (where we spent most of our time before-and-after-dinner), Napoleon barbeque (that sadly we didn’t have time to use), and an eye-catching mix of modern and vintage furniture with some nice art touches by interior designer Carlo Colacci (Drake Hotel Properties, Fitzrovia Real Estate).

Each bedroom — four on the main floor and four in the basement — had a queen bed with an XL bunk bed above.

The other two houses are The Wallace, which has nine bedrooms and sleeps up to 20, and the Jones house with one bedroom and one bathroom that sleeps up to four.

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Toronto entrepreneur Alex Sharpe, Black Bear Ridge’s president and managing partner, bought the course in August 2021 with the idea to eventually turn it into a four-season destination and enlisted childhood friend Cale Fair, a tech exec, as his partner.

As of last June, the first phase was completed of a $1.54-billion development plan that will eventually include more accommodations, a spa, expanded clubhouse, parkland, outdoor event spaces, and 3,000 residential units.

“I grew up with golf as my main passion — living in Canada it’s a short season but whenever I could I was out on the golf course practicing and trying to improve,” said the Mississauga-born Sharpe, who grew up moving around southern Ontario.

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“Eventually when I was a kid, I wanted to be a pro but I didn’t have the game. I played varsity golf for the University of Guelph.”

Fast forward to when he moved to Toronto in 2006 and began a real estate brokerage, got married, had kids and there was less time but he still loved golf.

Black Bear Ridge, the property of which was originally a hunting farm, was opened by late developer Brian McGee as a golf course in 2005.

The idea now is one of “laid-back luxury” without the stuffiness of your dad’s golf club, with the public course situated along the Moira River adjacent to the very fashionable and hip Prince Edward County.

After a golf lesson with polished pro Ben Graham — he told us to practice our swings every time we got on the tee — we went back to Carter House where Sherry Karlo had arrived to spoil us with a charcuterie board and a wine tasting from nearby Karlo Estates in Wellington.

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We all loved her inclusive, knowledgeable and funny approach and the Karlo Estates 2021 Bubble in particular. The inventive tasting programming at her winery — drag queen-hosted trivia, live music, and more — is definitely worth checking out.

Breakfast sandwiches were dropped off both mornings, we had sandwiches outside at the Black Bear Ridge clubhouse, and our dinner was catered the first night at home while the second night we took a 15-minute trip into downtown Belleville (with a spontaneous side trip to Hawkins Cheezies factory courtesy of our Uride driver Tony Azzopardi who blasted Neil Diamond so we could sing in the car) to eat an inventive chef’s menu — a wine-paired game-heavy meal at the cozy yet elegant The Lark.

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Owners and couple Alex and Celine Bruce-Lepage treated us to honeynut squash with farro and elk bresaola, followed by venison tartare with wild blueberry and quail egg, braised rabbit with tagliatelle and Cafe de Paris, tenderloin with brown butter and root vegetables, and torta gianduia and espresso martini for dessert.

Afterwards, Joey proclaimed while hugging the chef: “That was the best meal of my life!”

Our first day of golf was preceded by an hour-long yoga session by the lovely and lowkey Tanya Bent from Evolve Wellness in Belleville in a room next to the clubhouse. Stretching was definitely the right way to loosen us up even if our golf scores — or should I just say mine — didn’t always reflect that.

Still, it doesn’t get much better to be in the sunny outdoors with good friends while golfing — even if you do lose your balls a lot beneath the leaves.

IF YOU GO

To reserve a round of golf, or to book a getaway, visit blackbearridge.ca or call 1-866-811-BEAR (2327).