Angus Glen Golf Club — Attraction in Markham

Angus Glen Golf Club is currently hosting a Christmas lights drive through event between November 2020 to January 2021 (but now changed to the end of Christmas 2020). More on that later. Let me start with the good stuff. The lights were interesting, especially the fireworks one and the flowers. Some lights could have had better effects to enhance them further. Now on to the bad stuff. I am surprised that no one has called the organizers out on these problems throughout the whole month that this event has been happening. The hours of operation are inconsistent. One area of the website says that the event closes at 12 am everyday while another part says that it closes at 10:30 pm everyday. HOW can you not decide on what time you close? A few days ago, the Ontario government announced a larger lockdown which restricts drive through events. HOWEVER (I don't know why no one has called them out on this), they CONTINUED to sell tickets and even claimed that they were not affected by this lockdown on their website (the message has since been taken down to hide their sketchiness). It was only today (December 24) that they decided to announce their closure. This was likely done to get their sales up and deny refunds. The third problem... TRAFFIC. How much more unorganized can they get? Well, this light show is one of the only drive throughs that does not have time reservations. What this created was a LONG, and I mean really, REALLY LONG line up that spanned three kilometres from near Major Mackenzie Drive and Kennedy Road all the way up until Elgin Mills and halfway to Warden Avenue. Just have a look at the Google Maps traffic data or the photo attached. This meant that eastbound traffic on Elgin Mills and southbound traffic on Kennedy Road was restricted. This was not even the weekend or Christmas or New Years and it took a hour and a half to get in. Now on to the tickets. It does not make sense why the tickets needed to be checked THREE times. They checked once when turning from Kennedy Road into the entrance, once at the entrance gate, and once when I was already a fifth into the trail (this is when they actually scan your ticket). I thought they were trying to have less contact. The Santa. Ohhh man... how could they not afford a better Santa costume? It looked like they bought a $20 costume off eBay when tickets cost from $30 to $50. It must have gave thousands of children nightmares everyday. Welp! You made...

I had the pleasure of playing in a tournament on Angus Glen's South Course, host of many corporate tournaments, including The Canadian Open, and more recently, the World Junior Girls Tournament. I also co-hosted a small golf tournament, two days prior. The weather, on both days, was a contrast of extremes.

On Sunday, the day of my tournament, it was a lot cooler than anticipated. A couple of days later, in the tournament I played in, the temperature was a record high for October 1st. We enjoyed the warmth and blue skies while playing but it poured shortly after! It POURED!

On both days, the (South) course conditions were excellent, probably a reflection of the recent World Junior Girls Tournament. Lucky for us! The greens and fairways were well manicured and the pace of play was good.

On Sunday, the staffing was very low, resulting in a few complaints from our players. The halfway house was closed and most of our players never saw the lone beverage cart making its rounds. Had they known, they probably would have had something from the Silo Grill prior to playing. The service, dinner after the round, and overall experience, mostly made up for it.

Tuesday's round started with a variety of breakfast options, with something for everybody. Each player also received a $100 gift card for use in the Pro Shop. Yay!

With this being a much larger tournament, using both courses, the staffing was a lot better. From dropping off my golf bag, registering, starting the tournament, and even finishing, it was a really good experience. The GPS screen on the golf carts kept us informed on course conditions and even some impending bad weather towards the end of our round.

There were food and beverage stations on the course, provided by sponsors, and the beverage carts were out making the rounds. Everything was complimentary! Yay!

Following the round, there was a reception and prizing in the Great Hall. There were several food stations, offering something for everybody. It was all good!

It was a very well organized and enjoyable event. Angus Glen was a great venue. The golf course, hospitality service, and all the staff really delivered!

Disclaimer: I worked at Angus Glen for ten years, ending over three years ago. I still have friends working there but this review is unbiased. Working and attending an event are two separate experiences. It was nice...

Extremely disappointing experience at Angus Glen Golf Club – felt disrespected and unfairly treated.

We came with excitement, expecting a decent round of golf — especially for the $190+ green fee. But right from the start, the course was already underwhelming: dry, yellowing fairways, patchy greens, and poorly maintained tee boxes. Still, we stayed positive, played with respect, and maintained a good pace, always keeping the group in front within sight.

After completing the first 9 holes without issue, we took a quick break at the clubhouse to use the washroom and grab a drink. While we were inside, a Marshall walked in and told us that we weren’t allowed to leave the course mid-round. It was the first time we had heard of such a rule, and we were all surprised. Two of our group went ahead to the 10th tee, while my friend and I had just stepped out of the clubhouse when a Marshall approached us. He told us that he needed to check if we could even continue playing because we had supposedly held up the group behind.

We were caught off guard and tried to explain that we were only gone for a few minutes and had seen the group behind us still on the 9th green. But he dismissed it, saying it didn’t matter and we shouldn’t have left the round at all. After calling another Marshall and making us wait, he told us we could go tee off at the 10th — but that we needed to be quick because we were “holding things up.”

We rushed over to the 10th hole, only to find our friends still waiting there because the group ahead hadn’t even teed off yet.

We’ve played at many golf courses and have never experienced anything like this. Honestly, we couldn’t help but feel that we were treated this way because we were a group of four women. The entire exchange was uncomfortable and disappointing. If washroom breaks after the 9th hole are not allowed, that should be clearly communicated at the start — not handled with confusion and confrontation. This experience completely ruined what was supposed to be a relaxing round of golf.

We won’t be coming back to Angus Glen, and we absolutely do not recommend this course to anyone who expects fair treatment and...