Few courses generated as much buzz as Carrick’s Cobble Beach Golf Links, a difficult but scenic course at the western edge of Georgian Bay, just north of the cottage-country city of Owen Sound, a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of Toronto.

If Humber Valley is a forgiving, player-friendly layout, consider Cobble the other side of the Carrick coin: a muscular, 7,134-yard collection of spectacular holes that will try the patience of even the best players. Southern Ontario golfers have been waiting years for a golf course that makes the most of the world-class views and vistas along the edge of the bay, and Cobble Beach delivers in spades.

Heralded by both Ontario Golf and Toronto-based Fairways magazines as Ontario’s best new course for 2007, Cobble resembles its more-famous Monterey Peninsula cousin, Pebble Beach Golf Links, in more than name alone, right down to the wind-whipped, 574-yard par-5 closer that takes players to the edge of the bay more than any Ontario course has before.

TOTAL YARDS: 7,134

NUMBER OF HOLES: 18

LONGEST HOLE: Bluff 18^th, par 5, 574 yards

APRÉS-GOLF: Owen Sound resident Tricia Wright, an avid shopper, heads to the Owen Sound Farmer’s Market every Saturday to peruse the pottery, art and trinkets from local artisans while shopping for fresh local produce, meats and the whitefish and salmon catch of the day, right out of the Georgian Bay.

Green fees are $110 to $135 depending on the day.