1912–1914: Bendelow’s original 18 and opening.
Pine Ridge was organized in 1912, purchased 156 acres at Bird’s Hill, and engaged Thomas M. Bendelow to lay out a full 18. Clearing and seeding proceeded through 1913, and the course officially opened in August 1914. Bendelow’s plan established the essential parkland corridors on the ridge—walkable golf on gentle terrain—but, as built, it was lightly bunkered by modern standards.
1919–1921: Ross remodel—tees, bunkers, greens, and rerouting.
In 1919 the board dispatched D.N. Finnie (greens chair) to Pinehurst to bring Donald Ross to Winnipeg to re-model Bendelow’s work. Ross’s scope at Pine Ridge was unusually well documented locally: eleven new tees; 108 sand bunkers installed; new greens at 6, 11, 14, 16; renovations to greens 7 and 8; rerouting on 3, 6, 11, 12, 15; and entirely new holes at 7 and 14. Club history asserts that Ross himself considered No. 14 one of his finest one-shot designs. (A modernization in 1966 reduced the original bunker inventory; 43 of Ross’s 108 remained thereafter.)
Mid- to late-20th century: Event pedigree and incremental alterations.
Pine Ridge became a regular host for major provincial and national championships and exhibitions: an early Vardon & Ray exhibition (1920); numerous Manitoba Opens beginning 1932; and national events (e.g., 1965 Canadian Amateur, 1986 Canadian Men’s Seniors). Clubhouse expansions and infrastructure updates accompanied this tournament cadence.
1986–1987: Les Furber master-plan works (drainage/holes 5, 6, 8, 12).
To address wet-weather performance, the club adopted elements of Les Furber’s master plan, completing alterations on 5, 6, 8, 12. These were targeted engineering/mitigation projects rather than a reimagining of Ross’s scheme.
2008–2009: David Grant “Master Restoration Plan.”
Local architect David Grant prepared a Master Restoration Plan “to restore the course back to the original Donald Ross design.” The first executed phase—restoring the 7th green complex and its flanking bunkers—opened for play in 2009. Subsequent work has continued to steer presentation toward the 1920s lines.
2018–present: Facilities renewal and continued championship use.
A major clubhouse renewal (new, ~5,000-sq-ft core with contemporary amenities) modernized off-course infrastructure while the course continued to stage elite golf. Between 2006 and 2017 Pine Ridge hosted a long run of Canadian Tour/PGATOUR Canada (Mackenzie Tour) events—rebranded as the Players Cup—producing winners that include Graham DeLaet (2009), Tom Hoge (2011), C.T. Pan (2015), and Kramer Hickok (2017).
Documentation note: Contemporary local histories and club materials provide unusually concrete details of Ross’s hole-by-hole works; primary Ross plan sheets are not reproduced online but the hole list and counts are consistent across independent historical summaries.
Unique Design Characteristics
Ross’s surgical overlay on Bendelow’s corridors. The clearest fingerprints of Ross’s remodel appear where he introduced new greens and rerouted play lines:
No. 7 (new hole; green renovated): The restored 7th showcases Ross’s preference for a defined target pad with protective bunkering that tightens scoring if approaches miss pin-high on the wrong side.
No. 14 (new hole; celebrated Ross par-3): An all-carry one-shotter framed by bunkers, with a green that sheds indifferent approaches—precise yardage control is essential.
Nos. 6, 11, 16 (new greens) and 7–8 (renovated greens): These complexes, set onto the ridge’s subtle falls, use front-to-back tilt and shoulders to create short-game difficulty without relying on extreme contours.
Rerouted two-shotters (3, 6, 11, 12, 15): The updated angles and diagonal bunkering produce preferred-side tee shots—hugging hazards to open receptive approaches—an enduring feature of how the course still plays.
Bunker scheme (then and now). Ross’s 108-bunker plan gave Pine Ridge visual texture and positional bite. The 1966 modernization removed more than half, simplifying some frames; the ongoing restoration philosophy has focused on re-emphasizing key tactical bunkers (rather than returning every pit) to revive the intended angles without excessive maintenance burden.
Par-3 cadence and the uphill ninth. The routing offers a memorable one-two punch: the uphill par-3 9th (encircled by sand) followed by the downhill par-3 10th—a classic Ross cadence that changes club, trajectory, and wind read over consecutive one-shotters.
Historical Significance
One of the handful of Ross works in Canada—and the Winnipeg hub. Pine Ridge is among the very few Canadian clubs to have been remodeled by Donald J. Ross, and notably one of three Winnipeg-area clubs where he worked during the same visit (also St. Charles and Elmhurst). The combination of a Bendelow base plan with a documented Ross overlay—teased out through the specific list of new greens, holes, and bunkers—makes Pine Ridge a useful case study in how Ross refined earlier layouts in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
Championship host over a century. The club’s record spans provincial and national play: Manitoba Open editions from 1932 forward; 1933 Canadian Ladies’; 1965 Canadian Amateur; 1986 Canadian Men’s Seniors; 1991 Canadian Junior Ladies; and an extended run of PGATOUR Canada (Players Cup) events (2006–2017). Recent champions at Pine Ridge (Hoge, Pan, Hickok) underscore the course’s ongoing suitability for elite scoring tests at modern green speeds.
Exhibition heritage. Pine Ridge’s early exhibition cachet included Harry Vardon & Ted Ray (1920) and a Julius Boros–George Knudson match (1956), embedding the course in Canadian golf culture well beyond Winnipeg.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing and green-site integrity. The routing remains fundamentally Bendelow’s corridors with Ross’s 7 and 14 as full new insertions and a reroute on 3, 6, 11, 12, 15. The greens at 6, 11, 14, 16 (new under Ross) and the renovated complexes at 7–8 still read as small-to-medium targets with strategic tilts and shoulders rather than overt tiers—consistent with 1920s construction and with the club’s recent restoration ethos.
Bunkers and presentation. The course does not presently carry Ross’s full 108-bunker scheme; selective removals (1966) and later rebuilds simplified maintenance while keeping key positional bunkers in play. Recent restoration efforts have targeted green-adjacent bunkering and mow lines—not wholesale reconstruction—to reacquaint golfers with Ross’s intended angles.
Later alterations and their effect. Furber’s 1986–87 works (5, 6, 8, 12) addressed drainage without materially erasing Ross strategy. David Grant’s 2008–09 restoration phases began with No. 7 and framed an ongoing, heritage-driven approach. The clubhouse renewal modernized member facilities but did not force routing changes. Overall, Pine Ridge’s Ross fidelity is strongest where his changes were structural (new greens and full new holes) and weakest where the 1966 modernization removed clusters of fairway bunkers—though enough hazards remain to keep the preferred-side game intact.
Opening and original authorship. Primary local history and Heritage Society materials explicitly credit Bendelow with the original staking, construction, and 1914 opening.
Ross scope and dates. Club history and independent summaries agree on the 1919 commission and detail new tees (11), bunkers (108), new greens (6, 11, 14, 16), renovations (7–8), reroutes (3, 6, 11, 12, 15), and new holes (7, 14). Some directory prose dates the “Ross layout opening” to 1921; the safest phrasing is 1919 commission with works completed in the early 1920s.
Sources & Notes
Manitoba Historical Society—Centennial Organization: Pine Ridge Golf Club. Establishment (1912), incorporation (1913), Bendelow engagement and 1914 opening; Ross’s 1919 remodel with enumerated tees/greens/reroutes/bunkers; note of 1966 modernization; later works and 2008–09 restoration at No. 7. Page revised Nov. 26, 2023.
Manitoba Historical Society—Historic Sites: Pine Ridge Golf Club (RM of Springfield). Plaques on site crediting Bendelow (original) and Ross (remodel, 1919); third plaque for centennial donors; note that Pine Ridge is the third-oldest continuously operating course in Manitoba.
Pine Ridge Golf Club (official site)—History. Narrative of Finnie’s Pinehurst visit; Ross’s scope itemized (11 tees, 108 bunkers, new/renovated greens, reroutes; 7 & 14 as new holes; No. 14 celebrated by Ross); Les Furber master-plan work (1986–87) on 5, 6, 8, 12; David Grant Master Restoration Plan (2008) with No. 7 restored in 2009; championship roll including Vardon & Ray (1920) exhibition and national events.
Pine Ridge Golf Club (official site)—Golf / The Course & Scorecard. Hole-by-hole interface and scorecard; signature references to No. 9; confirmation of par and set-up.
Top100GolfCourses.com—Pine Ridge (Winnipeg). Independent summary of Ross’s remodel of Bendelow’s course; note of fee “just over $500”; count of 11 tees, 100+ bunkers, six new greens, four new holes; back-tee total ~6,622 yards; par-3 cadence (7/9/10).
Winnipeg Free Press—Manitoba Golf Guide (2018). Clubhouse renewal project details (architect Number TEN, contractor Bockstael), contextualizing recent facility modernization.
PGA TOUR Canada / Golf Canada & Manitoba Open records. Pine Ridge host years and winners for the Players Cup and antecedents (2006–2017 at Pine Ridge for Canadian Tour/Mackenzie Tour events; e.g., DeLaet 2009, Hoge 2011, C.T. Pan 2015, Hickok 2017); long-run Manitoba Open hosting history and future rotation (Pine Ridge slated 2028).
Tourism & venue listings (Tourism Winnipeg / “Win in Winnipeg”). Facilities overview corroborating membership status, practice amenities, and clubhouse renovation notes.