Credit Valley Golf and Country Club

Graham Cooke is one of Canada’s premier golf course Architects and enjoys an excellent reputation in the profession across Canada and around the world. Graham and his associates have designed and overseen the construction of over 100 golf courses including extensive experience in course renovation and restoration.

In addition to being awarded numerous industry awards for his golf course designs, Graham Cooke is an accomplished amateur player with victories in several provincial, national and international amateur golf tournaments, including runner up at the 2001 Canadian Amateur played at The Credit Valley Golf and Country Club.

Over sixty years, an interesting link has occurred at Credit Valley in the hiring of its architects.

By 1930, the world-famous golf architect Stanley Thompson had been engaged by W.D. Ross, the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, to lay out a few holes of golf. His intention was to provide play for friends and relatives at his summer residence property which was called The Willows. This property (about where the range and parking lot are now) later became part of what is now The Credit Valley Golf Club.

Thompson, a member of the well-known Canadian golfing Thompson family, played out of neighbouring Mississaugua with two of his brothers – Frank and Bill. Thus, he knew the property well.

Stanley, during the time of designing the holes at what is now Credit Valley, had already hired Howard Watson, Robert Trent Jones and Robbie Robinson to work in his Toronto offices. All three went on to become outstanding architects.

In the late sixties, Credit Valley continued the tradition by hiring Robinson to design the course of today. Many of the hallmarks of a Robinson design can be discovered such as tiled greens, gentle bunkers with interesting shapes, naturally sculpted fairways with plateaus, neck openings to the greens, and preservation of nature.