Many great ideas are born during late-afternoon conversations on the dock, but the spark usually dies when the beer runs out. Ridge co-founders Udo Petersen (who made a fortune in the car parts business) and Toronto-based architect Brian Brisbin (designer of the Air Canada Centre) realized that a great many of their fellow cottagers would probably be interested in a high-quality course outside Parry Sound. And then the duo had the wherewithal to follow their idea through, bringing in Tom McBroom to route a course through the forest and rocky ground that rises high above Manitouwabing Lake. Officially opened in July 2005 (and voted best new course in Canada for 2006 by Golf Digest), the forest-lined holes at the Ridge are typically wide off the tee, then narrow as they bend past chunks of granite toward elevated greens. The best hole is the last, a 503-yard par five that doglegs left downhill, across a creek that slashes the length of the fairway. As you turn the corner, the hole opens up to a vista of water and trees, with the green teetering on the edge of the lake. Though the Ridge is a private club, tee times are available to the public through stay-and-play packages at the adjacent Inn at Manitou.