HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-05-05, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011.Home Garden
Home-grown golf course turns to professional help
Not all golf courses have millions
of dollars of engineering behind
them and that’s the exact principle
Dave Smith worked on with River’s
Edge Golf Course in Cranbrook.
Smith said he first had the idea for
the course when his fastball career
began to slow down and he took up
golf along with some of his friends.
He said he felt a golf course for
beginners and very casual golfers
was just what the area needed, so he
endeavoured to create just that on
his own.
“It’s a course that non-golfers can
enjoy,” Smith says. “It’s not really
for your professional golfers.”
The course, which is a nine-hole
par 3 course, was constructed in
Smith’s backyard where he designed
every hole.
Once he had decided to take the
step to design the course, he said he
didn’t really begin with a plan, that
he simply figured it out as he went
along.
“I think it worked out pretty well,”
Smith says. “It ends where it started.
I don’t think it’s too bad.”
While the course is literally in
Smith’s backyard, he owns several
businesses throughout Huron
County and has to balance his
business life with the maintenence
of the course.
And while Smith says the course
has always been in great shape, most
golf courses have entire staffs
dedicated to the preservation and
beautification of the property, while
Smith has to essentially maintain the
course in his spare time.
This year, however, Smith says
that the course will look better than
ever, as for the first time in the
course’s seven-year history, he’s
going to be bringing in some
professional help.
“Last year we tried to read the
weather and only irrigate when we
had to,” Smith said. “So if it was
supposed to rain, we wouldn’t
irrigate. But then the rain would get
pushed back a day, and then another
day, and before you know it the
greens had burnt. The greens got
ugly.”
With the help of outside course
maintenance for the first time, he
said that the 2011 season will be the
best in the course’s history and that
it will look better than it ever has.
This will be a far cry from the
course’s humble beginnings with
Smith simply “winging it” to where
the course is now, with Smith
estimating over 2,000 golfers
rounding the course in 2010.
After figuring out the logistics of
building a golf course in 1998,
Smith began the actual landscaping
work that would eventually shape
the course in the years to come.
“There was no real game plan in
the beginning, I just went ahead and
did it,” Smith says.
Smith began by moving nearly
300 trees from his backyard in order
to make room for the nine holes he
was set to build. He then dug five
different ponds for water hazards.
To build the greens, he brought in
bent grass and learned about the
SUNSET SPRINGS
GREENHOUSE7TH ANNUALOPEN HOUSE
Saturday,
May 14, 2011
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Bert and Carol Reinink & Family
RR#4 Walton, Ontario
43079 Hullett-McKillop Road
519-527-0761
Bring in thi
s
A
d
for a FREE
b
o
x
p
l
a
n
t
.
Valid for th
e
m
o
n
t
h
of May.
New varieties of perennials
and annuals. New planter
pots and hanging baskets.
Bring in your custom pots for
planting anytime and let us do
them for you or join us on
Wednesday, May 18, 9-5
or Thursday, May 19, 9-8
and do your own planters.
Leave the mess with us!
So take a drive, and see what’s
growing at Sunset Springs!!
• Renovations • New Homes
• Sales & Installation
of Windows & Doors
Call Ken
519-887-9857
Brussels, ON
191 Westmoreland St., Blyth 519-523-9687
The Blyth Laundromat
✓ Coin Operated machines
✓ Soft Water
✓ Always OPEN
✓ Wash & Fold Service
✓ Pick up & delivery available
“Taking care of your laundry since 2007”
Proprietor: Lorna Fraser
Greens for greens
Whether it’s the greens in a front yard, or the greens on the
front nine, shrubbery can provide a nice static shape year
round, and provide a deep green background for the lighter
colours of plants and well-kept grass. (MS photo)
Continued on page 15
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Sid White Carpentry
& Interior Painting
RR 4 Brussels, ON Phone 519-887-6432