 | The club house was situated roughly where the current #8 tee box
is located.
|
| #1 was similar to the current #8 - roughly 243 yards uphill.
|
| #2 was similar to the current #9 - downhill dog leg left over the
creek.
|
| #3 was similar to the current #1 except much shorter - roughly 273
yards.
|
| #4 was originally a dog leg right, through the trees and south to
a green located down from the current #4 tee box and short of the
current #3 green - approximately 340 years. #4 was later
redesigned to be a Par 3 over the trees with the green in the
location of the current #2.
|
| #5 was originally where #4 is now.
|
| #6 was similar to the current #5 except a bit shorter. The
green was in front of the bush.
|
| #7 originally went east of the current #6 tee box down into the
lowland near the road. This was a short Par 3.
|
| #8 was a Par 4 running south to north along the grid road.
The green was in the south west corner of the current overflow
campground. This hole, along with 7 and 9 had to be moved because
the lowland was too difficult to drain with the equipment of the
day.
|
| #9 was a Par 4 over the hill. The tee box was in the south
west corner of the current overflow campground, the fairway ran over
the hill with a dog leg right to a green roughly located where the
current #7 green is situated. An interesting aside, the club
house attendant had to be careful as good golfers of the day would occasionally
drive the ball past the green and into the club house! |
Many hours were spent by the Nerlien family (Jens, Hazel, Andy,
Hubert and Brenda) as well as locals Glen Johnson, Jim Adam, Glenn
Prybylski and others who worked on the tedious jobs of hand picking
stones as small as golf balls and moving and planting trees. The
spruce trees up the hill between the original #1 and #2 were all hand
watered for the first few years (many five gallon pails were carried up
the hill). The course had sand greens for many years. These
required daily raking and annual re-sanding. The sand was local
and was screened and mixed with waste oil from the service station and
other local farmers' waste.
The club house included rentals, both left and right handed, and
sales of balls, tees, pop, chips and chocolate bars. There were no
clothes, shoes or club sales. The rentals were basic 7 club
Spalding sets, both right and left hand. Golf course supplies were
purchased by catalogue and/or from a traveling salesman.
Hubert spent most of his summers mowing, raking and managing the
course, beginning at the age of 10. Later Andy and Brenda assumed
those duties. Jens and Hazel managed the store, service station,
post office and fried chicken outlet and the welder dealership (located
just north of the current Fisherman's Cove). Jens also farmed the
land south and west of the golf course. He passed away in 1968 and
Andy assumed the farming responsibilities.
Some of the early golfers included locals like Merv Miller and Jerry
Mathieu. Golfers from surrounding communities include Harold and
Mary Graham, David and Leslie Luciuk, Elmer Logan, Eric Chase (grandfather
of current owner Kelly Chase), Jack Fletcher, Gordon and Geraldine
Johnson (parents of current owner Gerald Johnson), John Benz, Bud
Clarke, Tom Adams (farther of Beryl, Andy Templeton, Lawrence Ford
(Father in Law of current owner Vernon Armitage) and Victor Ceslak.
Other early golfers included lawyer Jack Eisner, recalled as one of
the best golfers to play regularly in the early days, and Senator Dave
Steward. Of not, Leslie Luciuk was known to play from early
morning 'till dusk, never tiring of the game. Seniors who had
never seen the game took it up with fervor. Of note were Glen Reed
(who was believed to chase cattle in the pasture with a golf club and
ball in hand) and current players like Ivan Popoff, still playing well
in his mid-80's.
The golf course was sold to the Saskatchewan government in 1973 and
was managed by the park for a number of years prior to a group from
Porcupine Plain assuming management, followed by the current ownership
group, which assumed management in 1996.
Jens Nerlien passed away in January 1968. He would be very
proud of the current course, its continued vision of good golf and good
service.
"Play well and have fun."
