Spruce Creek Golf Course is worth the "drive!"

By Ken Johnston
In the First Person

It is definitely worth the “drive”!
Last Tuesday, Damon Delvecchio and I managed to squeeze in a round of golf between rain events at the brand new Spruce Creek Golf Course in Morson.
I had been to the course several times to take photos and write stories about the construction, completion and opening of this first class course. But never had I had the chance to golf it.... which left me chomping at the bit to do so.
With the weather being so unpredictable of late and both Damon and I having different work schedules I was not sure we would get the chance but when he called Tuesday afternoon and said he had booked off early, and the clouds were not dropping rain, I jumped at the chance to try it out first hand.
We made the 35 minute drive all the while anticipating a great experience and we were not disappointed! Since it had been raining off and on for days we had to walk the course. At first we grimaced about that but after walking it we decided that it was much better from the point of seeing Spruce Creek for what it is... a beautifully crafted course.
The architect that designed it, Dave Grant, of Grant Golf in Winnipeg, MB. told me two summers ago that “We used the lay of the land. In other words we let Mother Nature dictate the course’s difficulty.”
Right away that becomes very apparent, as a rock formation juts out at the dog leg of hole number one, preventing you from actually seeing the green. Add to that, that a man made pond lies right in front of the tee boxes and we knew we were in for a challenging romp around the links.
I kind of had an idea what we needed to do on hole #1 as I had taken photos of golfers there last August. But it was still a challenge, especially for a newbie to the sport like me. Damon agreed it was a good first impression which made him anxious to get to the next hole.
Number #2 will be a driver’s paradise. It is 541 yards from the white tees. So if you love driving the ball the best this is definitely the hole for you!
While hole #3 is relatively short in comparison to #2 (194 yrds.) it is absolutely gorgeous and challenging as the green is framed by two sand traps, one of which I managed to hit.
Another dog leg to the left awaited us on hole four. The tee boxes are situated behind another man made pond. It was tough for both of us with me going four over par and Damon two over on the 398 yard hole.
Number five is set with rocks framing the green and a bunker before the green. Having been on the course when it was being sculpted I knew something spectacular was awaiting us up on those rocks behind five.
Hole six features tee boxes that are elevated above the fairway and the view from up there was spectacular. Then we golfed it; all 507 yards of it! What a phenomenal hole. I whapped my first ball over some trees and figured I probably lost it in the bush. So I hit another one just in case. Both went in the same direction; slicing to the right. I managed to find both balls and worked my way towards the green.
Seven is another short hole but the green is surrounded on three sides by sand traps.
Eight which runs parallel to six, dog legs slightly to the right and has the green positioned between two more traps.
While many of the greens feature slopes, and putting is my weakest part of the game, I found myself working extra hard to get the ball to the hole once on the green. And the last hole, number nine, was in my view the most challenging. It featured a deep dip right in the center of the green. So pitching the ball up onto the green was a challenge and then not over putting and having it roll into the gully was even more difficult.
The course is a challenge, very picturesque and fun! A par 36 I shot a 60 and Damon a 47, which for a first time I think is pretty good for me!
I can’t wait to try and improve on that, hopefully this Saturday, at their grand opening! It was definitely worth the ‘Drive”!