Lucas Punkari
When golfers arrive at the 160-yard, par-three fifth hole at Kitchen Creek, they’ll notice a much more level and improved area to tee off from.
For the first time since the course opened for business back in 1976, the fifth tee box was completely redone this past month, with the official reopening taking place last Thursday morning.
“For years we think that the tee box just eroded gradually back into the swamp,” noted Don Robertson, a member at Kitchen Creek who was involved with the “Fifth Tee Restoration Project.”
“And when we surveyed it, we found out that it was 22 inches lower in the back corner than what it was at the front of the tee.
“A lot of people, including myself, were complaining about it, and it was about time that we did something about it,” Robertson added.
“So, some of my golf buddies and some of the people here at the club then decided to get together and fix it up, which we did.”
The process began May 30 when the sod was cut off the tee box. Then 40 yards of sand was brought in to help make it level again, with a little bit of slope maintained to help with draining.
On June 4, the process was complete as the sod was re-laid onto the tee box.
“The greenskeeper [Rob Botell] has been looking after the tee since that day, and we’re now ready to use it once again,” Robertson remarked.
Up until last Thursday, golfers had been teeing off from a flat area just in front of the newly-refurbished tee box.
Robertson feels anyone who will be playing the course from now on, himself included, will appreciate the improvements done to the fifth tee.
“You are going to have a level stance to start off with when you are teeing off, for one thing,” he stressed.
“When you are having to shoot from an uphill slope, like this tee was before, it tends to make the ball go to the left, and it’s quite difficult to find a target line,” he explained.
“I think most people are really going to appreciate this.”
With volunteers largely taking part in the process, along with some assistance from the Kitchen Creek staff, Robertson feels the project really showed what can be done when people work together.
“You see that volunteer spirit all of the time here at the course,” he noted.
“This course is really active with volunteers helping out, such as with trimming grass around the ponds, planting flowers, or doing maintenance in the shop.
“This is the first project that I’ve been involved in, and I intend to keep on getting involved in different things here when they need to be done,” Robertson pledged.
Kitchen Creek will be seeing a number of different tournaments utilizing the revamped fifth tee over the next couple of weeks, with a ladies’ event taking place this Saturday and the men’s club championship slated for Sunday, July 17.
