Dan Falloon
Faye Flatt used to think golfing was almost the equivalent of a bizarre ritual.
“I used to drive by every day to work, and every morning I’d see people out there hitting the ball, and going and running to look for it,” she noted.
“Every night when I went home, see somebody hit the ball and go running to look for it.
“So I’m thinking, ‘What are those nuts doing, chasing a little ball around a field?’”
Now, Flatt is making some history with the sport locally. First starting off by participating at a friend’s suggestion, back in November she was named the first female president in the history of Kitchen Creek Golf Course, which opened for the season Sunday.
“A friend asked me about four years ago, said, ‘You should try golfing,’” Flatt recalled.
“I said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be very good at it,’ but I needed something,” she noted. “I wanted to get out and get exercising and fresh air, and that’s primarily the reason that I started golfing.
“Now I’m one of those nuts that’s hitting the ball and chasing it,” she laughed.
Driving past the course on the way home is no cure for Flatt’s fever as the course just always seems to be calling.
“I’m pretty much obsessed,” she admitted. “I go out pretty much five, six days a week.
“It’s gotten to the point now where I drive home at night, the golf course is on the way, and my truck just seems to naturally slow down and stop in there for a couple hours and do a quick round and head back home again.
“I think I still have the golfer’s tan to show from last year’s effort.”
As president, Flatt’s first major challenge is to get local residents as pumped up about the sport as she is.
Kitchen Creek’s membership has dropped from a high of more than 700 to roughly 250.
“Right now, we’re having some challenges financially,” Flatt acknowledged. “It’s poor economic times, and recreation and fun stuff is usually what people tend to eliminate.
“So we’ve got some challenges that way.”
At this point, getting the name of the course into the public consciousness is what’s vital to Kitchen Creek’s success. And Flatt intends to do that in ways that are a little untraditional in the golf world.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve been brainstorming about,” she noted.
“We’d like to do fundraisers, a jam session, barbecues, different ways of getting out in the public so we can gain a higher membership,” she reasoned.
However, those types of events currently are on the backburner as the more tedious financial groundwork is laid.
“We’re focusing primarily on doing the budget right now . . . so once we get that finalized, we can say, ‘Now, what do we want to do for fun,’” Flatt remarked.
“Once we get the meat and potatoes done, get the staffing and the budget and all that in place, then we can look and sort out the optional stuff.”
But that doesn’t mean those helping the club aren’t having fun while doing it, with volunteers out to beautify the grounds.
“We’ve got a really good group of volunteers,” Flatt stressed. “Retired people come out and do a little landscaping here and there.
“It’s good for the camaraderie of the members.
“Everybody feels it, so we are operating and basically funded from our membership. So if membership is down, then that means some of the other areas may suffer,” Flatt noted.
“If we can get volunteers to plant gardens and paint signs, it’s kind of a win-win situation. They get to contribute and see something concrete, something visible, that everyone can enjoy.
“And we can cut back on maintenance costs, as well, so it’s the best of both worlds.”
With the volunteers and staff already hard at work, all that’s left is for the golfers to hit the links.
“I think that it’s probably the earliest that we’ve been open,” Flatt said, referring to Easter Sunday (April 4).
“The crew was out there fine-tuning on the weekend, cutting the grass and doing what they do,” she noted.
“Now we just need the members to dust off the clubs and shine up the balls and make their way out there.”
To help mark the opening of golf season, Kitchen Creek has reduced green fees—charging $10 for nine holes (down from $18) and $20 for 18 (down from $35)—until the end of April.
“We’re trying to entice people to come out,” Flatt reasoned. “If they’ve never done it before, it makes it a little more enticing.”
Kitchen Creek has plugged a couple of new names into its roster, with Rob Botel installed as greenskeeper and Mark Nagant taking over the kitchen.
As well, Glen Kellar has been promoted to pro shop manager.
Flatt also noted the club is holding its semi-annual meeting on Sunday, April 25 at 1:30 p.m. at the clubhouse.
One of the agenda items is to fill positions on the board.
“We need some new blood on the board to give us new ideas and keeping our energy level up,” she remarked.
As for other golf courses in the region, Heron Landing Golf Course on Couchiching First Nation doesn’t have a timeline for opening pinned down quite yet.
Staff at the course are replacing sand in the bunkers, with head professional Brian Johnstone explaining the course will open once that task is completed.
“We’re not rushing to open,” he stressed. “We would rather open when we’re done rather than be in everyone’s way while they’re playing.”
Johnstone noted the water pump system was upgraded, so the irrigation system will be working at full capacity.
Another development at Heron Landing is that new power carts will be arriving at some point this year.
While the course itself isn’t open, the driving range there is ready for action.
Meanwhile, Spruce Creek in Morson is looking towards an opening date around April 24, said co-owner Laurie Pentney.
“We don’t need a lot of time to get open, it’s just a matter of getting staff back to work,” she noted.
“We’re really waiting for more tourists to get back to the area.
“We probably won’t open much before the 24th of April, I wouldn’t think,” Pentney added.
“That’s not saying that we won’t open before that, depending on conditions, but we’re just going to play it by ear right now,” she remarked.
The Falls Country Club across the river has been open since May 26, with general manager Tom McConnell saying the course “is in fantastic shape.”
