Spruce Creek set to hold grand opening

Welcoming its first golfers last Aug. 18, Spruce Creek Golf Course, located on Highway 619 just south of Morson, will hold its grand opening this Saturday (June 21).
Owners Laurie and Ken Pentney felt there was a need for a golf course in that area and went about it the right way—first putting together a business plan to make sure the project was feasible.
“We had the land and there was only fishing here in Morson, so we felt the area could support golf,” Laurie Pentney said last Wednesday. “I know personally I never had time to go to Baudette or Fort Frances to go golfing.
“We felt with the summer cabins in the area, and the small population here year-round, that it would be a viable option.”
While its location may be off the beaten path, the course is quite impressive, especially as you tour the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield so expertly blended with the well-groomed layout of the fairways.
Superintendent Greg Ross came to the project last summer after spending nearly 25 years as greenskeeper with Kitchen Creek near Fort Frances. He and his crew are responsible for the lush greenery that gives the course its appeal.
“If I didn’t think this course had the potential to be great, I wouldn’t have taken this on,” Ross stressed. “We’re not quite where we want it to be, but it’s close.”
The nine-hole, par-36 course has challenging yardages of 3,393 from the blue tees, 3,214 from the whites, and 2,766 from the reds.
Thirty-three bunkers confront you at every turn, with the course offering a challenge for low handicappers while also catering to those more recreational golfers.
Many of the fairway bunkers come into play for long hitters, but they can be avoided by those whose tee shots come up much shorter. The fairways are wide but lined with longer fescue grass, which make for very difficult iron shots if your drive goes errant.
The picturesque green at the fifth hole offers a rock outcrop overlooking the hole as a backdrop. The cart ride up to the sixth tee goes right up the rock side.
In fact, the sixth tee box will have you quickly forgetting that bogey from the previous hole with its incredible panoramic view of the Canadian north.
“It really showcases what this land is all about,” Ross said while surveying the landscape. “There’s no sign of man up here in any direction.”
A couple of water hazards dot the property at the first and fourth holes, but likely won’t be a factor for even the most average golfer.
The eighth hole is likely the most difficult, with a daunting approach shot that forces you to be right on the pin. A large bunker guards the left side while the green slopes away from the hole on the right side.
So even if you hit the green, your ball may roll off and down into the thick stuff.
Saturday’s grand opening festivities, which run from noon-6 p.m., will feature reduced green frees ($10), hourly prizes, and a grand prize of 10 free nine-hole rounds of golf.
A ribbon-cutting is planned for 2 p.m., with burgers, smokies, and refreshments being served throughout the afternoon.
“It has been a long procedure but it feels really, really good to be as ready as we can be,” Laurie Pentney told the Rainy River Record last Thursday.
“It is amazing to see what has come out of what was just a piece of bush a few years ago,” she added.
Pentney noted she and her husband are very grateful to all who have worked so hard to make this dream a reality, and encouraged the public to come out and celebrate with them this Saturday.
Green fees normally are $18 for nine holes and $26 for 18 on weekends. If you can get away during the week, they drop to $15 and $22, respectively.
Junior players (aged 17 and under) can play nine holes for $10 or 18 for $15.
Yearly membership fees cost $700 for an adult or $1,100 for a couple. Juniors can get a season-long pass for $150 while intermediates (aged 18-22) can golf all summer for $350.