"Up and Doon" - Golf Scene Magazine Article

KITCHENER CLASSIC IS RENOVATED AND READY FOR THE 2010 SEASON

story by Bill (Skip) Johns

When I made a major lifestyle/job change in late 1972 by coming to Kitchener-Waterloo from my hometown of Niagara Falls, about the only thing I knew was going to stay the same was the fact that I was going to play golf.

In that first summer of 1973, my home base turned out to be the Doon Valley golf course where a friend at the Kitchener daily newspaper, and I, would play about once a week.

It only lasted a year after I met other golfing enthusiasts and switched my site of playing to the other Kitchener-owned facility, Rockway.

Although that is inching up on 40 years ago, I still have fond memories of my early days at Doon and still enjoy visiting the layout which first opened under private ownership in 1956 and was eventually bought by the city in 1966.

In fact, during my tenure at the Kitchener-Waterloo Record where I covered golf for more than 25 years, I wrote a late-career feature naming my favourite 18 holes in the area and Doon’s challenging 421-yard par-four 13th hole, a dogleg left, always made my list.

So what’s happening on the Doon municipal golf front as we get into the 2010 season?

To borrow a word from a well-known TV cooking-show host, “Bam.”

Recently I had a chance for a non-playing tour of the course which has expanded to 27 holes in addition to adding a nine-hole “chip and putt” layout and changing some tees and the practice facilities.

Kitchener’s director of golf operations Gary Hastings and Elora-based architect Shawn Watters, who crafted the new holes and some changes on the existing 18, were my guides for a trek around the new layout which is scheduled to be fully open sometime in June.

If you’re from Waterloo Region, when you say 27-hole courses you probably first think of Foxwood, Conestoga and Brookfield, to name just three fine layouts all built privately but currently operated by GolfNorth Properties.

Those three operations all have one thing in common. You can mix and match your nine-hole pairings to get the 18 you want to play on any given day.

Not so at Doon Valley.

The new 27 layout will feature 18 holes which you will play from start to finish and then nine “old” holes which can be repeated. However, the “new” 18 – featuring 10 newly-built holes – will not be combined with the “old” 9 in any manner.

“It will be different from many other 27s because once you start the new 18 you don’t get back to the clubhouse until the 18th hole,” explained Hastings who also pointed out there will be new halfway-house and washroom facilities in the area where the expanded course goes under Highway 401 alongside the Grand River.

“We worked on a lot of possible routings but because of extensive environmental concerns that we had to look after, we just couldn’t find a way to incorporate the new holes into a traditional 27 layout,” explained Watters.

“We’ve heard some of the regulars are concerned about the new layout but I think once they get used to playing the holes they are going to love the course,” Watters added.

It would take thousands of words to describe all the changes at Doon – space we just don’t have – but I will highlight some of the most prominent.

The first-hole tee has been shifted left and turned into a par four from a par five.

After playing the second hole which hasn’t changed, you head downhill to play three (par four) and four (par three) which are both new and obviously with great views of the Grand. Five, six and seven are parts of original three, 10 and 11.

Holes eight to 15 are the brand new big section of the course on the “other” side of 401 and Watters has crafted some challenging but fair routes which also supply some outstanding views of the river and surrounding areas. Much of the new will feature wetlands or swamp areas in front of or alongside the tees and some dogleg fairways.

The “new” 18 finishes with existing 16, 17 and 18. The new 18 will play to 6,443, 5,915 and 5,179 yards off the three sets of tees, compared to the old 18 of 6203, 5863 and 5493. Par is still 72 for the men and also for the “front” tee users.

The “old” nine, which will feature a nine-hole rate or special 18-hole charge if you want to repeat, is a combination of the former front- and back-nine holes. From one to nine they are in this order: old 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 8 and 9.

Kitchener golf officials haven’t come up with nine-hole names yet, or even if they will, for the 27-hole operation – unlike 27-hole layouts mentioned earlier for example, where each nine has it’s own name – but their rates sheet calls the combination nine explained above as the Stand Alone nine.

Watters thought it might be nice to refer to this nine as the Classic since it’s the only playing stretch that features holes not changed from the original layout. Maybe there should be a little contest from members and golf fans to come up with names for the new 18-hole routing. Hey, just an idea.

If all my explanation about the new holes and routing has you confused – and if you’re not familiar with the operation it should – get out and play it as soon as it’s ready. It should be a relatively easy walk which has been a tradition at DV and the variety of prices are still an outstanding value.

Doon Valley isn’t the Whirlpool course in Niagara Falls, my favorite public facility in Ontario and my home base for many years in the old days, but it is going to be a great expansion to public access play in this Region and the province. I’m looking forward to my first playing trip around the “new” 18.

"Having played more than 1,000 golf courses in my passion for this game for the past 60 years, I can truly say I was fascinated, and a little surprised, by what has transpired at Doon"

This article was featured in the Summer 2010 edition of GolfScene Magazine. To view it online, click here.