Over the last seven years, a one-hundred-acre land development project has been rising just south of the 311 Highway on the west side of Niverville. For many, it has been rising too slowly and quietly for comfort, and rumors and cynicism have abounded. But under new management, the Old Drovers Run golf course is about to come into its own.
“We actually purchased the whole thing towards the end of 2011,” says Len Peters, Vice President of Sunset Estates Ltd. “This past spring, we hired a team of superintendents. They’re experienced guys in golf course maintenance, and turf growing, so we can work on the most important things on the course—the greens, tees, and fairways. That’s been the focus throughout the most part of the summer. And to finish out the first nine holes.”
Designed by Graham Cooke International Golf Course Architects, the course has been described as being “very high in links flavour.” Seven holes have been completed, and work on two additional holes is well underway.
“[Nine holes] will be playable next year,” Peters says. “We had hoped to be a lot further on them than we are, because of all the rain we’ve had. So with good weather throughout the next two months, and one or two months into next spring, we should be starting to play the whole nine holes, hopefully by the end of June.”
While the existing seven holes were playable last year, it wasn’t a finished product. The emphasis right now is on finishing them.
“With the seven that we have, we’re trying to really groom them. We want the greens to be really nice, we want the fairways to be in great shape. The long grass that’s growing there is native grass and just wild… The actual design of the golf course was never meant to be so punishing. The grass that we want to have growing there is going to be thin, wispy fescue. It’s managed so that it’s going to stay a certain height, so there’s a good chance you can find your ball and hit it out of there.”
Despite changes in management along the way, the overall plan for Old Drovers Run remains largely similar to when it was first begun by Kerry Church. The links are designed to be reminiscent of some of Scotland’s most historic courses.
“Understand that most of the shaping of the golf course is already finished,” Peters says, responding to a comment that so little of the golf course is visible from the highway. “How they’re shaped and the length of them, the amount of bunkers, that’s more or less cast in stone. Straight to the back. It’s all done.”
In addition to the golf course itself, The Highlands residential development includes 160 single-family lots and 40 that are zoned R2, meaning they’re intended for duplexes. Of these, 35 lots are newly available in Phase 2 this year. When all is said and done, there will be up to 102 townhouses in the Highlands Village development, at the corner of Krahn Road and Highway 311.
“The whole province kind of slowed down a little bit, residentially, but I think we’ve picked up some steam from where we were last year. We’ve sold several lots in the second phase of The Highlands this year. We’ve also sold a few more townhouses. So things are picking up.”
In recent years, news about the development has come out at a trickle, but Peters insists this is about to change. “We do want to be in communication with residents, with people wanting to know what’s going on with the course. So we’re going to be updating our Facebook and Twitter feed. We’re going to be doing more posts. Like today we’re seeding, so I’m going to snap a couple of pics. We want to be more community-oriented in that regard.”
Peters acknowledges that in recent years communication with the town has been thin. “It hasn’t been us not wanting to communicate. That’s been us being a little bit apprehensive about promising one thing and then not delivering. We don’t want to be liars.”
Among their plans following next year’s grand opening, the course will have regular men and ladies nights, juniors events, as well as golf lessons. This fall, the course will offer free rounds of golf for town residents. “We want to introduce them to the course, in order to get positive, constructive feedback, understanding that it’s not a finished product yet. But it’s in pretty good shape, much better condition than it has been in the past.”
In the meantime, Peters says that for all intents and purposes, it’s already an operating golf course, and it needs to be treated that way. “We understand people’s curiosity, of wanting to walk through there and that sort of thing. But we’re having people take their dogs through, and they’re digging holes in our greens and bunkers. Some dogs are making a mess. One guy drove his quad over our greens under construction.”
It’s been a long road getting here, but Old Drovers Run will soon be open for business. “We’re trying to build a nice golf course for the town. We have no problem saying that we’re going to be relying on the people in Niverville to support the course. We’re not looking to Winnipeg. It needs to start from local.”
