Farmers Turn Fields Into Fairways

Farmers Turn Fields Into Fairways SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 27-4-9 With crop prices near all-time lows, you might be tempted some days to do what Raleigh and Pam Dunston did. They plowed their crops under and turned their fields into fairways. Raleigh World golf course opened to the public in June, with the last of its 18 greens still being completed. They're planning a grand opening celebration later in July. Raleigh World is not your typical perfectly maintained, heavily groomed country club-type course. In fact, the fairways and greens still resemble the pasture and hay fields the Dunstons carved it from over the past six years. Built on an Iowa Century Farm near Lucas, Iowa, Raleigh World was originally designed just for family and friends. But they had so much fun on the first few holes they built, the Dunstons decided to go public. Dunston says the course wasn't built to give golfers the same experience they'd get on a country club course. The barn his great grandfather built more than a hundred years ago now serves as a clubhouse. The course makes use of the fields, woods, and ravines pretty much as they were. A little earthwork was done, but only where it was absolutely necessary. Greens are mostly warm season grasses, like bluegrass, orchard grass, bromegrass and fescue. Fairways were simply carved out of the grass and other vegetation that was aready growing there. Roughs are the same thing, but unmowed. Pam's favorite tree stands in the middle of one fairway and it's out of bounds. "There's a three-stroke penalty for hitting it," Raleigh jokes. Cart rental is available. And the clubhouse serves beer, soft drinks, and snacks. In Norwich, Ontario, brothers Wayne and Aubrey Bertrand also built a golf course on what was once unusable land around their farmhouse. The Bertrand brothers like to keep their 7-hole course looking as good as a country club so they spend more time mowing than they do playing. But, they say, even that is a welcome break from their dairy farm. Don Lobb, a retired farmer near Caledron, Ontario, took a look at seven acres of his own property and envisioned his own golf course. It has nine tees scattered around the perimeter of a dog-leg shaped field, with three strategically located greens, a small pond water hazard and several sand and grass bunkers. Using the different tees to shoot at the various greens, he can play at least 18 different holes. Lobb has less time than he'd like to play on his own golf course, but he has neighbors who enjoy it and even help with the mowing and maintenance in return for playing time. All three of these courses can be described as "pasture golf" courses, a "back to the basics" or no-frills form of golf that seems to be catching on all over North America. There's even an unofficial Pasture Golf Association (www.pasturegolf.com) where you'll find the Dunston course listed. Dunston, Lobb and the Bertrand brothers have found even a small golf course takes large amounts of capital to establish and maintain. The Bertrands say they've sunk thousands into turf, trees and shrubs. Dunston says his pasture golf course cost about as much to build as the land was worth. He says besides his family heritage, scenic beauty was about all the farm had going for it. He's counting on that and the unusual experience of playing Raleigh World to recoup his investment and make the farm profitable again. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Raleigh Dunston, 11859 550th St., Lucas, Iowa 50151(ph 641 766-6158); Don Lobb, 1009 Boston Mills Rd., Terra Cotta, Ontario, Canada L0P 1N0 (ph 905 838-2221: email: lamorris@attcanada.ca); or Aubrey Bertrand, RR 3, Norwich, Ontario, Canada N0J 1P0 (ph 519 424-9496).

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