Westbrook Golf & Country Club

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Description

Walter Genge, a factory worker at the local Dupont plant and a part-time farmer, decided to build a golf course on a 100 acre portion of his land. He correctly identified golf as a growing sport and with very limited knowledge of the game and an even more limited amount of cash, he managed to build a short nine-hole course that quickly became popular. In the early 70's, Walter built an additional nine holes, which finally established his facility in the growing golf community. The course at that time was quite short at around 5200 yards and a very generous self-rated par of 70. It was called Martin Downs, named after the Purple Martin, a bird renowned for its insect-eating appetite. It was Walter's idea to have Martin bird houses located at every tee and green to help control these pests, particularly during the mosquito and black fly season. The business grew steadily, but as nature would have it, so did Walter's age in 1984, Cec Harnden purchased Martin Downs after his wife, Sheila read an ad in Harrowsmith Magazine listing the golf course for sale. Cec was born in Kingston, and lived here as a young boy. His adult life and career in promotions and marketing was spent in Toronto. Cec and his son Ken moved to Kingston to begin a new era in the Harnden family. The course had never been handicap-rated by the Ontario Golf Association, so our very first task was to toughen-up the layout with added length and more hazards, such as trees, bunkers and bringing a bisecting creek more into play. This resulted in a debatable rating of 65, but the very rating of the course resulted in a considerable increase in membership and overall interest. In 1985, the old farmhouse was renovated, and we opened the season that year with a liquor-licensed dining lounge, serving delicious snacks and meals. Westbrook Golf Club was now a factor in the community and a popular location for groups and tournaments. Immediately after the change in ownership, the name of the course became Westbrook because it sounded like a good name for the type of business and was situated in the tiny Kingston suburb of Westbrook. In 1994, a large forested area of the back 9 was cleared and several hundred yards were added to our overall length. In 1995, another 100 acres of adjacent land was purchased and we managed to get it re-zoned for golf purposes. By this time, we were also operating the area's only Par 3 golf course and we knew it would soon close to make room for a sub-division. It was time for Westbrook to bring in the earth-movers! First off, we designed a challenging Par 3 course using much of the existing old front nine with a few added new tees and greens. At the same time, and all taking place with the original course in play, we built a much longer front nine, featuring more bunkers, added length, full irrigation, and creeks and ponds ominously located at curse-encouraging yardages. While par from the white tees remained pretty much the same, the new yardage off the blue tees increased to over 6,000 yards, a closer testament to the course's true challenge.

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