We have two reviews today: one course that's been around for a while; and another that's new on the scene.

First the new one.

The wag who said, "Never play pool against a guy named Fats," might also have said, "Stay away from golf courses with the words '... and RV Park' in their name."However, he most certainly hadn't played Whitemud Creek Golf and RV Park. 

This delightful little nine-holer opened last year on temporary greens and this year on regulars. And the greens are one of the course's main strengths. These bent grass beauties are among the best in the city, public or private. Large, undulating and smooth, they putt true and fast

Built by the Krupa family - after what co-owner Scott Krupa refers to as "lots of reading and self-education" - on farmland they've owned for more than 100 years, the design takes great advantage of wandering Whitemud Creek and its natural woodlands.

The course is best played from the gold tees, at 3.183 yard. The length is in the first three holes - 567-yard par 5; 385 par 4; and 497 par 5 - which are built on the flat.

Then it's down into the valley for five holes, including the par-three eighth, one of the top half dozen par threes in these parts. At 190 yards from an elevated tee, the hole demands a high, soft tee shot that lands softly on the huge green with Whitemud Creek on three sides.

Number nine is a 360-yard par four coming through a chute, turning right out of the valley and back onto the flat. Finishing the nine holes, the thought that comes to mind is, "Let's play it again".

Krupa says the family hasn't decided yet whether to build another nine holes or to develop a practice facility and expanded RV area.

One weakness of the track right now is the lack of sand traps. The family will be installing bunkers over the next few years.

~TOP~

Story by COLIN EVANS
Staff Writer - The Edmonton Sun
 

When the weather warms up, the snowbirds return to nest at Whitemud Creek Golf & RV Park.

"This is ideal for us. We spend the cold winter months in Arizona and we're both golf nuts," said Del Smith, who retired three years ago.

The couple sold their 2,400 sq. ft. home in order to move into a 34- foot Alpenite trailer two years ago. Cutting their roots for a home on wheels was a little nerve- racking at first said Smith.

They considered downsizing into a smaller home and possibly moving to a warmer location, but then Smith got his hands on the book Full Time RVing - A Complete Guide to Life on the Open Road (written by Bill and Jan Moeller).

"We didn't know what to do, but then I read this book and wondered 'do we really need a house?'"

The answer was no. The first year, the couple put most of their belongings in storage to test the RV waters. They liked the lifestyle so much, by the time the second year rolled around, they sold everything.

Story by COLIN EVANS
Staff Writer - The Edmonton Sun

The Krupa family has redefined mixed farming. Their 320-acre farm, located in the southwest corner of the city limits is a mixture of bluegrass, fescue and bent grass. The grass never gets very high though. It's harvested on a regular basis. The golfers like it that way.

In May 1997, the Krupa family opened Whitemud Creek Golf & RV Park. Located at 156 St. and 41 Ave. SW, the resort features a nine-hole golf course and a fully-serviced RV park. It took five years to build the golf course and the Krupas did most of the work themselves with the machinery they had on the farm.

What makes the golf course so unique, is its "two personalities", said Mike. The first three holes are played on flat prairie. They look easy, but even experienced golfers can end up in the water, if they take the first hole lightly. The fourth hole takes golfers down into a secluded valley where Whitemud Creek winds through meadows watched over by mature spruce and poplar.

The eighth is Whitemud Creek's signature hole and features a narrow fairway that makes for a nerve-racking 193 yard drive (from the golds) over the creek.

Now that the tee-box on the ninth has been completed, golfers drive up a 25-foot slope on to the fairway to begin this 310-yard hole (from the golds).