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Of course, one of the reasons that I have never trod upon the nine holes of the Canton Golf Course is that I don't golf, outside of whacking a few drives at a driving range, pushing a few putts at a miniature golf course or the rare trips to a local nine with some sportswriting compadres who were never really interested in sampling the Canton 9.
How could I call myself a native if I didn't experience the Canton Golf Course for myself? So, instead of taming the course, I wanted to take the challenge of photographing the course. So one humid, sticky August afternoon, I introduced myself to four people I had never seen before, slung a pair of cameras over my shoulder and took a walk.
The course is a Lowell family operation. Walter, the head pro, and Phyllis, live in a house right off the first tee, as they have for years. Their daughter, Heather, is the course superintendent and her husband Dana Garvin is right there by her side. Several grandchildren work at the course, too. Walter's brother, Jim, has an accounting office upstairs above the pro shop. Of course, everyone that works there becomes an extended member of the Lowell family.
The course opened on Memorial Day in 1932. Walter's father, James B. and his grandfather, James E.B., opened the course that was constructed from an old farm. Part of the farm became summer cottages around Secret Lake. The golf course was constructed on land that the former owners grew tobacco on and raised pigs, hens and cows.
The pro shop is in the bottom of what used to be a tobacco-drying barn. The floor is uneven and exposed stone of the foundation is visible. The pro shop has a rustic look to it. That comes, in part, from a working fireplace to warm golfers during the early days of the spring, the late fall afternoons and those who venture out each Jan. 2 for a round of holiday golf, provided the snow has not blanketed the course.
Golfers can get a snack, a drink, a cup of coffee or some of the latest golf equipment. Or they can cultivate friendships, swap the latest town gossip or watch the televised action of that weekend's PGA Tour event on the television set high above the soda machine.
Most keep their attention on the course. It's a relatively flat course. There is a great view looking back toward the clubhouse as the players pitch onto the first green with the mountains in the background. As players chip up onto the fifth green, the old tobacco barns are a picturesque backdrop.
The sixth hole is on top of a steep hill that many locals have slid down on a snowy winter day, bouncing on inner tubes or avoiding fellow townsfolk trying to climb back up the hill. On the seventh hole, players hit over a pretty pond. And the ninth hole is a chip downhill to another former tobacco barn that houses much of the equipment that keeps the course up and running.
And it is a course that is still open for play. A contract has been signed with a developer who wants to build a shopping center on the 130-acre property. But until the deal is closed, the course will remain open. Each month, the developer makes a monthly payment to keep the deal alive. When he wants to close, he will pay what he needs to pay and two months later, he'll get the keys to the course.
Phyllis and Walter want to retire but until they do, there is golf to be played, grass to be mowed, trees to be trimmed and maintenance to be performed. So when will the golf course see its final sunrise and the last morning of golfers leaving a trail through the morning dew on the first tee? That's a good question.
So, if you want to play, go. Call ahead and reserve a tee time because some days, it gets crowded when leagues play. When you're there, breathe deeply and soak up its rich, unique atmosphere before it is gone.
