New golf course adds to growing popularity
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Coral Harbour (Nov 01/00) - Coral Harbour is the only Kivalliq hamlet that can lay claim to having two different golf courses.
The sport has been growing in popularity in Coral for more than 10 years, since two local golf fanatics built a small two-hole course near the hamlet dump.
Local golfer Noel Kaludjak says there's now about 20 golfers in the hamlet with their own clubs.
Due to growing demand, Kaludjak says he and two friends decided the time was right to construct a bigger course.
"This summer, Dino and Dennis Bruce and myself decided we needed a more challenging course," says Kaludjak.
"Dennis had a start on two holes about half-way between the hamlet and the airport and we worked to add five more."
Kaludjak says another reason golf has become fairly popular in Coral is the terrain makes for beautiful golf country.
Surrounded by such inspiration, the three men set out to construct as realistic and challenging a new golf course as possible.
The completed course features a challenging par-5 hole which measures out to about 500 yards long. There's also a tricky par 3 that comes in at just under 200 yards.
Coral's three course designers also decided their project needed a grassy feel to capture the realism they were after.
Not having the budget required for Astroturf, the three relied on a little ingenuity to meet their needs.
They soon discovered the local dump held the answer to their problem.
"We'd keep an eye on the dump and every time somebody would throw out an old rug, we'd go pick it up, throw it on the truck and haul it over to the course.
"Once we had the rug or carpet over to the course, we'd lay it on the ground so it could dry and then make the green out of it.
"We were able to get all types of different rugs, some thick and some thin, and they've worked great for us. Just like grass."
The new course quickly grew in popularity and Kaludjak says the three men realized a little "course management" was needed to keep things running smoothly.
"We don't like to see any more than three tee off at a time because it slows things down too much.
"Too be honest, we've been trying to keep the course to ourselves because too many guys have started using it," he says with a laugh.
