Course Review: Gentleman Creek Golf Club, by Jeffrey Reed
(June 2006)

Copyright 2006 London Ontario Golf

Gentleman Creek Golf Club in Melbourne, Ont. is a true field of dreams for owner Martin Welch, and for area golfers. A farmer by trade, Welch designed and built this public layout on land he once used for cash crops, hogs and poultry. Construction began in 1992, and by 1996 “The Creek” welcomed anyone wishing to tackle its wide-open fairways and back-to-nature terrain.

In fact, Gentleman Creek literally rose from a corn field 40 km west of London. Welch, and his son, Martin Welch Jr., Ken Reid of Strathroy and Ray Jones of London all had a hand in developing the rural course on Welch Sr.’s land. Local contractor Norm Sutherland handled excavation. The result: one of the most unique golf courses you will ever play.

In a 1995 interview, Welch Jr. told me, “Dad said, ‘Why pay someone thousands of dollars to look at other golf courses and see what holes they have, when (I) can do it (myself)?’ We laid the design out on paper, measured it all up.” In its infancy, Gentleman Creek allowed free play – a true field of dreams – and even today, its $25 weekday-$28 weekend green fees are more than reasonable. The course is never crowded, either, making it an ideal course for beginners, and for those looking for a quick round.

Welch Sr. designed his course according to personal taste, creating small, undulating greens, planting several thousand trees, and building a half-dozen irrigation ponds. When you play The Creek, you truly are back to nature. As expected, Gentleman Creek winds its way throughout the links, affecting play on 11 holes. There are four sets of tees, from 6,555, 6,124, 5,494 and 4,711 yards, and par is a unique 74. Blame that on the one-of-a-kind design – there are five par-5s, 10 par-4s and three par-3s, including the signature 11th hole, a 103-yard wedge onto an island green, with a severe drop off back and left.

I challenged The Creek with newly-hired course superintendent Jeff Coward (formerly of the renown Devil’s Pulpit and Devil’s Paintbrush in Caledon, Ont.). This is quite a change for Coward, but he says he looks upon his new position with the still-developing Gentleman Creek as “a challenge.” Gena Gruschovnik is now on board as club general manager, too, and there are plans to have the course revamped in a big way, plus plans to add a full practice facility.

First, the good. Gentleman Creek demanded that I use every club in the bag – a rare feat in this day of driver-wedge. Kudos to Welch Sr. – this is what he wanted when he designed his course. Play was fast, cell phones and traffic seemed a world away, and a variety of wildlife kept us company throughout our round. Staff was extremely friendly and courteous, too – another rarity in today’s world of public play golf. The pro shop is modest, but the clubhouse offers a nice menu and good selection of beverages.

However, the greens have a long way to go before they are up to par – they were slow and unpredictable. With Coward part of the team, Gentleman Creek should pick up the slack in this department before the end of the season.

Hole No. 1 offers a great initial challenge. Measuring 374 yards from the tips, the fairway appears wide open, but watch the rough on the right, where uneven lies and thick growth can ruin your approach shot. Out-of-bounds left also requires accuracy off the tee at this par-4. No. 2 is a very tough par-3, measuring 241 yards. Three bunkers sit to the right of the tricky green. No letting up at No. 3, a 382-yard par-4 that requires a long drive off the tee in order to carry the creek. Lay up, and you have another tricky shot into a treed area and onto the green of this dogleg right.

At No. 6, a 552-yard par-5, there is danger everywhere. At your approach shot, you’re welcomed by the creek, and a pond running the length of the green frontage. This was also the toughest green on the course, with unpredictable undulation. Going out at 3,358, you’ll finish with the short par-4 No. 9, just 255 yards but a dogleg right with plenty of heavy rough, out-of-bounds, and creek hugging fairway left. 

Consider yourself lucky if you par No. 13, a 166-yard par-3 featuring a green which does its best imitation of a roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland. Watch out-of-bounds right, too, not to mention a pond facing you at the tee. No. 14 is a quirky hole, and would play much better if removed or part of a redesign. This is a short par-5, only 425 yards and straight, with openings on either side of the centre-fairway tree. I suppose the positioning of the tree adds to the hole’s difficulty, but it’s still an odd hole. I laid up, then hit a stinger left of the tree and up to the green’s front (hitting those stingers at the practice range finally paid off, but not how I had envisioned).

No. 16 plays 423 yards as the crow flies, but it’s a par-4 dogleg right which can be reached with a fairway metal from the tee if you carry the pond. The finishing hole has character, with a wide-open fairway, then a small hill fronting and sloping down into a small, testing green. Thanks in part to the downhill approach, you can easily reach this par-5, 465-yard hole in two.

Overall, I enjoyed my round at Gentleman Creek, and was glad every club left the bag, but the greens most certainly were not up to par on this 10-year-old course. Once they are, even without any further changes to the course, The Creek will be a very enjoyable place at which to play a round of links-style golf. It will also be enjoyable watching this club in its redevelopment stage, as it holds a lot of promise. 

Gentleman Creek Golf Club
Melbourne, Ont.
519-289-2011
Green Fees:
$25 weekdays, $28 weekends, power cart $34 
www.gentlemancreek.com