sturhos

"This past weekend, I was given an invitation to play St. Urho's Golf Course in Nolalu. Naturally, I took up the invitation and my wife and I went to
play a round with the owners, Urho, Lynda, and Roxanne Piilo.
Finding the place for a city slicker like myself was a bit of a risk (though I have lived rurally for four years), but we did find it with the directions
we were provided. It is about a 25 - 30 minute drive from the Twin City Crossroads, through Stanley and down Highway 588.
The first hole is a straightaway par 4 of 357 yards (all yardages are from the purple or back tees). The tee decks are very small and the fairways
remind me a lot of North Shore in Red Rock. Many new trees have been planted and that distinguishes the rough from the fairway. The greens are
rather small, similar to the size of Emerald Greens. Being that the course just opened last fall, the greens are spectacular. The greens are very
undulating and if they speed them up a bit, could pose quite a challenge.
The second hole is a great par 3 of 206 yards with a small creek running across it, closer to the tee than the green. With its small green, it is a
very tough hole. Following it is the 500 yard par 5 third hole. Even with a good tee shot, you can't see the flagstick. It is a very plain hole until you
get around the green where it drops of into some wetlands. Near the green, the hole becomes much more scenic.
The fourth hole is the toughest hole on the course, an uphill 417 yard par 4 with two front bunkers protecting the green. Again, there is wetlands
both left and long of the green. This is the mose severe green on the course, sloping sharply from right to left. Any pin left of centre would be
incredibly difficult, even on a slow green.
No. 5 is an uphill par 3 with a carry over the wetlands and bulrushes of 190 yards. Here you can't see the putting surface but only the flagstick.
Hitting the small green from this distance is quite a challenge.
Approaching the 245-yard par 4 sixth, I thought I could hit a 3-wood on the green and make an easy birdie but was I in for a surprise. The green is
not visible from the tee and you have a shot of about 150 yards over wetlands to the fairway and then a second shot to the 90-degree plus dogleg.
It is one of the more interesting holes I have seen in a while. There is plenty of trouble around the green, including a pond.
The 439 yard par 5 seventh is a really tough par 4 and is straight-away, though I wouldn't mind going back in a couple of weeks to sample the
crabapples from the tree near the green. With the sunlight dwindling we played the 332 yard par 4 eighth, with the green hidden by wetlands and a
green sloping away from you. The finishing hole is a tough dogleg of 408 yards and your approach is to the flattest green on the course, if you can
hit the fairway.
Considering the course is run on a low budget and was once a cattle field, they are doing well. Urho credits Gerald Breukelman of Northern Lights
with some of the help and expertise. Given a little maturity, it can really develop into a nice golf course. Twenty years ago, it was Urho's dream to
have a golf course in his backyard and he has done a nice job of it.