It was fantastic. On Monday June 8, 2026 the Villages at Country Creek hosted a golf tournament sponsored by the Southwest Florida Junior Golf Association thanks to the continuing relationship our head golf professional, John Alfuth, maintains with the organization. Caroline Lennox (SWFJGA) was here to manage an orderly registration of the contestants as they made their way to the putting green adjacent to the first tee.
Our own Dickie Dickson and Justin Harris were here plenty early to extend a warm welcome to participants and assist wherever they could to make their experience most enjoyable. Our course Superintendent, Miguel Escobar, was observed on the course hours before the scheduled tee times to perform a final ride around to ensure all was ready for our guests. Earlier that morning, the course had been prepared perfectly thanks to the efforts of our well- trained maintenance crew. The golf course speaks volumes about our community and is something we can all feel very proud of.
There were 46 boys and girls ranging in age from age 6 to age 15. Groups had been carefully arranged so that all participants could feel comfortable and compete with others at their skill level. The older boys were shuttled out to hole #10 to begin their eighteen-hole round from the gold tees. That’s not a misprint. The boys aged 13-15 played the gold tees. A representative from the Country Creek Men’s Golf Association was on hand all day to observe play, offer assistance and resolve rules questions when needed.
As the first group of young men were shuttled to the gold tee on hole number ten to begin their round, we were asked if we knew how far the hole actually played from there. It normally plays 189 yards to a center pin which it was that day. But on this day, there was a slight breeze into the players’ faces. After some careful discussion the players decided that they would have to drop down to a five iron to cover the front of the green. Two of the players hit the green and the other two were pin high to the left. Three pars, one bogey. Did I mention that they were young and flexible? Remember high school?
The young men competed in a two- player scramble. Last we checked after 15 holes the leading team was 1 under par. Oh, and by the way for you golf fans out there, the younger boys, age 10-12 were playing the blue tees. The strategy for one team on hole #15 was to have one player lay up to the top of the hill in a safe position so that his playing partner could go for the green. I witnessed the tee shot but he didn’t hit the green. It stopped two feet short on the collar. No need for mulligans here.
I doubled back so I could observe the play of the young ladies in the tournament. They began play on hole number one and played nine holes. They were by far the most enjoyable to watch of all. As an example, many of the girls in the youngest age group, without hesitation, pulled out their drivers and safely landed the ball on the green at hole #3. The quality of the shots overall all was impressive and the players acted almost nonchalant about really great shots. Just a normal day at the office. I don’t know how many of you had the opportunity to play at a young age or how your playing ability progressed over the years. But today we saw a young lady whose name will undoubtedly be displayed many times on a club champion’s plaque somewhere in her future. I wish all of you could have been here to see these young people play.
We received loads of compliments about the condition of our golf course and many thanks for being invited to play at Country Creek. Attached are some snap shots to help you experience the event. Hope you enjoy them. And finally, thanks again to our entire staff for making this event a huge success.
