Kennsington is a gift to golf

By Pete Mollica

The Canfield course is appealing to players of all skill levels.

CANFIELD — Jeff Myers is as excited as a kid in a candy shop.

Myers, a Warren native who has been a PGA professional for over 20 years, became the new Director of Golf at Kennsington Golf Club last month and he couldn’t be happier.

Myers spent the last 16 years as the head professional at Fonderlac Country Club and before that was an assistant at Trumbull Country Club for six years, so he knows the business and he knows just what a great facility he has at Kennsington.

Developer Chuck Whitman built the course and the accompanying Westford Centre development. Construction was started in the spring of 2004 and the course opened for play July 4, 2006.

“This course is unbelievable,” said Myers. “It offers golfers of all skill levels a beautiful but very competitive layout. I haven’t even played the course yet, but I’ve driven around it several times now and I’m just amazed at the beauty and it’s only April and things haven’t even started to bloom yet.”

The course offers players just about everything, including a state-of-the-art driving range that opened last year. There are GPS-equipped golf carts new for this season as well as one of the area’s finest 18-hole courses, which measures out to 7,024 yards from the back tees down to 5,821 yards from the front tees.

“There are five tee boxes on every hole so the course is playable to golfers of every skill level,” Myers said. “The greens are huge and well-manicured. We are fortunate to have an outstanding golf superintendent in Sean Novotny and he’s just done wonders with this course.”

Myers said he’s had heard about many of the holes from friends who’ve had played Kennsington.

“They kept telling me about the par-3 13th hole,” he said.

The 13th can play from 141 yards from the front tee all the way to 232 yards from the back tee. Every tee shot must carry over a waste area, which will bloom like a heather in season to a well-bunkered green.

There are three or four lakes on the course, the two main ones, both man made, separate holes No. 1 and No. 9 and No. 10 and No. 18. The lake on the 18th hole is horseshoe shaped that goes all the way around the green and along side No. 10’s tee area.

“Sean has been thinking about making the 18th green an island green and bring the lake right around the front of the green,” Myers said.

Most of the fairways are rolling with a lot of trees and fairway bunkers. The entire golf course has paved golf paths which pleases Myers.

“That means that you never have to keep carts off the course,” he added. “It might mean cart paths only, but at least we can get them out in any conditions.”

The driving range, which opened last year, is on two levels, one with carpeted tee areas and the other all grass and nearly a dozen greens to shoot at.

“I almost get as excited about the range as I do the course,” Myers said, “especially from a teaching standpoint, which I hope to do a lot more of here.”

Daily greens fees at Kennsington are $35, $40 on the weekends, and seniors can play weekdays for $25.

The golf course was designed by Brian Huntley, an Ohio native who also designed Firestone Farms in Columbiana and is considered one of the top golf architects in the country.

Whitman, president of CTW Development Corporation in Boardman, already has his Westford Centre underway with many homes and condominiums constructed.

A new clubhouse was started last season and the pro shop area is just about completed and the entire project, which will include a full service restaurant and bar, should be completed by early June.

“Chuck also has plans for an 800-seat banquet facility along one side of the clubhouse and both the banquet center and the clubhouse will be flanked by a tower of condominiums on either side,” Myers said.

mollica@vindy.com

XFor tee times and more information contact Myers at (330) 533-8733.