The couple have owned JTee’s Golf Course for 18 years and yesterday was their final day of ownership.
The couple moved to the course after farming in Hillend in South Otago. They did not want to retire and decided to buy a golf course, taking the plunge with the nine-hole JTee’s course in East Taieri.
The couple were not overly keen golfers, but wanted to do something different from farming.
So they climbed into the job — Mr Spittle getting pointers from course designer Stewart Taylor on the ins and outs of greenkeeping.
Mr Spittle said he had read a book explaining ‘‘why farmers should not become greenkeepers’’ — but it had gone all right.
‘‘The main thing is you have to keep it simple. You do not have a lot of land here, so you cannot do too much,’’ he said.
The course is not affiliated with NZ Golf and does not have club members.
‘‘We look to attract the casual player. The golfer who doesn’t want to play all the time. Just comes out and has a hit, joins in with mates or family groups. They get a good start to their game here and enjoy it.’’
Mrs Spittle had been in charge of functions in the ‘‘club house’’ next to the course, and said it offered a lot of variety and fun.
‘‘We have had birthdays, weddings, family gatherings — everything really. The advantage here is you can have something relatively small like a 20-person wedding or go up to 80-100 people and it does not seem crowded,’’ she said.
‘‘It has always been a pleasure because you are involved in something which is happy for people who are celebrating a special time in their lives.’’
The couple never really caught the golf bug. Covid had allowed them time to unwind and golfers had grown in numbers since the pandemic.
‘‘We were quite early in getting open after Covid and the day we opened within 10 minutes people were booking tees. They just wanted to get out and about.’’
The price of a round had gone from $10 to $15 and was now $20, but it was still cheap, Mr Spittle said. With another nine-hole course next door — Gladfield — many had suggested they combine for an 18-hole course, but it had never got close, he said.
‘‘They played a 27-hole tournament out here once: nine holes at Gladfield, then nine holes here and nine holes back at Gladfield. And that is about as close as it has got. No-one seems interested in it,’’ Mr Spittle said.
The course had been for sale on and off for seven years and the couple wanted to sell it to someone who would keep it as a golf course. It was zoned rural, so could not be subdivided for housing.
‘‘I said to Helen if we haven’t sold it by the time I‘m 75 we’ll just walk away.’’
Well, last Friday he turned 75 and today the course will be taken over by Outram couple Blair and Carolyn Bennett.
The Spittles will hang around for a couple of months and then begin the next chapter of their lives in Oamaru, near family.
