Backyard swing set: Families share course on Bainbridge

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — They are as proud of the golf course as they are of themselves for thinking of it.

"At least when we finish cutting the grass," said Bruce Greené, "we can play 18 holes."

It's called Sleepy Hollow Golf Course and, I guess, is as exclusive as it gets. The course is strictly for family and friends, but then it is the back yards of Greené and Cliff Canfield, who share their adjacent lots for the common good of gardening and golf.

They have, on the combined two acres in the area above Manitou Beach on the island's east side, two homes and 18 holes of golf, the front nine on Greené's acre, the back nine on Canfield's. The course, all 600 yards of it, has 17 greens to be exact, as one shares two holes.

The holes vary in length from 20 to 60 yards, not long, all right, but terribly challenging, requiring shots over trees, between flower beds, one green with a bunker left, another with a pond in front.

And once on the greens — if you can hold the shot — the putts are as treacherous as their predecessors. Par is 54 — 3 on every hole. I toured it in 5-over 59, which was better than most of the two dozen in our tournament, but well off the course record of 9-under, held appropriately by both Greené and Canfield.

You get a free drop from any of the numerous flower beds brimming with iris, columbine, perennial geraniums and peonies, the only penalty shots coming if you go in the pond or OP (off property).

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In the early '70s, Cliff's father, Vern, bought five acres of pasture so his daughters, Cheri and Cindy, could have horses. Not so many years later the girls were gone, their horses replaced by blackberries and alder.

Cheri married Bruce Greené. They were living in Olympia, but she longed to return to the island. Dad subdivided the land, brought in his bulldozer and created an acre lot first for Cheri and Bruce, then his son, Cliff, and his wife, Mary Lu.

The guys had a friend, Karl Erickson, who lived up on Sunrise Drive and had turned his back yard into nine holes. They were intrigued, and decided to take the operation a step farther, creating actual greens instead of just lower-mowed patches of grass and having 18 holes instead of nine.

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"It started as a little joke," said Cheri Greené, "but the guys got serious awfully quick."

They were lucky to know Gary Duffner, the superintendent at nearby Meadowmeer Golf Course. He gave them plugs after the greens on that course had been punched for aeration.

"We spread them out where we wanted to have greens, rolled them, watered them and within weeks had grass growing,'' said Bruce Greené.

In all, it's been a 10-year project. Greens were moved, one raised near Greené's front porch by bringing in tons of dirt. Some are backed by fern-covered rock walls, beautiful, but unforgiving should the tee shot be long.

Canfield and Greené each have a riding lawn mower to take care of the "fairways." They had used an old reel mower on the greens, but got so into this thing that they bought a greens mower from the profits of a side business they have building ponds.

The flag sticks and ball washers came from the junk pile at Gold Mountain. Duffner gave them some flags, but recently they've bought their own with the headless horseman logo.

Before the Canfields settled here, the area was known as Sleepy Hollow. They used the name for the golf course; it is on the scorecards they've printed up.

"In the summer we play it every night," said Bruce. "It takes about 45 minutes. We're really competitive and we usually shoot about the same score."

They have small sand pails of old balls spotted around the course for those who lose theirs. They recommend the oldest and deadest balls you can find, better the chance of staying on the bedroom-sized greens. They like it when you use a tee for the first shot on each hole, saving the lawn.

Sleepy Hollow is more about landscaping and competition than it is about golf.

Cliff and Bruce aren't great golfers. In fact, they don't often play outside of Sleepy Hollow. That said, don't try to beat them on their home course. Bruce carries only a putter and a 9-iron, on which he opens up the face when he wants to hit a more lofted shot. Bump-and-run is often the most prudent play.

The shots are refreshing because you have no idea how many yards the holes are, or where the ball will bounce when it lands. The shots have to do with feel, and little else.

"They have so much fun playing out there," said Cheri, "and the kids bring their friends here to play, too. Mary Lu and I play every Mother's Day. The rest of the time we do the gardening."

Blaine Newnham: 206-464-2364 or bnewnham@seattletimes.com.