There is quite a battle going on in the city by the Falls. The combatants are the curmudgeons that “own” the Hyde Park golf courses and the kids who want to improve them for a new era. The Hyde Park North 18 was the original site of the Niagara Falls Country Club, before the private club moved north to Lewiston and inaugurated the Porter Cup. Another 18 was added on the south side of the street, nine of which are very good holes, and nine of which are abysmal.

In 2003, The First Tee brought a program to the golf dome and range that abut the courses, and went about teaching the core values and the game of golf to area kids. The program’s next step was to secure the red nine, long the subject of ridicule, swampy fairways, and infrequently-cut grass, and redesign it into a viable teaching nine. Trouble was, certain stalwarts in the area preferred to keep things the way they were, and essentially screw the kids. Two years later, this thing is no closer to resolution, and one wonders if the kids of Niagara Falls, many of whom don’t have many other opportunities for introduction to the grand old game, will ever see the sun rise on the promised new day.

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