Plenty of farmers decide to retire to the golf course. Ken and Helen Spittle did so in 2008.
However, for them the decision went beyond playing golf: they bought the course.
Having farmed in South Otago and Gore, they were ready for a change of pace, as Helen explains.
“We sold the farm and were not sure what we were going to do. We were looking at lifestyle properties, though realised that in our mid 50s, finding work might be difficult.”
At first when they saw the golf course was for sale, they weren’t especially interested. That changed when they figured out how it could go.
“We decided it was an opportunity to buy ourselves a job,” says Helen.
Located on the Taieri plain between Dunedin Airport and the city, JTee’s is a nine-hole course developed in the 1980s by local farmer Trevor Stevenson, who subdivided 9.7 hectares off his Allanton property. Retired greenkeeper Stewart Taylor built the course and was on hand when the Spittles took over. Ken effectively became Stewart’s apprentice for a few years, learning how to maintain their unusual property.
“Other family members gave me a hard time because when we were farming, I made a point of never mowing lawns. After we bought the course, I had to eat humble pie.”
With one set of specialised mowers for the greens and another for the fairways, mowing is an art that Ken has now mastered.
Coming from the farm, dealing with people much more regularly was another shock for Ken, though one that he has since taken great pleasure in.
“Seeing people come in after a round of golf, happy, having had a good experience in the fresh air, is so satisfying. Being here, seeing our golfers who live in town walking around what is basically a park, has made us appreciate what we’ve got. It’s been a lovely place to live,” he says.
Keeping the course tidy is their top priority.
“We’ve had several favourable comments on its appearance and the way our greens play. Although it’s not international standard, it is comparable to many club courses,” says Helen, who also took on the club rooms, turning them into a function centre with a commercial kitchen for events, such as weddings, twenty-firsts, and conferences, which has given her just as much enjoyment.
“I love working with people, helping them make the most of a special event, whether that be a conference, meeting, significant birthday, or a meal out. I love helping make sure our guests have a great time.”
While Helen and Ken originally put a five-year limit on their tenure at JTee’s, when that time was up, they still had goals to achieve, so stayed on. By 2019, though, they were ready for the next move.
“We knew the right buyer had to be someone who was prepared to keep the course on and not let the golfers down,” says Helen.
After initially engaging another agency, after covid they asked Roger Nicolson of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Dunedin to market JTee’s for them. With a group of mates, Roger has been a regular on the course for several years, which gave him added incentive to find the right buyer.
“Because it’s unusual, I expected it would take awhile to sell. I knew it had to go to someone who would keep the course going.”
Although a few purchasers came close, nobody was quite ready to take JTee’s on.
“If a new owner closed the course, I was afraid my golf mates wouldn’t speak to me again. At one point I told them they needed to form a syndicate to buy it themselves and make sure they could carry on playing,” says Roger.
In the end, earlier this year, Carolyn and Blair Bennett turned up, as Carolyn explains.
“We’ve known it was for sale. We own a small trucking company and Blair drives past JTee’s almost every day,” she says.
Like Helen and Ken 18 years earlier, they finally realised the opportunity that owning the course offers.
“I’ve been running events for 16 years, and we have a young son. It finally clicked that this was a perfect option for us: a nice place for us to live and work as a family.”
The Bennetts made an offer, the Spittles accepted, and after setting a goal of selling by the time he turned 75, Ken just missed that objective, selling JTee’s five days after the big birthday.
“Roger was always positive that he would find a buyer. He only ever brought in people who were genuine, and eventually his patience and persistence paid off. We are delighted that Carolyn and Blair are taking over, and relieved that our golfers will continue to enjoy the course,” says Helen.
She and Ken are moving to Oamaru to be closer to family.
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