SILVIES — Making golf more accessible and recognizing the role of women in the game was the inspiration behind designing a putting course at The Retreat, Links and Spa at Silvies Valley Ranch.

This summer, Silvies Valley opened Claire’s Course, an 18-hole reversible putting course named after Claire Owens, the first woman to play golf in Silvies.

Scott Campbell, the resort’s owner, said that besides honoring an influential woman from Silvies Valley, the putting course aims to make the game fun for everyone and put golf clubs in as many hands as possible.

“We’re trying to get the whole family involved,” Campbell said. “Not just the guys.”

Campbell said the new course is the first of its kind and is designed to be played simultaneously in opposite directions, east to west and west to east. Free to guests of the resort, the 720-foot course circles the lower half of Otter Lake, right outside the resort’s lodge and log cabins, and has water hazards on each hole.

The course is the creation of Dan Hixson, the designer of the resort’s two 18-hole reversible courses, Hankins and Craddock, which were recognized by Golf Digest as two of the top four best new courses of 2018.

The reversible design means just that. One day you can play the course in one direction, and the next you can play in the opposite direction.

Campbell said most putting courses being built these days are on vast expanses of greens and take after the Himalayas putting course at the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club in Scotland. The Himalayas, which gets its name from the undulating nature of its terrain, is believed to have been the world’s first putting course.

He said those courses play more like a traditional putting green in that people end up putting a couple of holes, and that’s it.

With Claire’s, Campbell said, the reversible design where people play in opposite directions should make the entire course fun for experienced and novice golfers alike and add a dimension of interaction that golfers have never had.

“People who have never had a golf club in their hand can go out there and have a good time,” Campbell said.

‘The Ladies Putting Green’

The origin story of the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club, better known as the Himalayas, was about including women in golf, much like the intention in creating Claire’s Course.

Around the time of its establishment in 1867, there were few recreational sports for women beyond croquet, badminton and archery. The idea of women competing alongside men in golf was — to say the least — frowned upon.

However, women with brothers and fathers who were members of St. Andrews had little to do to pass the time when they came to St. Andrews for the summer.

Eventually, a nine-hole “miniature links” golf course was laid out, dubbed the Ladies Putting Green, outside public view. The putting green grew in popularity and, in 1867, it was established as the St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club, which was later renamed the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club. Campbell said Claire Owens homesteaded a couple of miles south of where Silvies’ golf courses stand today.

It is believed that Owens played golf around the turn of the last century on a course owned by fellow homesteader Miles McVeigh. A seven-hole course at Silvies is named after him.

In addition to the belief that Owens was the first woman to play golf in the Silvies Valley, Owens was a member of the Silvies School Board. Campbell said legend has it that she might have coached Silvies’ golf team.

Campbell said when one looks at the records of who settled what pieces of land in the area, it is difficult to find information about the women.

Owens lived during a time when women’s names were not on land deeds, nor could they vote; ultimately, they had few rights.

But, Campbell said, women like Owens played a significant role in settling the Silvies Valley area.

One of the unique aspects of playing golf at The Retreat, Links and Spa at Silvies Valley Ranch are the goat caddies.

The resort’s two newest caddies, Chunky and Charlie, were selected from over 300 young goats.

The purebred American range goats, set up with a custom pack, can carry up to six golf clubs, a dozen golf balls and golf tees on the resort’s seven-hole course, dubbed McVeigh’s Gauntlet. The course was named “Best New Golf Experience” by Golf Magazine in 2018.