Cripple Creek Golf Course General Manager and golf pro Brian Trout will have even more reason to celebrate next month, as if the course turning 25 years old this summer wasn’t enough. Last week, Cripple Creek was selected to host the Henlopen Conference Golf Championship at the end of the high-school season, for the first time in the club’s history.

“We’re very excited that we can bring something like this to the area,” said Trout. “Usually, the championship is held farther upstate, toward Dover. It’s great to bring them here and give our club that exposure.”

The Henlopen Conference includes two divisions: the Henlopen North Conference, which encompasses Caesar Rodney, Cape Henlopen, Dover, Polytech, Smyrna, Sussex Central and Sussex Tech high schools, and the Henlopen South, which contains Delmar, Lake Forest, Laurel, Milford, Seaford, Woodbridge and Indian River, whose golf team calls Cripple Creek home.

“It’s nice to have some of the best golfers in the state playing at our course,” Trout said, “but we’re even more excited to have the Indian River team play here as their home course. It’s a great way to get the love of the game out to a younger crowd.”

Last year, the Indians fell short of the Henlopen South title by mere strokes, but things are looking up.

“This should be a big boost for our Indian River golf team,” said second-year head coach Paris Mitchell of the championship landing at the team’s home course. “It could be an advantage for us, but the advantage only goes so far. We’ll need to bring our ability to play against these teams.”

The Indians, coming off of two wins in their last three games, including an impressive showing over Delmar, will head back into conference match-ups after their spring break.

“Hosting the conference tournament here gives all the other teams a chance to see the course,” Mitchell added, “and gives our athletes an opportunity to see these athletes. It ought to be a great experience. I know Brian’s excited about it.”

Trout said he hopes to submit a bid for the state championship to be held at Cripple Creek, as well.

“An event like the conference championship really draws attention to the area,” Trout added. “There are a lot of good courses around here, but we don’t want to just stop there.”

Trout spent years upstate as the golf pro at the Wilmington Country Club before relocating to Cripple Creek.

“Wilmington has a huge junior golf program,” he noted, “which is something I’m really pushing for. We haven’t reached the numbers here, but bringing the tournament here gives the youth not only a quality course to play on, but gives team a place to practice and learn, and allows students and schools to benefit.

“A tournament like this isn’t necessarily a big source of revenue, but it’s worth its weight in gold, due to the kind of exposure it brings. Our main goal is to promote and grow the game of golf,” Trout emphasized. “We’d like for young athletes to continue later in life as members of the club, and this is the way to do it.”

The Henlopen Conference Championship will be held at Cripple Creek on May 21.