Just south of DuBois, in Clearfield County, a nine-hole golf course sits on picturesque farmland.

Kenterra Golf Course, which opened to the public in 2004, was built by the Kennis family and is operated today by Greg and Terry Kennis, along with their son, Greg. The course was built on the 300-acre Kennis farm that is still in operation today. Getting to know the farm’s history reveals an interesting story that is truly “American” in every sense of the word.

In 1908, Kennis family patriarch Peter Kennis traveled from Austria in hopes of pursuing the American dream. The 16-year-old arrived at Ellis Island with plans of working in the coal mines of central Pennsylvania and soon found himself working in the coke ovens at a coal company in Sykesville, Clearfield County.

The young Kennis worked hard and saved enough money to purchase small plots of land over time. Within several years, he had acquired enough property to start a large farm along the Clearfield-Jefferson County border.

Third-generation family member Greg Kennis knows his family’s farming history well. He spent much of his youth working on the farm before entering the education field, teaching agricultural science at Marion Center High School beginning in the early 1970s.

“I taught for about 12 years,” Kennis said. “But my heart was in the farm, and I came back to take it over in 1983.”

By the late 1990s, the family was looking to branch out from farming, and the golf business seemed like a good fit.

“My dad, Pete, was a great athlete and had become a scratch golfer,” Kennis said. “And my son, Greg, was really interested in golf. At the time, he just began attending Penn State to study turf grass science.”

The year was 1996, and the three generations of Kennis’ began scoping out their property, hitting golf balls and determining the layout of what would become their golf course. There was no rush to completion as the family was still operating its large-scale farm. In addition, the younger Kennis was in the midst of studying his trade at Penn State while also making the Nittany Lion football squad, as a punter.

Over the next seven years, fairways were carved out and seeded, tees were built, and irrigation systems were installed.

“We left the greens for last,” the younger Kennis said. “We wanted to make sure they were done right.”

Anyone who visits the course today will agree they were. The tremendous work involved in constructing each green included four tri-axle truckloads of gravel and 15 truckloads of sand for each of the nine putting surfaces. By the time the course opened in 2004, a challenging, well-manicured course awaited golfers. With multiple sets of tees for each hole, the nine-hole course plays as a par-35 layout the first time around and as a par-36 the second time through.

Through the years, Kenterra Golf Course has added a full fleet of golf carts, an impressive inventory of maintenance equipment and loyal group of members. The course is also open to the public for daily greens-fee players.

“We do our best to make the course a little bit better every year,” the younger Kennis said. “We’re just proud to be able to provide a good course for area golfers to come out and play.”