New Courses and Renovations ate Bob Randle, who has previously worked at Prairie Dunes CC in Hutchinson, Kan., and at Pine Hills CC in northern Louisiana. El Dorado, with about 21,500 residents, has a country club and a public course already. Parks predicts that several smaller courses in the area may choose to merge with him rather than dilute the market. He also expects the course to draw form a 50mile radius, including in northern Louisiana.
shots,” said Kendall Dye, former University of Oklahoma golfer now on the Futures Tour and a Greens CC member. “I love to come out here and work on different shots that might come up in a round.” The holes can be played at different angles from different tees. None are longer than about 70 yards, but the most fun is not from the tee, but from the landforms between the tee and green.
Par-3 livens The Greens
Forest Ridge Golf Course is saying so long to its old greens. No more Penn Cross. Hopefully, no more poa annua. Director of golf Lance Allen couldn’t be more excited about the new Tyee bent grass with which all 18 greens will be sodded this fall. Particularly after a recent trip to Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark., to play in the PGA South Central Section Match Play Championship. Allen wasn’t the only section pro who came away from that event raving about the Pinnacle greens, which opened last summer and were the first in the section to use the Tyee strain of bent grass. Tim Graves, winner of the tournament, said the greens compare favorably with those of any he’s seen across the country this year, including Merion. “They are just beautiful,” Allen said. “I was very impressed. What’s really impressive about the new technology with the grasses is that you can now mow it at the same height and gain a foot of speed (on the stimpmeter.) The grass provides less resistance to the golf ball so you don’t have to shave the greens to get your speed up.” Forest Ridge was to close the back nine holes on Aug. 23 and the front nine on Sept. 7. The resurfacing is scheduled to begin Oct. 1. Forest Ridge architect Randy Heckenkemper, who also did the renovation at Pinnacle, believes the renovation will help Forest Ridge maintain its reputation of providing an extra level of course, conditioning and service in the public course sector. “Lance is extremely excited about the Tyee as am I,” Heckenkemper said. “Combined with all the bunker work and other improvements to the green complexes, I think golfers will really be excited about the changes.” Allen said the new greens, which will be sodden instead of seeded, allowing for a much shorter down time, will regain some square footage lost over the years to Bermuda encroachment and only minor modifications will be made to the existing grades, mostly to accommodate the greater green speeds expected with the Tyee. Work will also commence on a pond on the par-3 15th hole that will extend in front
Golfers at The Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City are sharpening their shortgame skills on a new three-hole practice facility that affords the chance to work on every conceivable type of pitch, chip and putt. Architect Jerry Slack of Broken Arrow made excellent use of mounds, depressions, bunkers and slopes to give golfers a maximum variety of options for shots, stances and strategies. GM Tommy English, Kendall Dye and PGA pro You can work on everything from the lob Brent Cryer on the par-3 course at The Greens CC. shot to the chip and run. The holes are fa“We’re hoping that it will be like a mini vorites of juniors and the most skilled playHot Springs Village,” Parks said. “It will ers at the club, according to Tommy Engdepend on how successful we are with the lish, one of the ownership partners and the first phase.” club’s general manager. The superintendent is Kansas State gradu“This lets you practice a million different
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Forest Ridge renovation
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