I think OKC needs to look at building a new municipal golf course, or at least a drastic remodel of a current one. Torrey Pines or something like Bethpage in New York (both of which have hosted US Opens) are great municipal courses and not too expensive to play. And its not like they are nicest course as far as course conditions and clubhouses go, though Torrey does have the scenery. It would have been great to have about $6-10 million of Maps3 money go to something like that. Many high school tournaments, coorperate events junior events and even some championship golf could be played there. My thinking is either pick a scenic location (eastern OKC) and build a new course from the land or exstensively remodel Lincoln Park, which I consider to be the prettiest city course. At Lincold west you could move a little dirt, relocate some greens and tee boxes and upgrade the overall groundskeeping and this city could have a very beautiful and challenging course.

I think OKC needs to look at building a new municipal golf course, or at least a drastic remodel of a current one. Torrey Pines or something like Bethpage in New York (both of which have hosted US Opens) are great municipal courses and not too expensive to play. And its not like they are nicest course as far as course conditions and clubhouses go, though Torrey does have the scenery. It would have been great to have about $6-10 million of Maps3 money go to something like that. Many high school tournaments, coorperate events junior events and even some championship golf could be played there. My thinking is either pick a scenic location (eastern OKC) and build a new course from the land or exstensively remodel Lincoln Park, which I consider to be the prettiest city course. At Lincold west you could move a little dirt, relocate some greens and tee boxes and upgrade the overall groundskeeping and this city could have a very beautiful and challenging course.

I personally think the 4 we have is enough.

Ackerman was recommending trying to build one downtown possibly near the river with an adjacent five star hotel to cater to wealthy visitors for big events.

rcjunkie, as I said, one of them could be remodeled

Snowman, not talking about a course for only the wealthy, they already have very nice options. I'm talking about a very good city course that costs around $50-75 a round that for the most part is first come first served.

I'm with RC, we have enough, just need a revamp, but where is the money? If anything, I think Hefner would be the best option, but you're fooling yourself if you want to compare us to Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines or Bethpage. We don't have the topography or natural scenery. We could go for a world class links style course ala Gaillardia.

I'm with RC, we have enough, just need a revamp, but where is the money? If anything, I think Hefner would be the best option, but you're fooling yourself if you want to compare us to Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines or Bethpage. We don't have the topography or natural scenery. We could go for a world class links style course ala Gaillardia.

I think onthestrip means if the $$ could be included in the future, not that we have it now.

The comparison to Bethpage and Torrey Pines is because they are municipal courses at a price range golfers can afford. (Pebble falls in neither of those categories)

Obivously OKC doesnt have an ocean we can throw next to the course. However, I think there is plenty of topography at Lincoln (west course, specifically) to make into a lot nicer course. There is already a lot of elevation changes as is. Add in some dirt work and they could make that course really drastic as far as elevation is concerned. There is also plenty of room to move some holes around. Would be cool to see them utilize the lake at the zoo and have a hole around that. To me Lincoln already has a built in advantage being in the adventure district. With tournaments and exposure I think it would be well worth the investment, and probably not that big of investment to make big changes. I am for it.

There are preliminary plans to build one on the north side of Draper lake. If you haven't been out there, you should check it out, new parks are in place and the lake road completely circles the lake. Other than the lake being empty due to repairs, it's getting to be a nice area.

There are preliminary plans to build one on the north side of Draper lake. If you haven't been out there, you should check it out, new parks are in place and the lake road completely circles the lake. Other than the lake being empty due to repairs, it's getting to be a nice area.

And you're not concerned about using funds to build a new golf course instead of going to public safety uses? LOL

Sorry and no offense. I just couldn't resist.

Let's just try to keep the ones in OKC from turning into a gay park.

Let's just try to keep the ones in OKC from turning into a gay park.

And what exactly is that supposed to meant by that statement???

And what exactly is that supposed to meant by that statement???

You mean you hadn't heard that we have designated gay and straight parks? I thought everyone knew that. I haven't figured out yet which ones are straight though. I think some gay people bypass the guards and get into all of them. LOL

And you're not concerned about using funds to build a new golf course instead of going to public safety uses? LOL

Sorry and no offense. I just couldn't resist.

Ljbab for the win. I think there's a brand new kajillion-dollar fire hose somewhere that already needs to be replaced. I think a municipal golf course could make a great Maps IV item to keep leveraging support for downtown. In other words, to perpetuate the grand conspiracy against public safety. :-)

And who knows what OKCNDN meant by that. Is that one of those legendary golfer jokes? har har har

There have been park areas in the OKC areas that have basically been a gathering point for gay patrons to have sex. Trosper and Will Rogers are 2 areas that have been meeting places for homosexuals. Maybe not now but they have been in the past. And the old rest stop on I-40 by Guthrie used to be a gathering point. That area was so bad that it was shut down completely.

People can do what they want, with whoever they want, but not in a public place. Isn't that what the Habana Inn and surrounding area is for? Absolutely nothing against gays. Having sex in public places would be wrong if heterosexuals did it.

How did you come to be so familiar with these parks? From my perspective, it's great to see some recreation actually taking place in OKC's barren parks. (just kidding)

And where exactly was this rest stop on I-40 in Guthrie? For some reason I can't locate that...

:ohno:The rest stop was :closed: down many years ago, over ten I believe.

I hope you didn't spend too much time driving up and down I-40 looking for that rest stop, with gas prices being what they are...:LolLolLol

OK, I'll say it again... where on I-40 in Guthrie? (Now you should get what I was saying)

Ooopss!!!!

I-35 by Guthrie...

nm

nm - I'll stick to golf course talk.

We had one of those parks here in Jax. Unfortunately, it was also home to one the baseball little leagues. We would have to go over on Saturday morning before the first games and pick up condom and anal lubricant packages from the parking lots, bathrooms, and dugouts. Thank goodness the police started patrolling the area at night. I don't know why gays can't have sex at home like everyone else.

Jax had gay cops!?!?!?!:whisper:

I said patrolling - not trolling.

Let's just try to keep the ones in OKC from turning into a gay park.

I want to play at the straight course.... my slice has gotten bad lately

There have been park areas in the OKC areas that have basically been a gathering point for gay patrons to have sex. Trosper and Will Rogers are 2 areas that have been meeting places for homosexuals. Maybe not now but they have been in the past. And the old rest stop on I-40 by Guthrie used to be a gathering point. That area was so bad that it was shut down completely.

People can do what they want, with whoever they want, but not in a public place. Isn't that what the Habana Inn and surrounding area is for? Absolutely nothing against gays. Having sex in public places would be wrong if heterosexuals did it.

I do believe straight people also do this......

To address the actual topic:

I think it was early last year or so that the pro at Hefner said that the South course, one of the oldest existing courses in the metro (if not the only), was slated for a redesign. It leaves me a bit sad at the thought of losing such a relic, though if they get rid of that annoying tee-box-protecting screen between the fourth and fifth holes, that's fine by me.

edit to add link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Oklahoma+City&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&hq=&hnear=Oklahoma+City,+Oklahoma&ll=35.544367,-97.602157&spn=0.000334,0.000409&t=h&z=21

To address the actual topic:

I think it was early last year or so that the pro at Hefner said that the South course, one of the oldest existing courses in the metro (if not the only), was slated for a redesign. It leaves me a bit sad at the thought of losing such a relic, though if they get rid of that annoying tee-box-protecting screen between the fourth and fifth holes, that's fine by me.

edit to add link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Oklahoma+City&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&hq=&hnear=Oklahoma+City,+Oklahoma&ll=35.544367,-97.602157&spn=0.000334,0.000409&t=h&z=21

For what Im talking about Im not sure you could accomplish at Hefner south. It is a very confined and compact course to begin with. I would imagine it would be very difficult to redesign it in a way that it stands out as a beautiful and challenging course. That said, I wouldnt be against hefner upgrading that course, the layout is pretty average.

On another note, does anyone have any idea if the city has to subsidize our courses or are they are self-sustaining?

Personally, we have enough public and private course already. However, I do believe that one of the long-term "visions" of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum is a golf course by the river. Of course, the bulk of the long-range plan for AICCM is not funded, but at least they have the idea in mind.

Oh great, an AICC course. So in other words they want a public course..


I do believe straight people also do this......

NO! None of us have ever been 17. If anyone tells you otherwise, it's liberal America-hating lies...

Personally, we have enough public and private course already. However, I do believe that one of the long-term "visions" of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum is a golf course by the river. Of course, the bulk of the long-range plan for AICCM is not funded, but at least they have the idea in mind.

I would immediately be inclined to agree, unless a good argument was advanced that I could consider. For public courses alone that a non-member could walk on with no notice, I count eight tracks out of five courses (off the top of my head; I'm sure there are more), and Jimmy Stewart isn't bad either with its nine holes. I am at the moment unaware of how someone could get on a private course (ostensibly something more challenging than public courses) as a guest.

I would immediately be inclined to agree, unless a good argument was advanced that I could consider. For public courses alone that a non-member could walk on with no notice, I count eight tracks out of five courses (off the top of my head; I'm sure there are more), and Jimmy Stewart isn't bad either with its nine holes. I am at the moment unaware of how someone could get on a private course (ostensibly something more challenging than public courses) as a guest.

Don't forget courses in MWC, El Reno, Guthrie and Norman. You can play posh private courses frequently if you sign up for charity scrambles. I am a below average golfer and have played at Oak Tree, Gaillardia, Quail Creek, Twin Hills and River Oaks through scrambles.

I don't know why gays can't have sex at home like everyone else.

'Cause their Republican wives probably wouldn't appreciate that very much.

Douche bags aside, it would be a very good set up with access off of Douglas or Midwest to have a course near Draper. Plenty of room to grow!

Compared to a lot of cities I have been to including Tulsa, I think Oklahoma City's municipal courses are pretty good. Bethpage and Torrey Pines are public courses, but they are very difficult to get on. Torrey Pines has a lot of rules and restrictions for tee times. I am not going to sleep in my car to play Lincoln like people do at Torrey Pines and Bethpage. Bethpage has five different courses, but the one the U.S. Open was played on is walking only and very difficult to get on.

The Oklahoma City area has a lot of public access courses that are either municipally owned or owned by private companies. Some think there are too many. Traditions, that used to be on 150th, was the highest rated public access course in Oklahoma with Karsten Creek according to Golf Digest. It started as a Par 62 executive course then was re-done as a beautiful par 72 championship course. The owners could not make enough on the course, so they shut it down and built houses on the property.

Westbury in West Oklahoma City used to be a private club then became public access. The current owner has tried to sell it for years and did not put enough into the course for a long time. Westbury has a good layout and a lot of potential to be a really good course if more money was put into irrigation and maintenance. It is currently up for sale and might be closed by a new owner to build houses on.

Two courses have been built in Blanchard that have not done so well. South Lakes? is essentially completed but has not been open although it has been done for a couple of years. Winter Creek opened under a different name way back around 1996 then closed for a number of years. It started out as public access, then tried to go completely private, then started allowing public play again after a lack of memberships were sold.

The popularity of golf in the U.S. grew considerabley in the 1990's. Lots of new courses were built that are now struggling to stay open. Some nice courses like Traditions have closed. One thing I like about golf in the Oklahoma City area is that it is relatively affordable and accessible compared to some places I have been to. I often play by myself and like to just walk up without a tee time to play. I am able to do so in the Oklahoma City area most of the time.

I used to play the Jimmie Austin course at O.U. but when they upgraded the course for the U.S. Public Links Tournament a couple of years ago, they jacked up the green fees and started members only play at times of the day when I like to play. I only played there about three times a year so becoming a member just so I could play after 3:00 p.m. was not an option. It is ironic that they hosted the Public Links, yet became less public at the same time. Jimmie Austin is probalby the closest thing to a public access course like Bethpage or Torrey Pines in the Oklahoma City area.

Bigray in Ok

Traditions, that used to be on 150th, was the highest rated public access course in Oklahoma with Karsten Creek according to Golf Digest. It started as a Par 62 executive course then was re-done as a beautiful par 72 championship course. The owners could not make enough on the course, so they shut it down and built houses on the property.


Well how about that. It's something to see houses following the contours of the course, streets along the old terraces of the practice tee, and fairways converted to greenbelt.