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Jimmy Muratt

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ballyneal's website is now functional and has a few pictures of the property and some information on the club.  There are letters on the site written by Tom Doak about the land and Dave Wilber as well.  

The site looks incredible, very similar to Sand Hills.  I can't wait to see what Tom does with the land and what ideas he has in store.

As we've talked about before, it will be very interesting to see how all of these very isolated private clubs that have recently opened or will open soon do with attracting members.  (Sutton Bay, Ballyneal, Dismal River Golf Club (Nicklaus project in Sand Hills), and also the upcoming Gil Hanse project in Valentine)

Here's the link to Ballyneal:  http://www.ballyneal.com/



Chris_Clouser

So do we have to refer to Tom as master architect now?  ;D

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Well, at least he doesn't design fishing lures...or you know what we'd have to call him ;D ::)
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Jason Hines

  • Karma: +0/-0
I know this has been discussed, but I cannot remember if this one is semi-private or fully private?  Or has it been determined yet?

Jason

Kevin_Reilly

  • Karma: +0/-0
It will be a private club.
"GOLF COURSES SHOULD BE ENJOYED RATHER THAN RATED" - Tom Watson

brad_miller

  • Karma: +0/-0
Looks like there will be a number of potentially great courses built, but will any of them be great clubs?  How long will the seasons be for each? What is travel time to Doak project from Denver?

cary lichtenstein

  • Karma: +0/-0
What is the travel time from Ballyneal to Sand Hills? Is Ballyneal in the Nebraska area called the Nebraska Sand Hills?
Live Jupiter, Fl, was  4 handicap, played top 100 US, top 75 World. Great memories, no longer play, 4 back surgeries. I don't miss a lot of things about golf, life is simpler with out it. I miss my 60 degree wedge shots, don't miss nasty weather, icing, back spasms. Last course I played was Augusta

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Odd timing.  We just got official word yesterday that the construction of the golf course has been delayed.  They are still hoping to do some work in 2004, but we've been told not to count on anything until 2005.

Dave_Wilber

  • Karma: +0/-0
It's been a really fun time going through the whole planning stage and exciting to fully realize that Ballyneal is just gonna be way cool.

As always, the permitting process has taken longer than expected and we are still waiting on one key permit which seems to have stalled on someone's desk in Denver for far too long--and not because of any resistance. So we had to evaluate our schedule a bit and revert back to a previous more sensible thought of getting a few things started this year and moving forward in a bigger way early next year to meet a stronger grassing window.

In the mean time we are working out our issues with irrigation design and reveg and all the stuff that I like to hyperfocus on. I'd rather not rush just to be first, but rather carry along in a possible manner. With this site we can't expose a bunch of stuff that doesn't have the chance of getting grassed and having a good inital seeding catch. We are happy Tom has allowed some flexibility in his schedule to flow with this.



Answers to a couple of questions:

Ballyneal will be private. We are working out the details of some limited unaccompanied guest day tickets to make sure that those who want to see and play the place will have that chance. Membership sales are happening. We are looking for that group of initial members that see the potential right now. Talk is cheap, so the initial offering is going to be very good to those stepping up to the plate in the early stages. If you are interested Rupert O'Neal's contact info is on the website...I'm the grass guy :)

Travel time to Sand Hills is about 3 hours. Travel time from the Denver Airport is 2:14 (that's from personal experience and is based on getting a 1 point ticket doing it---which did transfer to my california driver's licence). Really more like the 2:30 range.

« Last Edit: May 27, 2004, 07:32:02 PM by Dave_Wilber »
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Dave Wilber
Wilber Consulting--Coaching, Writing Broadcasting, Agronomy
davewilber@yahoo.com
twitter: @turfgrasszealot
instagram @turfgrasszeal
"No one goes to play the great courses we talk about here because they do a nice bowl of soup. Soup helps, but you can’t putt in it." --Wilber

brad_miller

  • Karma: +0/-0
Dave, how long will season be?

Dave_Wilber

  • Karma: +0/-0
Brad,

Pretty much an April thru late November situation for golf. Perhaps a little shorter or longer depending on the year. We want golf to exist with the Upland Game seasons to allow for integration of Hunting and Golf, as it should be.
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Dave Wilber
Wilber Consulting--Coaching, Writing Broadcasting, Agronomy
davewilber@yahoo.com
twitter: @turfgrasszealot
instagram @turfgrasszeal
"No one goes to play the great courses we talk about here because they do a nice bowl of soup. Soup helps, but you can’t putt in it." --Wilber

Jason Hines

  • Karma: +0/-0
Dave,

Good idea on the guest tickets, reciprocity would be nice as well, I look forward to playing there.  In the future, the best way to travel out there is to travel at night and slow down when you see headlights.  

Jason