Someone Build A Golf Course HERE!

[Ryan Farrow]

On my drive from Pittsburgh to Arizona I spend most of the trip looking at geological features and envisioing where i would fit a golf hole. I could not find one interesting piece of land untill just outside of Amarillo right off of I-40 About 60 miles to be exact.


If I was driving by myself I would have pulled over to take some pictures but I did not want to disrupt my dad. Instead we have aerials:







I did some research and it seems that this area is part of the McClellan Creek National Grassland. Here is a short article on what it is all about: "It was purchased with the goal of restoring badly eroded land to its natural state. It is now administered under Cibola National Forest." another article I found says this:

"Surrounding the reservoir is McClellan Creek National Grassland, one of several scattered tracts of land across the Panhandle and in Oklahoma and New Mexico bought by the federal government after the dust bowlqv of the 1930s. This area has been allowed to go back to native grasses and brush to anchor the soil and help prevent destructive dust storms. It is generally characterized by a flat to rolling terrain with deep sandy loams."

If the land is untouchable which it seems like it may be then it is surley a missed oppurtunity for some incredible and unique golf.

[Phil McDade]

Ryan:

Cool pics -- the land looks pretty severe. From the pics I've seen, Cape Kidnappers was on pretty severe land but had enough flat spots to do a course. This looks pretty darn hilly -- moreso than any of the Sand Hills land I've seen. Is a course realistic on this land? Curious....

[George Pazin]

That's funny, I'd have thought all the land around Amarillo looked like this:



































 

[Lou_Duran]

Very funny George.

Actually, Palo Duro Canyon just south of Amarillo is a beautiful area and a very popular tourist attraction.

A few years ago, Don Mahaffey and his partners purchased a course nearby and resurrected it from the dead.  He has much more knowledge of the area, but I think that the demographics out there are not particularly suitable for high-end golf.  Maybe a Wild Horse would do well out there, but the costs to build would be much higher.

There are a number of courses in the area, mostly in the highly affordable category, and many good golfers.  The wind is a very frequent factor (as is dust and heat), though bent grass does well due to cooler nights.  Firm, fast conditions are the norm (many there complain about it).  A friend who lived there for years and claimed that the wind nearly ruined his swing (shorter, punchy type) used to talk about the barbecue circuit events most weekends where sandbaggers were not all that uncommon and their treatment in line with the vileness of their actions.

While not routed in the land shown by the aerials above, Amarillo CC is a very nice classic course worth playing.  La Paloma, a more restrained von Hagge design in a housing development, is a good modern course worth playing if visiting the area.      

[Ryan Farrow]

Though it doesn’t show too well in the aerials there are hundreds of small canyons that run thorough some relatively flat land. The topography on this land is ridiculously beautiful. It seems the canyons are no more that 10-20 feet deep and the ability to play through between and over would present a golf course unlike anything I can think of.

[Jordan Wall]

Though it doesn’t show too well in the aerials there are hundreds of small canyons that run thorough some relatively flat land. The topography on this land is ridiculously beautiful. It seems the canyons are no more that 10-20 feet deep and the ability to play through between and over would present a golf course unlike anything I can think of.

Could it be a similar course as Black Mesa if indeed a course was built there?

Is the terrain relatively the same?

From pictures I have seen of BM the terrain is as you describe, and most people seem to love that place.

Would be a cool place for a golf course from what you describe...

[Ryan Farrow]

The land is very different from Black Mesa. Like I said, I’ve never seen anything like it. And of course it would be great for golf, that’s the point of the thread. I want somebody to buy the land and build a course on it if legally possible.

[Lou_Duran]

Ryan,

How many bridges would you propose at $20m to $40m each?  How do you get water to the whole site with all the crevices?  What do you do to minimize the forced carries and make it so the average golfer is not reaching constantly into his bag.

When I first began looking to build a course some 158 years ago, I was totally surprised when one of the architects I was working with declared that he much prefered a nice, gently rolling rectangular site without many trees, wash-outs, wetlands, and large elevation changes.  It seems that these features tend to add cost to the project and rather than offer more opportunities, they tend to limit what the architect can do.  It may be counterintuitive, but it makes a lot of sense upon reflection.  

[Ryan Farrow]

I'm sure there are some areas of this site that are more cost effective to build on than others. I don’t propose playing every hole over these crevices. The site interests me because it has the potential to be one of the most unique golf courses ever constructed. As for the architect who prefers tree-less gentle rolling terrain that’s great but how many courses are built on pieces of land just as he mentioned. Golfers need variety.