News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Anthony Gray

Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« on: June 12, 2010, 05:35:52 PM »


    Look at all the latest and greatest courses in theses areas. How did it all start. Who had the vission and what is instore in the future? Is the weather consistant for year round golf?

   Anthony


Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2010, 06:47:52 PM »
Anthony:

One part of it is just demographics ... a lot of Californians moving to Washington and Oregon over the past 20 years has spurred a lot of development.

The other part is that one of the main deterrents to golf development in the northwest and the rockies has always been ... well, rock.  Constructing a golf course in rocky soils is a much more expensive proposition than building on sand, and when you combine that with the short golf season at some altitudes, it was impossible to make the numbers work for developing a high-end golf course in, say, Montana.  It was only in the recent boom that anyone would have tried to build a place like Rock Creek.  And with the current environment, it probably won't have much local competition for years to come.

Mike Sweeney

Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2010, 10:20:54 PM »
I absolutely love the West and the huge vistas that you see when you golf and ski in The West. That said, before this post came up I looked at the distance between Rock Creek and Prairie Club for a trip.

It is 12 hours.

Not sure that it is a hotbed for golf as 12 hours basically gives you the entire island of Ireland.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2010, 12:17:30 AM »
Mike:

How many miles did you figure you could drive in 12 hours?  In Montana, the enforced speed limit for I-90 is pretty much the number on the road.

John Moore II

Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2010, 01:02:57 AM »
Look at all the latest and greatest courses in theses areas. How did it all start. Who had the vission and what is instore in the future? Is the weather consistant for year round golf?

   Anthony

In most areas of that region, no the weather is not suitable for year round golf. In coastal Oregon, Washington and Southern Utah, yes, you can play year round. But interior Oregon, interior Washington, Idaho and Montana are pretty much out since it gets very cold there, like sub-zero. Certral Utah, like the SLC region, is sort of playable year round, depending on the individual course and how brave you are.

But in general the reason for this expansion of good courses into these areas is that people in these areas have a lot of money plus, there are all ready hundreds of good courses in regions like Southern California, New England, Florida and the Southeast. The Northwest block area up there is one of the few remaining places that there are not all ready a high volume of golf courses/golf escapes. So, thats where they will be built. (Well, there will likely always be plenty of land available in Alaska, but weather won't allow for much of anything up there, unless someone has the idea to build a 100% FieldTurf golf course.)

DMoriarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2010, 01:34:32 AM »
I absolutely love the West and the huge vistas that you see when you golf and ski in The West. That said, before this post came up I looked at the distance between Rock Creek and Prairie Club for a trip.

It is 12 hours.

Not sure that it is a hotbed for golf as 12 hours basically gives you the entire island of Ireland.

Crazy new invention set to revolutionize travel:   the airplane.   
Mike:

How many miles did you figure you could drive in 12 hours?  In Montana, the enforced speed limit for I-90 is pretty much the number on the road.

Twelve hours is a fairly optimistic estimate.   It is almost 900 miles following the interstate.   While the drive would take longer, Bandon is actually closer.   

Here's an idea . . . spend the 12 hours playing Rock Creek three or four more times.  Or fishing.
Golf history can be quite interesting if you just let your favorite legends go and allow the truth to take you where it will.
--Tom MacWood (1958-2012)

Matt_Ward

Re: Mountain West and Northwest the new golf hotbed?
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2010, 01:37:36 PM »
The sad part is that too many people -- not all mind you -- are locked into the left and right coasts of the USA.

No doubt the talk about places like Ballyneal, Rock Creek, Black Mesa, Sand Hills, -- now the Prairie Club and a host of others in that time zone have really changed the dimension -- for the absolute better -- in my mind.

The logistics in getting to these locations is not an automatic thing for many people -- but the combination of Mother Nature when coupled with a solid piece of land and a talented architect can produce stellar outcomes.

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back