I feel like Rip Van Winkle as I awake from a deep offseason sleep to find the golf landscape changing.
Or was it just a dream?
Gone is Fal Wood (retired) at Dalton Ranch Golf Club as Pier Nielson takes the reins. A new ownership group, with a prestigious namesake with Colorado collegiate roots and PGA stardom, will move Dalton Ranch into the 21st century.
A proposed 5- to 10-year master-plan makeover of the Hillcrest Golf Club layout is making for interesting golf conversation, as well.
A former boss once told me that change is inevitable, and if you do not adapt, you are left behind. You have a right, or an opinion, to disagree. That is what makes our country great. It took me awhile to realize this and to find a silver lining.
So, enough with the cliches, and let’s fire up the flux capacitor and get back to the future and welcome in my 33rd season of the Clubhouse Porch.
Yes, I did get the clubs out a week ago and play my first round of golf, and the jury still is deliberating the outcome. My appeal (aka future rounds), I feel, will yield better results as my first-of-the-season endeavor has been sealed by the courts. To put it in a nutshell, it was great to get back out.
I have had brief chats with three of our area club pros, and they all are anxious to get the season underway and have very good-looking tournament schedules posted.
Now all we need is some water.
Dalton Ranch will tee off the tournament season Saturday with the annual Hopin’ We’re Open event, which has a field of entrant cutoff at 100 players. It will have a shotgun start at 10 a.m., and I will have results for you in next week’s column. Call the DRGC pro shop at 247-8774 for sign-up information.
Hillcrest, which is greening up very nicely, will kick off its 18-tournament seasonal schedule April 19 with the JTM Music A-B-C-D Blind Draw Scramble, which includes a $500 added purse and the ever-popular coffee and doughnuts. This event also is a qualifier for the end-of-season Todd Sieger Shootout on Oct. 4.
Give the HGC pro shop a call about this event at 247-1499.
I have been in contact by email with Cathy Gaskell of the Dalton Ranch Golf Club Women’s Golf Association about several of the upcoming events not only at DRGC but regionally as the ladies expand their golfing horizons to events all over the Four Corners area. There are several very good events, and we will highlight those activities throughout the season.
The Hillcrest Women’s Golf Association will have its opening-night dinner coming up and their Tuesday Ladies Day events throughout the season. We will keep you up to date on those events, as well.
You also will not be left out of regional action on our many Four Corners courses, as we again will tap into the tournament schedules on the best courses in the area.
Now, let’s dust off those sticks and get with the program. See you on the links.
Dave Bray has been covering the local golf scene for 33 years. He can be reached at dbray3751@gmail.com.
