In Maryville, Mo., two golf courses at the Mozingo Lake Recreational Park will close from October 16-30 so staff can move golf operations, including the pro shop, into a new facility. In Charleston, W. Va., putting greens on six holes at Shawnee Park Golf Course will be removed in order to patch damaged greens at nearby golf courses. The Shawnee golf course will be redeveloped next year, but will remain open for play in the meantime.
The existing clubhouse, which is ultimately slated for demolition, and both golf courses at Mozingo Lake Recreational Park in Maryville, Mo., Sechrest 18 and Watson 9, will close from October 16 through October 30 so that park staff can move golf operations, including the pro shop, into the new facility, the Maryville Daily Forum reported.
After the courses reopen, tee time check-in services will temporarily relocate to the golf course maintenance building. Golfers will begin play on Sechrest hole No. 3 during the transition, the Daily Forum reported.
Signs will be posted to guide golfers to the temporary check-in location, said Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland. “This is a major logistical process and will require our full staff to minimize further disruption to golf course operations,” Heiland said. “While we understand that any closure is inconvenient for our avid golfers, we greatly appreciate your cooperation and understanding.”
In other Mozingo business, the city’s governing board executed a contract with Robertson Entertainment for the purchase of two TruGolf golf simulators for the budgeted amount of $106,400, including installation, shipping and handling. Both simulators are to be installed on the lower level of the conference center, which will also house a restaurant, golf pro shop and golf cart storage garage, the Daily Forum reported.
In Charleston, W. Va., the back halves of putting greens at Shawnee Park Golf Course holes 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9 will be removed starting on October 16, but the turf will live on as patches to damaged greens at Kanawha County’s Big Bend and Cookskin Park golf courses, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
The Shawnee golf course, scheduled to be transformed next year into the Shawnee Park Multi-Sports Complex, will remain open for play despite the reduction in putting green surface area “until it is not playable or not economically feasible to keep open,” according to an announcement by Dunbar Mayor Bill Cunningham. A reduced-size playing surface will remain at each affected green, making each hole more challenging but still playable, the Gazette-Mail reported.
The golf course’s irrigation system, which had been leaking, was recently turned off to allow over-saturated soil to dry out to accommodate construction of the multi-sports complex, the Gazette-Mail reported.
“The greens are currently being watered by hand to preserve them as long as [possible],” Cunningham said. The greens will continue to be watered by hand after October 16, but the fairways will no longer be watered, “which means they will begin to deteriorate,” according to the mayor.
Two of the three ponds at 127-acre Shawnee Park will soon be drained to allow soil at the bottoms of the ponds to dry and stabilize. The Shawnee Park property “has always been a vital part of life in the Kanawha Valley and has gone through several transformations over the years,” Cunningham said.
The new sports complex is expected to cost about $15 million to develop. Meanwhile, Cunningham urged fans of the golf course to “get your last rounds in before these changes make the course unplayable.”
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