As a result of drought conditions, the San Luis Obispo, Calif., property will soon transform holes 10-18 into a separate nine-hole course, and will construct a facility in which visitors can hit range balls and have table service that will be complete by September 1. Within the next 12 months, the property also plans to add a zip-line course, miniature golf, go-karts, and a BMX pump track.
Dairy Creek Golf Course in San Luis Obispo, Calif., has seen and felt the direct impacts of the drought, and as a result, the course will soon be cut in half, the San Luis Obispo-based KSBY 6 reported.
Holes 10-18 will soon become a nine-hole course. “Unfortunately, May 1 will be the last day at the golf course we’ll play as an 18-hole property,” said Josh Heptig, San Luis Obispo County Parks Golf Superintendent.
The course receives its water supply from the nearby California Men’s Colony, Heptig said, but in 2009, when State Assembly Bill 109 was passed and prison populations were reduced, so was the water for the golf course, KSBY reported.
“We tried going where we just had green greens and turning off the irrigation on everything else and we were losing a lot of money,” Heptig said.
C&RB reported in August 2017 about the property’s plans to scale back on water. In 2014, C&RB reported on the property’s zero-waste maintenance facility.
“I wish we got some water to keep it because it’s going to be sorely missed,” said John Lundy, who has been golfing at the course for 16 years.
For this course, where there’s loss there’s also gain, which means exciting new additions are on the way. “We’ll have a ‘Topgolf’-like facility here at Dairy Creek Golf Course where people can come out here to our restaurant, go in and have a drink and get some food and come out and hit range balls and have table service while they’re hitting range balls,” Heptig said.
Construction on that facility is set to start sometime between June and July with completion by September 1, KSBY reported.
These new additions will go beyond golf and also include a zip-lining course, miniature golf, and go-karts, which will be added within a 12-month period. “We’re looking to close to $800,000 to get the first two phases done: the mini golf, the go-karts, and the Topgolf,” Heptig said. “A lot of those funds are coming from sources that are already in our parks system.”
The upgrades could also include camping cabins, which Heptig said are dependent on how much revenue is made. There will even be something for BMX riders, KSBY reported.
“We’re looking at adding a BMX pump track for younger kids. We’re looking at adding a couple skills courses, one for advanced BMX riders as well as intermediate BMX riders,” Heptig said. “We just want it to be a really fun place.”
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