The Holbrook, Ariz., golf course will convert a stretch of land near the first tee box into a driving range, and renumber other holes to accommodate it, over the winter. A mass planting of grass is planned as well to make up for a die-off that occurred last summer as a result of a lightning strike that damaged the timers that control irrigation sprinklers.

Golfers at Hidden Cove Golf Course in Holbrook, Ariz., will have some big changes to look forward to, the Holbrook-based Arizona Journal reported.

“There’s no driving range right now,” said City Finance Director Randy Sullivan, noting that the addition of a range would be the first project to be addressed at the course over the winter.

Currently, the holes at the course have been renumbered, with the old number four hole becoming the new number one, the old number five becoming the new number two and so forth, the Journal reported.

The current tee box for the first hole, a par five that used to be the number four hole, is no longer being used because all the grass in front of it has died off, Sullivan said.

“There’s nothing left there but bare dirt. Golfers don’t like hitting off bare dirt.”

Plans call for the stretch just northwest of the number one tee box to be converted into a driving range. Golfers have already started using a new tee box adjacent to the number two hole to play the number one hole, so they can play on grass the entire time, the Journal reported.

“It will change the yardage on the hole and change it from a par five to a par four,” Sullivan said.

Another change will consist of a grass planting campaign, the Journal reported. “In the spring we plan to do a mass planting of grass out there,” Sullivan said. “We lost a lot of grass.”

The die-off of the grass came from a lightning strike last summer that damaged some of the timers that controlled the irrigation sprinklers, Sullivan said. By the time they could be repaired, the damage had been done and the grass had died, the Journal reported.

For winter months in the past, the course stayed open when the frost was off the greens. For the upcoming winter, Sullivan said the course would open only when the air temperature reaches 40 degrees, the Journal reported.

“The big reason for that is if there is frost on the grass and golfers are walking on it, it kills the grass,” said Sullivan.