The beloved golf course in the Four Corners region of New Mexico has been closed since January for renovations. A new irrigation system was installed, all the sand traps were excavated, with new liners and sand being put in at the course in Farmington, N.M. The clubhouse improvement is almost finished. “The course [is] really important to the community, our people here are really proud of it,” General Manager Chris Jones says.

A beloved golf course in the Four Corners region of New Mexico has been closed since January for renovations. Now that those changes are almost finished, golfers made their return to the fairways on Dec. 1, where the course is hoping they’ve aced the renovations, KOB reported.

Pinon Hills Golf Course in Farmington, N.M., has been around since the late 1980s.

“The course [is] really important to the community, our people here are really proud of it,” General Manager Chris Jones said to KOB.

It’s 300 acres of golfer’s paradise, nestled in the high desert of Farmington.

“With us being in the rankings every year of the best courses not only in New Mexico, but the best municipal courses in the country, we get a lot of notoriety,” Jones added.

For almost 34 years, golfers have been hitting the fairways and although age is just a number, the wear and tear couldn’t be ignored, KOB reported.

“Just over the years there is so much sandstone and rock in the soil that the pipes start jumping as you put water in them, it would break and crack, and we just had leaks all over the place,” said Jones to KOB. “If you don’t have 25 leaks on the golf course it’s going to be better conditions for your golfers. We’re going to save a lot of water with this new system. It’s way more efficient.”

But that isn’t the only renovation.

“In addition to the irrigation system, all the sand traps were excavated, put new liners in and new sand, the clubhouse is being finished right now,” said Jones.

After nearly a year of renovations, tee time is back on, KOB reported.

“We filled up pretty quickly for the weekend,” Jones said. “Obviously a lot of our people are glad to be back. We’ve already had some of our regulars from Durango and Pagosa come down and see it.”

Jones added with the city of Farmington’s shift toward outdoor recreation, the new renovations are a great addition, KOB reported.

“It definitely impacts the local economy not only for our resident golfers, but we get golfers all around the Four Corners that come here, and we also get people who travel quite a long distance sometimes,” said Jones.

Jones added the pro-shop renovations will be completed in a couple of weeks, and the restaurant will be done in a month.