Left to right: Diane Mazzarella, Becky Lima, Eileen Snearly, and Rae Cobb
Jim Grosjean
After six months of patient anticipation, golfers from SaddleBrooke TWO were rewarded with the unveiling of the renovated back nine of the MountainView Golf Course on Oct. 9. The front nine will debut in November. The renovation was a massive project. The irrigation system was overdue for replacement. All tees were leveled and re-sodded with a type of Bermudagrass that has a longer growing season. Sand traps were redone by adding an underlayment of material, which will allow for drainage while preventing rocks from coming to the surface. Some bunkers were removed, while others were added in more strategic spots. The best news is that the old, brown, rocky “sand” was replaced by pristine, bright white sand. While it looks great, there will be a learning curve to successful bunker play out of real sand. Acres of fairways have been changed into native areas in order to cut water and maintenance costs. Those areas were too far offline to really be considered in play.
Players’ reactions have been very positive. MPMGA member Bob Ogle was very appreciative of the hard work that went into the project, but he was also cognizant of the time required for new growth to take hold. He was struck by the look of the 17th hole, which has clean sightlines after rearranging the bunkers. The ladies foursome of Diane Mazzarella, Becky Lima, Eileen Snearly, and Rae Cobb were all thrilled with the level greens and bunkers with real sand! By publication time, all 18 holes will be online, and we will be playing on both of our SaddleBrooke TWO courses once again.
Because of scheduled maintenance at The Preserve, only one MPMGA event was contested in October. Flight winners of the Two Best Ball, Four-Man Tournament were as follows:
Flight 1: Dick Helms, Rick Fernandez, Ted Olson, and Jim Grosjean
Flight 2: Jeff Cashmore, Grant Stewart, Glen Hanson, and Greg Cahill
Flight 3: Ron Pozzi, Bob Osebold, Chuck Kelsey, and Terry Martell
We’re all looking forward to our first tournament at MountainView in November.