Rain slows construction at local golf courses

Texarkana has plenty to offer its golfers.

If it’s the country club that fits your plans best, there’s a great deal awaiting families who join Texarkana Country Club. If you join, you’re also a member at Northridge Country Club.

A word of warning, TCC is rebuilding its greens this summer, making them 30 percent larger and replanting with TifEagle Bermuda grass.

Club pro Art Romero doesn’t expect a lot of play this summer with construction of the new greens, which won’t be completed until September.

There’s also new changes at Northridge, where membership has been growing with the two country clubs combined.

Pro shop manager Steve Weed acknowledges heavy rain this spring has limited play. New cartpaths are being built, and a short game practice area is being built off Bill Rogers Drive in front of the clubhouse.

NCC also has reportedly hired Michael Abrams to be director of golf instruction. He comes to Texarkana after teaching at a golf academy in Houston.

Greg Bounds has taken over as course superintendent.

Texarkana’s two public courses have also continued to get new facelifts.

New Haven Golf Club is replacing 10,000 square feet of asphalt with concrete cartpaths, according to Course Manager Wayne Smith.

The entire course has also been overseeded, but record rain fall has hampered work.

Smith also noted benches and ball-washers were added at every hole last winter.

New Haven also has a new teaching pro with Steve Barr, who is putting together monthly clinics. Smith is also excited about the growth of the club’s MGA.

There’s a lot of excitement at Hank Haney’s Texarkana Golf Ranch, too.

The course will host the Golf and Guitars six-man scramble May 30 and Course Superintendent Hunter Campbell said this would be the largest tournament this year with 29 teams entered. A concert will be held in conjunction with the golf event at Texas A&M UniversityTexarkana.

The Ranch has already been busy this year hosting charity tournaments, Campbell pointing out there were four in one week recently.

Several specials are currently being offered at the Ranch. Right now seniors can play Monday through Thursday just paying for a cart ($15). The same is true for ladies on Monday.

Campbell is also excited by the Ranch’s MGA growth, which can also be said for New Haven and Oak Grove Golf Club, located off Highway 82 between New Boston and Hooks.

Owner Israel Gonzalez has also witnessed a lot of rain, but continues working hard to maintain Oak Grove’s beauty and playability. The course has long had some of the best greens in the area.

MGA play and the reshaping of former sand traps are keeping Oak Grove workers busy. Gonzalez is also offering a special for area teachers this summer.

Golfers have yet another challenging test to play at The Links, located in the center of an apartment complex off Interstate 30.

A nine-hole layout, The Links features lots of water and narrow fairways, including a small island green, rated one of the toughest holes in the city by some.