MISSION STATEMENT
By promoting the great game of golf and goodwill with members
and visitors, we aim to be part of your “best day of the week” with
every visit to our club. At Elk City Golf & Country Club we take nothing
for granted and will always provide the best possible service and instruction
with a smile.
THE 2019 GOLF SEASON
IN REVIEW
It
is easy to say, “I get to go to work”, instead of “I have to go to work” when
you get to greet our members at the club, whether for daily play, a brunch,
family play or a tournament. It is a club with so much enthusiasm for golf and
for each other, that, over my now nine full golf seasons, I have found out that
at Elk City Golf & Country Club, there are only two seasons a year, the “golf
season” season, and the “waiting for the golf season” season. Simple
enough.
Testimony
of this, is that average member play per year increased from 38 to 47 rounds a
year, despite not having a permanent building…. yet. While our city has shrunk
by about 3,000+ since the middle of the last decade and therefore, our
membership shrunk as well, those members who remain, and our local golfers,
have been relentless in their support of this club, now in its 83rd
season!
Internally,
both in maintenance, club services and leadership, it has been everyone’s daily
goal to make our members and visitors feel that we have a “grand-opening” every
day. It is our daily thought to take
nothing for granted. We want you to feel “at home” at your club, and if you
don’t, we want to know right away so that we can make the necessary changes.
Improvements:
This
year, we were blessed with the unselfish help of several members and other
people to tackle projects that will be long lasting for the benefit of the
club. Many things are always done in the background, and more often than
not, without fanfare. The end result is that people who have not visited in
a few weeks, come as ask, “what happened here?”, “when was it done?”, “who did
it?”, “how much did it cost?” I truly enjoy giving answers to these questions. Here
are some of the things that sometimes go unnoticed by those who do not use the
club as often:
- Thanks to former Mayor Bill Helton and the City Commission of the end of 2018 (Jeff Jackson, Allen Robinson, Larry Muck & Rick Shelton) along with City Manager Lee Litterell, the club’s maintenance department is now using brand new equipment for all maintenance at a low cost to the club, saving us several thousand dollars in yearly repairs of old equipment that not only was not in use as often due to constant repairs, but that was not as efficient as our new Toro equipment.
- We had two major projects that
would have been impossible to tackle with the club’s resources alone, but
that were worked on thanks to several members who have the equipment and
skills, and/or who donated funds to get these two done:
1) Level and cover the
dirt area where the clubhouse once rested, and
2) Fix the poor drainage
on hole #3 and the practice area.
These two projects were possible, and
the only remaining work is do grow grass on #3 and some areas of the practice
range, however, all the dirt work, including leveling #3, drainage pipe and
ditch to the SFI/KECO bridge has been finished. Our deep gratitude goes to
(alpha by first name) Andy Blankenship, Blake
Brewer, Brad Gilbert, Darrell Dunn, Greg Dodson, Greg Mullens, Marte Mullens, Joe
Wynn, Jordan Williamson & Fam., Josh Moran & Tate Finnell,
all of whom donated time, equipment and/or money for these projects, all of
which would not have been possible otherwise with the club’s resources
alone. So, please, when anyone of you crosses paths with any of these members,
PLEASE THANK THEM IN PERSON!
- All 18 tee signs were sold as
follows: #1 Josh Moran Equipment; #2 Weed Brothers; #3 KECO; #4
Interbank; #5 Mike Proctor Consulting; #6 Pizza Hut; #7 Culver Electric; #8 Barber-Dyson
Ford; #9 Aspen; #10 BVG Const; #11 Great Plains Bank; #12 Dr.
Pepper; #13 Great Plains Regional Medical Center; #14 First National Bank;
#15 Finnell Construction; #16 C.U.D.D.; #17 Secret Garden; and, #18 Great Plains Analytical Services
(GAS)
More… member David Dyson and partner at Barber-Dyson
Ford, donated three beautiful sets (Red, White and Blue) of long-lasting
metal tee markers specially cut with our logo. Next will probably be orange markers for the senior golfers! A
special thanks to Apache Corporation and the Elk City Chamber of Commerce for
the donation of hundreds of trees!
Making the News…
There were
seven Holes in One: Aden Schmidt
#10, Kennan Henderson #17, Robert Lakey #7, Cody Kuriyama #7 (his ace won him a 2019
Mustang from Barber-Dyson), Drake Hughes
#10 (during the Club Championship), Quintin
Nichols #10. Also, John
Partain, aced Hole #3 during the Oil & Gas Tournament when the
hole was shortened due to extreme wet conditions… Congratulations to all!
Tres Hill (16), won the Club Championship (70-65), won the Elk
City High School Invitational with a 65 that led his team to a record 270! He
also won other events, including the AJGA Finale in Dornick Hills where he
finished with a 69 on the famous and tough layout. Tres is also a great
student, and continues to perpetuate Elk City’s tradition of a home to great
golfers! Who knows, we may be soon cheering him on a Division I college team!
Ryder Cowan, whose love for golf began in Elk
City, qualified for the Annual Drive-Chip & Putt hosted by Augusta National
the Sunday before the Masters’ week. He took second in his age group. The last
couple of years, even before he was a H.S. freshman, and after, he has
consistently placed top 5, including several wins. He is another youngster, 2
years younger than Tres Hill, who could be looking into a great college career.
Elk City High School
Boys Team set a
scoring record in our local tournament with a 270 (to our knowledge, in any 4-A
Tournament) as follows: Tres Hill-65, Baylar Barnett-66, Tate Trotter-67, Travis Poole-72, Drake Hughes-76! Great Play!
Elk City High School Girls qualified for the State Tournament
for the fourth straight year, and won the Regional Tournament along with 4 other
wins. In the Regional, Haylee
Poole and Baylee
Miller tied for medalist. In Regional play, there is no “share of
first”, so the two girls had to decide first in a sudden-death playoff which was won
by Haylee on #9. It would be Haylee’s last victory in high school, as she
graduated a month after.
Three members shot their age or better: Doyle
Munkres (75/86), Bob Miller
(68/71) and Carrol Anderson
(76/80). By far, the most under their age was Doyle Munkres, who at 86, shot a
75.
It was a great year for women’s and
couples’ golf. We had more women’s play than ever; we had more couples on
Thursday nights than in any of the previous 5 years combined, and we even had a
“end of the year” couples tournament, which we had not had since I came to Elk
City in 2011. It all reflected in the annual Tumbleweed Tournament (expanded 6
teams) and the second annual Diamond in The Rough. Kudos to our ladies!!!
The Annual KECO Tournament
continued to be the most sought-after tournament for competitive golfers from
around the state and parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas. Some golfers came
from as far as Louisiana. In 2019, KECO partnered with Moran Equipment for the first time as
title sponsor, a partnership that will continue in 2020!
Our Junior Camp
continued to be full as every year, and can’t give enough credit and thanks to
Tim DeWitt and Ann Cowan who continue to help year after year; and yes, this year
we had a record number of girls (here is a small sample of “golf friends”).
The “most
Improved” Tournament award belongs to “Path to Miracles”, a fundraiser for a great cause, helping people with addictions. This tournament started with
14 teams just a couple of years ago, and now had 24… maybe 36 in 2020?
Our club tournaments like Father’s Day, Memorial, Tumbleweed,
Labor Day, Firecracker and Diamond in the Rough, were, like every year, very
popular and,
of course, full!
And coming
up… The Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Oil
& Gas Tournament will have its Golden Anniversary,
I am sure the Oil & Gas Committee along with yearly faces of Sussie Cupp and Debbie Smoot, who along with the Oil &
Gas Board, will have one of the biggest parties planned for 2020 in Elk City!
Purchases:
Only one major purchase was made, a Toro Sprayer that replaced an 17-year
old machine, and a piece of equipment that we can’t do without. Without a
doubt, a sprayer is one of the most important pieces of equipment on a golf
course…. In some ways, without it, you wouldn’t need mowers! (If you see anyone
other than Ed Hughes using this “favorite” piece of equipment, it will be due
to some sort of emergency!)
In Closing
Elk City Golf & Country Club has continued to operate, in
no small part, thanks to every member who believes that this period of
“post-tornado” months is only an obstacle, and not a permanent setback. We
appreciate all of you for all your support. I want to thank Ed Hughes and his crew. There are times we have to close
part or all of the golf course due to weather and/or repairs. It is all done
with the health of the golf course in mind. I know of no other golf course is
smallish cities that continually offers great conditions. At the same time, I want to thank all for your
patience and understanding!
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