Golf course expansion to start this winter

By COREY BLUEMEL Staff writer

The expansion project for Millsite Golf Course from nine holes to 18 has met a few snags, but the expansion committee held a meeting recently to explain the changes that are coming to the project. Brian Barton from Jones and DeMille Engineering explained the changes.
“A large portion of the requested lease property near Millsite Reservoir was deemed to have the same soil as land on the other side of the lake where a potentially endangered cactus was found. The Bureau of Land Management felt there was a possibility of those same cactus growing on that parcel. These cactus grow entirely underground and are usually not visible, but for three weeks in April, their flowers project above ground level. We would have been required to wait until after the bloom in the spring for the cactus survey to be made,” said Barton.
He went on to explain that due to time line considerations concerning the construction deadlines, they could not wait for spring. The decision was made to abandon the plan to utilize the lake side parcel of land, and reorganize the existing nine holes and reduce the number of holes from the back nine to be near the lake, to one. This one hole will not be built on the parcel in question.
The new plan is to build only hole number one on the west side of the existing course near the clubhouse. Making this hole number one would allow for the existing hole number one to become hole number nine on the front nine. Hole number 10 will be constructed between the existing number eight and nine and the existing number nine will become hole number 11.
Holes number 12 and 13 will be constructed to the west of the existing parking lot, with holes number 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 to be constructed on the south side of the canyon road. To conserve on the construction costs, these holes will not have complete fairways with lawn planted. They will have tee boxes which players will hit across some portion of the desert landscape to a grassed in landing area, leading up to the green.
Par on the proposed nine hole expansion will be 35 and will utilize three par threes, two par fives, and four par fours. Length of the back nine will be 2,931 from the back tees.
Kris Abegglen, course designer, said, “We have remodeled to fit the area we have left while retaining the views and making some great holes. This new plan utilizes the area most efficiently. We have to do this within the budget and the new holes fit naturally in the area. We are making some improvements on the existing nine. Construction on the remodel and the new nine will allow play to continue with minimal interruption.”
Barton explained the environmental assessment target is to be submitted the first week of October.
He said the bids should be advertised and awarded by Thanksgiving.
Construction can begin the first week of December with the excavation and dirt work to continue into January. Construction could resume in early spring of 2009.