Hillsboro Banner

It’s too bad Mother Nature isn’t a golfer.

Then again, maybe she is. And she isn’t ready to golf just yet.

Regardless, said Mike Crocker, she isn’t cooperating.

Consequently, Hillsboro’s 9-hole grass green golf course, which opened for the season last week, is letting Mother Nature dictate what days the course is open. 

“When it’s nice,” said Crocker, “we’re open.”

When it’s cold, wet and windy, the course is closed, he added.

“When the weather turns around, we’ll be open every day,” assured the golf club president.

The 35 par, 3,107-yard course weathered the North Dakota winter this year remarkably well.

“We’re pleased with the condition of the course,” said Crocker.

For the second straight year, the course escaped any flooding as the Goose River stayed well within its banks.

Crocker estimates that the course suffered flood damage 13 consecutive years. When the Goose floods, the low-lying ground on Holes 2, 3 and 4 are impacted. The damaged fairways and greens generally rebound but often not until summer.

Fortunately, this year the course was spared any flood damage.

Cut once, the grass in the fairways and on the greens, however, needs moisture, according to Crocker.

“Some rain would help.”

Still, he and club manager Kyle Morehart, agree the course is in good shape for mid- and late-April.

The two club officers are anticipating a good year for the local golf club.

“We’re excited at the potential of an early golf season,” said Morehart, secretary-treasurer of the Goose River Golf Club.

In addition to flooding issues, play on the course in recent years has been slowed by less than accommodating weather in May and June. It always seemed to rain on the weekends, Crocker remembers.

“We’re hoping for a good start and a good year,” Crocker said.

He’s also hoping the high gas prices will not stop the Fargo and Grand Forks golfers from playing Hillsboro. A significant number of golfers playing regularly on the Hillsboro course are from out of town.

While the popularity of golf nationwide has possibly peaked in recent years, according to experts, Hillsboro’s golf club directors are confident their course not only can but will accommodate growth.

Hillsboro is growing for one; a certain number of the city’s new residents will be golfers, Crocker and Morehart are anticipating. And golfers unable to get on the courses in Grand Forks and Fargo find the accessibility of Hillsboro’s 9 hole course welcoming and convenient.

“But we still have to attract people to the golf course,” Crocker knows.

The club this year is offering a $32 savings package that offers a sixth round of golf free after five rounds of 18 holes are played.

Unlimited use of the club’s golf carts is also available for a onetime seasonal fee of $315.

The two added features should generate revenue for the club, which lost money last year.

We weren’t the only course losing money last year, commented Mike Crocker. Most clubs, in fact, lost revenue in 2007, the Traill sheriff added.

If he knew the answer he’d be on the circuit, offering advice to fairway-rich but revenue-poor clubs, the returning Hillsboro club president jokes.

Seriously, he said, our green fees are competitive, we have greens comparable to any course around, and our course overall is well groomed, again comparable to any course in the region.

“We’re hopeful we can experience growth in numbers and revenue.”

The club last year boasted of 142 memberships.

Rich Flieth is returning this summer as the club’s groundskeeper. Kyle Morehart will be the clubhouse manager.

Green fees for the Goose River Golf club are at $11 for 9 holes, $20 for 18 holes Monday through Friday. The fees increase to $12 and $22 weekends and holidays. Golfers can play all day for $26 weekdays and $32 weekends and holidays. The charge for a golf cart is $12 for each 9 holes.

Single memberships cost $341.25, family $498.75. Reduced rates are offered seniors.

The club is not planning any major projects this year.

The club, however, is planning on one scramble tournament in each of the summer months, starting Saturday, May 18.

The Hillsboro High School Booster Club has scheduled a tournament on June 6. The annual Hillsboro Medical Center tournament will be played July 18.  This is the biggest tournament of the summer, attracting as many as 36 4-player teams. The H-509 golf tournament is scheduled for Aug. 1.

The club currently opens at 10 a.m. each day and closes at 7 p.m. The summer hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.