- The opening tournament of the season will also be a fundraiser in its 2nd year: the Boy Scouts Scramble. More details will follow. Brad Harguess is chairman of the event and he can be contacted at 580-799-5482, and it will be played on April 6. This is a second year event that was successful last year.
- April will also host 4 (yes, four) high school events: the two regular invitational events of each year (Girls 4/8 and Boys 4/10), plus the Western Regional Tournament for the first time in years! (Girls 4/23 and Boys 4/29). Hosting the regional events was the brainchild of Bill Weatherly, Athletic Director who pursued this with great enthusiasm and offered nothing less than Elk City's friendship as the best selling point. Thank you! (Note: Elk City Boys Team is defending Regional Champion)
- So Tiger won at Torrey Pines. Since he turned pro in 1996, he has never won the Masters when he hasn't won in the same year prior to The Masters, all of his four Masters titles have been when he has won before the April classic. Will this be his year? Who knows. One thing is for certain: people love or hate Tiger, and because of that, when he is in a tournament, the ratings go up. Some want to see him lose, and some want to see him win. Which one are you?
- Speaking about Tiger: Nike & Tiger are paying Rory McIlroy $250 million for a 10 year contract, not much unlike Tiger's first contract in 1996. The question is: is Rory worth as much as Tiger was then? I don't think so. Tiger revolutionized golf, athleticism and increased purses not unlike Arnold Palmer in the 50's & 60's. Rory, when he is playing well, is hard to beat, even by Tiger at his best, but Rory lacks the consistency that Tiger had (has). So the question that begs to be asked... "did Tiger pursue Rory's endorsement for the betterment of Nike?, or to help him get a major or two in the next two years since Rory is now getting used to new equipment?" Why do I sometimes like to distrust certain things? Maybe because Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player never invited each other to play with the clubs of the company that endorsed them.
- This is the first year that the LPGA does not have a completed calendar of events! Yes, there are still some tournaments that have not been secured! They need Tim Finchem as their commissioner, and the players' association needs to allow the commissioner and his office do their job instead of trying to micromanage!
- PGA's Play Golf Ready program is catching up all over. Though we have not officially entered any of the programs, Elk City Golf & C.C. is following some of the principles of these great programs and we had a very good year in 2012, better than the average and median growth around Oklahoma. Many good things happened in our favor, including weather, nice course conditions and many people teaming together to help promote our facility, which of course, includes our membership! THANK YOU!! (click here to check a summary of rounds played)
- Demo Day will be April 16: all four manufacturers invited have agreed to come: Taylor Made, PING, Titleist and Callaway.
- Range memberships are due for about 80% of our customers. This year, we are planning to "prorate" those memberships that were purchased later in the year so that all come due at the same time. Give us a call at 580-225-3556.
- Great Plains National Bank has agreed to help us by donating 192 Doz. new range balls to be used, as we have the last two years, for tournaments. Thank you!