The Pine Creek boys golf team just wrapped up its season, but this year was marked by a significant change in routine. Practices, which were traditionally held at the Pine Creek Golf Course, were relocated to Cherokee Ridge Golf Course. This necessary move was due to an unaffordable increase in pricing at the team’s namesake course.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the new location was the increased travel distance.
“It made it harder and was annoying to travel between courses just because of how far and out of the way Cherokee is plus all the traffic,” Jett Wilson (11) said.
There’s a 12 mile difference between the two courses, with Cherokee Ridge located down Powers Blvd. and the Pine Creek Golf Course located less than 2 miles from the school.
Colby King (12) said, “The main part I didn’t like was that I had to drive 30 minutes to practice everyday”
Practice time was reduced for many golfers due to the busier tees at the budget-friendly Cherokee Ridge.
“I’m not a fan of it because the drive is a lot longer and we don’t get to play as much as we used to,” Brady Clark (12) said. “There’s about 3 or 4 other teams that also practice there in addition to public play so we didn’t get to actually play the course.”
Due to the change in courses the players practice time was significantly affected.
“We didn’t get to play much on the course, a lot more teams and people there. I think we played like 4 times on regulation. I liked Cherokee’s range and chipping better but Pine Creek was overall better,” King said.
One of the biggest differences in the courses according to players was the difficulty.
Grant Boyle (11) said, “I like that we get better range and putting green at Cherokee but I think it would’ve been better to play a hard course on a consistent basis. I prefer Pine Creek because it’s a harder course and it challenges you more and you can work on your skills.”
“The courses are both different but I liked Pine Creek because the course was harder which helps us get better. Cherokee keeps the course more maintained and the greens are a bit faster,” Clark said.
“The course is nice and it’s in good condition right now but I like the Pine Creek course more because it’s just closer, more convenient and fun to play,” Wilson said.
