By JASON KETZ
Sports Editor
After much hype and anticipation, I played at the newly renovated Keth Memorial Golf Course for the first time on Friday, April 1. The weather was crazy on April Fools Day, with a temperature of 60 degrees and a slight chance of scattered showers and mostly clear skies. As I approached hole number one, rain began to fall.
I could tell from my very first shot that this was going to be a completely different course because the first tee box was still in the same spot, but you were now hitting into the old fairway of hole 10. The number of rolling hills at the first hole made it challenging to get a good idea of depth perception. With that being said, I wasn’t able to hit the green in regulation, finishing the hole with a double bogey.
As I was figuring out that this was not like the old course, I began to take a more precautionary approach for the rest of the front nine. During a stretch of hitting all eight of the remaining greens in regulation, I finished even on four of the last eight holes of the front nine.
I shot a 41 through the first nine holes, which tied my all-time best round of golf I have ever played, but it certainly came with some luck along the way.
As I made the turn and approached the 10th tee box, I started to notice pebbles of hail falling down all around me. What made it even stranger was the fact that the sun was still shining down and the clouds were mostly clear.
After starting the back nine with a bogey, my tee shot on the par-three hole number 11 fell into the new white sand bunker to the right hand side of the green. With my first attempt at a sand shot on the course, I was able to barely get it out of the sand and not even far enough to reach the green. But with the help of the new fringes that were added, I was able to read the green properly to chip in for par.
Carrying my momentum from the chip-in, I was able to par three of the next six holes before making my way toward the hole that I was the most excited about playing: the 18th, which is the island hole.
So with all of the hype surrounding the hole, it was time for me to tee it up and try my luck. The tee box sign reads that the green is just 122 yards away. It features a bunker that is on the front left-hand side of the island.
On my initial tee shot, I played my pitching wedge to stay in line with the pin. But I didn’t exactly play the wind correctly, which took my ball way over to the right making a very nice splash sound into the lake.
Even with a triple-bogey on 18, I was able to shoot a 42 for the back nine and finish the round at +13, 83. I hit eight of the 12 fairways attempted, while reaching 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
All in all, the course definitely plays a lot better than it used to. Traffic flow is a lot better, and the course renovations were definitely needed. The improved golf course is a good addition for the campus and Warrensburg community.
