Not exactly a long shot.Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard The long and short of the golf industry's main problems is that the game takes too long to play and that many new players' careers are too short. Ric and Debbie Jeffries believe that the new golf complex they're about to open will help solve both those problems for Eugene-area golfers. The Nines at RiverRidge is scheduled to begin play Memorial Day, although only one of two new nine-hole courses on the site will be ready by then. ShortRidge, a par-3 pitch-and-putt style course with holes ranging from 53 to 107 yards in length, will be first to see action. SuttonRidge - a 2,044-yard "executive" course featuring five par-4 holes and four par 3s - is expected to be ready for play by mid-June. A "grand opening" celebration for The Nines at RiverRidge will be June 17, with UO football coach Mike Bellotti Robert Michael Bellotti (b. December 21, 1950 in Sacramento, California) has been the head coach of the University of Oregon football team since 1995. His accomplishments at Oregon include an 11-1 season and #2 national ranking in 2001. Education M.S. and Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington John Joseph "Joey" Harrington Jr (born October 21, 1978 in Portland, Oregon) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He was originally signed to be a backup to Michael Vick following the trade of Matt Schaub, however, he entered the season as starting among those scheduled to hit ceremonial first balls. The new courses were designed by Ric Jeffries, who said the layout is intended to meet two objectives: Provide a setting on which entry-level players feel comfortable as they become familiar with golf's playing procedures and etiquette etiquette, name for the codes of rules governing social or diplomatic intercourse. These codes vary from the more or less flexible laws of social usage (differing according to local customs or taboos) to the rigid conventions of court and military circles, and they ; and, Provide more-experienced golfers a fun and challenging way to work on their games without spending the four to five hours it takes to play a regulation 18-hole course. "Our goal is to get people enjoying the game and playing more often," Jeffries said. "As an industry, we've done a modestly good job of teaching skills to people, but we as an industry have done a lousy lous·y adj. lous·i·er, lous·i·est 1. Infested with lice. 2. Extremely contemptible; nasty: a lousy trick. 3. job of getting people on to the course learning to enjoy the game, learning the routine of a golf course so they're not intimidated in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. ." U.S. Golf Foundation statistics support his contention. They indicate that golf brings in 1.5 to 3 million new players a year, but loses about the same number, due mostly to the issues of time and intimidation. "We have not done the public any favors in just teaching them skills but not letting them know what to do, when to do it," Jeffries said. He sees ShortRidge, the par-3 course, as a place that will "allow the new player to learn the game's routines - where to tee it up, how to tee it up, the etiquette, the care of the golf course, the pace of play - and have some fun." The pitch-and-putt course is situated in the wide-open setting of a former farm field. Aside from a couple of water features, there are no severe "trouble spots" for wayward way·ward adj. 1. Given to or marked by willful, often perverse deviation from what is desired, expected, or required in order to gratify one's own impulses or inclinations. See Synonyms at unruly. 2. shots. (Homes in a new sub-division do line the eastern boundary of the course, but Jeffries has aligned tees and greens in a way that should keep all but the most severe shanks
The shanks and tattlers are wading bird species in a number of genera characterised by a medium length bill and long, often brightly coloured legs. or snap hooks from hitting houses.) Most regulation golf courses hire marshals to monitor the pace of play. But marshals at The Nines will put more emphasis on teaching proper golf procedures, Jeffries said. "Over here it will be more: `This is what you need to do,' ' Jeffries said. "How to replace a divot, how to repair your ball mark, where to take your cart so you can go from one hole to the next without having to back-track and, thus, keep the pace of play up ... " For experienced players, meanwhile, ShortRidge provides an opportunity to "come out at lunch and work on their short game," Jeffries said. They will fire wedge shots at small greens, virtually all of which are protected by bunkers or mounds, and putt on sloped, contoured surfaces. Jeffries said good players may be able to get around the par 27 ShortRidge course -which plays 639 to 839 yards, depending on the tee placements - in about an hour. SuttonRidge, meanwhile, represents "the next step up" in trying to capture the market for new players, seniors, juniors and families, Jeffries said. Five of its nine holes are carved carve v. carved, carv·ing, carves v.tr. 1. a. To divide into pieces by cutting; slice: carved a roast. b. into a mixed hardwood hardwood: see wood. hardwood Timber obtained from broad-leaved, flower-bearing trees. Hardwood trees are deciduous trees, except in the warmest regions. and evergreen evergreen, term commonly used as synonymous with conifer and applied also to all those broad-leaved plants that bear green leaves throughout the year. Of the latter, most are plants of the tropics, subtropics, and other areas where the growing season is prolonged (e. woodland at the north end of the property. Three of the par 4s - holes 2, 6 and 7 - feature fairways that have trees on both sides and will feel more claustrophobic claus·tro·pho·bic adj. 1. a. Relating to or suffering from claustrophobia. b. Uncomfortably closed or hemmed in. 2. than anything on RiverRidge's regulation 18-hole course. Power hitters will have no advantage on SuttonRidge. "The par-4s are short," Jeffries said, noting that they range from 265 to 328 yards. "The good player has to think and play placement target golf, not just rock and fire." The dog-legs on the par-4s will require shots of 150 to 160 yards from the front tees, or 180 to 190 yards from the back tees. "So it's not a golf course where you pull out the driver," he said. Jeffries also designed the tee boxes to provide different looks for different ability levels. "From back here, you can see the shot, visually, is just real tight," Jeffries said from a golf cart parked at back of the second tee. Move to the front of the tee, however, "and all of a sudden it's a lot more user-friendly to the new player." Shots that do wander into the woods will usually come to rest on a bark bark, sailing vessel bark or barque (both: bärk), sailing vessel with three masts, of which the mainmast and the foremast are square-rigged while the mizzenmast is fore-and-aft-rigged. dust surface, which should make wayward shots relatively easy to find. Safely getting out of the woods, however, will require some disciplined chip shots. The heavily wooded holes, incidentally, are the reason SuttonRidge is not opening at the same time as ShortRidge. Both courses were seeded in September, but the cold, wet spring has kept grass on partially-shaded fairways from maturing as quickly as at the south end of the new complex. "The fairways are still a little weak," Jeffries said. "We need some dry weather, and we need the ground to be warmer." Jeffries describes the greens on SuttonRidge as "modest sized," with contours Contours may mean:
n. The act or process of supplying a ship with fuel. reflective Refers to light hitting an opaque surface such as a printed page or mirror and bouncing back. See reflective media and reflective LCD. of "the underlying philosophy that the short game is the big equalizer in golf." SuttonRidge's "signature hole," Jeffries said, is probably its shortest. "The hole I think people are going to remember on SuttonRidge is No. 3," which calls for a forced carry over wetlands and through a narrow lane of trees. It's only 99 yards from the back of the tee to the middle of a narrow, 42-yard deep green abutting the Wildish Sand & Gravel gravel, particles of rock, i.e., stones and pebbles, usually round in form and intermediate in size between sand grains and boulders. Gravel is composed of various kinds of rock, the most common constituent being the mineral quartz. property. "But the wind in summer just comes right across the Wildish property and is going to blow dead in your face," Jeffries said. All-in-all, The Nines has pleasing aesthetic values - probably more, a visitor comments, than RiverRidge. "I would agree," Jeffries said. "This is a pretty place. This will be very attractive, especially in early morning or late afternoon when the sun creates shadows ... it just gives the ground so much dimension and so much depth." Jeffries said the availability of the new courses should benefit golfers who prefer to play only a regulation 18-holes. "This should open up some weekend tee times and speed the pace of play at RiverRidge," he said. Indeed, members of the complex's "juniors program" will be required to post a certain minimum score on ShortRidge before they can play SuttonRidge, and meet a scoring requirement there before they are allowed on RiverRidge. While Jeffries did the design work for the new courses, actual construction was by Grant's Landscape Services. Jeffries declined to reveal the cost of the expansion project. "The investment is everything we've got, and then some," he said. "Suffice suf·fice v. suf·ficed, suf·fic·ing, suf·fic·es v.intr. 1. To meet present needs or requirements; be sufficient: These rations will suffice until next week. it to say that when we built RiverRidge, we put our lives into that. And when we did this, we rolled everything over there into this." Standard greens fees greens fee n. The fee charged to play on a golf course. at the new courses will be less expensive than at RiverRidge, and avid AVID Cardiology A clinical trial–Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators that compared the effect of implantable defibrillators vs the best medical therapy–antiarrhythmics for survivors of MI or those with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia golfers will be able to save more money with a discount program for frequent golfers. Called the Links Card, the program provides card holders with discounts of at least 20 percent on greens fees at all three courses, cart rentals, range balls, and use of a new practice area. The card costs $85 for an individual or $150 for a family of four. It is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. The new practice area features a huge green for chipping and putting and a sand bunker bunk, bunker large storage bin. bunk forage forage, usually ensilage stored in a large storage bunk and made available to cattle or other livestock along a face of the storage. . An hourly rate will be charged, although those paying greens fees can use it free prior to teeing off. A 2,500-square-foot pro shop will be built near the first tees of both courses. To begin with, however, golfers will check-in at a temporary mobile unit. The complex also includes something that no other golf course in Lane County offers - a regulation croquet croquet (krōkā`), lawn game in which the players hit wooden balls with wooden mallets through a series of 9 or 10 wire arches, or wickets. The first player to hit the posts placed at each end of the field wins. court that has already been selected to host the state croquet championships in August. "This is a new market for us and a new concept," Jeffries said of croquet. "We kind of got talked into it by some croquet enthusiasts." Jeffries said he expects the availability of croquet to be a selling point selling point n. An aspect of a product or service that is stressed in advertising or marketing. Noun 1. selling point - a characteristic of something that is up for sale that makes it attractive to potential customers for corporate outings, as it provides something fun for non-golfers to do while everyone else is on the links. NEW NINES BY THE NAMES, NUMBERS ShortRidge: a nine-hole pitch-and-putt style par-3 course. It's scheduled to open for play on Memorial Day. Standard greens fee: $10. SuttonRidge: a nine-hole, par-32 "executive course" with five par-4 holes and four par 3s is expected to open in mid-June. It plays to 2,044 yards. Standard greens fee: $14. The Nines at RiverRidge: The name given to the complex that includes the two nine-hole courses above, plus a large new golf practice area, a regulation croquet court, a new 2,500 square foot pro shop (still to be constructed) and a parking lot. It's all located at the northeast corner of Delta Highway The Delta Highway is a short limited-access freeway in Eugene, Oregon, United States, linking downtown Eugene with the Beltline Highway, northern Eugene and the Riverridge golf course to the north. and Ayers Road. RiverRidge: The new spelling of Riveridge, the 18-hole, par 71 golf course that opened its first nine in 1989. It plays to 6,256 yards. Standard greens fees: $18 for nine holes, $32 for 18 holes. The Golf Complex at The Ridge: The name for all of the above, which is owned by Ric and Debbie Jeffries. All three courses were designed by Ric Jeffries. ON THE WEB See GolfExtra online at www.registerguard.com/golfextra.phtml CAPTION(S): The view from the green of SuttonRidge's third hole is one of rolling hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. and a variety of trees. "This is a pretty place," said Ric Jeffries, who designed the new nine-hole courses. Kevin Clark Kevin Clark is an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Rhode Island. He is probably most well-known for his stint as the head coach at St. John's during the 2003–2004 season. / The Register-Guard Ric and Debbie Jeffries, with their dog, Ridge, own and operate The Golf Complex at the Ridge, soon to include nine-hole courses. Nines: Courses offer variety of challenges Continued from Page E6 Local couple's investment in two new shorter golf courses looks to be a winner at addressing the industry's problems Please turn to NINES, Page E5 Tom Penix / The Register-Guard |
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