Temperatures climb up the thermostat, but the Prairie West golf course remains busy with tournaments and activities for local golfers.
The golf club recently hosted the annual Child/Parent Tournament where a total of 30 two-person teams participated. The tournament raised funds for a scholarship for the Weatherford high school golf team, and General Manager Jimmy Laughlin said he was pleased with the results.
“It was a good time. It grew from last year, so hopefully we can continue to do that,” Laughlin said. “We do have the Member/Guest Tournament coming up this weekend. We’ve got a long list of tournaments coming up. It’s a busy time of the year for us right now. There’s a lot happening.”
One event taking place this week at Prairie West is the SWOSU golf camp. Earlier in the month, a camp for athletes between the ages of 7-11 took place at the course, and the camp for golfers between the ages of 12-17 is concluding today.
With all of the events, Prairie West is a flurry of golf carts and club members zipping around the course, but Laughlin said that comes to an end once the sun is high in the sky.
According to Laughlin, mornings are especially busy, but he said there are very few people playing by the afternoon because of the heat. “It’s the younger crowd who comes in the afternoon. For our older crowd, they come in the morning and then they’re done by the afternoon.”
The oppressive temperatures not only limit when some people may play, but they also make it difficult to manage the course.
“It’s tough when it’s been this dry for this long,” Laughlin said. “I put up a sign because we do have to turn the water on at certain times. It’s just to keep the greens, because they can burn. If they burn too much, we can actually lose it, and it will die.”
Even with the extreme temperatures, Laughlin and others at the golf club plan to keep the course lush and vibrant for the upcoming events. For a full list of future activities, visit www.prairiewestgolf.com/ tournaments.