The yet-to-be-opened Watson 9 hybrid golf course at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park is already scoring “eagles” for Maryville’s soaring golf facilities and programs.
The new junior course designed by PGA golf legend Tom Watson, which is scheduled for its grand opening May 14, is recognized in the current issue of Golf Digest magazine as one of 15 “exceptional hybrid courses” in the United States and Canada.
When the newest addition to the golf amenities at Mozingo Lake is opened, it will be the focal point of an expanded instructional program for area junior golfers featuring four three-day camps for youngsters ranging in age from 5 to 17, according to Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland and Moizingo golf professional Kyle Easter.
“There has been international attention already focused on the Watson 9,” Heiland said last week.
“In many golf circles, the concept built at Mozingo is considered the ‘best practices’ in terms of growing the game of golf and providing a healthy golf course environment.
“Given the quality of the Sechrest 18, Mozingo has an opportunity to become a premier junior golf training facility, not only in Missouri, but in the country,” Heiland said.
The Golf digest designation is proof that Heiland is correct in saying “Mozingo is being watched by the golf community with great excitement.”
“Hybrid courses” is the name given to the increasingly popular, shorter courses being developed by Watson and other course designers, including Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, and Tiger Woods. Most differ from the Watson 9 in that they are carved out of existing regular courses, several of which have 10 to 12 holes rather than the normal nine holes.
The Watson-designed course in Maryville is rated as No. 12 on the exclusive list by Golf Digest.
Among other courses included in the magazine’s listing is The Horse course at the Prairie Club in Valentine, Nebraska, the only other Midwestern location.
Woods’ The Playgrounds at Blackjack National in Montgomery, Texas, is designated as the top hybrid course in the country. The second-ranked layout is the Oceans Course in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, the first of the group, opened in 1983. The Bunker Hill Golf Club course in Pickering, Ontario, is the lone Canadian course on the list.
Perhaps the most unique is The Challenge at Monarch Dunes in Nipomo, California, which features two sets of flags on each green, one with regular-size cups, the others with 8-inch diameters for beginners.
Easter anticipates enrolling almost twice as many young golfers in the instructional program during the coming summer.
Changes in the format provided for instruction as well as the exciting new facility both play roles in the expected increase in interest.
“We had about 120 last year, in class for an hour a week for nine weeks,” Easter said. “This year, I’d like to hit the 200 mark, especially drawing for a larger area.”
Easter said sign-up sheets are available at the Maryville Community Center alongside registrations for summer baseball and soccer programs, and in area communities from Tarkio to Stanberry and Grant City.
“Plus, signup is available on our website, so it is really available to anyone,” he said.
Easter said he will be assisted in the instructional phase of the summer programs by Maryville High School golf coach Brenda Ricks and members of her Spoofhound golf teams and from Northwest Missouri State University student interns.
The youth golf camps this summer will be held June 4-6, June 25-27, July 16-18, and July 30-Aug. 1, according to Easter.
Individual summer camp costs will be $40 per child, and the registration includes a free shirt and other “goodies,” in addition to free golf.
The new “teaching area” has been expanded from about an acre to approximately 35 acres, including an oversized green for putting and pitching practice.
The design of the Watson 9 also allows for work on individual aspects of the game — short game pitching and approaching, mid-range shots, and longer driving holes — on three different groups of three holes.
“Kids will now be able to practice in one area and then take that skill immediately to the golf course to implement in their real game,” Heiland said. “Watson designed the course to provide a wide variety of golf situations.”
Spearheaded by Dr. Bruce Twaddle of Maryville, construction on the course began July 1, 2014 and was basically completed in November of 2014.
“Dr. Twaddle and a group of community supporters and golfers raised more than $1 million to make this junior golf training facility a reality, and it is truly an amazing project for Maryville, for anywhere,” Heiland said.
