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Golfers flock to John Conrad reopening

Clayton McCan tees off at John Conrad Golf Course in Midwest City on Saturday morning. The municipal course reopened last week end following an extensive renovation project. Photo by Jeff Harrison

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

John Conrad Golf Course was buzzing once again.

Golfers flocked to Midwest City Saturday morning for their first chance to play on the revamped municipal course.
A total of 534 golfers played the course on Saturday and Sunday.

The city recently completed a $5 million renovation of the course that included replacing the playing surfaces from the tee boxes to the greens and upgrading the irrigation system. They also added a new fleet of golf carts and equipment for mowing and spraying.

The project was funded through a 2018 general obligation bond issue passed by voters. It was the first major improvements to the course since it opened in 1971.
The course had been closed since March 2021. Larry Denney, director of golf, said the project hit a few bumps along the way but he was thrilled with the outcome.

“The course looks pretty close to the preliminary designs, and the work went pretty smoothly,” he said. “We had a few hiccups with the irrigation system and a pump house and some of the greens had to be changed a bit. This was a once in a lifetime deal, so it’s hard to compare to anything. But I’m really pleased with how it turned out.”

Denney said the biggest changes to the course include the larger greens and wider fairways. They removed a couple hundred trees and replanted the fairways with grass sprigs. Several other trees had been removed after an ice storm in October 2020.

“The fairways are so much wider,” he said. “We more than doubled the amount of shortgrass from 20 to 42 acres.”

The course reopening was delayed about a month to give the fairway grass time to grow.

Denney said the new greens are also a huge improvement over the past.

“The greens are the most eye-popping part of the course,” he said. “They used to be little and pretty flat and now we have huge mounds around the greens and angulation on greens.”

The course received positive reviews from golfers. Mark Spallina and Jeff King, both of Choctaw, were among the first golfers to tee off on Saturday morning.

“The course is in great shape and the greens are really nice, I mean really nice,” said Spallina. “They have done a lot of work and spent lot of time, and the money was well worth it.”
King was equally impressed.

“The tee boxes and fairways and everything is in great shape,” he said. “If they can keep it this way that’ll be fantastic.”
Brian Mittasch, of Oklahoma City, played the course many times before the renovation and was thrilled with the changes.

“It’s beautiful. I like how they opened it up on the fairways. It was a little cluttered with the trees before,” he said.

Mittasch also knows a thing or two about building golf courses.

“My degree in landscape architecture and we did golf course design in college,” he said. “So, I look at stuff and see where they bend and turn and place things.”

Clayton McCan lives only a few miles from the course and has been chomping at the bit to play. He and friend Garrett Sturgess made sure they were there for opening day.

“The greens are in really good shape and fairways are great,” McCan said. “I’ve been really impressed with it. And I love the new golf carts that have the USB chargers.”

Just behind them was a larger group with Jared Johnston-Cox, James Moore, David Gardner, Shawn Smith and Jeff Finley. They enjoyed the new course and didn’t mind the heat or waiting to tee off due to the high volume of golfers.

“It just gives us more time to talk,” Gardner said.

Finley said his favorite part of the course is the new greens.

“Most of the greens were pretty flat before and now they’re in great shape and have much more angulation,” he said.

John Conrad Golf Course is located at 711 S. Douglas Blvd. in Midwest City. The course is open at 6:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Friday.

For more information or to reserve a tee time, call (405) 732-2209.

A golfer prepares to tee off on the No. 10 hole at John Conrad Golf Course. Photo by Jeff Harrison

A group of golfers enjoy the newly renovated John Conrad Golf Course on Saturday. Pictured, from left, Jared Johnston-Cox, James Moore, David Gardner, Shawn Smith and Jeff Finley. Photo by Jeff Harrison

Golfers returned to Midwest City’s John Conrad Golf Course Saturday morning for the first time since the course closed in March 2021 for a $5 million renovation project. Photos by Jeff Harrison

Golfers returned to Midwest City’s John Conrad Golf Course Saturday morning for the first time since the course closed in March 2021 for a $5 million renovation project. Photos by Jeff Harrison

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