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Show 22 Vernal Expren Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1990 "I survived the front nine at Rifle Creek," was prominently displayed on the logo of the souvenir t-shirts on sale in the pro shop at Rifle Creek Golf Course, and that may have be the first clue of how the scenic, but tough 18 hole course would treat the linksters from the two state area during their annual weekend. As it turned out, only one Vernal Golfer placed in the money of the annual Rifle Labor Day Tournament. Cecil Wall placed fourth in the first flight to narrowly avoid Vernal being swept in the tournament. . About 50 locals made the annual trip south for the Labor Day event, ; Challenge is the puniest statement of 1990, This course is a monster. Lets look at what Steve LaDonne and family have created in this little out of the way place. - The number one hole is a 389 yard "par 4 guarded by fairway bunkers. Now really a challenge, but maybe -the most appreciated hole on the -course after a golfer is halfway through the front nine and short 'about three balls. The fairway is -narrow, but par is easily obtainable -with a straight drive and short iron into the green. The first time player 'on this layout will have a false ' sense of security after finishing this layout and moving on to number 2. ! The number 2 hole is a short par ; three with a deceptive green, guard-led guard-led by sand in front and carved into :the hillside creating a penalty for .being long. Not too tough, the hole : plays 168 yards and again is not difficult dif-ficult to negotiate par. On to number 3 hole where things start getting interesting and up hill. A 371 yard par four, the fairway starts up from the tee box to rise some 200 feet in 400 yards. The fairway is narrow and a good drive makes the green hidden by a protruding pro-truding rock outcropping and also -the sheer elevation a mdst hit. 15 yards cither side or long" results in an unplayable lie, or a lost ball. IHcrc the golfer starts getting an inkling of what he's into on this layout. lay-out. Par is again well within reason . if the tee shot is long and straight Arouna uic ihumuo tuiu uu iu number num-ber four. On number 4, a 450 yard par 5, dogleg right reality sets in. The drive must fly about 200 yards to a land & .'." K r Bill tim HirLL CRLLK, number 4 fairway and green hown from the railroad tie elevated number 5 tee box. The number 4 hole is a dogleg right, 41,0 yard par 5, and the guarded elevated erccn Tils BIG R KB ATI'S" or "CHEAP INTEREST RATES" GM QUALITY SRV)C PARTS GENERAL MOTORS I ARTS DIVISION some for about the 25th time as the Vernal Men's Association has been supporting Rifle for that long. The tournament had 171 entrants in seven sev-en flights, which was one the biggest fields ever for the event On opening day the field was divided di-vided into five man teams for a two best ball tournament which lined up four amatuers and one low handi-capper handi-capper or professional out as the captain. In that event the local crowd did reasonably well as Line Hatch captained cap-tained the second place team in the ProAm. Jess York was a member of the first place team which finished 27 under par, and Jim Albaugh was on the third place team. Additionally, Joe Rowcll, Lamar Davis, and Lamar Hawkins were on Creek - well worth the - picturesque an ing area across a creek and 60 foot gully, and must stop short of 260 or 270 yards. It's OB to the right, water wa-ter to the left and short, and unplayable un-playable ground long. Safely nego-uaung nego-uaung mat you turn the corner of the dogleg and pick out the green some 170 to 215 yards right and up a steep incline about 200 ft in elevation. ele-vation. You can pick out the top of the flag stick, but cannot see the putting surface. The green is long and narrow, guarded by sand in front, and water to the rear and left. Miss the drive or green on this one and triple bogey will be a blessing. A short second shot and pitch onto the green is the best bet on this one. The "no guts, no glory" crowd will bang away at the green, but an 10 yard errant shot will turn a par into several penalty strokes faster than Palmer's backswing. The first time around, you think it can't get any worse wrong. The number one rated hole on the course lays in wait at number 5. Up the hill and onto and elevated tee box which is some 30 feet above the number 4 green and blended into in-to the natural terrain and built out of rail road tics starts the real adventure. adven-ture. Off the tee and into a narrow fairway in a valley separating two ridges is the 405 yard par 4 number four fairway. The drive must carry some 170 yards to the landing area at the bottom to half way up the valley. val-ley. The fairway is about 40 yards wide with lateral water to the left and unplayable terrain on a steep hillside to the right. Hit the center of the fairway and the trouble is just beginning. Miss this green by ten feet in any direction and the ball is unplayable. The second time around . "" At"-4.1 erf , - 4 - i runcK m flOTOP (TO m) teams which tied with four others for places 4 through 8. Rifle Creek Golf Course which is owned by the Rifle Gap Land Development Company is in the second year of being expanded to an 18 hole layout. What those folks have accomplished is a contrasting design and two very different courses cours-es in one. The valley course winds around and through Rifle Creek and is abundantly guarded by water, trees, sand, and hard pan. The mountain course (new nine) is quite simply one of the most picturesque of any in this country. The developers develop-ers carved the course from nature and into the foothills which protects and provides unique challenges to each separate hole. One sits at number num-ber seven cut into the top of the found the group begging for a pulled short iron to hit one of the bunkers which guards the left and left front part of the green. Hit the green and the rest is easy, no sweat. The number six hole is a 140 yard par three which plays downhill to about 90 to 100 yards. The tee box is cut into a rock formation at the top of one ridge and the green is carved into the neighboring ridge, guarded by water in the front and right, and in front, and a steep grass knoll at the rear. Hit long and stay on the knoll with a chip to a green which slopes away and bogey or worse is an excellent possibility. Just when you think you've got it knocked and are looking at a 390 yard par 4 seventh hole, you drive onto the tee box and spot a fairway which disappears around a rock ridge to a blind green. You have several options here. Hit an iron down the fairway to the turn and sit 135 yards from the green. Get a little lit-tle more brave and hit the ball blind through a natural saddle in the ridge and you have a 70 yard pitch shot into the an elevated green. "No guts, no glory?" Aim right of the saddle smack into the out of bounds which surrounds the green and try to drive the green with a driver. From the white tees this requires 230 yards of carry and probably around 250 from the blues. Hit the ball long when circumventing the natural design of the course and you're in lateral water wa-ter or an unplayable lie. Number 8 is a 90 degree dogleg left, a 509 yard par five. The hole plays downhill from the tee box to a landing area about 230 yards then turns on a right angle to the green guarded by bunkers and grass ,1 I- " . S i J.' t?, j d tough ' t 1 I.'- .j make this one of the toughest holes on the course. The new nine at Rifle Creek Golf Course is one the most scenic and challenging layouts on the Western Slope. TRUD(S draws and looks out over the rest of the course some 200 feet in the air." A 230 yard drive is necessary to reach safety and must carry about 120, so there is no second chances. In developing this hill side they created cre-ated one of the toughest, unforgiving, unforgiv-ing, but beautiful layouts in the three state area. The contrast between the two courses provide some of the most challenging golf in the area. As if the course were not enough, the field had to endure a literal gully washer on Sunday, as the Championship through 3rd flights got caught in a major league thunderstorm thun-derstorm which brought rain, wind, and lightening down and disrupted play for about and hour. Thoroughly miserable, the golfers endured, but the conditions added a few strokes, in' some cases enough to practically eliminate some from the competition. mounds some 250 yards away. The long knockers cut the corner over out of bounds territory which guards the entire left side. Miss-hit the drive and you're laying two on the tee. Hit it long across the narrow nar-row fairway and you're in lateral water which guards the entire right side of the fairway. The safe route is a drive to the corner, a fairway wood just short of the green and a chip shot on with a two putt for par. Cut the corner safely and a bird is a cinch and eagle possible for most handicapers. At 9 tee box you're back to the somewhat level ground adjoimng the number one fairway. "No sweat?" The fairway is guarded by water on the right side. A 200 yard carry is required to hit the landing area over the water. The fairway then narrows to about 30 yards to an elevated green. With a good tee shot a short iron into the green make this an easy par. Mishit it into the water and bogey is a cinch. This tour is not complete without a recap of the greens whether flat and undulating of severely sloped and as per tradition at Rifle Creek slick and fast Ldrin "Pudge" Merkley Republican Candidate For Uintah County Assessor 1. Has the background and experience Knows the people and the county as well as anyone. 2. The man who believes government should WORK FOR the people and NOT the people work for the government! And is willing to back this belief up with ACTION - not just words. 3. I will not moke any promise I cannot fulfill-Out I will promise to CONTINUE to work FOR the people-individually and collectively. 4. I wilt continue to work to develop trust and harmony in the system. 5. I believe in this county and its future. 6. Hove incorporated into assessors office one slop motor vehicle renewal program. Do all in house reappraising and pickup of a'l nc.v properties in the county. With indications of a more r.tob'o real estate morV-ct Uun v,c hove hod in the past 5-7 years a reappraisal prcgrnm is now in p'aco to reappraise commercial properties in 1001. Assessors office now has tv.o sta'e cert- r J nrr'a-scrs on staff-without staff-without the increase in staff suc'! A voto for LORIN Tudno" MERKLEY is a vote for tho concerns and Interests of tho pcoplo In this county. I would appreciate your support. Lorin Merkley gills ail Tyrav However, as the old saying goes: "it rains equally on everyone here!" When the final scores were tallied only Cec Wall's 156 stood in to keep Vernal from being swept in all ranks. Wall finished fourth in the tough 1st flight. As could be expected expect-ed the Rifle players took advantage of knowing the home course as fared the best, taking home five of the seven championship trophies. The winner of the Championship Flight for the second straight year was Roger Walters, who shot 140 (or 4 under par) over the two days to repeat. Vemal Golfer Craig Hart has literally been on fire lately, but could not play at Rifle this year because be-cause of a work conflict. That matchup would have been fun to watch. Rick Peterson of Rifle won the 1st flight with a two day total of 149. The other winners were: 2nd flight, 4 I I 1 7-y '7 iyfr'u . ' THIS PICTURE shows the toughest hole on the Rifle Creek course. With the backdrop and scenic overlook, the tee box plays down a narrow fairway and then drastically moves up in elevation to a small green guarded on all sides by traps and water. i . ; ' , i r ft' f . ! Mark Fisher, Craig 154; 3rd flight, George Smelter, Rifle 157; 4th flight, Jeff Hutton, Rifle 160; 5th flight, Steve Howe, Steamboat Springs 166; and 6th flight, Willard Clapper, Rifle 172. Rock Blake tied George Smelter at 157 in the 3rd flight and forced a playoff for the trophy. It took Smelter six holes of sudden death to defeat the Glenwood Springs resident resi-dent and capture the title. Thus ended the 1990 season at Rifle Creek, where it will take locals lo-cals a few years to leam their way around the tough new design. The Vernal Men's Association now starts preparation for the upcoming Club Championships which are slated slat-ed to begin a week from Saturday at Dinaland Golf Course. The Club Championship signals the beginning of the end of the 1990 season as it is the last major golf event of the year. Snow is just around the corner. - A - sr " T4 1'l.nnr 7"J 2111 Vrrral. I ill t |