Black Hills blooming

Golf Course News, Apr 2003 by Rice, Derek

In spite of drought

RAPID CITY, S.D. - In the shadow of the Black Hills in South Dakota, architect Ron Farris is putting the finishing touches on the Golf Club at Red Rock, nine holes of which should open this month, against Farris advice.

"You'd love to have as much maturity as possible on a golf course," he said. "It's not perfect, but that's mostly because of the drought last year."

Red Rock is one of seven active South Dakota projects according to the National Golf Foundation. The crown jewel of this group, Farris said, is the Graham Marsh-- designed Sutton Bay Golf Club scheduled to open this year in Agar.

"Sutton Bay is just a beautiful golf course,"

Farris said. "It sits on what used to be a 30,000-acre ranch, so they won't have any development anywhere around them."

The development of quality golf courses in South Dakota may lead to a greater influx of tourists, Farris said, but there is no formal plan underway to draw them. He said he hopes golf will complement two of the state's already strong tourist attractions: Mount Rushmore and pheasant hunting.

"I was always surprised that golf was not as promoted. Granted, people don't look at South Dakota and think, `What a weather Mecca,'" Farris said. "We have a tremendous amount of pheasant hunting that takes place here. People fly in from all over just to come pheasant hunting here, so Sutton Bay will have a hand in that.

"There's also three million people who come out here to visit Mount Rushmore every year," he added. "Red Rock is about 15 minutes away. I just don't think people have really marketed it."

While the private Sutton Bay will offer hunting, fishing and a sporting clay course based out of its lodge accommodations, Red Rock will offer $27 green fees, which Farris described as a steal.

"There's something for everybody here," he said.