Pinon Hills Golf Course May Host 2022 PGA Championship

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Farmington’s Pinon Hills Golf Course,

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continues to garner national recognition.

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This time, making Golf Magazine’s list

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of five municipal courses

that’d be ideal host sites

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for the 2022 PGA championship.

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You’re watching the local

news network, brought

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to you by Fastsigns of Durango.

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I’m Wendy Graham settle.

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Pinon Hills is considered a legend

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in the high desert golf

landscape for its wide fairways,

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challenging three-tiered greens,

and beautiful Vista views.

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And now it has attracted the attention

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of the Professional Golf Association.

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Head Golf Professional Luke Tanner

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says he’s been blown away at the prospect

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of a PGA Championship

coming to play the course.

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It’s awesome. I can’t

imagine how much it would

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affect the community, how good

it would be to have it here.

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Kind of caught us by surprise.

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We saw the article at the

same time everybody else did,

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so it was pretty cool.

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Tanner admits that to make it a reality,

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a lot of clubhouse changes

would be necessary.

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Including building

bigger banquet facilities

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and concessions and adding

considerably more parking spaces.

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It’s nice to be in contention,

but what are the chances

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of Pinon Hills being chosen

for such a huge event?

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I can’t say, there would be a lot

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of things that would

have to go into it, but

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I know myself and Chris

would be totally behind it.

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And I’m sure everybody that plays here

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and everybody that is interested in golf

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in the community and even

those that aren’t would be

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super excited about it.

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The city owned course,

designed by Ken Dye,

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opened in 1989.

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The irrigation system and cart

paths, in their third decade

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of use, need a major update.

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General Manager Chris Jones

said they were on the verge

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of renovations last spring when

COVID derailed their plans.

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Despite the pandemic, the club has gone

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on to score a pretty decent season.

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But once when we re-open,

we have really been busy.

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It’s been a good last seven

eight months, so to speak.

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Even though it’s been hard on people

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and it’s certainly been hard

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on some of our employees and everything,

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but we’ve been able to

provide a good outlet

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for people to get outside

and still play golf.

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If the course isn’t chosen,

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he won’t be too disheartened.

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Jones’s loyalty remains

with his regular golfers.

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That’s part of my job is

probably the people we

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see every day.

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I’ve been here for 14 years

and I’ve got to know a lot

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of these people and know their families.

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I’ve watched a lot of kids

grow up and they ended

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up playing high school golf

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and it’s been fun to see

some of them around here,

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but I like coming here every day.

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The view from our clubhouse is awesome,

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and I’m lucky to work somewhere like this

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where you come and appreciate

the beauty of it everyday.

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Playing a great golf course

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doesn’t have to come with

a big time price tag.

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Locals pay about $40 for 18

holes, including a golf cart.

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Playing golf at Pinon Hills

not only is affordable,

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the staff make it a fast, friendly round.

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And fun, if you can remember

to keep your head down.

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The municipal course, located

at 20101 Sunrise Parkway

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in Farmington, is open every

day from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

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For more information

about the 2022 PGA event,

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or to book a tee time, call 505-326-6066.

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This edition of the Local

News Network was brought

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to you by Fastsigns.

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Thanks for watching.

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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.

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