inon Hills Golf Course, located in Farmington, makes Golf Magazines’ list of five courses named as possible hosts for the 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.
