Lots of improvements in the works at Foster Gulch Golf Course

Those who have recently gone out to Foster Gulch Golf Course have noticed several new improvements that have been made, and even more are in the works.

Board president Tim Winland reported that a lot of time was spent on Hole 4 in the spring to roll and repair the green. Mountain Construction provided a roller and rolled it down to make it smoother and removed some of the rough edges and hard lips around it.

Winland also said that the drain behind Hole 5 has been fixed to divert some of the water that would pool in the area and made it hard to mow around, and the drain makes the hole easier to play now.

The board ordered more black sand to add to the bunkers to bring them to a higher level.

In April, a dozen Austrian Pine Trees were ordered from Successful Gardens and planted around the course.

Winland said several highway signs were replaced, with a few more waiting on equipment for installation.

To prevent golfers from driving carts in prohibited areas, additional areas were roped off on the course. Mountain Construction also provided road mix to help smooth out the cart paths and help alleviate the damage rough paths were causing the carts.

“On some of those areas, we were finding that people were thinking that the carts are
off-road vehicles,” Winland said. “It is a lot of wear and tear on the golf carts, and it’s hard on their tires.”

On fairways four and five, a new valve was installed to split the watering responsibilities of the sprinkler system and provide more water coverage.

This winter, the pond was dug out and cleaned, and a new water fountain feature will be added soon. A new water line was run to the area so that the fountain can run without being connected to a sprinkler zone. The materials needed to make that possible were donated by Bentonite Performance Minerals.

“We are really excited to get that completed,” Winland said.

Winland also stated that an additional tee box was added to Hole 5 that lengthened the par 4 by an additional 50 yards.

Foster Gulch started replacing the decking around the clubhouse last year, and it was sealed this spring.

“It looks beautiful,” he said. “It darkened it up a bit, and we’ve bought some patio furniture to go along the deck so that when people are done shooting a round or two, they can sit around and have a drink or relax.”

Currently, there are about 120 active memberships at the course.

“Despite the weather that we had in May, it looks like the numbers are really good at Foster Gulch Golf Course,” said Winland. “We opened on April 14, and we had over 800 visits in the month of April, which is roughly in the same neighborhood as 2024.”

In order for people to stay up on events and tournament schedules throughout the summer at the golf course, their new website is up and running, along with their Facebook page. To kick off the tournament season, the sixth annual Foster Gulch Golf Tournament is this Saturday, June 7.

“We also look forward to hosting the 3A West golf tournament in September,” Winland said. “That’ll be a big event for the golf course and the high school.”

RATING

“Probably for the first time since the course was originally created, we will be getting rated this summer,” Winland reported. “Along with some other area courses in Powell and Cody, the Wyoming and Colorado Golf Association will be coming in July to rate the course.”

For avid golfers, a course’s rate and slope are two terms used to explain the course’s difficulty. A course rating represents the score a scratch golfer is expected to achieve on the course.

Course ratings are assigned to different sets of tees on the course, reflecting varying distances and layout.

A slope rating measures the relative difficulty of a course for bogey golfers compared to scratch golfers. Slope rating is used to adjust handicaps and ensure a fair game among players with different skill levels.

Slope ratings range from 55 to 155, and the higher the slope rating, the more difficult the course is for bogey golfers relative to scratch golfers.

“We are really looking forward to that,” Winland said.