Improvements made to Fort Hood's Courses of Clear Creek

By Blair Dupre, Fort Hood Public AffairsAugust 26, 2021

Putt
Bunkley Morris puts on the fourth hole of Armadillo Run during the 2020 Courses of Clear Creek club championship tournament at Fort Hood, Texas. After battling a severe winter freeze in February, the golf course has made landscape beautification efforts and reduced in size by nine holes, allowing staff to focus on the remaining 18-hole course. (Photo Credit: Blair Dupre, Fort Hood Public Affairs) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas - With quality of life initiatives in the forefront, the Courses of Clear Creek here have made some changes, including landscape beautification and reduction of nine holes, in order to create a better golfing experience.

Avid golfers, Thurman Booth, Donnie Mathes, Dean Christensen and John Druce have seen positive change since the nine holes have closed down.

“It has allowed (the staff) to focus more on what golfers want – fairways, greens, tee box, bunkers,” Booth said. “We would rather see a nice green, a level tee box that’s not covered in divots, and stuff like that. It’s been a great improvement I think.”

He added, “Here you got maintenance people, mowers, ..… that play golf, so they definitely know what to look for and what to do and what to fix,” making the Courses of Clear Creek one of the best facilities in the area.

All four men also commented on the newly added cover over the outdoor seating at the clubhouse making it possible to sit outside during this hot Texas summer.

“At the end of our round today, we said, ‘Why aren’t we out here golfing more?’” Mathes said.

“By closing nine holes, it gave us the opportunity to focus more on the remaining 18 holes with the staff we have,” Chris Osborne, manager of the Courses of Clear Creek, stated.

Osborne plans to add more programs and clinics in the future, keeping quality of life in mind.

The severe freeze in February took a drastic toll on the Courses of Clear Creek. “We have since had the United States Golf Association agronomist come out and look at our golf course and give us some guidelines of how to improve the turf quality,” Osborne said. “They’re going to come out again and see how we are progressing.”

Osborne knows the importance of the Courses of Clear Creek to the Fort Hood Community and hopes that it can facilitate fun for generations to come.

“This is a great place to get out and enjoy the outdoors with your buddies. It is a game that can be enjoyed for a lifetime, by anyone. You can play three generations in the same group. We have a great facility here. Looking forward to the Soldiers, DoD (Department of Defense) card holders and the community utilizing our course, as we continue to improve.”

For those who are interested in job openings at the Courses of Clear Creek, visit www.usajobs.gov, to see what is available.