'Starting the ball rolling'

Othello Golf Club will expand into 18-hole facility

It almost seems misplaced.

Driving to the Othello Golf Club, you leave the town behind you and head out into the farmland in search of Doug Buck's "desert oasis." In the middle of hay fields, lies a nine-hole mirage for the golf enthusiast to find peace.

The course itself can be an inviting presence to the beginner and avid swinger, but, its only drawback has been a nine-hole facility, with three 18-hole golf courses within 30 miles drawing outside golfers away.

Yet, what Buck and the Othello Golf Club offers will test anyone searching for a clean and true golf course.

"What attracts them here, we have lots of trees and people are shocked to see this golf course in this area," Buck said. "We have trees for shade, tranquil settings, serenity, trees for wind block and quality in the golf course."

Now that will change.

This fall, Buck plans to start construction on a back nine to offer a full 18-hole facility. On 133 acres to the west of the current nine holes, Buck and a crew of professional designers and contractors, plan on creating a complimentary nine that opens the golfers challenges on the course.

"It will be more open and offer the old classic style with the links integration," Buck said. "I think this golf course with that type of nine will offer both options and great feels of the whole game."

Gordon Taylor started the project in 1964 with the idea of creating a 27-hole golf course. After the first nine was complete, he turned the course over to its members in 1969 where it remained in its state as a private club.

In 1980, Buck came on as a PGA Professional and found an opportunity in 1987 to purchase the course and turn it into a public golf club. In 1990, he bought out four partners and has been on pace to put a complete 18-hole course together.

"Play has dropped a little bit since the early 1990s and where it has hurt the most is the nine-hole golf courses and that is another reason for me to get aggressive and expand," Buck said.

The front nine currently sits at 3,066 yards with a par 35 for the course. It is set up to play 18 holes with two different tee boxes on each hole to give golfers different angles depending on the hole of play.

The back nine plans include two par 5 holes topping over 500 yards and three par 3 holes, maintaining a par 35 round. As a whole, the course is projected at becoming a 6,414 yard, par 70 course.

Buck believes this expansion will draw businesses to Othello and the Columbia Basin.

"We all know people from the Westside are looking to the Columbia Basin for their businesses and this is the type of facility we need to offer to attract them here," Buck said. "What the area will see is a fantastic facility we haven't seen around here."