Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 26, 2023 -- SEVEN
Wildhorse readies golf course for
LPGA qualifying tournament
Lexington continues discussion
on lowering speed limit
Grounds crews are getting the Wildhorse Golf Course and the Golf Course at Birch Creek
ready for national tournament play this summer. -Contributed photo
Professional grounds
crews from Wildhorse
Resort & Casino and the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion (CTUIR) are preparing
the Wildhorse Golf Course
and the Golf Course at
Birch Creek for national
tournament play this sum-
mer. Elite golfers from
around the world will de-
scend on the course Aug.
14-20 during the Epson
Tour’s 2023 Wildhorse La-
dies Golf Classic, a Ladies
Professional Golf Associ-
ation (LPGA) qualifying
event.
“It takes a team effort
and a lot of hard work to
prepare a golf course for a
major event,” says Sean A.
Hoolehan, CGCS, Direc-
tor of Grounds, Wildhorse
Resort & Casino and the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion. “Timing is key, includ-
ing strategically scheduling
aerification, topdressing,
and fertility to achieve a
firm and fast course during
the third week in August.”
Preparation at the Wild-
horse Golf Course and the
Golf Course at Birch Creek
for the upcoming LPGA
qualifying event began
months in advance. Addi-
tional personnel and equip-
ment are required to bolster
the team as they ready the
course for tournament play
within a condensed time
period. Team members will
work double shifts, from
5-9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to dark,
to prepare the course for the
Epson Tour’s 2023 Wild-
horse Ladies Golf Classic
without impacting local
play before the tournament.
Led by Hoolehan, the
course management team
also includes Tyler Gabriel,
Birch Creek Superinten-
dent, and Jordan Dove,
WRC Landscape Manager.
Hoolehan is a grad-
uate of the Professional
Golf Course Management
Program at Rutgers Uni-
versity and is a Certified
Golf Course Superintendent
with the Golf Course Super-
intendents Association of
America, where he previ-
ously served as the organi-
zation’s president. An avid
golfer himself, Hoolehan
has helped to open and
manage elite courses across
the U.S., including Na-
vyMarine Golf Course in
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
As part of ongoing
tournament preparations,
grounds mechanics are
working overtime to en-
sure course mowers are
sharp and precise, deliv-
ering the perfect cutting
height. During the week of
the tournament, the greens
will be cut to .100 of an
inch three times daily and
rolled twice before play
begins. Watering will be
reduced 50 percent starting
the week of the event, with
irrigation team members
focused on hand watering
every evening and drying
the course down daily.
“We are talking about
some of the world’s best
women golfers and they are
still going to shoot scores in
the low 60s,” said Hoole-
han. “We are proud to host
the best golfers from around
the world in Oregon and
my team is working hard
to deliver a firm, fast, and
challenging course for the
August tournament. I am
lucky to work with such
a talented and commit-
ted team of professionals
here at the Wildhorse Golf
Course and the Golf Course
at Birch Creek.”
The Epson Tour season
includes 22 tournaments
across the country from
March through October,
with nearly $5 million in
prize money at stake. The
Wildhorse Ladies Golf
Classic is the only Epson
Tour event to be held in
Oregon this year. It is an
official event on the LPGA
qualifying tour, attracting
top players from around
the world to compete for a
space on the professional
circuit next year. More than
130 golfers from 40 coun-
tries are expected to com-
pete for $200,000 in prize
money at the tournament.
The 2023 Wildhorse
Ladies Golf Classic in
Pendleton includes the
Pro-Am Tournament Aug.
16-17 and the Ladies Golf
Classic Aug. 18-20. A tro-
phy presentation will be
held immediately following
the event’s final round on
Sunday, Aug. 20, at the
18 th tee. Tournament tickets
start as low as $5 a day and
$20 for a five-day pass. All
children 11 and younger
can attend for free when
accompanied by an adult.
Visit wildhorseresort.
com for tickets and event
details.
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Lexington Town
Council further explored
the idea of lowering speed
limits through Lexington at
its last council meeting on
July 11.
During the Town of
Lexington’s recent com-
munity engagement process
for proposed downtown
improvements, one of the
issues raised was the possi-
bility of lowering the high-
way speed limit through
town. Several residents
had suggested lowering the
speed limit on Hwy. 74 to
25 miles per hour through
the town.
Even though the pro-
posed change would be
within the Lexington town
limits, Hwy. 74 is a state
highway, so Oregon Dept.
of Transportation would
need to approve any speed
zone changes. Ferguson
said she had reached out
and gotten information on
the process.
The town would need
to submit a request for a
speed zone change to the
ODOT State Traffic Road-
way Engineer (STRE), who
would review it and then
forward it to Region Traffic.
Region Traffic would then
investigate make a recom-
mendation to the ODOT
Traffic Roadway Section,
which would then return it
to the STRE.
Based on the STRE’s
recommendation, the
speed zone could either be
changed then, or it might
have to go before the Speed
Zone Review Panel.
Lexington Mayor Juli
Kennedy said that, though
they had discussed 25 mph,
she personally thought 20
mph through town would
be even better.
“Most downtown areas
are 20,” she said, adding.
“If we go to 20, we’re lucky
to get 30.”
Lexington Council-
or Will Lemmon said he
agreed, but he also thought
the town needed something
to draw attention to the re-
duced speed.
“We’d have to have like
those school zone lights
that really catch people’s
attention,” he said.
Town councilor Katie
Imes said she saw two sep-
arate issues the town needs
to discuss with ODOT, the
speed zone and the signage.
By consensus, the coun-
cil agreed that Imes and
Lexington Town Recorder
Veronica Ferguson should
explore the process further.
-Continued to PAGE NINE
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