Renewed Hangman a blast

There is a new look and feel to Hangman Valley Golf Course this spring.

The new look is terrific. The new feel, not so much – at least for the time being.

But once the sparkling white sand that was added to all the bunkers as part of a $750,000 facelift completed last fall firms up all should be right with the world once again at the most challenging and interesting of the three public courses operated by Spokane County.

Until then, however, golfers will have to find creative ways to deal with the myriad challenges the new sand and its powdery texture create – not the least of which is trying to get some semblance of solid footing once you are ready to address your ball.

“Most of the feedback we’ve got on the remodel has been positive – except for the bunkers,” Hangman Valley’s head professional Steve Nelke said. “And that’s going to take some time for the sand to settle in and compress.

“But once it does, it’s going to create a whole new feel that I think golfers will really like.”

Nelke points to the practice bunker next to the practice range as an example of what to expect once the new sand firms up.

“People go in and out of that bunker all the time, so the sand is already compressed,” he said. “And that’s what the rest of the sand will be like once it settles.”

To make too much of the sand issue, however, unfairly detracts from the rest of the much-needed touch-up work that started last fall, shortly after Labor Day, and resulted in the county having to take various holes out of play prior to closing the course for the season on the last Sunday in September.

By then, only five holes were still open.

“It was a mess,” Nelke said. “We had a few holes here and a few holes there, and we were having to point out where golfers should go next.”

The decision to close the remaining holes and start full-scale work on the renovation allowed the Colorado-based firm Phelps-Atkinson Golf Design to complete the project prior to the first snowfall, giving the growing process a bit of a head start.

The first thing the architects of the makeover did was reshape most of the existing bunkers – with the exception of those that were removed – and add a few more. They then took the dirt and sand from the old bunkers and used it to reshape and elevate some of the original tee boxes and construct several new ones to give golfers a choice of four different tees – blue, white, red and gold – on every hole.

Many of the changes to the bunkers, with the exception of the white sand, are subtle. In most cases, greenside traps were expanded and brought around to the front of the putting surfaces.

“The bunkers used to be pretty much on the sides of all the greens,” Nelke said. “But now most of them encroach in front of the green, which means you have to hit over them more often that you did in the past, when you could roll the ball on from a lot of different angles.”

There was also some creek bank restoration done on the 10th and 18th holes, and the white fence that ran along the right side of the 10th fairway was removed.

Among some of the other most noticeable changes are:

•The addition of a pair of wonderfully positioned fairway bunkers that bookends the fairway on the par-5 fifth hole and adds immensely to what was already a gorgeous view from the elevated tee box.

•The new look from the tee box on the par-4 12th, where the original bunker on the right side of the fairway has been enlarged and split, with the left section protruding menacingly into the fairway.

•The addition of a bunker short and right of the green on the par-3 17th, and the removal of the original bunker that was short and left of the green, which has been replaced by a bailout chipping area.

Considering how much work was done and the record amount of snow that buried the region last winter, the course seems to have not only survived, but to have flourished. The new grass around the reshaped bunkers is long and thick, the fairways are plush and the greens are smooth, but soft.

Once the new white sand settles in, look for Hangman Valley’s new feel to become as popular as its new look.