Huge renovation under way at Kickingbird

Kickingbird takes shape

by ken macleod

For the impact that Kickingbird Golf Course has had on golf in Oklahoma, you have to look no further than the 2021 class inducted into the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame.

Architect Floyd Farley, whose design of Kickingbird was one of his finest, was inducted. Art Proctor, its first professional and founder of a junior golf program that has transformed Oklahoma golf, was inducted, as were brothers David and Danny Edwards, who grew up in Edmond and played it frequently. David was one of the original Proctor “range rats,” working at the course in exchange for playing and practicing privileges.

Now just over 50 years old, the current renovation ongoing this summer at the course should make all those Hall of Famers proud.

The breadth of the project shows that Edmond officials understand and value their unique history and impact. When complete, Kickingbird should rank among the top complete public facilities in the country.

Go to www.kickingbirdgolf.com to see up-to-date construction pictures of the new event center, clubhouse, at-the-turn room, locker rooms, practice facilities, high tech driving range, indoor learning center and more.

The project will end up north of $19 million and is quite an investment in public golf by the Edmond City Council and government officials.

“We’re very fortunate to have a city that believes in golf,” said Director of Golf Brian Soerensen. “The course is just over 50 years old and this investment is for the next 50.”

On the course, a new triple row irrigation system is going in. Fairways are being converted from common Bermuda to the new Tahoma Bermuda, while greens have been cored out and rebuilt and will be seeded with

007 bent grass. The overall distance will increase from 6,722 to just over 7,000 yards. The fourth hole will be converted to a 512-yard par-5, with the tee moved back by the green on the par-3 third. Proctor and E.C. Hafer built Kickingbird’s junior program that averaged 250 kids each summer and sometimes topped out at over 300. Mike McGraw ran it from 1979-97 while coaching at Edmond Memorial and Edmond North. “I was just part of the machine that Art and E.C. Brian Soerensen started and is still going today,” McGraw said. “Kickingbird has always been a great source of junior golf talent.” The course is scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2023 and should be able to host the OGA Junior Boys and Girls Amateur next year. In 2024, it is scheduled to host an NCAA Division II Super Regional and Edmond resident Billy Mayfair, winner of the 1995 Tour Championship at Southern Hills, has been exploring bringing a Champions Tour event to the course. The on-course improvements will be dramatic but off the course the changes will be stunning. At the west end is a new 6,670 square foot events center able to seat over 145 and ideal for tournaments as well as meetings, receptions and other community events. Underground will be a 7,252 square foot cart barn. The new clubhouse will include a sizeable pro shop, sit-down restaurant, locker room and at-the-turn bar and grill. In the former parking lot is a three-green practice putting and chipping area, while the driving range will now include the indoor learning center and an area with simulators and technology to be similar to a Top Golf experience. The entire range will also be equipped with TrackMan technology that can be accessed for a monthly service fee.

The new clubhouse, event center and driving range bays under construction in May.

Fairways were stripped of common Bermuda for replanting with Tahoma.

Greens have been recontoured and will be seeded this fall with 007 bent grass.