The latest improvement to the Kingfisher Golf Course was opened up for play on Thursday.

The newly-reconstructed green on hole No. 3 was “christened” by club pro and manager Gary Wilson along with Kingfisher Golf Association board members Chad Burnham, Reggie Redwine and Derrick Wolf.

(Ed. note: Redwine was the only one to birdie the hole.)

“It’s still got some filling in to do, but it’s ready for the heavy schedule of high school tournaments that we’re getting ready to host,” Wilson said.

A temporary green has been in use since the end of last summer as the new, approximately 2,500 square foot green was constructed, complete with a new irrigation system.

It’s a part of the KGA’s plan to replace each green on the front-nine of the 18-hole course.

Most of the greens were built in the 1960s and less attention was paid to quality drainage.

This green is the third new one on the course in the last two years.

Holes No. 7 and 8 were done last summer. The seventh hole was rebuilt like No. 3, but No. 8 was a complete new green that extended the hole by about 50 yards.

Wilson said the new third green, which sits near the Kingfisher Park’s north entrance, is about one-third bigger than the previous green.

It’s built up higher than the previous green and has a slope that drops from the front to the back along with several undulations.

The project cost about $30,000 and is paid for by the KGA, Wilson said.

He added the association is able to keep the costs down some due to the work of members like Bob Bollenbach, Shawn Scammahorn and Ron Townsend.

The completion of this green leaves holes No. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 left to rebuild. The green on No. 5 was rebuilt, complete with new drainage, around 2004 and is not in the plans for the current project.

Wilson said hole No. 4 is next on the list.

However, he said the KGA board recently voted to buy sod to place around the greens on the back-nine.

“The hard freeze from the 2021 winter caused a lot of winter kill,” Wilson said. “Although our course did better than a lot of others, there are some areas that need to be addressed and we felt addressing that was a priority before the new green.”

The hope, Wilson said, is there is still enough money to pay for the green reconstruction toward the end of summer.