The options for golfers in north Thornton are going to improve over the next couple of years.
The city-owned Thorncreek Golf Course will close in October and reopen in 2018 after a $7 million renovation that will make rounds faster and more fun for golfers, and easier to maintain for the grounds crew.
And next year, — a national franchise currently operating a location in Centennial that allows golfers to hit balls containing computer microchips in a climate-controlled hitting bay and also features a full-service restaurant and three bars — hopes to open Colorado’s second location in Thornton, just across the street from Thorncreek on Interstate 25 and 136th Avenue.
“It’s right next to the golf course and we believe they will be very nice, complimentary uses,” said Julie Jacoby, retail and local business administrator with the Thornton Office of Economic Development. “It will also complement all the other development along that corridor, including Simon Premium Outlets and the Cabela’s development.”
There will be a public hearing on the project at city council’s regular meeting Aug. 23. If all goes smoothly during that process, the prospective timing of the Topgolf opening is right in the middle of the Thorncreek renovation work, around fall 2017.
Work on Thorncreek, which opened in 1992 and has not received complete course modifications since, is anticipated to last until spring 2018.
“Our goal is to improve the irrigation system and really open up the course to make it more usable for a wider group of golfers,” said Diane Von Fossen, Thornton’s capital projects and planning manager. “The golf course is important for us to maintain and invest in as an asset in the parks and open space system.”
(13555 Washington St.) four years ago after a private management company dropped the course for being too expensive to fix and maintain.
“When we took over the course in 2012, our original course architect, Baxter Spann, did a needs assessment of what had happened here in the 20 years since he had been here,” said Doug Fisher, Thorncreek superintendent. “There was pretty significant deferred maintenance, and so he came up with a master plan that address those needs.”
During the assessment, . The impurity of the water hardened the turf to a point that aeration spikes would break off in some parts of the course when the city attempted to aerate the land after years of it not being done.
“For the last three years, we’ve been fine tuning this master plan a little bit each year, and we’ve finally got it down what we feel will get the most bang for our buck and do the best that we can to improve it for the golfers,” Fisher said.
The nearly $7 million project will replace the entire 18-hole course’s irrigation system with a more modern and cost efficient system that has about 500 more watering heads. It also includes renovation to develop a forward tee program, cart path improvements as well as the construction of running water restrooms.
Since the city took over operations, improvements such as a clubhouse remodel and installation of a foot golf course have helped to attract more players and revenue, but the overhaul will correct the most pressing problems on the course: a design that holds up playing time four hours and a watering system that leaves the course selectively hydrated and requires spot hand watering by employees with garden hoses.
“From a water conservation standpoint … I foresee us using much less water and maybe 50 percent or more of our current electrical costs,” Fisher said. “The system has surpassed its useful lifespan. Half the guys on my crew right now are doing nothing but repairing irrigation and hand watering the course, and it’s been that way for weeks now.”
At a recent public meeting with residents to present the final designs of the new course, more than 100 people showed up to weigh in on the long anticipated overhaul.
“I’ve lived here in Thornton for 20 years, and I’ve played this course for 20 years and what I’ve seen so far is a massive improvement,” said Dave Allis, pausing from a round of golf on a recent day at Thorncreek. “It going to make the course more playable, it’s going to make it easier to maintain and it’s really going to be beautiful once they’re done with it. We look forward to coming back after it reopens.”