The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

May 29, 2009

City celebrates Schifferdecker repairs, upgrades

By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

Golfers say Schifferdecker Municipal Golf Course is looking spry for its 87th year.

Renovations at the course scored Friday with golfers like Rich Doubet.

“It’s in as good as shape as it’s been in quite a few years,” said Doubet, of Carthage, who has been golfing in the area since 1993. “The new carts are great. The old ones were getting pretty tired.”

The city celebrated repairs and upgrades at the course Friday with a tournament, a cookout and a giveaway of some free-play passes. The Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce cut a ribbon.

The Joplin City Council had earmarked $400,000 to spend on the course. The council decided to replace the entire fleet of golf carts, 60 of them, which pushed up spending on the course to more than $500,000, said Doug Joyce, parks director.

Mayor Gary Shaw said the course is known as a historic one because it opened in 1922 alongside what became Route 66.

“Schifferdecker is a bargain” in the course’s condition now, Shaw said. Repairs have included a new pump in the irrigation system, paving cart paths, clearing out damaged or dead trees, and planting new ones.

“The most important thing people wanted was new tee boxes, and we will have them in place in time for the Ozark Amateur,” the mayor said. Billed as the oldest golf tournament west of the Mississippi, the amateur is played in July.

Joyce said work will continue on the course this year.

The tee boxes will be finished in a couple of weeks, but will be off limits until July to allow grass to grow. Golfers should expect their scores to be higher when they start playing off the tee boxes because the temporary tees are shorter and contribute to lower scores, Joyce said.

Also, there’s still another crop of trees to be planted later this year and some drainage work to be done late in the summer when thunderstorm-season subsides.

Suggestions are needed for a means to dry out fairway No. 3, Joyce said. The fairway stays wet and numerous efforts to improve drainage have failed. “If anyone has experience in drainage that could help, we’d like to hear from them,” Joyce said. “There has to be a solution.”

Despite that problem, former Missouri Southern State University head coach Jim Frazier, who is a lifetime board member of the Joplin Sports Authority, concurs with Doubet’s assessment of course conditions.

“The course is in great shape,” Frazier said. “The new tee boxes will be nice. The greens putted smooth.”



Greens fees

Fees at Schifferdecker are $11 for weekday play and $14 on weekends. Rates are lower for senior citizens, and yearly passes are available. Carts are $10 for nine holes and $20 for 18 holes.



Text Only
Joplin Metro
  • Ruby-Sapp-obit.jpg Longtime Democrat dies at 81

    Sapp, 81, died Thursday. Funeral services were Monday at the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin. A longtime Jasper County Democratic committeewoman and volunteer, Sapp for years was secretary to the county’s central committee.

    August 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Nixon: Joplin offers 'a beacon of hope'

    Two days ago, after seeing the devastating destruction in Oklahoma, Nixon said, "I believe that you are something else too, something the people of Moore need right now. A word we all remember seeing, in front of the old high school, made from duct tape: Hope.

    May 22, 2013

  • Grant enables 20th Street Project to move forward

    A $20 million grant from the Economic Development Administration, announced at Joplin's tornado anniversary event today, will enable the 20th Street Project and the building of a new Joplin Public Library to move forward.

    May 22, 2013

  • Weather delays opening of Schifferdecker water park

    Wet spring weather has delayed work on the Schifferdecker Aquatic Center, and it will not open over Memorial Day weekend, city officials said today.

    May 17, 2013

  • Commission: Vote about curbside recycling would be only advisory

    Council members, in a special meeting April 8, heard a proposal and gave informal approval to hold a special election Aug. 6 on the question of whether voters want to implement curbside recycling.

    May 2, 2013

  • EDA awards Joplin schools funding for Franklin Tech

    The grant was sought for the school district to help rebuild Franklin Technical School as part of an effort to obtain redevelopment funding for Joplin.

    March 15, 2013

  • Reception to honor Joplin superintendent

    A reception is planned to honor C.J. Huff, one of four finalists for Superintendent of the Year, chosen by the American Association of School Administrators

    February 28, 2013

  • State MLK commission names Joplin mayor for leadership award

    Joplin's mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean has been named the recipient of this year's leadership award by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission.

    January 10, 2013

  • Worker injured at new hospital site

    A construction worker injured in a fall Thursday at the site where the new Mercy Hospital Joplin is being built was reported to be in fair condition at a local hospital.

    January 4, 2013

  • Oklahoma prison escapee caught in Joplin

    The Newton County Sheriff's Department captured an escape from an Oklahoma prison today after locating him inside a house on Joplin's south side.

    November 12, 2012