Ready for Ratliff

A handful of local golf enthusiasts swing golf clubs and hit balls to get the right feel or grip of their next potential purchase inside Golf Etc.

Discussion fills the tiny store at Grandview Avenue and University Boulevard about Ratliff Golf Course possibly opening soon - maybe as soon as Aug. 8.

If the course does reopen on that day, it would mark the 20th anniversary of the original opening back in 1988.

Golfers get geared up because it's the only public course in Odessa besides Sunset. Unfortunately, limited options drive golfers to go to Andrews, Monahans and Midland.

David Farmer, the assistant manager at Golf Etc., used to be the golf pro out at Ratliff Golf Course from 1998 to 2002. He said that ever since the reopening was delayed, people starting asking about the opening date.

"If you sit here all day uninterrupted, you would probably hear every third customer ask about it," Farmer said.

"When is it supposed to open?" asked Lorenzo Hernandez as he swung a golf club around in the back of the store. "I can't wait for that one to reopen. The fairways are much better."

Hernandez just started golfing about three years ago when he attended a Make-a-Wish Foundation tournament with his company, Quicksilver, in Granbury. He'd never played golf, but his company needed a fourth man. He teed it up and got hooked.

As he tries to make his golfing nest here in Odessa, which hasn't been ideal since Ratliff closed for renovation, he plays at Sunset. When he has time, he'll drive to other West Texas courses, but gas prices put a damper on his travel plans.  

Lane Barton's been golfing for 39 years, and he too must travel to find a course that fits his preferences. He loved golfing at the Ratliff Ranch in the past because of the layout.

"I've been traveling out of town to play golf since Ratliff closed," Barton said. Given the current gas prices, he said that can be cumbersome. "I've been going everywhere from Big Spring to Andrews, Midland and Monahans."

As many golfers are, Barton has been looking forward to the opening of Ratliff Ranch Golf Links for some time. However, there's a touch of skepticism in his voice. He said that when the golf course opened for the first time almost 20 years ago, it wasn't ready - they had to shut it down for renovation.

"I'm just hoping it is indeed ready this time," Barton said.

Farmer said a decent amount of water for the newly planted grass to take root is needed and rainwater more efficiently does the job than irrigation. Recent rains spurred the city parks director, Steve Patton, to recommend an earlier date to reopen Ratliff. 

Barton said he thinks when Ratliff opened the first time 20 years ago the grass didn't have time to take root and it couldn't endure the usual wear and tear, not to mention the droughts.

"I don't care if they keep it closed until next spring, just as long as they get it right this time so it will stay open," Barton said.