Member Spotlight – Turkey Creek Golf Course
McPherson’s Turkey Creek Golf Course is an 18-hole facility that was built in 1990. It has gorgeous bluegrass fairways and bent grass greens and is a great place to spend an afternoon golfing with family or friends. At Turkey Creek you’ll find four sets of tees ranging from 4,597 yards to over 6,300 yards with a par of 70. The 300+ yard driving range at Turkey Creek has natural grass tees and a full-length hitting mat in case of inclement weather conditions.
Jason Bushbom, Operations Superintendent at Turkey Creek, takes care of the golf course on the maintenance side. So what exactly does all that entail you ask? LOTS! The maintenance department mows, cuts trees, tends to the irrigation systems (which keeps the grass nice and green on the golf course). They keep the creek bed clean, as well as paint signs – which includes the tee markers. Helping Jason with the maintenance side at Turkey Creek is one assistant and four temp workers. During June through August eight seasonal workers are hired. To keep the greens looking good they are mowed or rolled every day of the golfing season. The team routinely mows 207 acres of grass a week. That’s like mowing 157 football fields EVERY WEEK, which translates into 132 man hours!
Some Turkey Creek Golf Course fun facts from Jason … the cart path that winds around the golf course is 10 miles long. When they irrigate full blast in the summer they push over 1,000,000 gallons of water on the golf course a night! The course has 14 miles of PVC pipe that moves the water throughout the 18 holes and there are 822 sprinkler heads on the irrigation lines. That would be like running PVC pipe from the McPherson City building all the way to Lindsborg!
Treg Fawl is Turkey Creek’s Program Coordinator and runs the Clubhouse side of things. He is the only full time staff person in the Clubhouse, but has 6-8 part timers to assist with things like merchandise sales, concessions, and setting up tee times. In addition to college and high school students helping out when needed, Treg also has some retired folks who come out and help. Treg also gives golf lessons to individuals or small groups and facilitates events, leagues, and clinics at the golf course.
Turkey Creek Golf Course has several types of memberships available. And if you join before February 1st you can get a 5% discount if you purchase it in full! For the last three years they have had between 230-270 membership types. To see a list of the membership types available for the course and the fees visit the Turkey Creek Golf Course website.
Have you ever wondered how many rounds of golf are played out at Turkey Creek? Treg said since COVID it’s been well over 20,000 a year. And that doesn’t even include the golf tournaments and golf fundraising events they host at Turkey Creek, which is around 40! (One of those events is the Chamber Golf Classic, which will be June 2nd! MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!) This year Turkey Creek will also be hosting the High School 5A State Championship in May.
Also offered at Turkey Creek are men’s, women’s, and senior leagues. Junior golf for 8-11 years olds and 12-17 year olds. They have a Women’s Clinic in late April-early May. And a very popular event Turkey Creek hosts is Couples Night. Usually 40-60 couples participate. Treg said, “I’ve noticed that golf is changing here in the last few years. I hear more music than ever on the course. I see more juniors and women then I’ve ever seen out on the course. We’re going to try to keep that going!”
Gary Mehl, McPherson City Commissioner of Public Lands, had this to say about Turkey Creek Golf Course and its staff, “We’ve been so blessed to have these two guys out here. Treg and Jason have made all the difference in the world for golf in McPherson. They’ve made this into one of the top golf courses in the state.”
So if you like to golf and you haven’t been to Turkey Creek Golf Course you need to get out there and enjoy this local treasure! Turkey Creek is located at 1000 Fox Run Road and is open daily. Tee times can easily be scheduled online using the Turkey Creek website. Also on their website are Golf Channel News feeds to keep you up on what is happening in the world of golf. Don’t forget to check out their Facebook page for updates as well. For more information you can also reach them at 620-241-8530. Check out these photos from Chamber Connections hosted by Turkey Creek Golf Course