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Whispering Woods (reviewed here) still doesn't have a blog or a means of updating the masses, so I've somewhat taken it upon myself to occasionally write about the goings-on in an attempt to educate the members and to perhaps inform the general public.

In previous posts about the driving range, I've been hopeful that it would be ready by this year. Well, that turned out not to be the case, and quite frankly, I didn't go to Whispering Woods very many times this year.Clubhouse
The clubhouse is still a double-wide trailer, and may still be the same trailer for all of 2009. Whispering Woods employees are hopeful that the clubhouse will be built this winter, but I wouldn't say they're optimistic about it.

If/when it's built, the clubhouse will occupy the space between the 9th and 18th holes and will cut out a bit of some of the current parking spots. Electric carts will be housed in a basement level. The clubhouse will feature a small locker room or two, a small grill room with a grill type menu, and a small but nicely appointed pro shop. The current "clubhouse" and outdoor cart storage will offer additional parking.

If ground isn't broken this fall - and the foundation put in before the weather turns cold and nasty - then it's highly unlikely that this project will be undertaken until next year. Several people I know are holding off on joining Whispering Woods until the clubhouse is built, so I'm hopeful that they're able to get this thing built this year. John Britton, the owner, should be able to get the thing built after all. He's got all the equipment and is involved with Erie real estate and construction, I believe.

2009 Memberships
Nothing's final yet (I've heard that it will be as early as next week), but right now it's looking like 2009 memberships will run between $2200 and $2500, with golf, carts, and practice range use included. The $15 cart fee kept me away a bit this year, so it's great that it will be included. Supposedly the "original 53" members (of which I am one) will also get a little break for supporting the club before it had even officially opened.

Putting Green
Last year's putting green was so slanted it was pretty much worthless. This year, the green was torn up, re-leveled, seeded, and opened for practice a few months ago. It's flatter, though in my opinion, it's still too slanted. There's no place to practice long, flat, relatively straight putts and the green still slopes quite a bit. It may not be too bad now, but it will prove to be a problem if the green speeds ever get above the 9 or 10 or so that they're at now.

Driving Range
Land was purchased from the neighboring church, and several months ago, trees between the 10th and 11th holes and the long driveway/road were cleared. The area sat untouched for several months while, if I understand things correctly, zoning issues were handled.

This past week, the large equipment was brought in and work has begun on building the driving range. Judging from the plans (below), I must say I'm somewhat impressed. The range will feature several tees, including artificial mats for outings, and a double-ended approach. The tees at the eastern end of the range will be used for a golf academy and instruction, and Dave Wedzik is going to teach at Whispering Woods. The driving range faces roughly east/west and features a small short-game area to the side for chipping, pitching, and bunker play.

The range is being build now, and will likely be seeded in two or three weeks. I've heard the plan may include sodding the tees so that the range can open April 1, 2009, but if that's out the range may not open until May or June (when the grass has grown in enough).

Driving Range Map
In the image below (click for a larger, uncolorized version), I've color-coded the regions as follows (from top to bottom):

Green Border - Treeline
Light Green - Golf Academy/Instructional Tee
Yellow - Bent grass fairway
Orange - Bent grass greens at 100, 150, 200, 250 yards
Brown - bunkers
Red - Various tees
Pink - Cement hitting stalls with artificial turf
Marine - Grass golf cart parking
Blue - Ball washing/storage building
Purple - Golf cart parking

Whispering Woods will build a short-game area (the green, bunker, and tee to the right) blocked off by a fence (to prevent those practicing from being beaned by shanks) and hitting away from the road. The thicker black line towards the bottom shows the limits of the golf course property, and just inside that, the entry road leading back to the clubhouse and out to Grubb Road.

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