Grand Falls Casino breaks in golf course with fundraiser
Larchwood, Iowa – Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort broke in its new $8 million golf course Wednesday with a fundraiser and ribbon-cutting ceremony. After four years of construction, more than 100 vendors, employees, and construction workers joined veterans and about 20 professional PGA golfers at The Falls. Golfers also bid to have pros as teammates to raise money for the Golf For Injured Veterans Everywhere (G.I.V.E.) Foundation.
The course: The 72-par, 18-hole course was designed by Reese Jones, an architect who has designed more than 100 golf courses. The course is 7,100 yards, has a 30-foot waterfall on the 18th hole and boasts 46 sand bunkers. Jones said he wanted to design a "golf course for the future" that would let people at any skill level be challenged and have fun. "I just think it's going to be a golf course for the high handicap, the middle handicapper, and then from 7,100 yards it'll challenge the best of them," he said.
Another amenity: "It's one more thing that guests can do when they're out here," said Sharon Haselhoff, general manager of Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort. The resort also features a casino, a spa, a hotel and three restaurants. The resort draws an estimated 1 million visitors a year, and Haselhoff said they expect the golf addition to help boost that number. "I think the type of golf course that was built here and designed by Reese – I think it will attract folks from around the area and region," Haselhoff said.
Fundraiser: Wednesday's event raised more than $60,000 for the G.I.V.E. Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches Iowa veterans to golf. Mark Burke, director of the foundation's Des Moines chapter, said more than 700 veterans have taken part in the program. Hank Britton, a navy veteran, said the program saved his life after experiencing multiple health problems, including multiple benign tumors and the loss of his vision. "When something like that happens you just kind of think your life is done – your life is over," Britton said. After being invited to participate in the program, Britton said his life turned around. "I had a reason to live. It proved to me that no matter what I could do anything despite my disability."
Reported by: Argusleader.com
The course: The 72-par, 18-hole course was designed by Reese Jones, an architect who has designed more than 100 golf courses. The course is 7,100 yards, has a 30-foot waterfall on the 18th hole and boasts 46 sand bunkers. Jones said he wanted to design a "golf course for the future" that would let people at any skill level be challenged and have fun. "I just think it's going to be a golf course for the high handicap, the middle handicapper, and then from 7,100 yards it'll challenge the best of them," he said.
Another amenity: "It's one more thing that guests can do when they're out here," said Sharon Haselhoff, general manager of Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort. The resort also features a casino, a spa, a hotel and three restaurants. The resort draws an estimated 1 million visitors a year, and Haselhoff said they expect the golf addition to help boost that number. "I think the type of golf course that was built here and designed by Reese – I think it will attract folks from around the area and region," Haselhoff said.
Fundraiser: Wednesday's event raised more than $60,000 for the G.I.V.E. Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches Iowa veterans to golf. Mark Burke, director of the foundation's Des Moines chapter, said more than 700 veterans have taken part in the program. Hank Britton, a navy veteran, said the program saved his life after experiencing multiple health problems, including multiple benign tumors and the loss of his vision. "When something like that happens you just kind of think your life is done – your life is over," Britton said. After being invited to participate in the program, Britton said his life turned around. "I had a reason to live. It proved to me that no matter what I could do anything despite my disability."
Reported by: Argusleader.com
