Golf course construction has become a minor industry in Arkansas.

Since April 1996, at least six courses have opened in the state. By next spring, no less than five more will have opened. At least three other courses are expanding with an additional nine or 18 holes.

Three of the newly opened courses (each nine holes) are part of apartment developments done by Lindsey & Associates Inc. of Fayetteville: the Links at Sherwood Golf and Athletic Club, which opened in April 1996; the Links at Fort Smith Golf and Athletic Club, which opened in May 1996; and Links at Jonesboro Golf and Athletic Club, which opened last month.

Cooper Communities Inc.’s Hot Springs Village opened its sixth 18-hole course for its property owners association and its seventh overall at the Village on Aug. 31 last year, when Magellan debuted.

The course incorporates what remained of the Par-formance Golf School, a failed Cooper venture, and much more surrounding acreage for a 6,476-yard course that architect Tom Clark said “is as good as any I’ve done.”

The golf school had three regulation holes that were rebuilt and made part of the front nine. Also, one of the greens was turned into a new chipping/pitching/sand shot green, accompanying the school’s existing one, plus a putting green was added. The large Par-formance driving range was retained with its four target areas.

“It’s a beautiful layout,” Jerry Byram, Hot Springs Village’s administrative assistant for golf operations, says of Magellan. “It has rolling terrain. It’s kind of a shotmakers course. It’s really advantageous to know where to hit your tee shots and know where to come in from to the greens.

“The greens have a lot of contour to them. It helps if you have the skill level to hit the right spot on the greens. The bunkers, both fairway and greenside, are very strategically placed.”

The course was specifically designed with tee boxes to be very accommodating for women and older players, while the middle tees are of average difficulty and the back tees are downright hard.

“There is a huge difference from middle to back tees,“ Byram says “It’s not tremendously long from back tees, but there are about three or four holes that it’s all you’ve got to get there, even for the good players.”

Magellan also incorporates varying topography. The front nine rolls through pine trees, while the back side has a lot of hardwoods. Two holes have protected wetlands bordering the right side of their fairways.

“It’s just very, very nice scenery on the back side more so than the front,” Byram says.

Magellan has some drainage problems that are being addressed, but the fairways are said to be quite nice and the bent grass greens are outstanding. Magellan and Cortez are getting the most demand this year among players at the Village, Byram says.

Eagle Crest Golf Course opened last month in Alma. It is a par-71, 6,246-yard course designed by Mark Hayes of Oklahoma City, a PGA Tour player. The public course has green fees of $30 on weekdays.

“We’ve already had a great turnout,” says Stephen Jensen, the assistant pro who came to Eagle Crest from Ben Geren Golf Club in Fort Smith. “We’ve been pretty crowded, but we’ve been able to accommodate all the golfers.”

Jensen says the course is drawing golfers from Russellville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Van Buren, as well as the Alma area.

Construction began two years ago on the course, which has zoysia tee boxes and fairways and bent grass greens, Jensen says.

Eagle Crest is owned by Wesley Warnock of Seattle, Wash., and Don Adams, who owns an Alma real estate firm, Arkansas Land Agency. The course is part of the Eagle Crest Community home development.

Mark Cutlett is the head golf pro. He was formerly with Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith.

LinksCorp., which runs Mountain Ranch in Fairfield Bay, built the Country Club of Arkansas and opened it for play last November. The par-71, 6,700-yard layout was designed by Robert Tucker and features a unique approach to grass for its greens, which usually suffer under Arkansas’ seasonal weather changes.

In cooler weather, CCA has bent and rye grass dominant on the greens. Bermuda will take hold in the summer months.

“People who think they’ve seen Bermuda grass in Arkansas haven’t seen anything like this,” says Tim Jenkins, CCA’s director of golf operations. “This will be like the best Bermuda grass courses in Florida.”

Courses Under Construction

The five new courses to open within a year include two 18-hole courses and one nine-hole course by Lindsey. The nine-hole course, Links at Texarkana Golf and Athletic Club, should open this summer.

Eagle Hill Golf and Athletic Club, an 18-hole course, is expected to open this fall in the Otter Creek area of southwest Little Rock. Marion Lakes Golf and Athletic Club, also 18 holes, should open this fall.

Bill Meadows, who owns Summerhill Racquet Clubs in Fayetteville and Rogers, is building StoneBridge Meadows Golf Club and an upscale housing development east of Fayetteville. He expects the par-72, 7,130-yard course to open in October. The green fee will be $30.

Golf Works of Austin, Texas, is constructing the course. It was designed by Randy Heckenkemper of Tulsa, Okla.

“We’ve had 61 days of rain, but they are actually ahead of schedule,” Meadows says. “They are just incredible. I’m really pleased with what they’re doing.

“Our concept is to have a truly upscale golf course that anyone in northwest Arkansas, or anyone in Arkansas, can play.”

Heckenkemper designed Silver Horn Golf Club in Oklahoma City and an identically named course in San Antonio, Texas. Golf Works also constructed the San Antonio course.

Golf Magazine and Golf Digest did feature articles in the fall on the San Antonio course.

“It was too late for it to be ranked, but both magazines said they thought it would end up being the best public access course in the state of Texas,” Meadows says. “Heckenkemper has done a magnificent job on the layout here. He’s used all the topography of the land. Both he and Golf Works feel like this will be a better course than [the San Antonio course].”

The 200-acre course is the centerpiece of a 303-acre subdivision called StoneBridge Meadows. The subdivision will have 78 lots, which will sell for about $30,000-$40,000. Construction on the subdivision should start in about three weeks, Meadows says. The homes will start at $150,000-$180,000 and probably will have a minimum size of 1,800 SF, Meadows says.

In Jonesboro, Kent Arnold and Bob and Ed Troutt are developing Sage Meadow, a par-72, 6,977-yard signature course by golfing legend Tommy Bolt.

The course was designed by Kevin Tucker, the architect of Greystone Country Club’s course. SAJO Construction of Houston, one of the top golf course construction companies in the country, is building the course.

“This course is absolutely one of the nicest golf courses you’ve ever seen,” says Arnold, a home builder in Jonesboro. “It’s sort of a links, Scottish-type golf course with a bunch of moguls everywhere.”

The course, which should open next spring, will be completely sodded with zoysia, Arnold says. It will be a daily-fee course with a greens fee of $32 including cart.

Arnold says the course is about 60 percent completed.

“We’re in all stages right now,” Arnold says. “We’re just now putting in the cart paths. Thirteen holes have been cut out. We have three lakes installed. Sodding should start in about 30 days.”

The courses that have expanded include Springdale Country Club, which has added a second nine holes; Malvern Country Club, which also added nine holes; and Greystone Country Club in Cabot, which is in the process of adding another 18 holes.

Chamberlyne, a course near Danville being built by banker John Ed Chambers, should open this summer. Also planned for a fall opening is Bunker Hill, a daily-fee course in Conway.

More Village Courses

With course play continuing to surge at Hot Springs Village, the POA has made plans for yet another course: Isabella.

Architect Clark and the Village reached an agreement on the layout last week, and construction will begin shortly. Isabella will be just east and north of Diamante on the east side of the property, accessed by the gate off state Highway 5.

As for when Ferdinand (that naturally figures to be the next course name) will be planned, Cooper Communities Inc. spokesman Charlie Hughes says with a laugh, “We’re about to run out of room.”

He says about 3,000 acres remain in the Village that haven’t been platted. “That sounds like a lot, but when you start talking about a golf course ...” he says. “We might be able to get one or two more courses if the property owners want it and we want to build it.”