| Publication: North/SF Edition Changes ; | Date: Aug 16, 2007; | Section: Sports; | Page: B1 | | |
Making a Big Splash in the Desert
Sierra del Rio in Elephant Butte makes much-awaited debut
BY JAMES YODICE Journal Sports Writer
ELEPHANT BUTTE — So here’s this new golf course, a couple of par 5s from New Mexico’s largest natural water park, a legendary place on the map renown for its jolly recreational activities and summer holiday gatherings, and Guy Wimberly sounds very much like a man selling the virtues of alternative programming.
As in, Dry Joys over Waverunners.
Or, at least both.
Metaphorically, Wimberly is fully prepared to grab you by the shirt collar to make his point.
“I will guarantee you this,” he begins in a firm tone. “You can etch this in stone. Once the golfers see this course, they’re gonna fall in love with it and they’ll come back.
“I will guarantee you that.”
That promise is the greens-feesand-cart question of the day as Sierra del Rio Golf Course basks in the glow of its recent debut.
The state’s newest public facility, midway between Albuquerque and El Paso, opened Friday, giving this mostly vacant stretch of New Mexico its first genuine 18-hole championship layout.
Next month, it is hosting the New Mexico Shootout, with Nancy Lopez, Rosie Jones, Kristi Albers and Natalie Gulbis. That event, Sept. 24, is serving as the grand opening and is being broadcast on The Golf Channel.
Which will likely be the state’s, and the country’s, first look at Sierra del
See SIERRA on PAGE B4
COURTESY SHEILA STAGNER A partial layout of Sierra del Rio, which opened Friday in Elephant Butte.