Blame Mother Nature. Or thank her, whichever way you want to look at it.
Just four years ago, many golf lovers teed off of holes such as the ninth at Sage Lakes with sweaty palms and a nervous look toward the left side of the fairway. But with the onset of the drought that has affected most of the Snake River Valley, the foreboding presence of water hazards at Sage Lakes is all but gone.
So far gone that locals have dubbed the course with nicknames to highlight the absence of the course's signature feature. Nicknames like Sage "Dry" Lakes, Sage "No" Lakes or the handicap-happy Sage "You Can Hit Out of the" Lakes.
City officials made the decision not to fill the lakes after drought started affecting local farms and businesses.
"We recognize that we're in a water shortage and from a public relations standpoint, we felt like that was something we felt like we could contribute by not filling the lakes," Dave Christiansen, director of Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation said.
With the water gone, the ninth hole at Sage Lakes is the perfect example of a course redefined.
"Most people were deathly scared of the water on the left before," Sage Lakes assistant pro Brett Nagle said. "They would bail out way right but now their not afraid to just try and rip it over that empty area. Sometimes they're still going for the green (in two)."
With the course having featured eight major bodies of water coming in to play on he course, the absence of H2O has changed the way even the beginning golfer is approaching Sage Lakes.
"It's definitely made it a little easier," Nagle said. "The tee shots aren't as demanding as well as many of the approaches."
Five out of the 18 holes at Sage Lakes have at least 50 percent of the hole bordered by what would be water on one side or the other. Approach shots on nine and 18 bring the dry lake beds into play, only for errant shots to be knocked near the green with a short downhill hike.
Outside of the scorecard, the feel and beauty of the lakes has many wishing for days gone by.
"This used to be one of the prettiest golf courses, especially at night," Nagle said. "At around five or six, once the wind finally quits blowing, it would just be glass. You'd look out and all these lakes would just be perfect. But now they're just ugly weeds. We've lost a lot of the beauty of this golf course."
Course officials haven't given up on refilling the lakes. Each year, management and local players hold their breath, but for the past five, it has always been the same. This season was shaping up to be a hopeful one, but a late-winter thaw in February destroyed the chances of filling the bread-and-butter water hazards.
But water concern isn't the only thing that has changed the aesthetics of one of Idaho Falls' three municipal courses. New bunkers and new housing developments have changed the face and feel of the course. The Idaho women's state amateur prevented the installment of a radical amount, but in the past two years, at least eight new bunkers have been added, making up for the lack of hazards.
And although the front nine has a very open, out-in-the-country feel to it, new housing on the back nine gives the home stretch a country-club meets suburbia type feel to it. And there is more to come. Tentative plans for more housing to be built in waste areas around the front nine will likely change the face of the course even more.
Yet the players keep coming. The lakes may be gone, but the course still retains its identity as one of the best-kept courses in eastern Idaho. The greens, especially now in the late summer months, are hard, fast and very challenging. The tee boxes are immactulately kept. The fairways are crisp and forgiving.
Maybe next year will be it. Maybe next year will be the one where tee shots go to die on the ninth hole, were approaches hit the drink on 18.
"Every year," Nagle said. "Every year we cross our fingers."
Source: Idaho Falls Post Register (Idaho Falls, Idaho)