"WIND TO TOUGHEN MAYETTA COURSE: 

FIREKEEPER COURSE NEAR MAYETTA CASINO COULD ATTRACT SOME BIG-TIME PLAY"

 

 

The Topeka-Capital Journal

By Kevin Haskin

 

MAYETTA — The private round of golf Friday that brought Notah Begay back to a new area course he helped design had him smiling before he ever made it to the No. 1 tee box.

 

For the first time, the ferocious winds he knew could be a factor at Firekeeper Golf Course were howling from a prevailing direction, the southwest.

 

"This is the first day like that for me here, so I'm kind of excited," Begay said while on the driving range of the course built across the road from the Prairie Band Casino and Resort.

 

The PGA Tour professional was at Firekeeper to play with a group with ties to The University of Kansas, including interim athletic director Sean Lester. One of the Begay's intentions for the new course is to potentially host a collegiate tournament that could involve top programs such as Stanford, where he played with Tiger Woods.

 

"What we're trying to do is build golf in the region," Begay said. "Some courses are really dying off, and courses are cutting costs on maintenance and everything.

 

"But here, because of the casino, they're going to be able to maintain this at a very high level and keep the greens fast year-round. I think it's going to be beneficial for golfers in Topeka, not only with golf, but entertainment across the street."

 

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