Detailed description of Old Works Golf Course -Old Works
Old Works Golf Course, is a Public, 18 hole golf course located in Anaconda, Montana.
Old Works Golf Course opened in 1997. The golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
The site on which Old Works Golf Course was built is rich in history. The site was the original location for the city's first copper smelter. After lying idle for nearly a century, it became a Super Fund clean-up site in 1983. In the late 1980's the idea of reviving Old Works with a world-class golf course became a dream of the community. Through exhaustive efforts to make the site safe, the course has become a reality and represents the first Super Fund clean-up site that has been put back into use. The course features multiple tees, which will allow players of all skill levels to enjoy the course. It is situated along Warm Springs Creek and mining remnants, such as huge piles of black slag, a by-product of the copper smelting process, lie against the hillsides. The slag is also utilized in bunkers, making for a dramatic contrast to the lush green color of the course. Native grasses have also been re-established along the fairways to blend with the area's natural environment.
Nicklaus incorporated many historic relics of the copper smelter, from the flue and oven remains, to fairways that border and wind their way between black slag. The slag a by product of the copper smelting process is also featured in all of the bunkers on the course providing a stunning contrast to white bunker sand found on other courses.
The Old Works features generous fairway landing areas bordered by native grasses with large undulating greens. Warm Springs Creek, once utilized by the smelting operation and now hosting a healthy population of trout, is negotiated a number of times during the round and adds character to the layout. Nicklaus also incorporated multiple tees each hole allowing the course to measure from 5,290 to over 7,700 yards offering a challenge to players of all skill levels. Par for the cours is 72.
The opening hole, a 451-yard, par 4, is a good example of the strategy and shotmaking players will need to score well. Avoid Warm Springs Creek along the entire left side of the fairway. Ideal positioning is to the right-center of the fairway leaving an open shot to the green.
The course is open from early April through the end of October, possibly into November weather permitting.
$71 (cart included), played on Wednesday, August 2011 at noon
fun!
$41 (cart included), played on Wednesday, September 2011 at 2pm
Great layout but beware of the wind. Morning play is best for avoiding the daily gust from the Pintlar Mountain Range that moves up the natural canyon that funnels into Anaconda, Mt. Add 2-3 clubs moving east to west during the height of the gales.
$51 (cart included), played on Tuesday, July 2007 at 8am
I was on a quest to play golf in all 50 states, and Montana was my last state, and The Old Works my last "quest" course. What a wonderful piece of golf architecture by Jack Nicklaus. I have played a number of his courses around the country, and this is the most memorable, by far.
First, the history: the course is on the site of the old Anaconda copper smelter, which was in operation through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Copper smelting is very dirty business, and when the Works closed down, it became an EPA Superfund site because of all the crud. The solution was to cap the polluted ground with impenetrable caliche clay, and build a golf course! Great idea, perfectly executed.
The layout is in the valley where the creek flows, and there are ruins of flumes, furnaces, et.al, scattered around the course, as well as old ore cars and other mining artifacts. The signature though, is the black sand in the bunkers, which is ground up slag from the smelting process (there is a huge mound of it about a mile east of the course). These bunkers are beautiful, but the stuff is VERY abrasive, and will eat up your sand wedge.
Anyway, the rest of the layout is pure Nicklaus: lots of intimidating views from the tee boxes, to what turn out to be fairly benign landing areas. Fairways were friendly, I thought, and rough is not bad. Get too far off the shorter stuff, though, and you are probably lost. The greens are huge, receptive, undulating and FAST. Some elevation change, and a judicious use of water. Lots of wildlife on the course, including a family of foxes that lives along one fairway. Views from everywhere are spectacular, as the valley is ringed with rugged hills, and the old mining town of Anaconda nestles on the other side of the creek (it has gotten genteel of late, with lots of boutiques, B&B-s, etc., but still has some honest-to-God saloons, too!).
Pro shop and clubhouse amenities are excellent, and the staff was very congenial and capable. Pro shop is well-stocked with memorabilia, too.
I came from Maryland to play this course, so it is not likely that I-ll be back, but it is worth a considerable drive to play. I was paired up with a couple from Idaho Falls (about 200 miles away) who play there at least once a month, they like it so much; they told me that there is a lot of repeat business from folks who drive 100+ miles. I cannot say enough positive things about this terrific course: well worth my trip!
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$76 (cart included), played on Sunday, July 2015 at 8:30 AM
I have played this course several times. It is a typical Nicklaus design. Visually the approach shots look difficult until you see the size of the greens. A lot of contour to the greens. If you are in the area, it is a must play.