By Karen Hutchinson-Talaski

Staff writer

UMATILLA The Umatilla Golf Course is no more.

Golfers shouldn’t be too disappointed, however, the course is still there it just has a new name with new owners from Hermiston and a whole new vision for golf in Umatilla.

Big River Golf Course is owned by several partners Ron and Kathy Hosek, Ryan and Apryl Hosek, Jeff and Brenda Boedigheimer, Eva Swain and Megan and Gunner Olsen. The partners have already started cleaning up the course and have big plans for making Big River the course it once was.

The group bought the course from Dale Miller of Portland.

“We will run a very nice course and a clean course,” said Megan Olsen, who is the general manager and Ron and Kathy Hosek’s daughter.

Ryan Hosek will be taking the reins as golf pro. He is a registered PGA professional. Ryan played golf in high school and college and made it on the Pepsi tour.

Ryan took his first golf swing at the age of 5 on the Umatilla Golf Course, so coming here is like coming home for him.

“We will have a junior golf program and golf school with video golf lessons,” Ryan said. He films students as they practice, sending the completed film to the student’s email so he or she can practice at home.

One person who has benefited from Ryan’s instruction is Columbia Basin College student Stephanie Schroeder and a member of CBC’s golf team. When she started working with Ryan, she was shooting around 115. Just under two years later, Schroeder is shooting in the mid-80s and placing in a college tournament. She says Ryan has helped her swing tremendously by accomodating the way she moves.

“He teaches completely individually,” Schroeder said. “He tells you what your potential is and sets goals for you. To move to the next level, he will definitely give you the tools to do that.”

“She’ll be in the 70s by the end of the season,” Ryan predicted.

Gunner Olsen, who is the course superintendent and Ron Hosek’s son-in-law, says he feels like the weight of the golfing world is on his shoulders when it comes to the maintanence of the course, which has been rundown over the past several years.

“We will take some dead trees out, sweep it up and clean it,” Gunner said.

Ryan says none of the working partners is above getting dirty when it comes to the golf course.

“We want to create something special out here,” he said. “We are looking forward to what we’re creating here.”

For Jeff Boedigheimer, purchasing the golf course is a labor of love. He played golf at the course as a Hermiston High School player starting in 1976.

“It’s for the love of the game for me,” he said. “I have played all over the country this place could be a good place.”

Cleanup of the new Big River Course isn’t the only thing Ron Hosek and his family and partners have in mind for the course. They are working with a developer to sell lots for homes within the golf course. A list is being compiled of interested parties.

“In a short period of time, we will should hear some good news about that,” Ron said.

To help celebrate the new ownership, Nov. 10 has been designated a free greens fee day. Tee time reservations are encouraged.

The course will be open from “when the frost is gone and we’ll go until dark.”

Karen Hutchinson-Talaski can be reached at ktalaski@hermistonherald.com.