Trident, Rasmuson help rehab at golf course

What do you get when a senior level management official at Trident Seafoods and a former Governor of Alaska who lives in Wrangell put their combined skills, efforts and desires together? You get a brand new set of netting for the driving range at Muskeg Meadows Golf Course.

The netting, which will be installed in the spring, replaces an aging net that has seen service since the opening day at the course in 2001.

According to Joe Plesha, Trident’s chief legal officer in Seattle, former Governor Frank Murkowski made a phone call to him at his corporate office and helped get the ball rolling toward the new protective equipment at the course.

That netting cost close to $15,000 to replace.

Shannon Booker, the manager of the course, said the new netting would provide golfers at the range with both function and form.

“The old netting was so worn out that it did not keep balls in, so the new netting will help by keeping the driving range balls inside the property,” she said. “That will help our overall revenue. Plus, it will look much nicer.”

And after your practice session, during the time you spend on the links at the course, you can also thank the Rasmuson Foundation for the rehabilitated fairways that were recently reclaimed from a horde of hungry ravens.

The ravens, which began devouring grubs and other insects on the fairways, created a tremendous upheaval of grass leading to the No. 3, 4 and 5 holes, as well as creating minor damage to every other hole except Nos. 1 and 9.

Muskeg’s application for the grant, which was filed in August as a Tier 1 request, totaled $25,000. That amount included funding for machinery, mowing equipment, grass seed and fertilizer, and a roto tiller attachment specifically designed to repair the torn-up sod that was ruined by the ravens.

The course is tentatively scheduled to reopen for the 2013 season on Monday, Apr. 1.