New irrigation system installed at Ponoka Golf Club<\/p>\n
Published 9:30 am Tuesday, August 18, 2026<\/p>\n
A brand new, state-of-the-art irrigation system is currently being installed at the Ponoka Golf Club.<\/p>\n
A ribbon-cutting is also scheduled for Sept. 4, which will include local dignitaries, and mark the completion of the project. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur current irrigation system is over 50 years old. It was breaking down, and we were putting a lot of money into it,\u201d said Richard Ursulak, the club\u2019s president.<\/p>\n
Staff reached out to Alpine Irrigation as to a new system, and received a quote of $2.6 million.<\/p>\n
Later learning of a $1,000,000 grant through the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP), staff submitted an application, and were ultimately successful in landing the much-needed funds.<\/p>\n
Ursulak explained it\u2019s a matching grant, and so thanks to a very positive financial standing at the club \u2013 plus successful fundraising efforts the past few years \u2013 the project\u2019s total cost is looking to be covered completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really good,\u201d he said, adding the club hosted a par three tournament a couple of years ago, which certainly helped financially-speaking, as has careful budgeting, too.<\/p>\n
Even the pandemic proved \u2018helpful\u2019 in the sense it saw a significant influx of new members, he added.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Ursulak said the system will only bolster the club\u2019s already solid reputation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a community stand-point, we are a really well-known golf course in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter to members, Ursulak noted certain areas of the course were not adequately covered by the existing infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new irrigation system will be significantly more efficient, provide full surface coverage across the golf course, and use less water overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new system also utilizes HDPE piping, replacing the PVC piping used in the current system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis upgrade is expected to last 50-plus years, and will result in major long-term improvements to course conditions and overall playability.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also important to move forward with the project, as construction costs are expected to jump by 10 to 25 per cent over the next few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelaying the project could make it financially unmanageable, and given the condition of our current system, replacement simply cannot wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the course has remained fully operational throughout the project, which was begun this past April.<\/p>\n
Work has since been completed one hole at a time, so golfers have been able to simply skip the hole under construction and play hole number 19 as a replacement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very fortunate to be able to complete this project during the golf season while remaining fully open and operational.<\/p>\n
Leagues, tournaments, and events have been able to move ahead as scheduled with minimal disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a major investment in the long-term future of PCGC, and we are excited about the improvements it will bring to course conditions for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more about the Ponoka Golf and Country Club, follow them on Facebook or call 403-783-4626.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New irrigation system installed at Ponoka Golf Club Published 9:30 am Tuesday, August 18, 2026 A brand new,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2098,44],"class_list":["post-52347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-golf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}