A Revitalized Skylinks at Buchanan Fields is Now Soaring Creating a Buzz at Skylinks at Buchanan Fields
By Nick Lozito
After retiring from De La Salle High School in Concord, math teacher Mary Yonekawa was able to spend more time painting and golfing. So when a friend mentioned an innovative art project at a local driving range, the art minor in college jumped at the opportunity to bridge her passions.
“That’s a nice challenge for a retired lady,” thought the 74-year-old Yonekawa, whose renderings of iconic par-3 holes – No. 7 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and No. 12 at Augusta National Golf Club– highlight a “Paint a Bay” art project that adds color and personality to Skylinks at Buchanan Fields, a nine-hole course in Concord that is winning back patrons through the innovation and investment of its new owners.
“We trialed our first bay (artwork) with one of our staff who did a great job, and then the floodgates opened,” explained Skylinks co-owner Robett “Kiwi” Hollis of the response from local artists eager to personalize one of 50 stalls. “It’s been awesome.”
Upon purchasing Skylinks in 2023, longtime friends Hollis and Micky Dodge sought ways to improve the 70-year-old venue. The first task was replacing the worn and hardened range mats. Two years later, the greens on the course now run true and the bunkers have plenty of sand; there are bounce houses for children on the lawn and a hitting simulator is in the pro shop.
The range hours recently expanded to accommodate increased interest.
“We have people now coming at 5 a.m. wanting to hit balls,” said Skylinks employee Nancy Yee, who helped make the art concept a reality. “Kiwi goes, ‘What do you think, should we turn on the machine at 5? There’s a guy who has been coming every day. On holidays, by 8 or 9, the bays are all full.”
Roberto Alfonso, a regular at Skylinks, reflected on changes at the course after getting up-and-down for par on a recent Tuesday morning. “Beautiful,” he said of the range artwork. “It’s a very nice facility. The balls are good ones. It’s clean and the distances are well posted.”
The par-31 course stretches to 1,982 yards from the back tees and, with four par-4 holes, examines every club in the golfer’s bag. Carol Bevers, playing with longtime friends, said the course is “not too hard for us ladies in our 80s. … It’s a fun course.”
The biggest test is threading the tree-lined fairways and avoiding the renovated greenside sand traps. But it’s on the range – many golfer’s escape after a long day’s work or a refuge from their personal challenges – where Skylinks sets itself apart.
“The driving range is somewhat of a reflective time for people,” said Yee, who led the outreach for local artists through Instagram, range signage and the golf course’s website (skylinksgolf.com). There are still hitting bays available for painting. “So, as opposed to staring at a blank wall, which is every other course, you can kind of look at the seventh hole at Pebble Beach.”
Or hit balls next to Tiger Woods, who was painted by Kava Tyrell in his Sunday red attire while pumping his fist. Or a rat sitting in a basket of range balls, giving a thumbs up with the phrase “THE HARDER YOU WORK THE LUCKIER YOU GET.” Or a plate of bacon, eggs and toast under the title “BREAKFAST BALL!”
“People can find their bay that speaks to their soul,” Yonekawa said.
Yee said artists submitted samples for approval and had free reign to paint as they pleased – though a few pieces of artwork might get painted over, such as a sunflower with its eyes crossed out. “Nobody wants to think about death on the range,” Yee said.
Yonekawa rotated between hitting a few balls and painting the iconic golf holes.
“People would come by and say, ‘Oh that’s No. 7 at Pebble. Put a ball in that bunker because that’s where I ended up,’ said Yonekawa, who has played Pebble Beach a few times. “It’s a local hole but iconic for the golf world. Most people who go to Skylinks aren’t able to play Pebble. Same for Amen Corner. People would say, ‘That’s the one on TV all the time!’
Duane Rilli, 40, has played at Skylinks his entire life. The Concord native doesn’t have much of an art background, other than using stencils to paint his children’s bedroom.
“At first I didn’t want to do it,” he said of the Skylinks project, “but walking by and going there my whole life, I thought I better get on it and have something to show my kids.”
Rilli’s paintings, still in progress, represent his family. One wall of the bay has four turtles in coral, with rays of sun shining through the water. The other bay wall has four bears walking through a mountain landscape on a starry, moon-lit night.
“It’s so much nicer than it used to be,” Rilli said of Skylinks, recalling a board Hollis and Dodge used to show planned projects at the course, and an accompanying suggestion box. Hollis said land adjacent to Concord Avenue has been leveled and sodded for a conceptualized concert area. There are also plans for a coffee shop and dining area.
“With new mats for every stall, you saw more people coming in,” Rilli said. “Now it’s packed all the time. It’s a blessing.”
Henson Garcia, who painted the rodent in a bucket of balls, considers his piece a self-portrait.
“I’m a self-identifying range rat,” said the Concord resident who first played golf at Skylinks.
Garcia, 37, hadn’t utilized his graphic design degree much since college and committed to being more creative last year. After his rendering of the range rat, he was commissioned by the course for range paintings to promote the co-ed scrambles tournament and women’s golf club.
“It’s a different vibe there,” Garcia said of Skylinks, where small planes from the adjacent airfields buzz overhead. “They’ve made so much change so fast. It’s amazing to see.”