REDMOND — Walt Zelinsky solitarily mows the green putting surfaces of his pitch-and-putt golf course under the bright blue skies of the High Desert.

In this industrial section of northeast Redmond, Zelinsky looks like any superintendent at just about any course in America.

But as the new owner of Smith Rock Golf Course — the new name he picked for the course formerly known as Missing Link Family Golf Center — Zelinsky at this moment is doing what really is the secret to what he hopes will be the future success of the short nine-hole course and driving range.

“If I had to pay somebody to work the course and work in the shop here, it would be a lot bigger struggle,” says Zelinsky.

Zelinsky’s plan is simple: He wants to breathe new life into a facility that has largely gone unnoticed by the region’s golfers.

The 50-year-old has spent more than 30 years maintaining and managing golf courses in Washington and Oregon, including the last six years at nine-hole Olalla Valley Golf Club in Toledo, near Newport on the central Oregon Coast.

And he spent this past winter shopping for a facility that he could call his own. Eventually he happened upon Missing Link, a 699-yard pitch-and-putt and practice facility designed by longtime Sunriver Resort superintendent Jim Ramey.

A carousel of owners had taken over the course in recent years, and over time, the facility fell into disrepair.

When Zelinsky found it, the greens at Smith Rock were overwhelmingly spongy, bumpy and overgrown — where there was turf at all — and the spacious driving range had turned into a field of dandelions.

“The course was a little rough,” says Zelinsky, adding that general maintenance such as chemical and fertilizer applications had been ignored. “It’s been quite a bit of work getting it out of winter mode and into spring and summer mode.”

The revamped course staged a grand reopening last week, and already the fruits of Zelinsky’s labor are evident. The fairways are better manicured. The tee boxes are properly set. The vast driving range, which Zelinsky hopes to make among the best in the region, are now dotted with target greens.

And the greens are beginning to grow in and should be up to speed by June, Zelinsky says.

“It’s amazing what a little water and some fertilizer will do,” he says.

This, though, is just the beginning.

Zelinsky has worked out an arrangement with Derek Johnson, who was once the head professional at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters. Johnson left both the golf business and Central Oregon several years ago.

Down on his luck, Johnson returned to the area in recent months and hoped to catch on in golf again.

He found that opportunity mere weeks ago with Zelinsky, who considers teaching to be crucial in attracting golfers to Smith Rock, and Johnson now offers lessons in addition to working in the facility’s shop.

Johnson, who previously knew little about Missing Links, says Smith Rock is the right fit for him, too, as an ideal teaching facility.

“I wouldn’t have considered coming here and making an effort and making it work before,” says Johnson, explaining that bouts of unemployment and financial troubles in recent years have changed his perspective.

“This is perfect for teaching ladies and kids and doing schools,” adds Johnson. “It couldn’t be set up better for beginners more. Hopefully, it works out.”

So far, golfers have been slow to trickle in.

But Zelinsky only sees only promise in Smith Rock.

“To be honest, the features on this course are leaps and bounds above what I came into in just about every other facility that I have taken over,” says Zelinsky, who does get help from his five children, the youngest of whom is 17. “It’s a good design and it’s a fun little track.” The greens, he observes, were originally built to United States Golf Association specifications.

He plans to renovate the bunkers and hone in the greens, a process that he estimates could last into next season.

With 17 acres of undeveloped land that Zelinsky now owns, Smith Rock could expand into an 18-hole pitch-and-putt course or a regulation nine-hole course, he observes.

Smith Rock could also develop a recreational vehicles park. And Zelinsky has plans to add an indoor video golf simulator.

“Before I do any real big growth-type projects, I want to make what I’ve got top-notch,” Zelinsky says.

That will come soon enough, he says.

And when that happens, Zelinsky is confident that enough area golfers will notice.

“I know it will work,” he says. “It’s just a matter of letting the public know that it is here.”

Smith Rock Golf Course

Number of holes: Nine-hole par-3 course

Status: Open year-round, weather permitting

Location: 1401 N.E. Maple Ave., Redmond

Tee times: None

Information: 541-923-3426

Green fees: $10 for nine holes, $16 for 18

Head professional: Derek Johnson

Course stats: Par 27, 699 yards

Course designer: Jim Ramey (2002)

Extras: Full-size driving range, chipping and putting green, pro shop

Website: Under construction. Find Smith Rock Golf Course and Derek Johnson Golf School on Facebook