When Bob Donelson couldn`t buy a golf course, he just made his

Transcription

The Courier
SATUR DAY, M AY 2, 2015
SPECI A L SECTION
GOLF
OLF 2015
www.thecourier.com
When Bob Donelson
couldn’t buy a golf course,
he just
just made
built his
he
his own
own
By JAMIE BAKER
walk off about 220 yards from where
they wanted the tees for the drive
CAREY — For as long as he could and go another 150 yards to decide
remember, Bob Donelson always where they should put the greens.
The following spring, with little
wanted to own a golf course.
After two failed attempts at pur- help and a backhoe, Donelson started
chasing one, he decided to build his to build the greens of what would
eventually become Bob’s Countryown.
And 26 years later, while some side Golf.
“Dug it all myself. I had a front
golf courses around the region have
been developed into housing or end loader and trencher and that
plowed under to grow corn, soybeans was really all the equipment I had.
and wheat, Bob’s Countryside Golf It wasn’t really more difficult than I
on State Route 199 south of Carey thought it would be, because I really
knew nothing about it,” Donelson
is still in business.
And at 86 years old, Donelson is said.
“I talked to a guy and he told me
still going strong, too.
When you own a golf course, you to make sure I had a foundation of
have to be here. There’s no doubt gravel so it drained good. Me and
about it,” Donelson said, while stand- another guy got the gravel down and
ing behind the bar in the clubhouse. covered it with 50-50 sand and dirt.
“The hours are the toughest part. I’m It took two years to build the greens.”
86 years old, and I still put nine or 10
It took another two years to put
hours in every day.
in the irrigation system.
“I have to be here by 6:30 to make
“Dick Ward was an amazing man.
sure everything is open for the girls He was a retired plumber, and he
that work for me when they get here came out here and helped me put in
about 7 a.m. Then, I usually knock off the watering system. Once we got it
around 4 p.m. Sundays I only work done, the first time we tried it everyuntil noon so my wife, Sarah, and I thing came up and worked just like
can go to the lake
it was supposed to,”
or piddle around
Donelson said with
and do whatever
a smile.
“People enjoy it
we want to do.
The 20-year old
“The old lady,
irrigation system
when
they
come
out
she’s pretty supis still controlled
portive. She was all
here, and they are
by Donelson with a
for it when I said I
small panel inside
all good people. That
wanted to own a
the clubhouse.
golf course.”
“I’ve also had
makes it enjoyable
As Donelson
a lot of guys come
owning this place.”
approached retireout here and do
ment from the
work that never
A ut ol it e s p a rk
BOB DONELSON, OWNER
charged me for it,
plug plant in FosBOB’S COUNTRYSIDE GOLF
like Jimmy Traxler,
toria, his interest
a mechanic who
in owning a golf
kept things runcourse intensified.
ning and George
He tried to buy Fairview Golf Course Richardson, who put my electric in.
(later renamed Oak Mallett, before All they wanted was free golf and I’d
it closed last year) and Wayside Golf buy them a beer once in a while.”
Course in the late 1980s and early
Even with the help of his friends,
1990s.
Donelson admits the golf business
Both times Donelson left disap- has gotten tougher since the course
pointed.
opened in 1994.
“Dick Crawfis was the owner
“Young kids aren’t getting into it
of Fairview at the time and he sold like their fathers and grandfathers
me the golf course for $106,000.
did, and that makes it tougher,”
We went to the lawyer and he told
Donelson said.
Dick that he was selling it way too
“We have between 80 and 100
cheap and that he’d buy it himself
members. We don’t charge an arm
for $120,000. So Dick backed out,”
Donelson said. “Dick really felt bad and leg and that helps too. We’re also
because he was really a straightfor- the home of the Blue Devil golf team.
We’re proud of that, and it’s right out
ward and honest man.
“Then, I tried to buy Wayside there on the sign. I told them I want
Manor Golf Course. My cap was to hang a sign out there that says
$135,000 and so I bid 135,000 and league champs. They’ve been close
Gerald Baird bid $140,000. After but haven’t done it just yet.”
After all these years, it’s his interthat, I thought to myself, ‘Gosh
action
with the golfers, his customdarn it, I’m going to buy this farm
ers, that gives Donelson the most
and build me one.’”
And with that, Bob’s Countryside satisfaction.
“People enjoy it when they come
Golf was born.
Donelson bought a 77-acre farm out here, and they are all good
for $1,400 an acre shortly before he people. That makes it enjoyable
retired from Autolite on his 62nd owning this place. When they come
back it’s nice to hear them say they
birthday.
Despite not knowing a thing love our greens, or this course fits us
about golf course construction and just perfect,” he said.
“When you hear things like that,
design, Donelson got to work shortly
after retirement, tearing out the fen- I couldn’t imagine doing anything
ceposts on the farm in the middle of else.”
the winter of 1991.
Donelson and his son Aaron laid Baker, 419-427-8409
out the course themselves. They’d [email protected]
SPORTS EDITOR
Photos by RANDY ROBERTS /
The Courier
WHEN BOB
DONELSON (right)
couldn’t purchase
his own golf course,
he did the next best
thing, he built his
own. After 26 years,
Bob’s Countryside
Golf has between 80
to 100 members and
is home to the Carey
Blue Devils golf team.
DONELSON stands by the sign at the entrance to his
course. Even though he knew virtually nothing about
building golf courses, he (and a few friends) turned a
77-acre farm into a successful 9-hole course.
Golf is a family affair for
the Young family | E2
RU
I
HZ 1 Findlay Country Club to
host several events | E2
Area public golf course
listings | E4
14214#6''/$'45*+22214670+6;
#6
+0&.#;17064;.7$
KŶĐĞĂŐĂŝŶ͕ǁĞĂƌĞĞǆĐĞĞĚŝŶŐĞǆƉĞĐƚĂƟŽŶƐ͘KƵƌŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞDĞŵďĞƌƐŚŝƉĞŶĂďůĞƐǇŽƵ
ƚŽũŽŝŶĂƐŶĞǁŵĞŵďĞƌƐ;ŵŝŶŝŵƵŵŽĨƚŚƌĞĞͿƚŽƚŚĞůĞǀĞůƚŚĂƚŝƐƌŝŐŚƚĨŽƌǇŽƵƌŽƌŐĂŶŝǌĂƟŽŶ͗
'ŽůĨ͕ĂƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞŐŽůĨ͕ĐůƵďŚŽƵƐĞ͕ũƵŶŝŽƌŐŽůĨ͕ũƵŶŝŽƌĂƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞŐŽůĨ͕ƌĞŐŝŽŶĂůŐŽůĨŽƌƌĞŐŝŽŶĂůĐůƵďŚŽƵƐĞ͘
ŝƐĐŽƵŶƚƐĂƉƉůŝĐĂďůĞƚŽĚƵĞƐĂŶĚŝŶŝƟĂƟŽŶ͘sŝƐŝƚŽƵƌǁĞďƐŝƚĞŶŽǁƚŽƌĞƋƵĞƐƚŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ͘
&RXQWU\&OXE'ULYH)LQGOD\2KLRZZZILQGOD\FFFRP
E2
GOLF
THE COURIER
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2015
LOCAL GOLF
Golf is in the blood
of the Young family
Family teams
up to operate
Bluffton, Hidden
Creek courses
MICHAEL BURWELL / The Courier
THE YOUNG family, Wendy Young Miller and mother Drue Young in front and son Luke Young and
father Floyd Young in the back row, have made golf a family affair. They own and operate Bluffton Golf
Club and Hidden Creek Golf Club in Beaverdam.
“We wanted our kids to go away
to school, it was not a requirement
that they worked here,” Drue said.
“If they went away and wanted to
come back, and they chose that,
that was what we wanted. And
we’re just fortunate that they did
choose it because it is a blessing to
everybody to be together.”
While working at Cambridge
Country Club, there was a “conflict of ideas” between Floyd and
the club’s board, according to
Drue. That led to the idea of purchasing a golf course.
Drue said they never really
talked about buying a course
until Floyd came home and said
“We’re going to buy a golf course.”
They looked at a couple courses in
Akron, where Drue is from, and
one in Marietta before deciding to
purchase Bluffton Golf Club.
It was a big risk, since they
knew very little about the area.
“When we first came, we had
no idea about the community,”
Drue said. “You come basically
into a farming community and
you have people that are dedicated
like we are to what they’re doing
to their land and Bluffton just has
so much to offer for a small town.”
Miller said that switching high
schools was tough at first because
of her age, but the transition benefited the family.
“That was a tough transition,
but definitely made our family,
the four of us, a stronger core unit
because my dad always worked
and we didn’t have as much time
with them, so when we moved up
here, it really kind of solidified our
family,” Miller said.
Working hard and having a
family-friendly environment at
the two courses is something the
Young’s take pride in. It shows,
since the family works every day
and at least one member is usually present at all times in the
clubhouses.
“This is in our heart and soul,”
Drue said. “So I think it makes a
difference and we hope it makes a
difference to the people that come
out here, that we reflect Floyd’s
love of the game and Luke’s love
of doing what he does on the outside.”
“Personal contact in a pro shop
is very important,” Floyd said.
“You can’t have just anyone in a
pro shop. You need a personality
to make the person feel wanted.”
As is the case with most family
businesses, there are ups and
downs that come with working
with family members.
“We’re all working toward the
same goal and that’s I think the
most important thing as a family
that we all have each other’s
backs,” Drue said “...We sometimes have different ideas about
how to go about those goals, so
that can be challenging when we
have our business meetings, but
for the most part, we’re all very
close and very dedicated to this
business and to each other.”
Floyd agreed.
“We argue about the dumbest
things, my son and I can argue
about something, then five min-
utes later, we’re laughing about
something else,” Floyd said. “But
we all have the same goals. And
that’s the same with my daughter and Drue. If it’s something
serious, we pull together pretty
quick.”
Floyd and Drue, Luke’s family
and Miller’s family all live on Bluffton’s course. Luke, Kira, their son,
Kizer and daughter, Stella, live
near No. 4. Wendy, her husband,
Steve, and their children, Ryanne
Miller, Mara Minnig and Micah
Minnig, live near No. 3.
Luke said having spent most of
his life close to that course had a
big impact on him and his decision
to become a superintendent.
“I think it’s just living on the
property is what the biggest impact
is,” Luke said. “I was always here,
I played here, I worked here, and
now it’s just kind of a hobby. It’s
not a job.”
And even after 26 years, the
Young’s love of the Bluffton community is still strong. Floyd, who
has lived all over the world since
his father was in the Air Force,
said living in Bluffton is the longest he’s ever been at one place.
“We love Bluffton,” Floyd said.
“Akron, it’s a busy, busy town.
Bluffton is laid back, the schools
are great. We have everything perfect here, really.”
Burwell, 419-427-8407
[email protected]
Findlay Country Club set to
host several events in 2015
by Ohio University. Cole turned
professional in 1979, competing on
the Futures Golf Tour, the Asian
Tour and the European Tour before
qualifying for the LPGA Tour in
1985. Career highs included a tie
for third in the Womens British
Open and a fourth-place finish in
the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic.
Cole eventually became a
member of the LPGA Teaching
and Club Professionals Division
and truly found her niche in the
game. Currently the Director of
Instruction and Managing Partner
“A 18 Hole Golf Course
Just for You”
>mdd<janaf_JYf_]
;àhhaf_?j]]f
o'HjY[la[]:mfc]jk
Hmllaf_?j]]fk
HjgK`gh
E]fÌk'DY\a]kÌ
D]Y_m]k
LgmjfYe]fl
;gjhgjYlaf_Gmlaf_k
419-365-5109
[email protected]
11492 TR 25 Arlington
www.sycamorespringsgolf.com
D]kkgfk
;dmZ>allaf_
at the Dana Rader Golf School at
Ballantyne Resort in Charlotte,
North Carolina, Cole was named
LPGA Southeast Section “Teacher
of the Year” in both 1995 and 1999
and has been recognized as one of
the top 50 teachers in the country
by Golf for Women Magazine.
FCC will host the 26th annual
Julie Cole Charity Classic on June
8.
Other events to be staged at the
Findlay Country Club this season
include:
May 16 — FCC4FJG, an event
BLUFFTON — Floyd Young
was not only able to witness history during the 1971 PGA Championship — he was part of it.
Jack Nicklaus, arguably the
greatest professional golfer of all
time, won his ninth of 18 major
championships by two shots over
Billy Casper at the PGA National
Golf Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in late February
1971.
He became the first player to
complete the career grand slam a
second time, winning each of the
four major championships at least
twice.
What was Young’s role during
Nicklaus’ win?
He was Nicklaus’ caddy. It was
the only time he ever caddied for
someone on the PGA Tour.
“I bet you out of all the stats in
the world, caddying once and winning the PGA is a record,” Young,
who owns Bluffton Golf Club and
Hidden Creek Golf Club in Beaverdam with his family, said with
a laugh.
Young, who was 23 at the time
and between jobs at PGA National
and Firestone Country Club in
Akron, said it was “very lucky”
that he got to caddy for Nicklaus.
He said he was one of about 30
assistants who put their names in
to caddy during the tournament,
and his name just happened to be
drawn for Nicklaus.
“I just put my name in and it’s
just a draw, and I ended up with
Nicklaus,” Young said.
For six days, including two
practice round days, Young helped
Nicklaus around the course, determining yardages and club selection.
On the 17th hole of the final
round, Young’s advice helped
Nicklaus in a big way. Nicklaus
had to make a decision between
going for the par-5 in two or laying
up.
“He asked me if he could reach
it, and I remember saying yeah you
supporting and promoting junior
golf.
May 28 — Boy Scout Classic
Golf Outing
July 10-17 — FCC Rally for the
Cure.
July 13 — UF Oiler Outing
August 31 — Findlay Hancock
County Alliance Outing
September 19 — FHS Trojan
Invitational
FCC will also once again be
hosting YMCA Youth Golf Clinics. Dates will be announced later.
can. But if we lay up, you’re going
to have a simple chip and I think
that would be the way to do it,”
Young said.
With water and bunkers
around the green, Nicklaus laid
up, chipped his third shot close to
the hole and made the birdie putt,
Young said.
Young pulled out a driver for
Nicklaus on the last hole, a par-4,
thinking he was going to hit that
club since the wind was in his face.
Instead, Nicklaus hit his famous
1-iron off the tee and still had a
long iron into the green.
“So he hit a 1-iron and he asked
me what he would have left and I
said 2, 3 (iron). So he hit 1-iron,
3-iron to about 12 feet and he said
‘lad, you just made some bucks,”
Young said, laughing.
Young ended up getting paid
$2,500 from Nicklaus, who earned
$40,000 for winning the tournament.
Nicklaus, who holds the record
for most major championships,
was “all business” during the
tournament, according to Young.
Nicklaus’ talent was something
Young appreciated as well.
“I found out how good you
really have to be (to play on the
PGA Tour),” Young said. “There’s
a lot of nice players ...but to actually do something like that, it’s a
different breed. You’ve got to be
so good.”
Around 20 years after caddying
for Nicklaus, Young said he talked
to him at Muirfield Village Golf
Club in Dublin. Young’s son, Luke,
who is the superintendent at Bluffton and Hidden Creek, was playing in a tournament at the course.
“When I saw Nicklaus 20
years later, I brought that up and
he looked at me like ‘who is this
guy?’” Floyd said. “But he knew
at the end.”
“They started reminiscing
about it,” Wendy Young Miller,
Floyd’s daughter and the manager
at Hidden Creek, said, “and what
transpired and what dad helped
him with and different yardages,
different things during that tournament.
“It was kind of neat that (Nicklaus) remembered all of that.”
Burwell, 419-427-8407
[email protected]
GOLF
A revival for
country clubs
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP SPORTS WRITER
AREA GOLF
The annual Julie Cole Charity
Classic, which has generated more
than $2.2 million for local and
area charities during its 25-year
run, will again be one of the featured events hosted and held at the
Findlay Country Club this season.
Cole starred at Findlay High
School and was offered scholarships in both basketball and golf
He was alongside
as Golden Bear
won his 9th major
STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
Julie Cole Classic
is set for June 8
Young caddied for
Nicklaus at PGA
Championship
By MICHAEL BURWELL
By MICHAEL BURWELL
BLUFFTON — Having family
working together was a dream
that Floyd Young always wanted.
For the past 26 years, that
dream has been a reality.
Young, along with his wife,
Drue, his daughter, Wendy Young
Miller, and his son, Luke, own and
operate Bluffton Golf Club, as well
as Hidden Creek Golf Club in Beaverdam.
“The way I look at it is it’s a
privilege,” Miller said of being able
to work with her family. “It really
is because not too many people
get to see their parents and talk
to their parents throughout the
day on a daily basis or see them
everyday. That causes different
types of stresses, too, but it’s a
unique thing.”
Floyd, 67, and Drue, 63, who
have been married for 43 years,
purchased Bluffton Golf Club in
1989 when Wendy was a sophomore in high school and Luke
was in fourth grade. They added
Hidden Creek (formerly Golf at
Sugar Creek) in 2008.
Floyd has been a PGA professional since 1972. He has spent
most of his life in the golf business,
which includes working as the
head professional at Cambridge
Country Club (about an hour and
a half east of Columbus) for 14
years before purchasing Bluffton’s
course. He also worked as an assistant pro at Firestone Country Club
in Akron, where he met Drue, and
worked at PGA National in Palm
Beach Gardens, Florida.
Drue is the manager at Bluffton Golf Club and takes care of the
daily operations, as well as catering for outings and banquets.
Miller, 40, who graduated from
the University of Toledo with
a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and received her Master’s in
clinical counseling from Bowling
Green State University, is the manager at Hidden Creek.
“Once I got over here, it was a
little scary,” Miller said. “A little
frightening just because I always
had my dad to do certain things or
always had my mom to do certain
things and I just kind of filled in
the cracks, so coming over here
was a big change.”
Luke, 36, is the superintendent
of the two courses, and along with
his wife, Kira, own Luke’s Bar and
Grill in Bluffton. He went to Lake
City Community College in Florida (now called Florida Gateway
College) and Clark State Community College in Springfield to get
his turf degree.
LOCAL GOLF
MEADOW V ISTA, Calif.
— Once considered a jewel of
Northern California, Winchester
Country Club became nearly
unrecognizable after the landowner was forced to foreclose the
property during the economic
downturn.
During five years of bank ownership, the golf course turned
brown, the native areas between
the holes overgrown and unruly.
Membership dwindled and the
course opened for public-fee play
just to keep the club afloat.
It barely survived.
But once the economy leveled
a bit, Winchester’s new owners
took a novel approach to help it
rebound: They sank more money
into it, hoping a more luxurious
club would drive up the real estate
and, in turn, make the club more
appealing to potential members.
“Nobody believed that you
could turn this thing around and
make it vibrant again because
there were so many things that
needed to fall together to make
that happen,” said David Bennett, Winchester Country Club’s
general manager. “We kind of had
to do a dance to choreograph this
all to make it work.”
Winchester’s plan worked.
Other country clubs weren’t so
fortunate.
In the late 1990s through early
2000s, country clubs hit an apex.
Golf was as popular as ever —
in part because of Tiger Woods’
mass appeal — and the economy
was flourishing. New golfers took
up the game like never before and
country clubs, along with real
estate developments around them,
cropped up across the country.
But even before the economy
started to sour, interest in golf
began to wane.
After years of growth, more
golf courses closed than opened in
2006, a trend that continued every
year through 2014 at a cumulative
ratio of almost 3:1, according to
the National Golf Foundation,
though those numbers have
skewed much higher in recent
years. Since 2006, 501 new golf
courses around the country have
opened, while 1,269 have closed,
according to NGF.
The number of rounds played
also went on a steady decline,
See REVIVAL, Page E4
&QPŉV.GV2CKP-GGR;QW1WVQHVJG)COG
?]ll`]j]da]^qgmf]]\Yf\af[j]Yk]egZadalq
oal`gmll`]ka\]]^^][lkg^`Yje^mde]\a[Ylagfk
Yf\hj]k[jahlagf\jm_k
;àjghjY[la[KhafYd<][gehj]kkagf
EYkkY_]9[mhmf[lmj]
:dYf[`Yj\NYdd]q;àjghjY[la[
<j&Ja[`Yj\EYjjY$<&;&<ahd&9[&
9f_]dYHja[]D&E&L&
**0O&@Yj\afKl&
NakalmkYl2
>af\dYq$Gàg
:N;àjg&[ge
,)1%,**%+.0.
K]jnaf_l`]>af\dYq9j]Y^gjGn]j*(Q]Yjk
GOLF
THE COURIER
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2015
E3
A DIFFERENT KIND OF GOLF
Footgolf gaining a foothold?
Several golf courses around the
region are embracing the game
By JOHN REITMAN
STAFF WRITER
Golf purists turn their noses up at
it. Progressive-minded thinkers who
wouldn’t know plus-fours from a plus
sign, are more accepting. Regardless of
one’s view toward footgolf, this game that
combines golf and soccer appears to be
here to stay.
The rules of footgolf largely mirror
those of traditional golf, though the game
does have its own official — and lengthy
— rulebook. Players wearing either
sneakers or indoor soccer shoes only (no
cleats), kick a regulation No. 5 soccer ball
along the length of a golf hole. The goal,
no pun intended, is to kick the ball into
a 21-inch hole before moving on to the
next tee. Like golf, a regulation round is
18 holes. The holes are shorter, with 18
footgolf holes typically squeezed into the
front or back nine side of a golf course.
As far-fetched as the concept might
sound to die-hard golfers, this hybrid
game is catching on at a stunning rate
since it was invented, according to the
Federation for International FootGolf, in
2008 by Dutchman Michael Jansen.
To date, according to the FIFG, the
game is played in 25 countries around
the world and on 377 courses in 46 U.S.
states, including Hawthorne Hills, Lost
Creek and Tamarac in Lima and Tanglewood Golf Course in Perrysburg.
A group of four or five footgolfers can
get around Tanglewood in about two
hours.
“I thought it was a phenomenal idea as
a way to bring revenue to the golf course,”
said Tom Blanchard, owner and PGA professional at Tanglewood Golf Course. “I
don’t believe it will ever turn foot-golfers
into regular golfers, but it is a good alternative to bring in a younger crowd.”
Tanglewood opened its course to footgolf last August, and it didn’t take long
for the game to catch on with a league
forming immediately. Blanchard says
50-to-100 foot golfers play at Tanglewood
every week.
The game was an immediate hit when
it was started last summer at Hawthorne
Hills, where 18 footgolf holes are squeezed
in alongside the facility’s nine-hole executive course.
This year, Hawthorne Hills is working
with the University of Northwestern Ohio,
the Lima Family YMCA and the Ohio
Extreme Soccer Club to help drive interest in the game. At least three leagues are
LPGA TOUR
Creamer calls for a
women’s Masters
She thinks women
need another major
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP SPORTS WRITER
DALY CITY, Calif. — Paula
Creamer is calling for a women’s
Masters at Augusta National.
Creamer would love for organizers to at least listen to the idea
of women playing a Masters in
consecutive weeks with the men’s
tournament. She reiterated her
thoughts last week at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
On April 14, Creamer posted
on Twitter: “I hope The Masters
will consider a Women’s Masters
soon. They do so much to grow the
game. Fastest area of golf growth
is women! (hash)6Majors?”
“I’ve been there, I’ve played
there, stayed in Butler’s Cabin,”
said Creamer, the 2010 U.S.
Women’s Open champion. “I had
an awesome time. I think the
patrons and everybody would
love to have two weeks there, two
tournaments. Why wouldn’t you?
Hopefully, we will see something
change and happen.”
While she hasn’t heard from
anyone official at Augusta, there
has been plenty of positive feedback since she made the com-
ments. She wants to be part of golf
taking steps to recruit the next
generation of young players.
“It’s 2015. I think Augusta and
the Masters and everybody with
that event, they want to grow the
game so badly,” Creamer said.
“That’s what it is, about growing
the game and giving people opportunities. The Chip and Putt, all of
that for the kids to be able to come
out there. There’s no reason why
we can’t do that in women’s golf.
We’re just as much a part of growing the game.”
When reminded that Augusta
National Golf Club Chairman Billy
Payne has referenced scheduling
issues when it comes to adding an
event such as a women’s tournament, Creamer noted she believes
it wouldn’t be that hard and “I
think they could handle two weeks
a year.”
“You could have two major
tournaments back-to-back,” she
said.
Payne has said he doesn’t envision a women’s Masters.
“We have a very short member
season at Augusta National. It’s
seven months only,” he said.
“The time that we dedicate to the
preparation and conduct of the
tournament is already extensive.
I don’t think that we would ever
host another tournament.”
LOCAL GOLF
Sterling is new pro
at Hillcrest G.C.
Van Buren grad
returns to area
Addison Sterling, who grew
up in Findlay and lettered four
years for Van Buren’s golf team,
has returned to his roots as the
new golf professional at Findlay’s
Hillcrest Golf Club.
Sterling earned an associate’s
degree in Golf Course Management from the Professional Golfers Career College and has been
a teaching pro not only in the
Midwest, but in California, North
Carolina, Georgia and Florida as
well.
Sterling and Hillcrest will
be offering special Tuesday and
Thursday night clinics.
On Tuesday’s at 6 p.m., Sterling
will offer a half-hour short game
clinic (cost $10). Thursday’s at 5
p.m., parents can bring youngsters
to play a preset course with 100yard tees. Beginning at 5 p.m.,
Sterling will conduct a 10-minute
clinic for juniors covering basics
like grip, swing and golf course etiquette. Thursday’s golf and clinic
is free for children under 12; cost
for adults with a cart is $16.
6,'(
scheduled to compete there this summer.
“We started late, in mid-summer last
year, but it was very well attended,” said
Ginny Riffle, manager at Hawthorne
Hills.
“This season, we reached out to local
schools and soccer clubs. We anticipate it
being a much bigger deal this year.”
According to the National Golf Foundation, there are 7 million fewer people
playing golf than there were 10 years ago.
Some of the common barriers people cite
when giving up golf are the time involved
and the cost, according to NGF. Not so
with footgolf.
A foursome should be able to complete
a nine-hole round in about an hour. Rates
also are inviting, at least at Hawthorne,
where adults pay $12 for adults, seniors
$11 and students $9. The course even
completed an offseason construction
project this year that included sprucing
up the footgolf teeing grounds, Riffle said.
“Golf “trended down last 10-15 years.
It’s expensive,” Blanchard said. “That’s
not a problem with footgolf. It’s cost effective.”
Rules of the game are governed by the
Federation for International FootGolf and
rival the USGA’s Rules of Golf in length.
The American FootGolf League organizes
tournaments, including some this year
that are even sponsored by GolfNow, an
online, third-party purveyor of cut-rate tee
times at more than 6,000 golf courses in
North America.
PHOTO PROVIDED
FOOT GOLF, a sport that combines soccer and golf, is catching on slowly across
the country.
Although the game’s increasing popularity might cause hardcore golfers to knit
their eyebrows, golf course operators with
an eye fixed on the bottom line welcome
the additional revenue.
“Most of the interest is among the
younger generation, but we’re starting to
see some interest in 30-, 40- and 50-year
olds,” Blanchard said. “I’d love to turn
footgolfers into regular golfers. I don’t
think that is going to happen, but as they
get out and learn more about the game,
and are exposed more to the course and
the atmosphere, you never know. I don’t
think it will happen, but in the meantime,
it is a revenue-maker for the club.”
John Reitman is director of news,
editorial and education for TurfNet, a
news and information service for the
golf industry based in Orlando, Florida.
He can be reached at jreitman@turfnet.
com.
Area golfers got their winter
golf fix at Red Hawk Run
Simulators allowed
players to play even
during winter months
By MICHAEL BURWELL
STAFF WRITER
Golf in Findlay during the winter. Sounds
too good to be true for die-hard golfers in the
area, right?
From mid-November to mid-March, though,
golfers were able to tee it up at Red Hawk Run
Golf Club in Findlay, no matter how nasty the
conditions were outside.
Red Hawk Run leased two indoor golf
simulators during the rugged winter months.
The simulators, manufactured by aboutGolf of
Maumee, were located in the golf shop.
Golfers could play 42 courses from around
the world, including iconic venues such as
Pebble Beach in California and the Old Course
at St. Andrew’s in Scotland, according to
Anthony Brock, sales and marketing director
at Red Hawk Run.
“It’s fun for people to come out and experience those courses,” Brock said. “Even though
it’s not real, you can still hit the shots and get
the views and the idea of what it would be
like to play some of those courses like Pebble
Beach. It’s pretty cool.”
The goal of the simulators was more for
marketing Red Hawk Run, instead of bringing
in money, and to get people talking about the
course, according to Brock.
“The main purpose behind them was to get
our name back out there, was to get people
back out to this golf course,” Brock said. “Even
if it’s just inside looking out at snow, we still
wanted to create an awareness and a buzz
about this upcoming golf season, which we’re
really focused on, so that was a step to get us
to where we are now.
“It wasn’t a thing where we were going to
make a ton of money during the winter months
on golf simulators. That’s not the case, Findlay’s too small of a town to really account for
a place having a bunch of golf simulators. We
just wanted to create awareness about what
we’re doing and inform the customers as they
came in to play on the simulators (about) some
of the plans that we have for the golf course
inside and out.”
As far as bringing a lot of golfers to the
course, that may not have met expectations.
In fact, Brock said the simulators didn’t bring
in as many people as he would have hoped.
But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t generate
that “buzz” about Red Hawk Run.
“I would describe the success of the simulators as limited, but in turn, it accomplished
what we wanted it to,” Brock said. “It got
people talking about Red Hawk Run Golf Club
again as a golf course, and that’s exactly what
we wanted to do with the simulators is get
people in here, getting to know the staff and
getting to know the management.”
The busiest days for the simulators were
Saturdays and Sundays, which generated about
40-50 people, according to Brock, and the average round of golf took approximately one hour
per person. Just like during the golf season,
golfers needed a tee time to play the simulators, although they were limited since golfers
couldn’t tee off every 10 minutes.
“The weekends, we did pretty good and
during the week, it was slow,” Brock said. “It’s
winter, it’s cold, so people a lot of times don’t
want to go out and do anything.”
The cost ranged from $25 to $32 an hour,
depending on when the person golfed. Food
and drinks were available in the clubhouse as
well.
“It was a lot of fun for a lot of people,” Brock
said. “We had a lot of regulars that came back
time and time again.”
Playing on the simulators may not technically be a “real” round of golf, but the realism
that came along with the simulators is something Brock said surprised those who used
them.
“You hit every shot as you would on the golf
course,” Brock said. “It measures your swing
speed, where you impact the ball on the face
of the club, which direction you’re hitting, side
spin on the ball, back spin on the ball. So it
takes a lot of dynamics into play and then calibrates it into an algorithm and kind of makes it
appear before your eyes on a projection screen.
It’s extremely realistic.”
Brock said the golf club leased the aboutGolf
simulators from Ace Indoor Golf in Toledo.
They’re the same simulators used on the Golf
Channel.
Having connections with John Cook, an
11-time PGA Tour winner, helped determine
what type of simulator to lease. John’s father,
Jim, owns the course management company
Cook Golf, which owns Red Hawk Run.
John Cook is a contributor for the Golf
Channel show Morning Drive when he’s not
playing on the Champions Tour, so Brock said
he wanted to use the same simulators that
viewers see him hitting in on TV.
Although golfers could play some of the top
courses in the world, there’s one course that
Brock said he would have liked to have on the
simulators: Red Hawk Run.
“That would have been very cool and a
lot of people asked,” Brock said. “The digital
mapping was kind of for all the more popular courses around the country. It would have
cost, I’m not sure of the exact amount, but a
significant amount of money to have our course
digitally mapped.”
Whether Red Hawk Run will lease the simulators again this winter remains to be seen,
but Brock said there’s a possibility that the
simulators will be back at the course.
And that could be good news for those diehard golfers.
-XQHWK
7RUHJLVWHURUGRQDWHDUDIIOHLWHPSOHDVH
FRQWDFW&KULVWD#([W

$OOIDLWKVRUEHOLHIVDUHZHOFRPH
E
:
B
<
>
I
0
Egf\Yq%>ja\YqZ]^gj]*he2
Eg
1WTN-W]Z[M
)0`gd]k2)0').K]fagjk
oal`;Yjlj24+%'2'42.#;'4YF2.#;'452'4%#46k
;`][cgmlgmjf]odqj]eg\]d]\
[dmZ`gmk]
Fgog^^]jaf_Y^mddk]jna[]
cal[`]foal`f]oe]fmal]ek
)0)*-Kl&Jl&-.0>af\dYq,)1%,*+%-(01
O]klYqdmk`_j]]fYddq]Yjjgmf\
-RKQ&RRN
$6HPL3ULYDWH4XDOLW\*ROI([SHULHQFH
$&RRN*ROI3URSHUW\
5W(DVW)LQGOD\
ZZZ5HG+DZN5XQFRP
Area Public Course Directory
COURSE
TELEPHONE
WEBSITE
LOCATION
HOLES YARDS
Birch Run Golf Club
Bob’s Countryside Golf Course
Bluffton Golf Club
Clinton Heights Golf Course
Colonial Hills Golf Club
Country Acres Golf Club
Forrest Creason Golf Course
Fostoria Country Club
Green Hills Golf Course
Hawthorne Hills Golf Course
Hidden Creek Golf Club
Hillcrest Golf Club
Lakeland Golf Course
Lincoln Hills Golf Club
Loudon Meadows Golf Club
Memorial Park Golf Club
Nature Trails Golf Course
Pike Run Golf Club
Red Hawk Run Golf Club
Riverby Hills Golf Club
Seneca Hills Golf Course
Shady Acres Golf Course
Shady Grove Golf Course
Sleepy Hollow Golf Course
Springbrook Golf Club
Stone Ridge Golf Club
Sycamore Hills Golf Club
Sycamore Springs Golf Course
Tamarac Golf Club
Tanglewood Golf Club
419-257-3641
419-396-6956
419-358-6230
419-447-8863
419-649-3350
419-532-3434
419-372-2674
419-435-4248
419-547-7947
419-221-1891
419-643-8562
419-423-7211
419-894-6440
419-294-3037
419-435-8500
419-674-4573
419-986-5229
419-538-7000
419-894-4653
419-878-5941
419-447-9446
419-293-9656
419-422-7494
419-547-0770
419-225-8037
419-353-2582
419-332-5716
419-365-5109
419-331-2951
419-833-1725
www.birchrungolf.com
14451 Deshler Road, North Baltimore
www.golfohio.com/courses/carey/bobs-countryside
4204 S.R. 199, Carey
www.blufftongolfclub.net/welcome/
8575 Dixie Highway, Bluffton
www.clintonheightsgolf.com
2760 Twp. Road 122, Tiffin
www.thecolonialgolfersclub.com
10985 Harding Highway, Harrod
www.countryacresgolfclub.com
17374 S.R. 694, Ottawa
www.bgsu.edu/recwell/forrest-creason-golf-course 1616 E. Poe Road, Bowling Green
www.fostoriacc.com
747 W. Independence Ave., Fostoria
www.greenhillsgolf.com
1959 S. Main St., Clyde
www.hawthornegolf.com
1000 Fetter Road, Lima
www.hiddencreekgolfclub.net
6245 Sugar Creek Road, Lima
www.facebook.com/pages/Hillcrest-Golf-Club
800 W. Bigelow Ave., Findlay
www.lakelandgc.com
3770 County Road 23, Fostoria
www.golflincolnhills.com
5377 County Highway 330, Upper Sandusky
www.loudonmeadows.com
11072 S.R. 18, Fostoria
vmpgc.homestead.com
15906 S.R. 309, Kenton
www.golfohio.com/courses/kansas/nature-trails-gc
6730 Liberty Twp. Road 69, Kansas
www.pikerungolf.com
10807 Road H, Ottawa
www.redhawkrun.com
18441 S.R. 224 East, Findlay
www.riverbyhills.com/home-riverby
16571 W. River Road, Bowling Green
www.senecahillsgolf.com
4044 Twp. Road 98, Tiffin
www.facebook.com/shadyacresgolfcourse
100 Shady Acres Lane, McComb
www.facebook.com/TheRestaurant.shadygrove
15733 S.R. 224 East, Findlay
www.sleepyhollowclyde.com
6029 S.R. 101 East, Clyde
www.thespringbrookgolfclub.com
4200 Ottawa Road, Lima
www.stoneridgegolfclub.org
1553 Muirfield Dr., Bowling Green
www.sycamorehillsgolf.com
3728 Hayes Ave., Fremont
www.sycamorespringsgolf.com
11492 Twp. Road 25, Arlington
www.tamaracgolfcourse.com
500 North Stevick Road, Lima
www.golfohio.com/courses/perrysburg/tanglewood-gc 9802 Dowling Road, Perrysburg
Wayside Golf Course
419-423-5089
www.facebook.com/pages/Wayside-Golf-Course.com
18125 OH-568, Findlay
PAR
18
9
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
9
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
9
18
18
18
18
9
18
18
18
6,020
2,924
6,668
5,943
6,886
6,425
6,497
6,527
6,239
6,710
6,810
6,981
5,510
3,238
6,181
6,344
5,555
6,400
7,155
6,853
6,121
2,932
1,971
6,371
6,077
7,064
3,157
6,670
6,390
5,822
70
36
72
70
72
72
72
72
71
72
72
72
70
36
71
72
73
71
72
72
70
36
54
71
71
72
35
72
72
72
9
3,138
35
*Contact courses for daily and special event pricing
Revival
Continued from page E2
falling to 462 million in 2013, the
lowest mark in 18 years.
Once the economy started to
decline, country clubs began to
suffer. People had less disposable
income or free time and country
club memberships were an easy
place to trim expenditures.
By 2012, 52 percent of country
clubs in the United States reported
a loss in memberships, with just 22
percent seeing a gain, according to
a 2015 Sports Leisure Research
Group report.
That left country clubs and
developers caught in a bubble,
needing capital to keep running
the club and community, but no
way to pay for it with initiation
fees dropping.
“We got overbuilt, there were
too many clubs built for how many
golfers there were, then the golfers started to drop off,” said Jim
McLaughlin, senior vice president of operations at Troon Prive,
Troon Golf’s private-club arm.
“When you’ve lost 15-20 percent
of your market and growth still
going on, that’s when you get into
trouble.”
The economic downturn forced
many country clubs to dramatically alter how they operated or
face shutting down.
Clubs that were once invitation-only began opening their
doors, drastically dropping initiation fees or eliminating them
all together. Annual dues were
slashed and some clubs even
offered trial memberships with
money-back guarantees.
Many country clubs were
forced to offer reduced-rate tee
times to the public just to stay
afloat. Some became semiprivate,
keeping members while allowing
outside play, while others were
forced to become fully public.
Country clubs also had to
rethink fee structures.
For years, many clubs had an
equity-based initiation fees, meaning members had to sell their
memberships to leave the club.
When the economy went south,
members had a hard time selling
their memberships more people
were trying to get out of country
clubs than into them.
Some clubs offered a chance to
downgrade memberships, become
social or fitness members instead
of paying full prices for golf memberships. That helped members to
pay less per month, but made it
nearly impossible to put a dent in
their initiation fees.
To alleviate the glut, many
clubs went to a market-based
approach, allowing prospective
members to put in offers to members, often at fractions of the original cost.
Troon Golf has 60 private clubs
among its worldwide portfolio of
about 200 golf courses and took
nearly as many approaches to
pulling country clubs through the
tough times.
The core message for every
club was the same, though: Stay
true to who you are.
During the economic downturn, many country clubs tried to
hasn’t waned — about 120-130 per
year — but people have started
returning to country clubs. In
2014, 39 percent of country clubs
gained new members while just 26
percent had more members going
out than coming in.
Winchester Country Club
has started to bounce back after
upgrading the clubhouse, the staff
and the golf course, one of the last
co-designed by Robert Trent Jones
Sr. and his son, Robert Jr.
Winchester Country Club is up
to 270 members after a low of 203.
Initiation fees, once wiped out, are
now up to $15,000.
“We’ve kind of got this momentum now where we’ve shown we
can live up to what we said we
were going to do,” Bennett said.
be everything to everyone, using
a shotgun marketing approach to
draw as many people in as possible.
Instead of bolstering the clubs,
it often tore them apart, creating
bickering factions within the walls
instead of bonding like-minded
members who had similar values.
“A club can have all these
offerings, but the thing that’s the
heartbeat of it is the social experience in the middle,” McLaughlin
said. “I don’t think that’s going
to ever change. We’re Facebook
for real. Community is important
to everybody and being a part of
something and feeling you belong,
and that happens at clubs.”
As the economy has started to
recover, so have the country clubs
that survived.
The rate of course closings
>af\dYq9j]Y;analYf;dmZ
FGOGH=FËLAD<MKC
akhd]Yk]\lghj]k]flgmj
9 :]Ymla^mdEYfa[mj]\?j]]fk
HJ=EA=J?GD>;9J<
af_j]Ylk`Yh]n]jqhmllYZd]
9 >mddE]eZ]jkàhk
Hmj[`Yk])0o'[YjlYlj]_mdYjhja[]
Yf\_]l)0o'[Yjl>J==
=Yjdq:aj\kKh][aYdgfdq--(
9 Ka_f%mhqgmjD]Y_m]Lg\Yq
gf]hdYqh]j[gmjk]!
Hjae]\Yqklae]kkladdYnYadYZd]
Daeal]\fmeZ]jg^[Yj\kYnYadYZd]fgo%
Gn]j*-(nYdm]GFDQ*-&((
Lghmj[`Yk][Ydd2,)1%,*,%()1)
9 Ko]Yl]jkOaf\kàjlk%)(&((
@mjjq$oàd]kmhhda]kdYkl
L`Yfcqgmlgfaf]g^l`]Yj]YÌkâf]kl[gmjk]ko`gYj]
hYjla[ahYlaf_&
0((O&:a_]dgo%>af\dYq%,)1%,*+%/*))
;GMHGF
Khjaf_Zjggc?gd^;dmZ
;gmfljq9[j]k?gd^;dmZ
,)1%**)%)01)
,)1%**-%0(+/
Kq[Yegj]Khjaf_k
>gklgjaY;gmfljq;dmZ
Hac]Jmf?gd^;dmZ
)),1*LJ*9jdaf_lgf$G@
/,/Af\]h]f\]f[]J\&
>gklgjaY$G@
)(0(/;g&J\&@
GllYoY$G@
)(((=&>]ll]jJ\&
DaeY$G@
,)1%+.-%-)(1
))(/*;gdmeZmk9n]&
>gklgjaY$G@
)/+/,Kl&Jl&.1,
GllYoY$G@
,)1%,+-%,*,0
Dgm\gfE]Y\gok N]l]jYfkE]egjaYdHYjc?gd^;dmZ
,)1%,+-%0-((
,)1%-+*%+,+,
,*((GllYoYJ\&
DaeY$G@
,)1%./,%,-/+
KlYl]Jgml]+(1=Ykl
C]flgf$G@
,)1%-+0%/(((
;G
;gdgfaYd?gd^]jk;dmZ
;g
;
g
FA9D
+Ogg\k0Ajgfk%Ha[cqgmjgofEap%f%EYl[`;dmZk
Kl]]dgj?jYhàl]K`Y^lGFDQ/(
@Yol`gjf]@addk?gd^;dmZ
DG
;YfZ]hmj[`Yk]\Yl
DgjaHgo]ddÌkKlYl]>Yje$)*1->gklgjaY9n]$
gjYfq;analYfe]eZ]j&
>AF<D9Q9J=9;ANAL9F?GD>;9J<
Hmj[`Yk])0o'[YjlYlJ]_mdYjHja[]?]l)0o'[Yjl>j]]
,)1%.,1%++-(
)(10-@Yj\af_@oq&
@Yjjg\$G@
Mk]^gjGmlaf_kYf\D]Y_m]kYl<ak[j]lagfg^;gmjk]
;GMHGF
;GMHGF
3/$<7:22)1: ;GMHGF
SENIOR
MAY
9 HOLE
MOTHER’S DAY
2+,2·6),1(67
SIZZLER
WEEKEND SPECIAL SPECIAL
SPECIAL
38%/,&&2856(6
SENIORS 18 HOLES
ALL MOTHERS PLAY
18 HOLES W/CART
9 HOLES W/CART
W/CART
FREE
ON MOTHERS DAY
$7$',6&2817
Monday - Friday
Saturday & Sunday
Valid Mon.-Fri.
WITH CART
before 2pm only
Before 2pm
after 4pm only
(9(5<5281'
Must be accompanied by a
00 $
00
$
$ 00
paying customer
Call about our
Valid For 2 Golfers
,)1%*-/%+.,)
),,-)<]k`d]jJ\
Fgjl`:Ydlaegj]$G@,-0/*
16
0XVWSUHVHQWFRXSRQDWWLPHRI
SXUFKDVH1RWWREHFRPELQHG
ZLWKRWKHURIIHUV
2IIHUH[SLUHV
20
ZLWKRWKHURIIHUV
2IIHUH[SLUHV
&XVWRPHU
$GYDQWDJH&DUG
9
ZLWKRWKHURIIHUV
2IIHUH[SLUHV
ZLWKRWKHURIIHUV
2IIHUH[SLUHVRQ0RWKHUªV'D\
,)1%,+-%0-((
))(/*O&KJ)0
>gklgjaY$G@,,0+(
Interested in sponsoring or spectating?
Call the Blanchard Valley Health
Foundation at 419.423.5457 or visit
bvhealthsystem.org
Featuring Julie Cole and Meg Mallon
Fe
Player waiting list forming now!
June 8, 2015
Findlay Country Club
Golf Classic Beneficiaries: Bridge Hospice | The Armes Family Cancer Care Center Endowment | Julie Cole Golf Fund for Junior Golfers