Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104190180
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY/ CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
All these preparations are leading to the expansion of the golf course at Great Oaks County Club in Floyd County from nine to 18 holes.
Play on the back nine could begin as early as this fall.
"This started a year and a half ago," said Gino Williams, president of Great Oaks. "It was going to be a 10-year plan. But when you get me doing something, it usually ends up getting done sooner rather than later."
Williams said there is a $250,000 budget for the expansion. The cost has been kept down because club members have volunteered services and equipment to help with the clearing and grading.
The back nine will be much like the front nine, which was completed in 1967. It will be par 36 with a pair of par 3s and a pair of par 5s. The back nine is being designed by same golf-course architect who did the front nine, Gene Hamm of Raleigh, N.C.
"Almost every golf course architect frames things alike on all their courses," said Hamm from his North Carolina home. "It's like anyone who has ever done a painting - they're our brush strokes."
Those brush strokes will be seen on the 13th hole, which Williams feels will become the "signature hole of the course."
The hole will be a par 5, 510 to 520 yards long. Its downhill slope will enable some golfers to reach the green in two strokes, if they are brave enough to challenge the pond that will guard the green.
There will be some minor differences between the two nines, mostly because of topography and trees. The back nine will be hillier, with more and larger trees closer to the fairway.
Hamm thinks it may end up being a little bit shorter. But the two nines should blend together well.
"We have one of the best-kept secrets in Virginia," said Jim Casteel, chairman of the back-nine committee. "We've learned how to take care of it. And we want the back nine to be as good as the front."
Casteel said the club hopes to get assistance from Virginia Tech in desiging the greens. Great Oaks received similar assistance when building the greens for the front nine. Once completed, the benefits of an 18-hole course will mean more than golfers not having to play the same nine holes twice for a complete round of golf.
"I think it will mean a lot the club and the community in general," said Barbara Spangler, manager of the club for the past 17 years. "Industries, for instance, want to know if there is a golf course nearby. It could be a big asset in attracting industry to the area."
"It'll mean three times as much play," said Jack Kitts, a member of the back-nine committee who helped found the club.
"The National Golf Foundation says three times as many people can play on an 18-hole course than on a nine-hole course," he said. "It will increase membership. And it will increase revenue, which will mean taxes for the county."
Last year, 12,000 rounds of golf were played at Great Oaks. The club has 346 members and a waiting list of about 30.
An 18-hole course has been an idea since the club was started. The founders bought enough land to build 18 holes. However, it was decided that a clubhouse and a pool would be more beneficial to the members.
But for many years it appeared the expansion would remain nothing more than a dream as circumstances prevented its realization.
"I'm a visionary; I definitely thought it would [happen]," said Kitts. "I'm an eternal optimist. But it looked dark in the 1970s. There was an economic downturn. It was hard for us to make our [loan] payments."
But time has helped Great Oaks turn the tide financially. And it finally found itself in position to start construction on nine more holes.
"Looking at the finances, we decided this was the best time to do it," said Williams. "With our non-profit status, we need to be using money as it accrues."
by CNB