THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Women in Golf
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Molly Malloy wouldn't have blamed anyone for not believing the promises she made that night in April 1994. She and the membership of Seven Springs Golf Club had heard promises before. None had been kept.
But things were different now. She and two friends had formed a company, Golf Classics, and had arranged to purchase 10 of the club's 18 golf holes, plus the pool and the clubhouse.
Malloy, once a lifeguard at the club, would be general manager. Soon they would begin negotiating with the owner of the other eight holes, closed since 1991, to acquire them and reunite a course fractured by legal and personal wrangling.
In the meantime, she needed something to show the membership - a paltry 73 families - that she could be trusted.
``No one in the membership or the community had ever had the feeling that anybody was going to be here for a time,'' Malloy said. ``It was a question of someone standing up and fighting for this place.''
Within 30 days, Seven Springs had a fleet of new golf carts. Wellhouses were painted. Equipment was repaired so the course could be manicured more professionally. Drainage problems were fixed. All as promised.
``People here now can believe what they're told,'' said Bob Van Auken, a member of the six-person advisory committee Malloy created when Golf Classics took over. ``That wasn't the case here before.''
Beyond the confines of the club, Malloy was at work, too. Old members were contacted by mail and offered special incentives to return, as long as they did so in 30 days. The golf membership is up to 171.
Last February, Golf Classics hit the mother lode, acquiring the orphaned eight holes to return the 6,000-yard, par-71 course to its original state. The grand re-opening was June 15. Ahead of schedule.
``We make a commitment and we stick to it,'' Malloy said proudly. ``We don't promise anything we can't deliver, but we deliver everything we promise.''
Members are even pitching in on some of the work. The orphaned eight holes needed lots of work.
``Members will help mow grass, donate top soil, haul away wood, pull weeds, anything asked of them,'' said Debbie Beard, a member of the advisory committee. ``The neighborhood went from being nice when the club first opened to being a place people told prospective buyers to stay away from.
``But our property values are increasing again as the club progresses. People are working together, and one reason is because Molly stood behind them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN, Staff
Molly Malloy is part owner and general manager of Seven Springs in
Chesapeake. ``We don't promise anything we can't deliver, but we
deliver everything we promise,'' Malloy says proudly.
by CNB