Extensive updates to the Rantoul, Ill., clubhouse, golf course, and new Golf Tech shop began in mid-December. The dining area, kitchen and bar will be enlarged with a planned opening date of March 15, while gaming machines and pool tables are also being added.
General Manager Kipp Bates predicts the changes in the works at Willow Pond Golf Course in Rantoul, Ill., are going to be “magnificent,” the Rantoul (Ill.) Press reported.
Extensive renovations to the clubhouse, a new Golf Tech business, and upgrades to the golf course are in the plans for the business that Kevin Applebee and his wife, Rhonda, bought from Ken Roessler last year, the Press reported.
“I think you’d have to go quite a ways to find a package facility better than Willow Pond,” said Bates. “I’ve opened three golf courses, and I’ve remodeled an additional three golf courses. I believe Willow Pond is among the best this county has seen.”
Work has been ongoing at the club since mid-December. The former pro shop has been relocated to the south end of the building, which will open up a dining area that will seat up to 140 people (inside and out) in a sports bar setting. The space will have seven large-screen television sets, the Press reported.
“We’re redoing the kitchen, and the bar area is getting enlarged,” Applebee said. “We’re trying to develop more food and beverage business to help the golf course along.”
Gaming machines and two pool tables will also be added, the Press reported.
In the past, the facility was equipped with just pizza ovens and a fryer, and large groups had to bring their own food. Though they will still be able to do that, most people prefer to buy on-site, the Press reported.
The clubhouse will be decorated with an Air Force theme—the overhead fans look like propellers, and table tops will have runway lights. Aviation memorabilia that Applebee has run across in cleaning out several old buildings will be part of the décor, the Press reported.
“We feel this is an absolutely perfect venue for a golf event,” Bates said. The business will also be available for holiday parties and large gatherings of many kinds. The goal is to open the bar and restaurant March 15 and keep it open year-round, the Press reported.
A deck was built outside the clubhouse to allow the business to host live music last year. Live music will continue to be offered at the business on Friday nights with most of the bands playing indoors, the Press reported.
On the golf course, the forward tee boxes are being remodeled. The driving range is also being moved from the west side of the course back to the north side where it was originally designed by the Air Force in the 1950s, the Press reported.
“At some point (the Air Force) decided not to do that and put in a swimming pool (there instead),” Applebee said. That former swimming pool building will now house the new Golf Tech shop. The old flat roof on the Golf Tech building was blown off by strong winds the same day the tornado caused heavy damage to Gifford November 17. A new cathedral roof will replace it, the Press reported.
Pat Leary, who has operated his Golf Etc. business for the past few years, will move the business to Willow Pond and change the name to Golf Tech. Leary said the move will allow him to give more instruction, the Press reported.
“Being in the mall, it’s kind of limited to what’s there,” Leary said. “This allows us to ‘green grass,’ to be able to go outside to teach not only the fundamentals in the swing but also have a playing lesson and use the course teaching golf.”
The business also does club repair, sells equipment, personalizes equipment for the buyer and offers state-of-the-art technology called Flight Scope to measure a person’s swing, the Press reported.
One goal, Leary said, is to achieve First Tee status. Leary hopes to open Golf Tech sometime in March, the Press reported.
Leary, who got acquainted with Applebee at the golf club they were members of, said the Willow Pond owner wants to do things right, the Press reported.
“He’s really got the best interest of Rantoul in mind,” Leary said. “He’s doing a lot to bring that course back to what it used to be. I think that restaurant is going to be one of the best in Rantoul.”
During the last half of 2013, Applebee said business was up “quite a bit” at the golf course from the previous year, the Press reported.
“The weather last year was fine,” Applebee said. “We really didn’t have any issues. It got dry the last couple months, but we had redone the irrigation system, and there was plenty of water for the greens. We watered the fairway and the greens. In the past they just did the greens.”
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