After rain delayed construction for five weeks, the Clarksville, Tenn., facility’s clubhouse, driving range, fitness facility, pro shop, restaurant, and practice putting greens are ready for use. Part of the golf course, which is designed to be played as either nine or 18 holes, will open around May, and it will be completely ready for play in July.
The River Club Golf and Learning Center’s clubhouse, restaurant, driving range, and practice putting greens are open and ready for use in Clarksville, Tenn., the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“Right now the practice facility is open—you can hit balls on the driving range,” said Greg Guinn, one of the club’s founders. “The pro shop and restaurant are open and the fitness facility is ready.”
The practice facility has a bentgrass putting green, a Bermuda grass putting green, and chipping areas. The driving range has 20 targets, and at the end of the range is a second tee box that will be open in the fall. The club’s indoor range areas are also open, and in a couple of weeks the outdoor range will have lights for night use, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
The entire project was supposed to take six months, but rain last summer delayed construction for five weeks, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“Last year when we got started on this project we were a little slow getting everything in place, then we had to pump the lake on four separate occasions,” Guinn said. “We went back and looked at our calendar—we lost five weeks last summer, and those weeks are exactly what we came up short on the golf course being ready.
“We have got holes 1, 2, 3, half of 8 and all of 9 in a grow-in stage. Of course, nothing grows much this time of year because it’s been so cold. We will have the other 4 ½ holes shaped and ready for grass when the weather gets warm sometime in March.”
Part of the course will likely be open sometime around May, and it will be completely open and ready for play by the middle of July, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
The course is designed to be played as either nine or 18 holes, but three of the holes have two separate greens, while the other six holes have greens large enough to have two separate pin placements. There are also four or five tee boxes on each hole, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“Holes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 are almost twice the size of a normal green—there are in excess of 8,000 sq. ft. What we are going to do is have two hole locations on each green,” said Guinn. “So for the people that want to play 18 holes, they can play a different set of tee boxes to a different green on three holes, and to a different hole location on the others, so they should have approach shots to each hole.”
The River Club Golf & Learning Center will be a public and private partnership that will offer several types of charter memberships for singles, couples, seniors and families that will include green fees, cart and driving range and a special package of different items, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“We are always going to have times for the public, so it is going to be a limited membership,” said Guinn. “The rates are a very affordable package. A guy my age can join with no money down and no initiation fees, and it will be $1,900 a year. And for that he gets all his golf, carts and range balls. It is affordable, and people we hope will perceive it to be a value.”
Guinn expects the practice facility and learning opportunities such as clinics to be huge assets for the River Club, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“If there are people in the community that want to play golf, then we have got a program for them,” Guinn said. “If you are somebody that has never played and you want to learn, then there is going to be a place for you here.
“We are going to have clinics for people that have never played. We will provide the golf balls and the clubs, teach you about etiquette, how to swing the clubs, all aspects of the game, and if you like it, we will gradually get you from the learning facility onto the golf course.”
A little league golf program, in partnership with Swan Lake Golf Course, is another possibility, the Leaf-Chronicle reported.
“We want to give something back to the community, and our ultimate goal is to introduce 700 or 800 new golfers to the game,” Guinn said. “Our goal is to get the kids out, have their parents come with them, and hopefully they will choose to stay and learn.”
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