Following improvements to the golf course and under the guidance of head pro Susan Briske, the Nicolaus, Calif., property has seen business grow by 35%, particularly among women. “If you can get mama to like the golf course, you can get papa to write the check,” Briske said.

River Oaks Golf Club in Nicolaus, Calif., is in the midst of a comeback, under the guidance of head pro Susan Briske, the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee reported.

When she saw the club for the first time in late February, a few days before she accepted the job offer, Briske thought what many before her thought over the past 16 years. “Honestly, I wasn’t that impressed,” she said.

Four months later, Briske and her revitalized staff have brought life back to the Nicolaus course. Early Tuesday afternoon, every table in the clubhouse was filled and Briske couldn’t complete two sentences without being interrupted to schedule a lesson, the Bee reported.

There have been more valleys than peaks since the Peter Jacobsen-designed course, initially called Rio La Paz and intended to be private, opened in 2000. Muddled ownership and financial issues plagued the course, which appeared rudderless for years, the Bee reported.

The setting is on former dairyland along the Feather River and surrounded by undeveloped farmland, and it’s also a long way from a population base, the Bee reported.

Briske took over only days after being let go after eight years as the director of instruction at Peach Tree Country Club in Marysville. After stints at Lake Wildwood in Penn Valley and Indian Wells, she had not worked at a public facility in the 18 years since getting her LPGA Class A credential, the Bee reported.

At 67, Briske was ready for a new challenge. The physical improvements include tree removal, spiffing up the massive all-grass practice range/area, professional signage and a new website. The reset in attitude may be more significant, the Bee reported.

“I kept most of the staff, but I let go a couple of people who were grumpy,” she said. “They didn’t have the vision.”

River Oaks’ greens still are a little spongy and slow, and its fairways are a mishmash of grasses. But the value remains, particularly via Golf Moose, which essentially offers 2-for-1 deals, the Bee reported.

Business is up 35%, Briske said, largely because more women are playing. A ladies group was created where there wasn’t one, and many students and others followed her from Peach Tree, where she was the only LPGA member in the area for years, the Bee reported.

“If you can get mama to like the golf course, you can get papa to write the check,” she said.