(Photo by Shirley Brown/Savannah Morning News)
The Savannah, Ga. facility features a Rees Jones-designed golf course that quickly earned a reputation as one of the top public facilities in the state, and U.S., after it opened in 1988. It fell into disrepair under absentee ownership, but was then bought in October 2019 for $1.5 million through sales of common stock, with another $1 million raised for improvements that are now being made under the direction of a new management team led by General Manager David Wilding, PGA.
Southbridge Golf Club in Savannah, Ga. opened the front nine of its Rees Jones-designed course in 1988, and its back nine a year later, the Savannah Morning News reported. It soon earned a reputation as the city’s finest public courses, and was also rated in 1993 by Golfweek as one of America’s top 100 public courses, in addition to a rating as one of the top 25 courses in Georgia.
Southbridge continued to hold that status until a few years ago, when things started going downhill, as little maintenance was being performed by the people who were leasing the course from absentee owners.
Greens became bare and crusty, fairways were overgrown with native grasses, and some resembled rough more than they did a fairway, the Morning News reported. Sand traps took on the air of ground under repair.
Play dropped off dramatically and reached the point where the club was sending out e-mails advertising $20 rounds—cart included—in an attempt to generate cash flow, the Morning News reported.
But that has now changed, the Morning News reported. thanks to a group of residents who loved the course and understood what it meant to the upscale Southbridge community of 1,400 homes. And with the nearby Berwick community having another 850 homes, there is a built-in base of players and/or club members within a few minutes.
A group of five men—Patrick Graham, Reggie Abbott, Roland Dixon, George Atkinson and Chuck Casella—came up with the idea of raising money to buy the Southbridge course and restore it, the Morning News reported.
“Actually, we got the idea from Sapelo Hammock [a community in McIntosh County, Ga.], where residents had done the same thing,” Graham told the Morning News. “We went and talked to them and learned what to do and what not to do.”
One difference, though, was that at Sapelo Hammack, about 60 people put up enough money to purchase the golf course, and eventually had to have a second fundraising, the Morning News reported.
“That told me we had to capitalize,” said Graham, President of the Southbridge Board of Directors. “We had to raise enough money to buy the course and to redo it. There were a lot of things that needed fixing.
“We knew if it closed, developers would come in and build,” he added. “Just between the 10th and 18th fairways, for example, there is a lot of land where the driving range is now. We didn’t want that to happen.”
The group’s plan for Southbridge was to sell shares of common stock at $5,000 each, the Morning Newsreported. It worked, as nearly $2.5 million was raised, with some people buying up to 10 shares. This enabled the group to buy the course for $1.5 million in October 2019, with additional funding available for needed upgrading.
“We’ve done a lot to improve the course, but there’s still a lot to be done,” Graham told the Morning News.
“We are more than a golf course, too,” he added. “What we want to be is the social center of the Southbridge community as we once were, and we will put ourselves out as the friendliest club in town.”
One of the first things the new ownership group did was to hire David Wilding, PGA, an experienced golf course executive, as General Manager. Wilding came on board in January, the Morning News reported.
A University of Louisville alumnus, Wilding started his golf management career with a five-year stint at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, S.C., , the Morning News reported. He then spent a year helping to open an upscale course in Alpharetta and, after that, was at Hilton Head Lakes for 12 years before coming to Southbridge, the Morning News reported.
“In talking to them, I was a little nervous,” Wilding told the Morning News. “I told them it would take about nine months to get things under control.
“There’s been a lot of work done to the course,” he added. “It’s exciting to see where we’re going. We’ve redone all the sand traps, the greens are great, we’ve got grass on the fairways. This is one of Savannah’s finest courses, and it’s getting better every day.”
Wilding also pointed out the club’s foodservice—which had always been good despite the downhill spiraling of the course, the Morning News reported—has improved. There are facilities for banquets, wedding receptions and business meetings in addition to daily lunch, happy hour and Friday night dinner offerings.
While the course’s cart paths are still in rough shape, the Morning News reported, they are in the process of being repaired or replaced. There are also plans to purchase more equipment, and a new practice putting green is going to be built and relocated to a spot next to the clubhouse.
These will all take time, but the group’s first priority was to get the golf course back in top condition. The improvements are obvious to players.
One of those is Kelly, who was out early on a quiet Sunday morning to get in a quick round. A Southbridge resident, he brought his delightful 3-year-old daughter Kendall along to give advice and keep score.
“I’ve been a member about seventh months,” U.S. Army Ranger Biron Kelly, a Southbridge resident, told the Morning News during a recent Sunday morning round. “Even in that short time, they have made substantial improvements. They’re doing everything they said they would.
“It’s a nice course. I enjoy playing it,” Kelly added.
Joe Rutan, who is not a club member, agreed with Kelly as he played his round. “This course was in really bad shape,” said Rutan. “It’s really nice now and it offers a challenge. We love it.”
Daily greens fees at Southbridge are $37, the Morning News reported, and memberships, both single and family, are available. Current membership dues are $156 monthly for a single, $183 for standard family, $193 for passport single, $219 for passport family and $89 for young professional.
Not to be overlooked, the Morning News noted, is perhaps one of the biggest reasons for the successful revitalization: volunteer help.
“We couldn’t do this without the volunteer help we’ve got and are still getting from the community,” Graham said. “They’ve really stepped up. We’ve got people with a lot of expertise in different areas, whether it’s operating a backhoe, doing concrete work or landscaping.
“Anytime we need help for anything, they’re there.”
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