The new owner of Yule Golf Course in Alexandria, Ind., is receiving help from residents in restoring the course and its clubhouse to their former glory. Cattails Golf Club in Elwood, Ind., will hold an open house for residents to see the progress made on its golf course, with greens, fairways and tee stations of the north nine completely reseeded with a bluegrass and white grass combination.
The Yule Golf Course in Alexandria, Ind., which neighbors in nearby Yule Estates have complained has been an eyesore in recent years, recently was sold to Jeff Adams and is expected to be returned to its former glory, the Anderson, Ind., Herald Bulletin reported.
“Obviously, we want what’s good for the community,” said Alexandria Mayor Ron Richardson. “It’s good to see people working on the betterment of Alexandria.”
The city of Elwood, Ind., also recently announced it’s planning to bring golf back to the area with the reopening of Cattails Golf Club. Each golf course is expected to reopen in the spring, the Herald Bulletin reported.
Alexandria’s 158-acre Yule Golf Course had been auctioned off in 2012 to local farmer Dale Rinker, who at the time said he expected to replace the greens with grains. The property had belonged to Dr. Bob McCurdy, who said at the time it was difficult for the property to continue to be used as a golf course because of the economy, the Herald Bulletin reported.
Adams said he expects Yule to be financially successful through a combination of membership and pay-as-you-go fees. “We just feel like we can make a go of it,” he said. “We believe that there is more than enough to make the golf course survive, and you manage it accordingly.”
An avid golfer for 25 years, Adams said he expects the 18-hole course to attract players from throughout the county and from nearby communities. People have been trying to buy back the golf course from Rinker since it was sold, Adams said, but a couple of months ago, after Rinker unsuccessfully tried to have the property rezoned for agriculture, he took Adams up on his offer, the Herald Bulletin reported.
“I just happened to be the right person at the right time. I shot an idea by him,” he said.
Work already has begun on restoring the course and its clubhouse to their former glory, starting with reseeding of the property with a more modern hybrid grass variety, Adams said. However, it was too late in the season to change the shape, size or undulation of the greens, which will be revitalized in four phases, the Herald Bulletin reported.
“It’s been fantastic weather for what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “Any course is going to be rough the first year you’re open, but the greens are your product.”
Much of the cleanup of the property, including mowing and tree trimming, is being done as an unexpected surprise by volunteers from the neighborhood near the course. “With the help of the residents around the golf course, we can pull this off,” he said.
The feedback from neighbors, who lost a reported 30% of the property value on their homes when the course was sold to Rinker, has been encouraging, Adams said. “That loss is substantial for a lot of folks, so there is reason for them to be excited about this,” he said.
Alexandria City Council member Patty Kuhn, who often brought the complaints of her neighbors about the property before the council, agreed. “Ten years ago as we went into the recession, we lost a lot of value at that point and time. And four or five years ago, when it was sold, the property values sank even more,” she said. “It’s been a real issue with the animals and the weeds that have come into our properties. It’s been an eyesore. It looks so much better. I can look out and see the railroad tracks now, and it is wonderful.”
However, Kuhn said, the property will need to be rezoned because it never was zoned as a golf course. But she doesn’t anticipate any objections. “If it’s not a golf course and it can’t be farmland, what will it be because it’s pretty well landlocked.”
The public is invited to an open house to see the progress on the Cattails Golf Club on November 5. The event will feature presentations by course manager John “Doc” O’Neal and Elwood Mayor Todd Jones, the Herald Bulletin reported.
The greens, fairways and tee stations of the north nine of the course have been completely reseeded with a bluegrass and white grass combination that will grow faster so the course is ready for tee off in the spring, the Herald Bulletin reported.
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