Tom Day closed on the purchase of the property, formerly known as the Elks Country Club, on December 23. Day plans to implement updates to the club’s 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts, as well as replace maintenance equipment and tend to damage caused by storms in mid-November.
Local businessman Tom Day bought the West Lafayette (Ind.) Golf and Country Club, formerly the Elks Country Club, on December 23, the Lafayette Journal and Courier reported.
The purchase includes the 18-hole golf course, clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts from the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks lodge No. 143. A 30-plus year member of the lodge and a former trustee, Day said he learned the 120-acre property was for sale in August, the Journal and Courier reported.
“As a member, I saw the mailing that the Elks board was in a position to sell the property, and I started asking questions,” Day said. “I discussed it with my family, and the closing was Monday.”
Day believes the facility can be a successful business operation, despite its proximity to the Battle Ground Golf Course, Lafayette Country Club, two courses at Purdue University, The Ravines Golf Course and Edwood Glen Country Club, all in Tippecanoe County, the Journal and Courier reported.
“I believe the community needs something like this,” Day said. “It is going to be family-oriented with golf, swimming, tennis and family functions.”
The Elks will have an office and meeting space at a nominal cost for seven years as part of the purchase agreement. Elks members also will receive a discount on their golf membership fees, the Journal and Courier reported.
“I still support the organization, and the many good things it does for the community,” Day said. “I want to make sure it continues and prospers. That is important to me.”
Day did not disclose the sale price. The West Lafayette Golf and Country Club was organized as a limited liability corporation in October, according to the Indiana Secretary of State office. Day is listed as the owner of the corporation, the Journal and Courier reported.
The 121-acres of land and building improvements have a total assessed value of $1,120,000, according to data from the county assessor. The Elks paid $15,419 in 1942 for the course and a frame clubhouse that originally opened in 1930 as the West Lafayette Country Club, the Journal and Courier reported.
The course is a traditional park land layout with rolling hills and mature trees, and was designed by Indiana golfer Bill Diddel, said Kent Carpenter, director of sales and marketing. “You never get tired of playing the course,” Carpenter said. “It looks easy, but it can jump up and get you.”
Carpenter and Day worked together in the late 1980s, when Carpenter was the Elks club golf pro and Day was an Elks trustee. At that time, Day said, the club had about 1,000 members compared to about 350 members now, the Journal and Courier reported.
Don Fassnacht will continue to serve as course superintendent, a position he’s held since 1999. “I am surrounding myself with extremely competent people to run it,” Day said.
As a first order of business, Day has been dealing with damage to trees, the pool cover, fencing and the flag pole bent during the November 17 storms. Day is also tending to the long list of necessary equipment purchases, and building and grounds projects, the Journal and Courier reported.
“We will renovate all of the bunkers,” Fassnacht said. “Over the years, leaves and other debris get in the sand and break down and clog the drainage, and the sand is depleted when golfers hit in there.”
The course will be switched back to the original 1930 design, meaning the current front nine holes will become the back nine, and the back nine will become the front nine, so golfers will finish in front of the clubhouse, the Journal and Courier reported.
“The youngest piece of equipment here is 11 years old,” Day said, noting that a fleet of 55 golf carts will arrive soon.
Upgrades in the clubhouse include new carpeting, kitchen appliances, furniture and the installation of WiFi. The pool will be cleaned, painted, get new furniture and have WiFi as well, the Journal and Courier reported.
The West Lafayette Golf and Country Club will be semi-private. Golf teams from Central Catholic High School and Klondike and East Tipp middle schools will continue to use the facility as their home course, the Journal and Courier reported.
Day likens it to a “working man’s country club” with an affordable pricing structure that will be made public soon, the Journal and Courier reported.
“The majority of my confidence is the knowledge I gained back in the late 1980s,” Day said. “I know this place. Renovation will be a major part of it. We have a very sellable product.”
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