Wide-ranging improvements to its facilities and a revised pricing structure are just some of the changes that are transforming the Maysville (Ky.) Country Club, the Maysville (Ky.) Ledger Independent reported.

Andrew Wood, president of the Board of Directors, said the club has seen plenty of changes since it was established in 1925, but few have been as wide-ranging as those made since January, the Ledger Independent reported.

“Times have changed,” Wood said. “We must be financially prudent, while at the same time offering an updated and broader experience at a reasonable cost, appropriate to the area we serve.

“We want to attract new members and offer a better value to our existing members. Our goal is to provide activities and value for every member of the family.”

Wood cited food quality and the dining experience as well as a major upgrade to the golf course among the most significant changes, the Ledger Independent reported.

“Our new chef, Clayton Lesak, came to us from Mitchell’s Fish Market in Cincinnati and Newport,” Wood said. “He is also on the faculty of the MCTC Culinary School in Maysville, and is assisted by experienced dining room manager Chrissie Hord.”

The ongoing zoysia grass installation is part of changes to both the course and club that Head Golf Professional Denny Nash believes will improve the experience heading into the course’s 2013 Chippeways Tournament, the Ledger Independent reported.

“I think the course is great going into Chippeways,” Nash said. “I think it’s looking the best it’s looked in probably a long time, and (course superintendent) Joe (Kaczmarek) feels the same way.

“We’re getting a lot of compliments from our members right now and getting a lot of compliments from people coming in from out of town that haven’t seen the zoysia yet or seen the changes to the golf course.”

Zoysia, known for its ability to handle hot, dry summers, has been installed on the fairways of the club’s front nine, with the exception of No. 1, and on two par-3 holes on the back nine, the Ledger Independent reported.

“Right now, when we see this heat move in, we’re already starting to see our roughs dry up a little bit,” Nash said. “It’ll handle some rain, but basically the biggest plus for zoysia is it handles the heat and it doesn’t need nearly the water that our basic everyday bluegrass, fescue (and) ryegrass needs. The drier it gets, the greener it’ll get for us for a while.”

The plan is still to get zoysia on the entire course, but the club is “just trying to get through Chippeways and then kind of get a game plan from there,” Nash said.

“Obviously the zoysia is an expensive project,” Nash said. “We’re fortunate because it’s been privately funded here at the club, meaning individuals have kicked in to the project. And then a lot of it has to do with timing. It’s a matter of, how do we want to affect our play? If we kept stripping fairways and kept laying zoysia, it would sort of affect play all through the summer.”

The course also added “nature preserves” last year to reduce maintenance and tweak the course’s appearance. Another change is the installation of additional tee boxes, which won’t affect the Chippeways but will provide additional playing options, the Ledger Independent reported.

“We’ve put a lot of new tee boxes on the golf course, the idea being to pick the tee box you want to play based on your ability and your age and your level of play,” Nash said. “Like the forward tees, probably great tees for kids to get started on and women that are just getting started in the game, even some of your older gentlemen who are maybe taking up golf late in life. There’s a lot more choices of tee boxes out there.”

In addition to improvements inside and outside the clubhouse, the board has targeted event planning as one of its major goals. Another change has come in membership options, the Ledger Independent reported.

“We knew if we’re trying to reach out to more families and younger families, we needed to think outside the box,” said Wood, referring to social memberships, active social, full membership, stockholder membership, junior membership and senior membership offerings.

Families with a parent member under the age of 35 can enjoy the rest of 2013 for significantly less than the cost of a junior membership, with full use of the facilities for all family members. The senior membership is aimed at retirees who want to play golf at the club, but wouldn’t necessarily want a full membership, the Ledger Independent reported.

Single members receive a 25 percent discount in the category chosen.

New club facilities now include:

• A refurbished and redecorated clubhouse

• A new data management system designed specifically for country clubs

• A new volleyball court

“It’s not all or nothing (in dues) anymore. We are prorating memberships right now, which makes it a good time to test-drive the club and see if you like it,” Wood said.

First Liberty Bank moved to foreclose on the owners of Gaillardia Golf and Country Club in Oklahoma City on June 14, the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoman reported.

In court documents, First Liberty Bank claims Gaillardia owes it more than $1.5 million, plus more than $19,000 in interest on loans it extended to the country club in 2012 and 2013, the Oklahoman reported.

Joey Root, First Liberty Bank president and CEO, said in a statement that he hoped the club would remain open during the court proceedings.

“It is unfortunate the club faces a variety of financial challenges in addition to its obligations to First Liberty Bank,” Root said. “After much effort, First Liberty was unable to reach common ground with the borrower on a viable solution.”

First Liberty Bank is asking an Oklahoma County District Court judge to appoint a receiver to take control of the country club and its more than 240-acre, 7,119 yard championship golf course, the Oklahoman reported.

The Little Rock, Ark.-based private equity and development firm Herrington Inc., controlled by businessman Phil Herrington, has owned Gaillardia since 2002, when it purchased the property from a subsidiary of the Oklahoma Publishing Company for $9.1 million, the Oklahoman reported.

The foreclosure comes after weeks of rumors about the club’s future among its membership. In a letter to members last week, Herrington announced that Gaillardia would cancel its annual Le Concours tournament scheduled for this week, the Oklahoman reported.

Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Pace Group has entered into a lease-purchase agreement of Palmetto Greens Golf & Country Club, and assumed management and operations on June 14.

The first tactic in the operational strategy will be to officially change the name of the Longs, S.C., facility back to its original name, Colonial Charters Golf Club.

East Coast Golf Management has been hired by Pace Group to manage the property. Led by PGA professional and East Coast Golf Management President Mike Buccerone, the management company will be responsible for administration, golf operations, maintenance operations, food & beverage operations, sales and marketing, finance and accounting and guest services.

In 2008, the property underwent a complete golf course renovation and was renamed Palmetto Greens Golf & Country Club. Pace Group is changing the name of the property back, to establish name recognition with the original development of Colonial Charters Golf Club.

“We are truly excited about this new venture in purchasing Palmetto Greens and the plans associated with returning the facility to its roots in the name Colonial Charters as well as the playability of the course and service to our community, members and future guests,” said Pace Group owner Van Watts. “We know that with the assistance and experience of East Coast Golf Management, Colonial Charters will once again be a Myrtle Beach must-play golf course.”

Immediate plans for the golf club will include course renovations, clubhouse upfits and development of a membership plan for local residents. It is anticipated that the club will reopen in August after all facility upgrades have been completed.

“This golf course played a major role in establishing the Grand Strand as a nation-wide golf destination,” said Buccerone. “Colonial Charters has great potential and our team is excited to take on the challenge of reestablishing an old Myrtle Beach hidden gem.”

U-shaped holes are being chewed into Cocoa Beach (Fla.) Country Club’s earthen embankments by waves in the Banana River, the Melbourne (Fla.)-based Florida Today reported.

Undermined mangroves now lie submerged near the third-hole’s fairway on the River course, along the property’s southeastern shoreline. Joe Tucker, golf course manager, surveyed erosion damages, Today reported.

“You get down here, and you get up to about 7 miles to build up waves,’’ Tucker said.

Five years after Tropical Storm Fay struck in August 2008, city officials are still trying to secure Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for an estimated $323,000 repair job, Today reported.

The slow-moving storm breached mangroves and other vegetation barriers, damaging 4,869 sq. ft. of golf course shoreline, city records show.

The FEMA funding process typically takes years, said Charles Holland, finance director. The agency rejected the city’s application on technical terms late last year, but the city is appealing, Today reported.

“I have every confidence that we will eventually prevail,” Holland said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, lobbied on the city’s behalf in a December letter, noting that high tides are worsening damages, and golf course turf is collapsing in some undermined areas, Today reported.

Compounding matters last year, Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Isaac further damaged roughly 1,000 feet of country club shoreline. Tucker fears a similar storm could punch an inlet near the clubhouse, sending river water pouring into a nearby retention lake, Today reported.

In the long term, Cocoa Beach engineers have floated an erosion-fighting idea: Build a $1.95 million metal seawall along the golf course riverfront, Today reported.

“Hopefully, this will help us prevent any future damage from storms,” city manager Bob Majka said. “We not only have damage that occurs from tropical systems. When we have a really good thunderstorm move through here and the wind is blowing in the right direction, we have significant erosion in areas.”

No money has been budgeted for the seawall proposal. Commissioners will discuss it during budget talks, Majka said.

Back in 2004, hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne combined to damage 2,196 sq. ft. of golf course shoreline. The city applied for FEMA relief in September 2005, and funding for a $161,650 repair project was released in 2008-09, Holland said. FEMA reimbursed the city $158,445, or 98 percent of the bill, Today reported.

Cocoa Beach Country Club and numerous properties along western Minutemen Causeway were constructed atop fill dirt, Today reported.

Eroded shoreline areas across the golf course are considered out-of-bounds and do not affect golfers’ games, said Melissa Byron, director of marketing and economic development.

Club & Resort Business Editor Joe Barks, “embedded” as a utility worker on the expanded kitchen staff of Merion Golf Club as the Ardmore, Pa., club hosted the U.S. Open Championship last week, has filed behind-the–scenes reports after ending his 10-hour shifts providing whatever support is needed for the high-volume food operation in the members’ tent. Barks’ final report will be filed tomorrow and featured in C&RB’s daily e-newsletter.

Merion Executive Chef and C&RB Advisory Board member Jerry Schreck will offer his own insights on the event in C&RB’s “Chef to Chef” feature in the July 2013 issue.

Club & Resort Business Editor Joe Barks, “embedded” as a utility worker on the expanded kitchen staff of Merion Golf Club as the Ardmore, Pa., club hosts the U.S. Open Championship this week, will file behind-the–scenes reports after ending his 10-hour shifts providing whatever support is needed for the high-volume food operation in the members’ tent. Here are some of his impressions and insights after Thursday’s first round:

•  Probably the least surprising, but most welcomed, development during this U.S. Open week was that the doomsday weather scenario predicted for Thursday—which included calls for a tornado, damaging hail, raging floods and seemingly every other conceivable calamity short of fire and famine—instead just proved to be more evidence that meteorology is a fancy name for well-dressed people getting way too much airtime for breathless guesswork.

Thankfully, all the concern and speculation over how Thursday’s predicted weather might dash the careful planning and eager anticipation that went into bringing the tournament back to Merion proved to be unnecessary. But the reality of the three-hour storm delay that actually did transpire posed another new test of the ability, and flexibility, of the membership tent’s kitchen team.

After taking early steps to be better prepared for another lunch onslaught like Wednesday’s, the rain brought members and guests inside three hours earlier than expected—and with different appetites than had been planned for. Breakfast croissants that had been made in small quantities in expectation of light morning business quickly disappeared, and our kitchen suddenly became a short-order diner, scrambling to assemble supplies to make a slew of breakfast sandwiches (this time on English muffins) while also filling special orders for various combinations of eggs and bacon.

Filling up members and their guests in this fashion also created a new consumption pattern for lunch—it was still a busy day, but the volume was spread out more evenly and later into the afternoon, without the hour-plus, full-out “slam” we’d experienced the day before.

• The final numbers that came in for Wednesday showed that the pace of activity was double what we’d started the week with (and Monday was by no means slow), with more than 1,600 transactions, most of which were concentrated into a two-hour lunch period.

•  Membership—and serving members—certainly has its privileges. Before things got too hectic because of the rain delay, the kitchen crew was able to take a quick break to step outside on the members’ tent balcony, which offers a tremendous view of Merion’s 13^th hole (a signature par-3 of barely more than 100 yards)—and we did so just in time to see Phil Mickelson drop a remarkable tee shot onto the green that spun back 20 feet to set up his first birdie of his first-round 67 (his round started on the 11^th hole).

• Valuable new knowledge gained today (after spotting my uniform with what I thought would be unremovable cherry water ice stains while restocking the ice cream cooler): Chefs’ coats are double-breasted for a practical reason—it’s the fastest and most effective way to “clean” them, simply by rebuttoning the other way.

About 200 trees will be replaced at three Fort Wayne, Ind., golf courses in celebration of their anniversaries, the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel reported.

The oldest, Foster Golf Course, is celebrating its 85th year in business. McMillen Golf Course and Shoaff Golf Course have been in operation for 55 and 50 years, respectively, the News-Sentinel reported.

“It’s pretty special to have three separate facilities that have survived all these years,” said Rick Hemsoth, PGA professional and manager of golf operations for the Fort Wayne Parks Department.

The Fort Wayne courses are in good shape, Hemsoth said, considering that thousands of golf courses nationwide have closed during the last 10 years, the News-Sentinel reported.

“For it to have survived all these years is a tribute to the public support of golf in this area,” Hemsoth said.

And while the courses have remained open, they have lost a number of ash trees to the emerald ash borer beetle in recent years. Al Moll, director of Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation, said between the golf courses and parks in Fort Wayne, about 4,000 trees were lost in the last four years, the News-Sentinel reported.

About 1,000 have been replaced so far, Moll said, with the rest to be replaced over the next decade. Most of the diseased trees were planted in the early ’80s, Hemsoth said, though because a variety of types were planted then, the courses did not lose all their trees, the News-Sentinel reported.

The loss of natural greenery is why the department is making a commitment to plant 85, 55 and 50 trees at Foster, McMillen Park and Shoaff, respectively. It’s also a way for the department to celebrate the three courses’ legacy in the community, Moll said.

Maple, oak and hickory trees will be among the variety planted. Funding for the project will come from department reserves built up from golf activities. Additionally, the three courses will also lower their prices for one day only — Sunday, June 23, the News-Sentinel reported.

In celebration of the various milestones, prices for 18 walking holes of golf will reflect the anniversary year of the course. Costs will be $8.50 for 18 walking holes at Foster Park, $5.50 at McMillen Park and $5 at Shoaff Park. Carts and any additional services will cost extra, the News-Sentinel reported.

Golfers aren’t able to reserve a tee time for these one-day deals until Sunday, a week before the event. Additionally, there will be a raffle, the winner of which will receive a free membership for the remainder of this year, the News-Sentinel reported.

It could be the beginning of the end for the 91-year-old Edgewood Golf Club in Canton, Ohio, the Canton (Ohio) Repository reported.

North Canton developer Bill Lemmon said he and developer Bob DeHoff, through their McKinley Development Co., have signed an agreement to buy the 70-acre golf course property along with 10 adjoining acres from a holding company, the Repository reported.

They plan to demolish the golf course and build single-family homes on the site. The developers also intend to seek a zone change in a 10-acre vacant area north of the golf course, where they’re looking to construct multi-family homes for seniors. The baseball fields there would be relocated, the Repository reported.

“It’s a good location,” said Lemmon. “The real estate market is starting to come back.”

The Stark County Auditor has appraised the value of the 9-hole golf course at $1.15 million, the Repository reported.

Lemmon declined to disclose details such as the number of homes that will be constructed or the purchase price. McKinley Development, before closing the sale, is now examining the property, determining the composition of its soil and what utility lines are linked to the site, the Repository reported.

When the golf course would be demolished and when construction would begin would depend on when the developers get permits and government approvals. McKinley plans to submit more detailed plans to the township in a couple weeks, the Repository reported.

In a county with several golf courses, Lemmon said a nine-hole golf course is not very viable when many golfers prefer an 18-hole course, the Repository reported.

Edgewood General Manager Michael Siefke said the golf course, along with its driving range and practice area, will operate until at least the end of this year. The club employs him and 12 part-time employees, the Repository reported.

A nonprofit group that’s hoping to buy the Mill Creek Golf Club in Salado, Texas says it has raised funds to buy the course, but is coming up short, the Waco (Texas)-based KWTX-TV News 10 reported.

Nonprofit member Bruce Bolick said the club’s owner, Morris Foster, is asking $1.75 million for the course and so far the group has raised $1.4 million. The group combined its efforts with those of a group of local business owners and community leaders recently, but still wasn’t able to come up with enough money to meet the asking price, KWTX-TV reported.

Foster could close the course on October 1 if an agreement isn’t reached, KWTX-TV reported.

“We want to keep the course open because it attracts people to Salado and brings in money for some of the other businesses and shops in town,” Bolick said.

Floods damaged several of the holes on the course in recent years and nine holes are still shut down after floods in 2010, KWTX-TV reported.

KWTX-TV was unable to reach Foster before press time.

Mill Creek pro Matt Sommerfield said 18 holes remain open, but repairing the other nine could boost business at Mill Creek. If the group can get enough money to purchase the course, Bolick said, it also hopes to repair flood-damaged the holes, KWTX-TV reported.

The group plans to hold a meeting open to the public at the Mill Creek Golf Course Pro Shop. During the meeting community and business leaders will continue to discuss how to raise funds to purchase the course, KWTX-TV reported.

An 83-year-old maintenance worker died the morning of June 13 at the Ives Grove Golf Course in Sturtevant, Wis., after a tree fell and trapped him as he was mowing the grass, the Racine (Wis.) Journal Times reported.

William R. Cieszynski had been cutting the rough at Ives Grove for more than two decades, taking great pride in a job he loved, the Journal Times reported.

“He loved it,” said his wife Rita. “He loved that job. He loved it more than golfing.”

It was reported shortly after 10 a.m. on Thursday that a tree had fallen on Cieszynski and trapped the worker underneath, according to a media release from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

Upon arrival, deputies and rescue personnel found the man on a large riding lawn mower, with his upper torso pinned between a large branch and the steering wheel of the mower, according to the release. Cieszynski was pronounced dead at the scene, the Journal Times reported.

The cause of death is believed to be from the injuries he sustained from the tree branch falling on him, Racine County Medical Examiner Michael Payne said.

It appeared Cieszynski was mowing close to a tree when a roll bar above the driver’s seat hit a branch, causing it to fall. The tree was partially rotted, which likely caused it to break easier, said Detective Chad Schulman of the Sheriff’s Office.

Given her husband’s intimate knowledge of the grounds, Rita said the accident was more likely the result of a heart attack or stroke, of which her husband had a history. “He knew that course like the back of his hand,” she said.

Cieszynski was employed by H&H Fairway Enterprises Inc., which is contracted by Racine County to operate and maintain the Ives Grove Golf Course, the Journal Times reported.

“It’s just a tragedy; we’re certainly shook here,” said H&H president Pete Eitel. “It’s a terrible loss and our main concern is how the family is doing.”

Club & Resort Business Editor Joe Barks, “embedded” as a utility worker on the expanded kitchen staff of Merion Golf Club as the Ardmore, Pa., club hosts the U.S. Open Championship this week, will file behind-the–scenes reports after ending his 10-hour shifts providing whatever support is needed for the high-volume food operation in the members’ tent. Here are some of his impressions and insights after Wednesday’s final practice round day:

•  After our first day of activity in the members’ tent on Monday, I asked Sous Chef David Daddazio, who has been captaining our crew, how much he thought that day’s pace (which, to a newcomer like me, already seemed to be awfully close to a peak level) would increase by the end of the week. “Maybe 25 percent,” was Daddazio’s answer. But then Tuesday’s numbers showed an immediate double-digit jump in activity—and Wednesday, despite steps taken to do even more advance preparation based on the first two days’ experience, we found ourselves fully “slammed” for a steady hour and a half, with members and guests taking food off the steam table as fast as we could put it out there. We even had to temporarily pull signs for a couple of menu items until we could catch up. At the end of the day, Daddazio conceded that the 25 percent increase may have already been reached, and that his estimate might have been significantly understated.

In a meeting of the food-and-beverage team held last Saturday, Executive Chef Jerry Schreck expressed the hope that by the end of practice rounds on Wednesday, all the kinks would be worked out and we’d be ready for whatever the four days of competition would bring. There’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding a bad weather forecast and possible suspended-play contingencies that may occur through the rest of the week and weekend—but the rapid ramp-up experienced during the first three days have only made us more confident, and not apprehensive, about what may lie ahead.

•  An article in a local newspaper today featured an interview with Bill Kittleman, who was Merion’s head golf professional for nearly three decades as part of a 33-year career with the club. Kittleman, now 80 and a design partner with the golf course architecture firm headed by Gil Hanse that is creating the course for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, will be at Merion as a spectator this year, after being a key part of the club’s staff for the Opens that were held there in 1971 and 1981. But Kittleman said he was now preparing to actually enjoy viewing the championship for the first time. “I never saw a single shot in 1981, and I don’t think I saw one in 1971, because I was busy selling merchandise in the pro shop,” he said. “To go out and fight the crowds to see Jack Nicklaus just wasn’t going to happen.

“My main memory of those tournaments is how stressful they were,” Kittleman added. “As the professional at a place like Merion, when you host an Open, the pressure and complications stretch out over four years—two before the tournament, the year of the tournament, and even a year after.”

I haven’t been a Merion “employee” for over three decades—just a little over three days—but I can already relate to Kittleman’s viewpoint. Upon returning home each night this week, I’ve been asked what, and who, I’ve seen—but unfortunately, I can’t report any celebrity sightings or descriptions of exciting golf-related activity yet—just what the inside of refrigerated trailers and walk-in coolers and basement stockrooms and our temporary tent kitchen look like.

However, unlike Kittleman, I don’t think I’m going to come away with a “main memory” that’s stress-related from the whole experience—and I don’t get the sense that will be the case for most of the Merion crew members I’m working with, either. In meetings held before this week started, Schreck and other department heads encouraged their staffs to be sure to take time to have fun and soak everything in, as part of what would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Through three days of practice rounds, I’ve seen a lot of evidence that this message got through on a widespread basis. The work is hard and the hours are long, but the prevailing attitude is a clear sense of pride in contributing to a special effort —and going into the first day of competition, the Merion staff team seems to be feeling a lot more excitement than pressure about what still lies ahead.

• The Champions Dinner, held on Tuesday night for the first time as part of a U.S. Open in 13 years, was deemed a tremendous success by all involved. Shortly after the dinner, Schreck sent out this photo of the assembled golf greats who share the distinction of being a U.S. Open champion, which was taken outside Merion’s clubhouse.

• Quotes of the day:

-After I asked Merion GC Sous Chef Noel Quigley, who recently celebrated his 39^th anniversary with the club and is one of the few current Merion staffers who was also present for the last U.S. Open there in 1981, to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 how much bigger this year’s Championship is than that one, he replied: “Seventeen.”

-Several times as I was restocking the steam table in the members’ tent during today’s action-packed lunch rush, I was asked by someone pondering the many menu choices what I would recommend. After things finally died down, I asked Paul O’Toole, Executive Culinary Officer, Deerfield Golf & Tennis Club, Newark, Del. (and two-time presenter at C&RB’s Chef to Chef Conference), who has been cooking menu specials in the members’ tent each day, what his standard answer is to such a question. His reply: “One of each.”

-Jerry Schreck, after walking into the members’ tent kitchen and seeing my shell-shocked look after an hour-and-a-half of non-stop action. “Welcome to the food business, Joe.”

Omni Hotels & Resorts has purchased five resort properties: La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif., The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C., and The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., The Dallas (Texas) Morning News reported.

The move marks the first time Omni has purchased five properties at once. The privately held company, which is moving its headquarters from Irving, Texas to Dallas, plans to announce that it has reached a definitive agreement to buy and operate the five resort properties from affiliates of KSL Capital Partners LLC, the News reported.

Terms were not disclosed. It is the largest purchase by Omni since the brand was purchased in 1996 by billionaire Robert Rowling’s TRT Holdings. The resorts will take on the Omni name on July 1, the News reported.

“By purchasing all five of these properties, Omni has significantly enhanced our growing resort collection in terms of scope, scale and prestige,” Omni President Mike Deitemeyer said.

C&RB recently reported that The Homestead is seeking to fill over 100 job openings (“The Homestead Looks to Fill Over 100 Job Openings”)  and that La Costa Resort is renovating its South Course (“La Costa Resort and Spa to Renovate South Course”).

Currahee Club, a 1,200-acre mountain community in Toccoa, Ga., recently hosted a grand opening of the $2.5 million, five-acre Currahee Sports Club and Amenity Campus.

Currahee Club’s new amenity campus has a broad collection of family sports and recreational facilities. Outdoor offerings include furnished patio spaces, a grand lawn, zero-entry swimming pool, two tennis courts, community gardens, sand volleyball court, playground, fire pit, basketball and four-square courts and two bocce ball courts.

The Sports Club anchors the center’s new interior spaces and includes a concierge foyer, state-of-the-art fitness room, children’s activities room and the canoe Bar and Grill.

“The entire Currahee family is so proud of our new addition, as it really is the final piece needed to enable us to offer all-inclusive recreation for our property owners and members,” said Managing Director Andrew Ward.

The Sports Club and Amenity Center completes Currahee Club’s collection of amenities, including its championship Jim Fazio-designed golf course, a 48,000-sq. ft. clubhouse overlooking Lake Hartwell and featuring the Great Lodge Room, a billiards room, the Overlook Dining Room, Fazio Pub, plus several outdoor terraces and private meeting rooms.

Further amenities include miles of walking trails and access to Lake Hartwell from the Currahee Lake Park. The Currahee team also works closely with Unicoi Outfitters and Wildwater Adventures to offer rafting, zip-lining and fly fishing for outdoor enthusiasts.

In 2011, private club Clear Creek Tahoe in Incline Village, Nev., was foreclosed upon and closed. Now, the club is reopening after the new owners invested more than $21 million in the past 10 months, the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal reported.

Clear Creek Partners took over the club after the foreclosure, telling key employees that they would be retained with the promise of re-opening, the Gazette-Journal reported.

“I had confidence the project would prevail,” said Director of Golf Colin Campbell, who chose to stay in the area after the foreclosure. “I won’t tell you I wasn’t concerned. There’s never a cast-iron guarantee in this economy. I did consider other positions but I resisted because I love the people involved in this project. The owners have been very good to me. And my family and I love living near Lake Tahoe.

“We’ve still got lots of work to do, but it’s a very good location. There are so many plus points. It’s going to work. We’ve just got to be patient. There’s a change in the wind.”

The gates are now open to the 18-hole, par-71 course (7,001 yards) that was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the Gazette-Journal reported.

“With the golf industry coming out of its downturn, we wanted people to see the integrity of what we’re doing,” managing partner Dave Hutchinson said. “We want people to experience the facility.”

The course—which is still undergoing final touch-ups, a few new tee boxes and infrastructure such as cart paths—is a shorter track that aligns with a lot of the Coore & Crenshaw principles, most notably natural contours and prominent European-style bunkering. The new owners brought in 500 tons of sand from Idaho for the 93 aesthetic bunkers, the Gazette-Journal reported.

“My barometer for a great course is, is it memorable?” Campbell said. “It reminds me of the old, classic courses in Scotland, the character. It fits the land beautifully and looks so natural. The course is incredible, one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

The property has 1,600 acres, 192 of which are dedicated to the course. It has about 55 to 60 acres of turf, which is about one-third that of an average 7,000-yard course. That allows for the natural topography to come through and it helps Clear Creek keep maintenance costs down, the Gazette-Journal reported.

Plans include what Hutchinson called a “sustainable” clubhouse (not overly expansive), restaurants, a fitness center, locker rooms and a pool. They expect to build in about two years on a little more than 300 lots, which would include club-owned cabins, the Gazette-Journal reported.

The club currently has about 40 members, with hopes to eventually have just fewer than 400, said Hutchinson.

The ownership, which includes Jim Taylor and Chip Hanly, who spearheaded the original project, have also put together an impressive operations staff, led by Campbell. The course employs about 45 full-time employees, and Hutchinson said that number will grow by about 30 when the project is complete, the Gazette-Journal reported.

“We’re very interested in having a major USGA event,” Campbell said

Clear Creek is operating under a dues-based membership this year and in 2014, meaning there is no one-time membership cost yet, the Gazette-Journal reported.

“We’re operating under a preview period,” Clear Creek spokesman Tom Ferrell said. “It’s invitation only, and we’re welcoming interest in the club.”

Police apprehended five juveniles fleeing Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, who admitted to setting off six bombs made from aluminum foil and Drano near two holes on the golf course, the Lewis Center (Ohio)-based ThisWeek Community News reported.

An employee at the club reported seeing them running through a residential yard on June 9. According to police, the juveniles admitted to setting off the bombs, but they did not admit to scratching a message in a course bunker stating they would be back at the same time the following day, ThisWeek reported.

They also denied taking part in similar acts of vandalism that occurred at the country club over the previous five nights, ThisWeek reported.

As of ThisWeek‘s press time, no charges had been filed, but country club officials were reviewing video surveillance footage and were advised to inform police if additional vandalism occurred or if the club wished to seek charges against the juveniles.