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Sports & Entertainment | ||
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Elizabethton Golf Course -- one of best maintained courses in area
By Don Teague It should arrive in Northeast Tennessee very soon, most likely in the next two or three weeks. Steve Howard predicts it will hit on a Saturday or Sunday morning when the sun rises with a promise of blue skies and 60-degree temperatures accompanied by a soft southern breeze ushering in the first sweet smells of spring...that's when the golf bug's going to bite. Howard, manager/pro at the Elizabethton Municipal Golf Course, and his staff will be ready to assist any afflicted Carter Countians with the best treatment possible -- 18 holes of golf on one of the area's best maintained and managed courses. "Our number one goal is to be self-supporting," said Howard. "We also want to be seen as an asset to the city, so we place a high emphasis on maintenance and try to keep the golf course in excellent condition." Howard's background in business and golf made him the right man for the job when he was hired to meet those goals at EGC in 1999. He was a math professor and golf coach at Louisburg College in North Carolina before serving as that school's assistant business manager for three years. He also has prior experience as a course superintendent. "We try to provide the golf course at no cost to the city," states Howard. "We are classified as an enterprise fund, and state statutes state that enterprise funds have to be self-supporting. That basically means that we cannot show a loss each year." Last year the course played host to 31,219 rounds of golf, a figure that attests to both the course's appeal to the public and its financial health. "Two years ago was a real bad year weather-wise and we were in the red," recalls Howard. "Last year we showed a profit and we're in real good shape in the current year. "There are some things we need to do and would like to do," continued Howard, "but until the finances are there, we just refuse to borrow money to do them. We don't want be in the situation some of the courses in Johnson City and Kingsport are in (where park and rec budgets or other financial resources must be used to assist operations). We want to be seen as a feather in the city's cap, so to speak." One of the course's next planned improvements will be to "dress up" cart paths through refurbishment or replacement. Last year progress was accomplished with an overhaul of the course irrigation system, and this season has seen the arrival of a new fleet of state-of-the-art golf carts. "Improving the irrigation system helped us tremendously," said Howard. The system was modified to prevent sand and other deposits from the source, Buffalo Creek, from blocking field lines or clogging sprinkler heads vital to maintaining the lush grasses that make the course pleasing to the eye and conducive to high-quality playing conditions. A new fleet of golf carts, the "Precedent" model by Club Car, has also arrived to transport golfers the nearly 100,000 miles that 31,000-plus rounds of golf in a year translates to. Five years of research has gone into the new carts, according to Howard. They feature a new style roof that prevents water from accumulating and splashing drivers as they take off, and they provide weather protection over the golfbag storage area. The carts additionally have what amounts to a 360-degree bumper that minimizes damage to carts and they weigh about 200 pounds less than older models, a factor Howard states "should minimize wear and tear." The club leases 50 carts each year. This year's fleet, with the new features and "more comfortable ride," are already popular. Golfers who haven't played at EGC can access the course's terrific Web site at www.elizabethtongolf.com for information about rates, tournaments, lessons (given at excellent rates by Howard and fellow PGA teaching pro Jerry Wilson) and hours of operation. Perhaps the most impressive item on the Web site is the "course tour" feature which amounts to having a "virtual caddy" to provide players with yardage and hazard features, fairway and green characteristics and even shot selection suggestions. Walkup business is welcome, but with peak season soon to arrive, Howard strongly suggests calling ahead of time to secure a tee time. Tee times can be reserved as much as a week ahead. The 6,339-yard course is located about a half mile past Grindstaff Chevrolet on the west side of town on Buck VanHuss Road, which turns off Highway 321/67. The pro shop can be reached by calling (423) 542-8051.
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