In financial straits, steps are being taken to keep open the doors of the Columbus Country Club.
“The club basically, over the last 12 to 18 months, has lost 125 to 150 members, just due to the economy and things like that,” Club President Kirk Hardy reported Friday, noting the club currently has 240 members. “That”s put a severe strain on the operations of the club.”
The country club is owned by 84 shareholders, who also pay membership dues, but five local banks are owed and club officials are having trouble paying off the club”s $2 million debt.
A recent sealed-bid event to sell parcels of the 150 acres of land owned by the club yielded no acceptable bids and now club officials are cutting expenses and “looking towards private investors” for help, Hardy said.
“We”re still open,” he noted. “Nothing has stopped that. We”re not planning to close the doors. We have other options we can take, if the financial situation becomes so severe (it becomes more difficult to stay open.) We don”t have plans to close any time soon and we”ve got plans to stay open for a long period of time.
“We”ve got plenty of activity (at the club),” he added, explaining wedding receptions are booked at the country club, class reunions are held at the club and city civic groups use the facilities every day of the week.
The Columbus Country Club offers two types of memberships. A full membership fee of $230 a month provides a member with full access to the facilities, including unlimited use of the golf course. And for a monthly fee of $125, a social membership offers use of the facilities, without golf privileges.
Additionally, the Columbus Country Club golf course now is open to the public for “pay to play” golf.
“We”re hoping (the public opening) will generate interest now that the weather”s getting better,” Hardy said.
“(The club) is a valuable asset to Columbus,” he continued. “The golf course is one of the best around. We”ve got a beautiful clubhouse. It”s the largest venue, locally, that provides food in one location. We”re trying everything we can to keep it open, because it”s such a valuable asset to the community.”
Dr. Michael White of Columbus, a 20-year member of the country club, was one of just a handful of members golfing Saturday under gray skies in cold, wet conditions. He said the club has lost members just as Columbus has lost citizens. To bring them back, he says it must shed its exclusive stigma.
“It used to be the image of old money. The white golf course,” said White. “I think it should be open to the public. Let anybody in who wants to play. Let anybody who wants to swim at that pool pay their $5. Make the restaurant like a first-class Harvey”s or something to support itself.”
Lance Conn, a 10-year member, was golfing with White Saturday. He agreed the country club wasn”t strictly for the upper-class anymore, but the middle-class isn”t in a position to pay for golf right now.
“The economy needs a jump-start. This is a luxury, not a necessity, so it”s the first thing to go, along with dancing for the kids or whatever,” said Conn.
The price of membership, says White, is the best deal available locally.
“The prices are very fair. They”re just as cheap as Elm Lake or Green Oaks and it”s a better golf course,” he said. “The mistake, I thought, was letting Waverly (Golf Club in West Point) get started 20 years ago.”
White, who is also a member at Waverly, says if Columbus golfers had supported the country club instead of going out of town to Waverly, “this club would be the one flourishing like crazy.”
Conn, a former board president at the Columbus Country Club, says the current board will likely look to lower rates if members continue to leave.
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