SHALIMAR — The new owners of Shalimar Pointe Golf Club put out the welcome mat Friday to show off improvements they have made to the course.
View a photo gallery from the celebration >>
After almost having the golf course purchased by a developer to make room for 190 homes, a group of 108 Shalimar Pointe homeowners and nearby residents bought the course and clubhouse last November. In the past seven months they have spent an additional $500,000 on improvements.
“Anybody can come to Shalimar Pointe right now and they will love the experience,” said Edwin Watts, one of the new owners who sits on the board of directors. “They will love the service. They will love the friendliness of the staff. They will love the condition of the golf course. We offer a very good value for all of that.
“The whole golf course has been improved tremendously,” Watts added. “We could have a really big golf tournament right now. The golf course right now is as good any golf course around here and much better than a lot them.”
More than 500 people were expected to attend Friday’s celebration, which featured the latest Calloway golf clubs for visitors to try, a long drive and trick-shot exhibition by long-drive champion Kevin Bullard, a putting contest, a nine-hole golf tournament and a catered dinner and concert by Watts’ band, the Mulligans.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” said Brian Pennington, another part owner and board member. “We knew we wanted to make the improvements that you see, and then we wanted to put it out for everybody to see because people remember Shalimar Pointe for what it was, but this is a new place now. Having everybody out, having everybody see the golf course and all the events we’re doing today, it’s just something that’s not been done here.”
Shalimar Pointe has completely renovated its clubhouse and has invested heavily in new specialty mowers for the rough, fairways and greens, and new equipment to grade the sand traps. A new pump also has been installed for the irrigation system.
Board Chairman Mark Kunz said the next phase of work will focus on more improvements to the course, which had not been maintained properly by the previous owners.
“We’re not finished, but we’re well on our way,” Kunz said. “We’re off to a very good start. We’re not going to rest on our laurels. We’re going to continue to make improvements out here. We’re going to make this the best value, the most well-conditioned course in the area. We’re going to continue working on the golf course.
“There’s still a lot of detail work to be done here, but we couldn’t be more pleased with our progress,” Kunz added.
