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OP-ED - Pinewood: It's not just about the golf course Drive is on to raise $250,000 more in community by January 15, 2009, to save Pinewood from court ordered sale; LWC has already committed $450,000 and $300,000 had already been committed with funds raised from community members By Dan Koger The communitywide effort to save Pinewood Golf Course is more than about preserving a local golf course. It's about ensuring that Columbia-Adair County has an important economic-development tool to compete in the 21st century. More than 40 people, most of them golfers, attended a December 15, 2008 emergency meeting to discuss Pinewood's future. And they learned that Pinewood is more than simply a golf course. At the December 15 meeting, there were few references to drives, putts and pars. Instead, most of the talk was about such things as local economic development, wedding receptions, service club meetings and community banquets. It's the economic-development and wedding-reception link Pinewood supporters are using in their communitywide appeal to raise about $250,000 to help Lindsey Wilson College take over course operations. The drive's organizers say they aren't just worried about providing Adair County residents with a place to play golf; rather, they are committed to improving the greater benefit of everyone in Adair County, including residents who wouldn't know a nine iron from a branding iron. Columbia businessman Richard Lee Walker repeated what local economic-development leaders have been saying for years about Pinewood: it is deeply linked to plans for expanding local business and generating future jobs. When a company's leaders decide where to locate a plant or business, they consider many quality-of-life factors, such as local educational opportunities and recreational resources, including whether a good golf course is available. Sue Stivers, Columbia-Adair County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development executive director, has maintained for years that an attractive 18-hole golf course is an essential element in attracting service and industrial companies to locate in Adair County. Stivers points out that Pinewood also attracts retirees to relocate to Adair County, noting that every retiree who locates here is the equivalent of 3.5 jobs in terms of the economic impact it has on the community. "Loss of the golf course would have a huge negative impact on economic development," Stivers said. "It would be worse here because we'd have to explain why we had a good golf course and then let it go out of business." Walker made the same point at the December 15 meeting. "If we're going to save Pinewood, now is the time to do it," he said. "If we don't, it's going to be an ongoing black eye on the community. It'd be better to have never had one than to have had one and lose it." The Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees has authorized the college to invest $425,000 to acquire Pinewood, according to Lindsey Wilson Vice President of Administration & Finance Roger Drake. The college is interested in operating Pinewood, in part, because it would generate about $250,000 annually in catering operations. That money would be plowed back into the college's scholarship budget for Adair County residents to attend Lindsey Wilson. The college currently provides more than $750,000 annually in scholarship aid for Adair County residents to attend Lindsey Wilson, and $250,000 of that scholarship aid comes from business operations run by the Roberta D. Cranmer Dining & Conference Center. Since the Cranmer Dining & Conference Center opened in spring 1993, it has become a popular place for community banquets, charity fund-raisers, receptions and other events. But Drake said those days may come to an end with the arrival of football, swimming, wrestling and a marching band at Lindsey Wilson. The new students those programs will attract will stretch the capacity of the Cranmer Dining & Conference Center, which will severely restrict outside catering events during the school year. Lindsey Wilson's acquisition of Pinewood could be a solution to this problem. If the college took over Pinewood, it would plan to add 1,000 square feet of catering-and-dining space to the clubhouse. That would allow community activities once held at Cranmer to be held at Pinewood. Drake also noted that Lindsey Wilson's grounds crews and maintenance personnel would help maintain the golf course. In other words, Lindsey Wilson leaders see acquiring Pinewood as more than a way to keep open a local golf course; it would also enhance the community's quality of life. But the college can't make the purchase by itself. Community members have already committed more than $300,000 toward managing Pinewood's $950,000 debt. That leaves about $250,000 still to be raised. Walker and other community leaders say the remaining $250,000 must come from community donations to the college - from golfers, of course, but also from people who want to see the local economy prosper. Some of those donors might also be from people who just want a good place to have a banquet, conference or meeting. The club has until the end of January before the property is auctioned to cover its overdue note. Walker has set a January 15, deadline for community members to contribute to Lindsey Wilson to save Pinewood. For more information, contact Jack Collins or Steve McKinney at (270) 384-2141, or Walker at (270) 384-3661. With a bit of imagination, donors could even envision that they're the owners of their own piece of a fairway or green of their choice. They could personally inspect their "piece" of Pinewood, then stick around for dinner and a meeting. The writer, Dan Koger is associate professor of communication at Lindsey Wilson College. This story was posted on 2008-12-31 13:07:57
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