The Pellucid Perspective - August 2015 - (Page 9)

GOlf COurse reDevelOPment One year later, Goat Hill on the road to recovery Ashworth and team plan addition of Caddie Academy among other improvements By Jim Dunlap O ne year after apparel industry icon John Ashworth and a continually growing number of partners, friends and supporters snatched the beloved but rundown Goat Hill Golf Course from the grasp of potential non-golf developers with an inspirational City Council town meeting appeal, baby steps are morphing into a brisk toddle on the long journey to the realization of Ashworth and friends' vision for the Oceanside, Calif. property. Ironically, as the golf apparel company that he founded and later sold is apparently on the chopping block of current owner adidas, not only is Ashworth's new clothing company, LinkSoul, doing fine, but his labor of love, Goat Hill Park, is rising Phoenix-like from the ashes of years of neglect. A recent visit to the renamed Goat Hill Park provided solid evidence that the quaint (and aptly named) Goat Hill course that will be the park's centerpiece is on the road to recovery. Tucked into a mixed use neighborhood just east of the busy I-5 freeway, with the Pacific Ocean in the distance, the winding 2-lane road up to the golf course is still bordered by bare dirt, including some remaining parts of the course itself, but a Landscapes Unlimited bulldozer is busily reshaping several holes, the small but now habitable clubhouse has a new patio and furnishings, there are new golf carts parked outside the tiny pro shop, A bulldozer works the terrain at the recovering Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif. www.PellucidCorp.com and people are chipping, putting and hitting range balls. The course applied for and was granted a turf reduction rebate from the Metropolitan Water District that will cover the removal of some unnecessary turf, and the course is working with the City of Oceanside to put in pipelines to receive reclaimed water to keep the remaining turf green, even in California's current drought condition, and generate much-needed savings in irrigation costs. One of the many projects yet to be accomplished is the replacement of old and leaking central irrigation lines, to be replaced by a more modern irrigation system that will create additional savings. Ashworth's band of merry men and women include working partners Susan Roll, an award-winning PGA merchandiser who runs the nearby Carlsbad Golf Center and has provided management expertise and staff time to the project, David Emerick, who runs the (San Diego) North County Junior Golf Association, Geoff Cunningham and Peter Beames. Several local contractors pitched in with labor and materials in a trade for golf. And then there are celebrity supporters from Ashworth's Rolodex, including Bill Murray, surfing superstar Kelly Slater and Mark Wahlberg, all pictured wearing "Save Goat Hill" tshirts on the course's web site. TaylorMade, based just down the road in Carlsbad, donated used range balls. Asked to summarize the progress made during the turnaround's first year, Ashworth said, "The first year, our goals were simply to put a tourniquet on the major wounds! The place was a mess. The fairways were dirt for the most part, the greens had large patches of crab grass and Kikuyu grass, we had about 10 old carts that actually worked, and our mowing equipment was held together by duct tape and baling wire, I swear to you. And the clubhouse was a rat-infested disgustingly gross place that needed a facelift. So, where to start? We actually did a few things simultaneously. We fixed up the clubhouse so we'd have a friendly and clean home base. A lot of local guys pitched in. At the same time we were able to The Pellucid PersPecTive 9 http://www.PellucidcorP.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - August 2015

TOC
TaylorMade: The Golf Gods giveth and taketh away
Rise of Arcis Golf contributes to record high in industry consolidation
Teeing up some competition – PGA Tour and EZLinks Golf
One year later, Goat Hill on the road to recovery
Good customer service and communication two keys to success
July golf weather impact: A small step backwards
New York, New York – Play it again
Fathers and sons

The Pellucid Perspective - August 2015