Thirty-five years ago, Steve Lambert was hired by the Armco Steel Corporation to supervise the construction of a new championship-level golf course being built near its recreation park in Warren County.

Under Lambert’s watch, the 18 holes designed by renowned architect Arthur Hills came to life over a two-year period, and the course opened in May of 1979.

The course was private, but it wasn’t long before word got around that Shaker Run might just offer the best test of golf in the Miami Valley. In 1992, when Armco began to have financial difficulties, it was opened to the public.

Lambert, who was director of golf, spent 18 years at Shaker Run, working first for Armco and then for a group that purchased the property from the steelmaker late in 1993. In between he spent a year overseeing the construction of Centerville’s Yankee Trace course.

Lambert, who also manages Moss Creek Golf Club near Clayton, served as director of golf at NCR Country Club from 2000-2007.

But with all that time invested at Shaker Run, he had to be extremely disappointed in what he saw in April last year when he examined the once-pristine golf course prior to purchasing it along with his son, Ted, from Textron.

Back in 2005 it was sharp enough to host the U.S. Amateur Championship. That’s when 15-year-old Michelle Wie reached the semifinals against an otherwise all-male field. Since then it had not been maintained well. The tees had little grass on them, the fairways had been invaded by weeds and large areas on some of the greens had no grass.

This wasn’t the Shaker Run that Lambert remembered, but scars on the surface didn’t change the brilliant design and he was certain the beauty of the course west of Lebanon could be restored.

“I don’t think they had taken care of it properly,” Lambert said Thursday. “We spent seven months cutting down brush. We had 7- to 8-feet tall sumac, we had thistle. There were five greens that didn’t have any grass on them.”

While beginning their effort to restore Shaker Run’s reputation, the Lamberts didn’t get any grass-growing help from the rainy and then hot weather in 2011. To get the course playable, they tore up the entire practice putting green and used the bentgrass sod to repair five of the greens.

This spring they have re-seeded the practice putting area and sodded the rims of some the bunkers. The greens have been aerated twice, and they were looking pretty good when I saw them.

“In two weeks they’ll be a lot better than they are now,” Lambert said. “Our roots are down six inches; last year we had none.”

The Lamberts’ goal is to make Shaker Run a private club. They have renovated the clubhouse, doubling the size of the bar and grille and installing four flat-screen TVs. They have arranged to serve the popular Montgomery Inn ribs for lunch and dinner.

They began selling memberships last fall and had some success, but they know that nothing in the clubhouse will entice many golfers to plunk down an initiation fee until they see a Shaker Run golf course that looks like the one that once earned a top-100 ranking.

“We know the biggest factor will be the golf course,” Steve Lambert said.

Until a sufficient number of members is reached, which might take a few years, Shaker Run will remain open to the public. Members will get 14-day advance tee time registration and other exclusive considerations.

To celebrate a new beginning at Shaker Run, the Lamberts will have a grand re-opening on Friday, May 18, with the mayor of Lebanon participating.

“We opened May 19 in 1979, so May 18 is kind of significant,” Steve Lambert said.