They didn’t have to wait wonder long. The smell of the burning building was still in the air when Jim Keyes, representing partners Jim Powell and Gary Wright, announced that they were going to rebuild.
Sugar Valley erected a shiny new maintenance and storage building last fall and is in the process of completing a pavilion that will house 200 for golf outings and weddings this year.
It won’t be long before work begins on a two-story, 17,000 square foot clubhouse that will replace the 14,000 square foot building that burned July 13.
When Sugar Valley lost Ric Kramer to Country Club of the North in February, Keyes hired Lima native Doug Wade to replace him. Wade was head professional at Miami Valley Golf Club the last three years. The former Ohio State University golfer will be assisted by Jack Eifert, who was the pro at Crooked Tree Golf Course in Mason when it closed.
Retired former head professional Doug Cartwright also will help out.
The clubhouse, which has been designed by Robert Brown, will be different from clubhouses of the past. There will be no formal dining room, and the locker rooms will be less spacious.
“We had 300 men’s lockers at the time of the fire and only 11 had stuff in them,” Keyes said. “The gist of it is: Nobody uses the locker room any more.”
There will be a kitchen with modern equipment on the first floor, but the menu for the grill room will resemble that found in a sports bar.
The clubhouse will be built over the foundation that remained after the fire, and it will extend beyond that area. The basement floor will include modest men’s and women’s locker rooms and a large activity space.
A patio will wrap around two-thirds of the first floor, which will house the grill room, kitchen, a bar/lounge, a poker room, the pro shop, an office and two golf simulators. An elevator will be installed.
A large ballroom will occupy more than half of the second floor where a bar, a warming kitchen, rest rooms, offices and storage areas also are in the plans. Elite Catering of Dayton will be available to prepare food for weddings and large parties.
Keyes said one of Sugar Valley’s challenges is that the county water supply is “pretty far away” and it might be necessary to have the line extended to the club. Keyes said the lack of sufficient water prevented firefighters from saving the clubhouse last summer.
Keyes said Cincinnati Insurance Co., which insured the club, “has been outstanding” is assisting with the restoration of the buildings. He praised grounds superintendent Paul Double, who lost all of his equipment and chemicals in the barn fire, with doing a “tremendous job” of maintaining the golf course in spite of the many obstacles he has faced.
When the project is completed, all of Sugar Valley’s buildings will have white exteriors and green metal roofs. The plan is for the new clubhouse to be ready for occupancy in 2016.
Chip Shots
• Eighty-one players will tee it up Monday at Troy Country Club in the first of this year’s four Miami Valley Masters (seniors) events. The others will be held June 29 at Sycamore Creek, Aug. 3 at Country Club of the North and Sept 14 at NCR Country Club.
Tom Landgren has replaced Gail DeSpain as the association’s vice-president.
• A slight change has been made in the dates for the Dayton District Women’s Amateur Championship at Country Club of the North. It will be played June 23-27, starting one day later than originally scheduled.
• The DDWGA’s two golf attendance scholarships have been awarded to Claire Nikolai and Brooklyn Thompson.
• The Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club in Powell will host the first of the areas two U.S. Open local qualifiers on Monday. The second one is scheduled May 18 at Maketewah in Cincinnati. Springfield Country Club hosts the sectional June 8.
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