What’s it like to own your own golf course? Alabama Golf News readers got some insight this week in a piece profiling the latest industry neophyte to buy an Alabama golf course.
Earlier this year, Donnie Walker of Spruce Pine, Alabama, walked into Twin Pines Country Club in Littleville, Alabama, intending to become a member.
Instead, he ended up buying the place in a deal that closed earlier this month.
Alabama Golf News Editor Gregg Dewalt
“I never thought in a million years that I would own a golf course,” Walker, a retired mechanical engineer and product designer, told Alabama Golf News.
In March, the website updated Alabamians on the progress of John Faler, a retired Cincinnati-area firefighter, in turning around the once-failing Cumberland Lakes Golf and Lodge outside of Birmingham.
The club appears to be thriving despite Faler’s lack of industry experience when he moved to Alabama and bought the club five years ago.
“The minute after I made the offer and they accepted, it became real. There was no going back,” Faler told Alabama Golf News editor Gregg Dewalt.
“All of a sudden, I have a gigantic overhead whether one golfer comes or a hundred. The lights still have to be on and the grass still has to be mowed, chemicals have to be applied,” Faler said.
For more from the two club owners’ journeys, click here.
Alabama Golf News is the go-to source for news about all things golf in Alabama, including the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. For more information, contact editor Gregg Dewalt at bamagolfnews@gmail.com.
