MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – A couple married at Ballinger Lake Golf Course almost 10 years ago now will be running it.
City officials Monday night awarded an interim maintenance contract to Tyrone and Carol Hardy of Everett.
Tyrone Hardy, 39, has been head golf pro at Kayak Point Golf Course near Stanwood and Walter Hall Memorial Golf Course in Everett, as well as assistant golf pro at Echo Falls Golf Course in Snohomish.
Carol Hardy, 39, is a property manager at Everett’s Housing Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides low-income and transitional housing.
The couple were married at Ballinger course on Sept. 2, 1995. The Hardys hope to reopen near that day on Labor Day weekend this year.
“It is our hope to get it open so people can play and get that last holiday rush,” Tyrone Hardy said.
That could be a challenge. Since the course was closed, all its permits expired. They are working to get a liquor license and health permits. The Mountlake Terrace Garden Club is helping clean up the nine-hole course. The Hardys’ plan to emphasize customer service.
The agreement is through March 31. A long-term operator then will be picked.
The golf course closed in January after previous operator Ballinger Recreation Inc., defaulted on loan payments. The city signed a settlement and release agreement in July with Redmond National Bank and Shoreline Bank, which had acquired a leasehold interest in the property.
The Hardys plan to make the venture successful.
“The two of us err on the side of caution. We will do everything to make it work,” Tyrone Hardy said.
Jenny Zappala is editor of the Lynnwood-Mountlake Terrace Enterprise newspapers; 425-673-6531 or Lynnwood @heraldnet.com.
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