ARLINGTON – Bruised by recent adverse publicity, stung by criticisms from some neighboring homeowners, the past year has not been easy for the folks at Gleneagle Golf Course.
Still, Gleneagle is going forward in the midst of another golf season, trying to be what it has always been – not the longest golf course around, not the most challenging and certainly not the most expensive, but a good little golf course and one that has a core of loyal customers.
“It’s short, tight and has lots of water,” said Gleneagle general manager Jeff Swanson. “Anybody that wants to come and play will have a great time.”
Swanson and others at Gleneagle hope the focus will soon be getting back to golf and away from the issues that have troubled the course and the surrounding development in recent months. In particular, Gleneagle has been bothered by questions about whether it would stay an 18-hole facility or whether, as rumored, there were plans to modify or shorten the course to add additional homes.
Also, Gleneagle made the decision last fall to close during the inclement weather months. That decision was accepted by some golfers, but resented by others.
The course reopened this spring, but Swanson says play is down 20-25 percent, “which is significant.” May and June “were on the slower side,” he said, “but as we get into July, August and September, all my weekends are starting to fill up. People are realizing that we are open and we aren’t going anywhere.”
Gleneagle opened in 1992 as part of a planned residential development south of Arlington, near the Arlington Airport. The golf course was operated by the American Golf management company for the first 13 years, but in May of 2005 the operation reverted to Woodland Ridge, the original developer.
Swanson estimates that just about 10 percent of Gleneagle’s play comes from the surrounding development. Most comes from the nearby communities of Arlington and Marysville, with other golfers coming from Everett, Stanwood, Mount Vernon and other spots in Snohomish and Skagit counties.
One primary attraction at Gleneagle is the modest rates. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, golfers can walk the course for just $12. On Thursday and Friday the fee is $20, and on Saturday and Saturday it climbs to $31, but there are early-bird rates of $15 for the former and $20 for the latter. There are also various specials during the week involving golf carts and food.
Swanson recognizes that some golfers were unhappy about the wintertime closure, but says “the numbers just don’t justify” Gleneagle staying open year round.
“There’s people that want to play (in the winter),” he said, “but they’ll only play on the days when it’s 40 (degrees) and not raining. Well, how many days like that do we get between November and April.
“There were days in October when it was rainy and chilly, and we’d get four or five golfers. So for us, it didn’t make financial sense to stay open,” he said.
This year and for “the foreseeable future, we will close down every end of September and reopen in the first part of May,” Swanson said. “Now, if we have a good two weeks of (weather in) October, we’ll stay open. But as soon as the numbers (of golfers drop), then we’ll shut down.”
As for changes to the golf course, Swanson insists that “at this point we don’t have any intentions of changing the golf course. There were a lot of rumors over the winter that we were going to shorten it and make it nine holes, but we haven’t done any of that.
“From our standpoint, this is the same 18-hole golf course that it’s been for the last 14 years. As we speak right now, I expect it to stay (the same),” he said.
George Horton, who moved to Gleneagle about three years ago and lives along the 12th fairway, says he and his wife bought their new home because they liked the neighborhood and because they wanted to enjoy the golf course. Horton said there is “quite a split” between many homeowners and Gleneagle’s ownership, and that the course suffers from “a lot of real negative thinking. If you could change the attitude between homeowners and management, the whole thing would be much, much better.”
Like many of his golfing neighbors, Horton also wishes Gleneagle “was open more months out of the year. That’s a major issue.” Many Gleneagle residents “argue that it should be open” year round, he added.
Looking to the future, Swanson said he expects Gleneagle to remain “a beautiful 18-hole golf course. I can’t foresee anything other than that. It will (be) pretty much as we see it today.”
Despite being surrounded by golfing rivals – among them Marysville’s Cedarcrest and Battle Creek golf courses, Everett’s Legion Memorial, Stanwood’s Kayak Point, and Mount Vernon’s Eaglemont – Swanson believes Gleneagle can continue to hold its own.
“Competition is good,” he said. “We’re not looking to take all the customers. We would just like to have enough rounds where we can break even every year, and everybody can come up and have a great time in a great setting. You can’t ask for anything more.”
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