News & Events
LOTS OF ROCKS, 9 HOLES AND A DREAM
Published on April 25, 2004
Author: TOM ERNST - News Southtowns Bureau
© The Buffalo News Inc.
If they could find a buyer for the tons of rocks they dug up by hand, turning a hay field into a golf course would have been a lot less risky for four men who are about to see their dream come true.
"They are like potatoes rising to the surface," Stan Gidnan said. And they still walk around with a screwdriver and five-gallon bucket to pry up and remove offending rocks.
Spruce Ridge Country Club on Genesee Road in this Wyoming County town is scheduled to open its first nine holes June 1. The back nine should be ready in 2007.
They can't wait to start playing -- and attracting paying customers. But the four partners said that, if they had known six years ago that it would be such a long, difficult process, they likely would not have begun.
"If we had known what we were getting into, probably not," Tom Coffey said.
"It was harder than we thought," said Gidnan, an East Aurora resident. "But we never lost sight of our dream."
Mark Scrimshaw, also of East Aurora, came up with the idea of building his own golf course and gradually recruited the others, all golfers of varying abilities. One night in June 1998 at a bar (where else?) they joined hands and what would become Spruce Ridge Country Club was born.
After an extensive search, Bob Farleo found a hay field 19 miles south of East Aurora with a breathtaking view of rolling hills and farmland, and as soon as the others saw it they agreed, "This is it."
They purchased 200 acres for $90,000 in the summer of 1999 and -- after considerable searching -- found a bank to lend them $250,000.
All had a hand in designing the 6,520-yard, par-72 course, they describe as challenging, but not impossible.
Normally, designing and building a golf course is a lengthy and expensive process, involving years of planning, permits and obtaining professional designers. Often drawing inspiration from Irish and Scottish landscapes and using advanced software, course designers craft intricate links with precise sand-to-grass ratios and other measurements. Along with land costs and other expenses, the cost of the average course can add up.
In Cheektowaga, the Diamond Hawk course that recently began construction took nearly 30 years of negotiations and $7 million in funding. On a smaller scale, a farmer in Marilla is seeking to build a $4.5 million course.
The Spruce Ridge team, however, worked with a used bulldozer, a used backhoe and other equipment, even though Farleo, a City of Tonawanda resident, was the only one with any operating experience.
They hired someone to dig the five ponds, and the others learned to use the equipment on a trial-and-error basis.
Even after securing the funds and equipment, other forces stood in their way. The 2001 construction season was pretty much a washout because of rain.
"You have no idea how frustrating it was to be sitting here watching it rain," Gidnan said.
Then Scrimshaw suffered a series of strokes and was limited in what he could do.
The equipment was subject to frequent breakdowns, and getting stuck in the mud was routine. With the exception of Coffey, who is a retired teacher from Bennington, the others were taking time off from work and have since left their jobs to devote all their time to the course.
While acknowledging some "creative differences," the four partners hung together.
"There were some little bumps in the road, but they were little bumps," Coffey said.
Things got better in 2002, as the weather improved and the men got better at what they were doing.
They received information from the U.S. Golf Association, and other course owners were helpful. Last year, they planted the grass for the fairways and greens.
Yet to be done is installation of the irrigation system and completion of the snack bar and starter shack, but all is expected to be ready for the June 1 tee off.
"At last we can see a light at the end of the tunnel," said Coffey. "And it's not a train coming at us."