GREENWOOD - Golfers with an affinity for the course on base are in luck.
Osbourne Ward, owner and president of the Eagle Crest Golf Course in Centreville, is in the process of finalizing a deal that will see him assume operational control of the Greenwood Golf Club in early 2018.
“It was going to close if someone didn’t take it over and it’s more efficient operating two golf courses than just one. You can eliminate some duplications in cost,” said Ward.
The golf course on the base opened in 1959.
In April, former 14 Wing Greenwood base commander Col. Pat Thauberger announced that the 18-hole course would close for good at the end of the season.
“An extensive options analysis on the Greenwood Golf Club was conducted through the winter of 2017, finding few opportunities for changing a declining membership trend and improving revenue,” a press release circulated by 14 Wing Greenwood April 11 stated.
A committee of golf course members rallied together after word spread of the impending closure to try to find a way to keep the course open.
Ward publicly announced his interest in taking on the Greenwood club Dec. 14.
“It’s been crazy, the phone hasn’t stopped,” he said, referring to the response from the public.
“I didn’t think it would take off that fast.”
More details will be released about the partnerships that will be formed between the two clubs once the final paperwork is complete.
“We’re trying to attract more people to the Valley to play,” said Ward, noting that the clubs will offer dual memberships for $869 plus tax next season.
“The style is totally different. Greenwood is along the river, flat lands whereas Eagle Crest has more terrain up and down and more views of the farmland and the mountains.”
Ward is excited to see a renewed interest in Greenwood’s golf course, and he’s looking forward to giving a facility that’s been around for nearly 60 years a second chance.
“I expect that I should be able to make it grow again,” he said.
