Changes will accompany golf course's reopening

The new owners of the Jones Creek Golf Club in Columbia County plan to reopen the course in March as a semi-private club.

That's a change from the past 18 months - when the club was private - and a switch that would afford more local players the opportunity to play the Rees Jones-designed course.

"We want Jones Creek to be totally revitalized from a golf course standpoint," said Bill Coscioni, a future managing partner with the new owners.

The course was closed Wednesday, just one day after it was purchased for $2.95 million by Jones Creek Joint Venture at a foreclosure sale on the courthouse steps in Appling.

During the next six weeks, crews will focus on revamping the greens at the course, planting a winter-resistant grass that should carry the course through Masters week and into May - when the owners plan to close the course again for a major renovation. The work should be completed by October.

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"It's a great community," Mr. Wyatt said of the purchase. "It's in a high-growth area. It's convenient and a great golf course. It's just been neglected."

One area of the course that won't require much work is the clubhouse, Coscioni said.

"It's in pretty decent shape," he said. "It's the golf course that's in pitiful condition and it needs to be fixed."

Wyatt said the initial plans for the major renovation do not include large-scale changes in the course design. Instead, they'll focus on drainage, new grass and other work.

"It'll definitely be a different look from what they're used to," he said.

And there's one other thing the new owners bring to club members: perks elsewhere. The venture - which will eventually be called Golf Capital LLC, also owns Houndslake Country Club in Aiken.

"If you are a member at one, you are a member at both," Wyatt said.

The new owners was welcome news to Jones Creek Owners Association President Kent Gilbreath. He's watched as the condition of the course plummeted in the past six months.

"There was minimal maintenance," he said. "When that golf course goes down, our property goes down with it."