By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The lush green acres in the middle of Bowling Green have always played a role in the community.
More than a century ago, the county fair was held in the space now used for City Park. Fairgoers parked their buggies and Model T cars at the corner of Conneaut and Fairview avenues. Horses trotted around the fair race track, and high school football teams competed as their fans cheered from wooden stands.
For the past 100 years, the open acreage next to City Park has been preserved for young golfers learning skills and seasoned golfers perfecting their game.
There have been years of boom and of bust for the golf course, depending on economics or on competition from other golf courses. But the Bowling Green Country Club course has weathered the decades and remains a place for golfers to test their skill on the links, and catch up with friends in the lounge.
The acreage is leased from the city by the Bowling Green Country Club. In spite of grumbling that the acreage could be put to better use for the public, the lease agreement guarantees that the golf course be open to the public – not just to members of the country club.
In celebration of hitting the century mark, the BGCC is planning events throughout the year, and sharing stories of the role it has played – and continues to play – in the green space in the middle of Bowling Green.
History course
Norm Geer, who grew up with the BG Country Club golf course as a neighbor, first joined the club when he was 13 years old.
“I love this course. I played thousands of rounds here,” said Geer, whose childhood home was at the corner of West Merry and Fairview avenues. He recalled going into the quarry on the course with his buddies to get stray golf balls out of the water.
As the unofficial historian of the BGCC, Geer researched the site in preparation for the centennial celebration. The golf course got its start in 1923, when a group of Bowling Green citizens, “many who have streets named after them,” inquired about renting property for a practice course from the Wood County Fairgrounds, which owned the land that is now City Park.
When the fairgrounds moved, the city bought the land for $25,000.
The group of golfers leased 78 of the acres from the city, so the golf course could be developed.
Thus began a long partnership between the course, the city and the parks department.
In 1930, city leaders decided they wanted to create a park on some of the acreage, complete with a pool, tennis courts and horseshoe pits.
In 1937, the Bowling Green Country Club members bought two additional acres and built a clubhouse. After a fire destroyed the original clubhouse in 1970, a new building was constructed.
Agreement with city
When the golf club first entered a lease agreement with the city, the rent was $1 a year. The contract currently in place requires the BGCC to pay the city $3,000 a year.
During financially strained years for the golf course, the city paid the entire property tax bill for the course, then later split the property tax payment in half with the club. But now BGCC is picking up the nearly the entire tax payment of about $7,000 annually, according to Gary Hartzler, president of the Bowling Green Country Club for 13 years. BG City Attorney Hunter Brown said he plans for the next contract to require the Country Club to pay the entire property tax bill.
The club’s annual cost to operate the golf course is about $270,000, with the BGCC handling all the mowing and fertilizing of the course, Hartzler said.
The lease between the city and BG Country Club stretches over 25-year segments – with the current lease expiring at the end of 2025. The deal has always been that because the course sits on city land, it must be open to more than club members.
“We’ve always had to keep open for the public,” Hartzler said. And that’s a good arrangement for both sides, he added.
But many in the city believe the golf course is just accessible to country club members.
“That’s a misnomer,” said Nadine Edwards, a member of the centennial committee. “That’s not the case.”
In addition to individual community members, the course is used by school golf teams, and a youth golf program is being eyed as a summer youth park program.
“The city administration is strongly behind keeping this open,” Hartzler said.
Mayor Mike Aspacher backed that up, noting the growing membership and age range of players – and the fact that the city no longer has to subsidize the property taxes for the course.
“I do believe those responsible for running the country club are doing a great job running the club,” Aspacher said. “It’s really providing a very important opportunity.”
The mayor, who no longer plays golf after shoulder surgery, acknowledged that the BGCC allows the public to play at a “really, really low cost.”
Aspacher has heard complaints by some citizens asking if the golf course is really the best use of the city’s acreage right next to City Park.
“I’m aware some people have raised questions if it’s the highest and best use for the property,” he said.
Aspacher believes it is, adding that the city’s park department does not have the money or the staffing to maintain another 70-plus acres.
The mayor said he has instructed City Attorney Hunter Brown to negotiate a new lease with the BGCC that is “mutually beneficial for the city and the country club.”
A survivor
The BG Country Club has survived the highs and lows of the sport. It enjoyed the peak of play in the 1920s, only to be hit by the Great Depression which left the majority of people without money to spare for golfing.
“The golf club fell upon hard times” during that time, Hartzler said.
“If they would have waited four years, it probably wouldn’t have started,” Geer said of the founding in 1924.
Later, when golf rebounded, the country club course thrived until the mid-1980s and 1990s, when a downward trend began.
The development of more golf courses took players away from the older courses.
“It was just cutting the pie up smaller,” Hartzler said.
The competition was really tough when Stone Ridge Golf Course opened in Bowling Green, offering 18 holes rather than the nine at the country club.
“That was another hit,” Hartzler said.
Then in 2020, several golf courses made a comeback when COVID hit.
“COVID was a blessing for golf courses,” Hartzler said. Players could be outside, exercising and socializing with others without being in close proximity to one another.
“More families started coming out – more young people,” he said.
The BG Country Club currently has about 125 memberships, many of those which are families.
Small course a big deal
While some may view characteristics of the century-old BGCC golf course as negatives, others find the course perfect. The course is pretty flat, short with smaller greens, has some challenging holes, is dotted with mature trees, and is easy to walk.
“It’s a great place to play,” Hartzler said.
And best of all for some golfers, playing the tight nine hole course can easily be completed in 90 minutes or so. Hartzler estimated the greens to be about one-third the size of most greens on newer courses.
The course is also attractive for some golfers because it’s cheaper to play than other courses. Playing nine holes with a cart costs $24 on weekdays, compared to $30 to $35 at other area courses. Golfers wanting to walk the course can play nine holes for $13.
“It’s very inexpensive to play golf here,” Geer said.
Regulars
The golf course has plenty of regulars, like Stu Stearns, 88, who as long as the weather is decent shows up every noontime during the week to play a round. He is joined by several other regulars on the course.
“People know we’re here and they come out to join us,” said Stearns, who has been a member of the Bowling Green Country Club since 1953.
“I think it’s a course that’s easy to play,” but with some challenging sand traps. Plus it’s a way to get in some exercise while socializing with other players, he said.
Stearns taught biology and human anatomy at Bowling Green High School for 32 years, and coached the Bobcat football team to state playoffs. After a shoulder injury, he is no longer competitive about his golf game – but he is committed to playing every weekday. Stearns said he leaves the course open on weekends for golfers who are still employed during the week.
Stu and his wife, Joyce, live right off the number 4 green, and have one golf cart that they share.
“She plays in the morning, I play in the afternoon,” he said.
And in the colder months, Stu can be found in the country club lounge after his regular pool games at the Wood County Senior Center.
“There’s always someone around to talk to,” he said of the country club.
Place to socialize
The BGCC club house is a place where people can go for conversation, lunch, or a game of cards.
Last Thursday, people in the lounge were eating lunch and chatting about local issues, while two groups of ladies played pinochle games in the next room over.
“There’s always been a lot of camaraderie,” Hartzler said. “The retired guys are here at 12 o’clock every day.”
The country club has become a place where groups gather – like the Rotary and Exchange clubs, alumni celebrating high school reunions, groups of retirees, and those wanting to feast there for Easter brunch.
Over the century, the groups gathering at the BGCC have changed – with the women “golferettes” disbanding years ago and others taking their place.
Nadine Edwards said she and her husband, Dick, joined after he retired from his job as mayor of Bowling Green.
“It was something he always wanted to do,” Nadine said.
“I don’t play golf. I love to watch golf,” she said. It’s something else, besides the greens that brings Nadine Edwards to the country club.
“There’s lot of socialization,” she said. “And the food is good here.”
Centennial celebration
Several events are planned to celebrate the 100th year of the Bowling Green Country Club. The first takes place on April 17, with an open house from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. The mayor will read a proclamation, and hors d’oeuvres and champagne will be available.
Following are some other festivities planned:
- May 26, Centennial Memorial Day Golf Scramble, old fashioned dress, from 3:30 to 9 p.m., featuring food by Jeff Szabo.
- June 15, Ryan Sanner Memorial Scramble, starting at 1 p.m.
- July 6, Fourth of July Club Birthday Golf Scramble, starting at 1 p.m.
- Oct. 20, Hobo Stew Employee Scramble, with members inviting past members, starting at 1 p.m.
- Nov. 23, participate in BG Holiday Parade, riding golf carts.
- Dec. 11, Christmas open house and centennial finale.
