By Sue Moore
Pine View Golf Course, a 36-hole course owned by the Tom Scott family for five years, has seen a number of upgrades since being purchased by the family.
“Just about everything has been upgraded,” says Steven Scott who runs the day to day operations at the course on Pulver Road just south of Schoolcraft.
They have purchased 20 new pieces of machinery, including new mowers for greens, fairway and roughs, a bunker rake, and a greens roller to speed up the greens. They’ve also built two new decks for parties and rebuilt the bar and the bathrooms.
“You have to be smart about the changes as they are never ending,” he says of the course that was built in 1965.
This year, there is a new chef while the rest of the staff has been with the course for a number of years.
Betty Lamons has seen all the ups and downs over the past 30 years, Scott says. “She’s the rock,” he says.” I would trust her with my life. She started in the kitchen and is our bar manager and bookkeeper. Cody Sinkler has been here since he was 15 and a cart boy. He is going to graduate from Western Michigan University this spring and is my assistant manager. We are very well organized as you have to be with 24 leagues and lots of outings.”
The pro shop has evolved by carrying trendier clothing, golf shoes, and Oakley apparel, Scott says.
Greeting golfers at the course is a hand-carved bald eagle carved from a tree that had been struck by lightning, Scott says, recalling the driving rainstorm with thunder and lightning which led to the creation of the eagle. As 120 golfers crowded into the clubhouse to escape the storm, there was a big boom, a gas line explosion and then a tree started burning furiously.
“We tried to save the tree for several years, but, finally, I had a chain-saw artist come in and finish it off with the bald eagle insignia,” he says. “It’s definitely a conversation point now.”
Looking back over his family’s ownership of the course, Scott says, “It took a while, but now we have an excellent course and the clubhouse has all the amenities we can provide. I know what it’s like to be a consumer of golf and how golfers want to be treated. We offer very fair value and quality for the price that is charged.
“We have high quality bar food, and a band that plays every Friday night at 7 p.m. during the summer months. We want to have people come out even if they don’t play golf.”
