Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Pineway Golf Club is back.
Once a social focal point for the community as well as the only golf course in the area for many years, the nine-hole course has fallen into decline recently.
But a quartet of new owners intend to change that.
Don and Amy Haley, and Randy and Kellie Purdue teamed up to purchase Pineway on March 5.
The four bring a wide variety of expertise in business and other aspects of golf course management that Don Haley said he expects to help them turn things around at Pineway.
He himself previously owned a multi-state landscaping business based in Salem that handled “the two largest retirement communities in the world,” Alterra and Holiday Retirement, and bank properties in four states. He sold off that business 2 1/2 years ago.
“I wanted to do something different than mow grass,” Haley said.
He found out Pineway was for sale when he checked into an ad for a storage unit business. A relative in Lebanon, Dave Bertucci, sells real estate and helped Haley check out opportunity. It didn’t turn out to be what Haley was looking for, but Bertucci did note that Pineway was for sale.
“He mentioned that the golf course had some wetlands issues, but with my background, I had experience with that,” said Haley, 40, who grew up in Albany and Lebanon.
The two couples bought Pineway from the Glasser family, who had owned it since early 1970s. The course was established in the 1950s by the Johnson family, who converted it from a dairy farm, Haley said.
“The story is that the family went on vacation, and when they came back, Mr. Johnson had sold all the cattle and built a golf course,” he said. “The golf business was born.”
The four bring a wide variety of business experience to their endeavor.
Randy Purdue is a certified mechanic who also handles custom fabrication and air conditioning/refrigeration, Kellie Perdue has a background in retail and human resources, and Amy Haley handles the bookkeeping.
“It’s a pretty unique combination. We have about all the bases covered,” Haley said, adding dryly, “None of us play golf.”
But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn, he said.
He said it’s nice to “do all the landscaping on one piece of property” instead of running from job to job.
When they took over, Haley said, Pineway was in bad shape, with “grass that was knee-high.” They’ve cut the grass, are fixing problems, and getting things shipshape.
“Several holes are down to seven-eighths of an inch,” Haley said. “It’s beginning to look like a golf course again.
The owners are also planning to reopen the restaurant, which had been closed for three months when they bought it. They’ve remodeled the banquet facility, which will now hold up to 90 people, and are “shooting to open by the end of June.
“That restaurant has historical significance and we want to have banquets there – something for Kellie – so we’ve been interviewing chefs and golf pros,” Haley said.
County Commissioner John Lindsey, who lives in the Lebanon area, said he’s happy to see Pineway on the rebound.
“It used to be that you’d go out there every night and it was full,” he said. “And you had to get reservations on Saturday and Sunday.”
They owners also have re-opened the driving range, which had been closed for a couple of years, and plan to install a Frisbee golf course by the end of July, with help from members of the Lebanon Boys and Girls Club.
Eventually they plan to add a day spa that will offer services ranging from massages to “hairdos, ” and also plan to build a gazebo with an indoor fire pit.
“Our goal is to create an environment that the whole family can go out and enjoy,” Haley said.
They also hosted their first event, the Redneck Golf Tournament, recently.
“You didn’t have to play golf very well to enjoy it,” Haley chuckled. He said they moved some old mowers and tractors – “anything that you’d find in a Lebanon or Sweet Home front yard, basically” – out onto the course as hazards and had some “Flintstone” golf clubs made out of rough lumber that participants were required to use to tee off. There were also some pool cue sticks and tennis rackets scattered around the course that could be used for inventive shots.
It was “a fun event,” Haley said. “You didn’t have to play golf very well to enjoy it.”
He said more serious golfers are taking notice of the changes.
“We have about 40 solid members,” he said. “We’ve had quite a few new people in the last month.”
Pineway is currently booking golf events, company picnics, reunions, birthday parties, and is opening the restaurant, though it isn’t completed, for certain events, Haley said.
Pineway has men’s and women’s clubs and Haley said they are considering starting a juniors club.
“We’re exploring that avenue to see if there’s enough interest,” he said.