Friday, August 11, 2000
Golf Course Spotlight: Majestic Springs
McKays make new layout a family affair
By John Erardi and Carey Hoffman
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WILMINGTON — Back when Roger McKay was 5 years old and behind the wheel of a moving tractor — a real farm tractor — he wasn't eyeballing the scenery.
He wasn't daydreaming about how a particular piece of farm land might make a terrific golf hole.
He was more concerned that, if ever he needed to stop the tractor, he must shut off the ignition key.
It was the only way for Roger to stop the tractor once his brother got it in gear. Roger was too short to reach the clutch.
Yes, 28 years ago, five-year-old Roger McKay was operating a tractor while the field hands behind it baled hay. Nobody's saying it was right, but it was necessary. Times were different. A man did what he had to do to work his land, even turning his children into farmhands, a critical need in operating a family farm.
Later, when McKay was able to handle all the farm equipment with the best of them, he would occasionally turn his thoughts to golf. He was a recreational player, but had no knowledge of course design.
He felt strongly, however, that the family's 220 acres of farmland off Todd's Fork Road — home to hogs, beef cattle and fields of soybean and corn — was a golf course waiting to happen.
“I could "see' the fourth hole and the eighth hole, and believe it or not, I could see the 10th hole,” said McKay, 33.
And what a vision it turned out to be:
Majestic Springs will one day vie for a spot in The Enquirer's “Top Five Public Golf Courses in the Tristate,” judging by what we saw during a recent tour of the grounds.
Its front nine opened for play last spring; its back nine opens Saturday. The back nine is as strong as any nine holes we've seen on a Tristate public golf course outside Shaker Run, Elks Run and Lassing Pointe.
McKay had been a farmer all his life until he went to college to study ag-business (marketing minor) at the University of Illinois, from which he graduated in 1989. He was working in Columbus at a mortgage company when he encountered a couple employees at a party who had just finished building a golf course.
In the spring of 1997, he left the mortgage company to pursue his dream.
A farmer's headache turned into a golfer's delight.
The ground features big elevation changes, sizeable stands of healthy trees and a creek running through it. These are the things that define a course's character, and produce the strategy that goes into playing it.
“I came out to look at the ground when Roger first called me, and I could see the potential right away,” said architect Barry Serafin, who built the new nine at Wilmington Elks Course. “There are some spectacular holes and some great views ... (Designing) the course was a unique experience, and I enjoyed every bit of it.”
McKay wanted the course to be “different” — not to the point that some golfers loved it and others hated it, but to ensure that there would be a wide variety of holes.
The McKays moved only 150,000 to 200,000 yards of dirt, about a third to a half of what is normally moved for a golf course. Some big-time resort courses move 10 to 20 times that, McKay said.
The Enquirer's golf staff played Majestic Springs' front nine, then toured the back with course superintendent Chris Haley. The Enquirer found it to be a terrific blend of links-style and conventionally wooded holes. On No.15, we came upon a fellow in bib overalls next to a surveyor's transit. He was shooting grade for the bridge there.
It was family patriarch Wilbur McKay, Roger's dad.
He is proud of his son's work and believes this land has made for a better golf course than it did a farm.
Majestic Springs has been a family affair: Roger's brother, Dave, helped move the dirt and build the bridges ... their mother, Ada, did the bookkeeping ... and Wilbur did “a little bit of everything,” said Roger.
When the “shaper” Roger hired to contour the ground for the fairways and greens kept odd hours — and then one day just stopped showing up altogether — McKay turned to his lifelong friend, Mike Rich, who had a bulldozer.
“Mike was great at the technical side of operating a dozer,” McKay said. “He can make things as flat as a pancake just by using his eye. Once I learned the fundamentals, I developed a knack for the creative side, making mounds and curves. It was a pretty good combination.”
At any point in turning 220 acres of farmland into an 18-hole golf course did McKay wonder what he had gotten himself into?
“All the time,” McKay said. “I never stopped wondering about that — at least not until the first group of people came out to play. They said how nice it looked and how much fun it was to play. That wiped away all the doubts and fears.”
Directions to Majestic Springs: I-71 North to exit 45 (Route 73); east (right) on Route 73, south (right) on Route 380, left on Todd's Fork Road, course on left. (48 miles from downtown Cincinnati). Weekend rate — $36 for 18 holes, including cart. Phone — 937-383-1474.
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