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ALTON - After a sinkhole at Gordon Moore Park closed the park for several weeks this summer, the park and Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course are once again open.
Vern Van Hoy, owner of the golf course, and general manager Mary Campbell spoke about their excitement about reopening and the struggles they went through while the golf course was closed. They noted that they did not know the park was going to reopen until two days before it did, and they had a successful first weekend back on the green.
“We attended one meeting, and then after that, all the rest of the meetings were closed to everybody, so we did not know what was going on. We didn’t know if we were going to be opening up in eight weeks, ten weeks or ten years,” Van Hoy said. “The anxiety of not knowing, not having control, it’s the worst feeling in the world. So to find out that we were going to open as early as we did is exciting.”
The golf course opened this weekend to a packed house, Campbell added. A lot of people were excited to return to Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course for a full weekend of play. It was a positive sign for the golf course and its workers, who were eager to welcome back their golfers.
“We were very excited to see people. It was just great to see customers, members, kids, everybody. Whether it was on the driving range, coming into the pro shop, going back to food and beverage, it was just great to see people in general,” Campbell said. “I was a little leery at first because I was wondering, okay, are people going to come back?...But we sent out an email blast, we put it on Facebook, and probably within an hour and a half, our tee sheet for Saturday was completely packed.”
But while the golf course is once again open and Van Hoy and Campbell are excited, the summer wasn’t without its challenges. Van Hoy said they had to maintain the course throughout the summer even though there were no players. Additionally, 30 of the 50 scheduled tournaments between July and October were moved because of the course’s closure.
When they learned of their reopening, they also had to quickly inform and find staff. Campbell explained that there were no layoffs, but they encouraged staff members to find other jobs while the course was closed because they weren’t sure when it would reopen.
Van Hoy and Campbell both commended the golf course’s staff for their work to make the opening weekend successful. Van Hoy also gave a special shoutout to Campbell, who has been at the course for 24 years.
While they acknowledge that some people might be hesitant to return to Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course following the sinkhole incident, Van Hoy assured people that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) did “extensive drilling” before the park was reopened. He added that he feels secure at the park and hopes golfers will feel the same.
“I think the message overall is that MSHA, which is like OSHA for mines, came in and did extensive testing and came back and gave it a clear,” he said. “So once they gave it the clear and then the City of Alton accepted that and our elected officials, I’m going to go off of that. I feel very good about everything. They went overboard on testing, and I’m glad they did. It delayed our opening, but I really don’t care that it delayed our opening to make sure that safety is number one. And we feel very good about it.”
Campbell and Van Hoy added that Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course is a PGA-qualifying course designed by Arnold Palmer himself, who was a friend of Spencer T. Olin’s. This makes it one of the premier courses in the area, and people travel from across the Midwest to play at the course.
They recently switched the nines, and Campbell shared that convenience fees are waived until the end of August if you book online. You can learn more about Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course and book your tee time at their official website at SpencerTOlinGolf.com.
“We’re very fortunate,” Van Hoy added. “It was not easy. It was tough. But at the end, it worked out, and we’re off and running now. We just need to continue at the pace we're at and continue to keep going.”
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