New leaders want to save a golf course from closing

New leaders of the nearly century-old Piscataquis Country Club in Guilford are hoping expanded hours and new offerings draw enough interest to save the golf course from closing.

The club has struggled financially for the past decade as Guilford, like many rural Maine towns, saw a decline in its population as mills shuttered and people lost jobs, said Erika Kennedy, who in October became president of the nine-member board that owns and oversees the club. The number of golf players nationally has also steadily decreased for more than two decades.

“This year is either make it or break it,” Kennedy said. “If we can’t come out in the positive this year and be able to afford to staff it, there’s a chance that we close the course.”

Kennedy wants to revive the region’s interest in the sport, which saw a surge in participation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and make the club a safe hangout spot for area adults and children to enjoy, even if they are not avid golfers. The board’s long-term goal is to operate the three-season course year-round.

Although the golf course is in good shape, the building on site has deteriorated over the years, and it has no insulation that would allow it to remain open in the winter. The clubhouse also needs a new roof and repairs to its wraparound deck, she said. The country club was built in 1926 and was rebuilt in the 1940s after a fire, Kennedy said.

The Piscataquis Country Club plans to add an ice cream shop, which will be called Putt-A-Cup and serve Gifford’s ice cream, to attract parents and children, even if they don’t golf, and create a new revenue source. The country club is also making it free for children 14 years and younger to golf. Previously, club membership for children cost $100 for the season. 

On April 8, the club will host a solar eclipse viewing on its fairway. Tickets are $25, and funds will go toward covering the cost of children who wish to golf this summer.

Kennedy said Guilford needs more safe places for people to hangout, particularly children who want to spend time with friends. In an effort to make it more friendly to families, the club will no longer sell alcohol. People can bring their own, but it will need to be covered with a koozie, she said.

The club is also looking to earn more money by renting out the facility for events, which was done once or twice a year in the past but could be done more frequently, Kennedy said. 

The golf course has typically operated from May to October but could open as soon as late April, depending on the weather. It will expand hours from the three to four days a week it was open previously to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, Kennedy said.

The board will hire two full-time and three to four part-time staff members, and Kennedy said she plans to take seven months away from her full-time job as a private paramedical examiner to get the club up and running. That work includes painting the clubhouse and repairing parts of the deck, though a full replacement will likely happen later.

Volunteers and long-term members had operated the club for years, until three years ago when the board began paying a few workers to maintain the grounds and cover the clubhouse three to four days a week, Kennedy said.

Since last October, Kennedy and her husband have raised $12,000 to buy nine new golf carts, which are expected to arrive next month. The carts, which are being financed, cost $60,000 to $70,000 each.

In the long term, Kennedy imagines recreational trails on the more-than-140-acre property. It could be a place for hiking, fat biking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing, she said. But first, the course needs to reopen and succeed this year.

“We have beautiful, scenic views and rolling hills here,” she said. “Our goal is to bring this course back to life and make it a place for the community like it was 30, 40 years ago.”