Politics & Government
Spring Golf in Question at Sugar Creek
The golf course is set to get a new $1.2 million clubhouse, but regular golfers worry the course might be closed for months during renovations.
At the end of a long, wooded lane off Bouldercrest Road lies the Sugar Creek Golf and Tennis Center, home to an 18-hole course that rolls out to the edge of I-285.
The public park is slated for a face-lift with the construction of a new $1.2 million clubhouse.
But regular golfers like the gentlemen of the Sugar Creek Mens' Golf Association are concerned the whole course might be closed for months and are awaiting word from DeKalb County officials.
Find out what's happening in East Atlantafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"I see no reason to close the golf course since golf is played on the course and the clubhouse can be housed in a trailer," Robert Mitchell, president of the mens' group, told the DeKalb Board of Commissioners on Dec. 7.
Roy Wilson, DeKalb County's parks and recreation director, said no decision has been made about closing the course.
Find out what's happening in East Atlantafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
There's no groundbreaking date yet either, but Wilson expects construction to start in spring 2011.
Mitchell, whose group counts some 90 members, said some people golf at Sugar Creek two or three times a week.
"For many seniors, Sugar Creek has become our salvation because it is flat and easier to negotiate," he added. "It would certainly be an inconvenience to golfers all over south DeKalb."
The course also hosts a six-week junior golf academy several times a year.
The improvements are already months behind schedule. The groundbreaking was originally planned for this past summer.
DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment, but on her web site, she wrote "the decision was made during evaluation of the existing structure, and with community input, to build a new clubhouse with updated amenities rather than trying to renovate the existing structure."
That followed the county commission's approval of an additional $500,000 to fund the revised project.
The total price tag – construction, plus planning and design – now comes to $1.59 million.
The new clubhouse will measure some 9,300 square feet and include a pro shop, commercial kitchen, and multipurpose meeting room.
Design work is 95 percent done, Wilson said, and is going through the final stages of permitting.
