Golf Renovation

After almost four years lost to time and Mother Nature, a staple of Saline County’s golfing community is poised for a return to prominence. Under new ownership, The Greens at Longhills and Longhills Golf Club in Benton will reopen this year and include more than 600 apartment units for rent.

The property will be managed by Lindsey Management Co., Inc. “Longhills means so much to so many people,” said Lindsey Management Golf Course Designer, Lyndy Lindsey. “Thousands of golfers learned to play the game out there. It’s certainly special.”

Opened in 1956, Longhills was the dream project of Bill and Berneice Martin. Through the years, it became the golfing home to players of all skill levels, growing to include a pro shop, swimming pool and tennis courts. Ownership changed hands until finally landing with a team that included Bud Busken. An economic downturn forced the owners to put the property on the market several years ago.

A proposal to buy from the new owner was met with criticism by some within the community, but was eventually finalized, and the renovation of the golf course and the apartment community began almost immediately.

“I can’t say enough good about Bud and Mary Jean Busken’s efforts to keep this course going,” said Lindsey. “They also established the best Junior Golf Program in the State of Arkansas. His love for the property is obvious, and we’re so proud to keep the Martin’s and the Busken’s dream alive.”

Known for his original golf course design and development, Lindsey admits renovating an existing tract brings with it some new challenges.

“We did a renovation on a golf course, Cadron Valley in Conway,” he said. “Longhills is similar because of the nature of the course. Players know this course, so we wanted to keep as much of it intact as possible while doing subtle alterations to bring it up to date.”

“We have to deal with sewer lines and water lines,” he added. “We’re also correcting the irrigation for the course, and cart paths will come in later.”

Like many of the golfers who’ve called Longhills home for years, Lindsey maintains a special bond to the course. His experiences date more than 25 years ago at the Longhills Invitational.

“In the first round of the tournament, I shot 74,” he said. “I came back the next day and shot 64, while playing with Jay Fox, the Executive Director of the ASGA. I was making putts from everywhere and he was saying I was making field goals. My name suddenly went up on the scoreboard. When it was over, I had shot 8-under par, the lowest round I ever shot in my life.”

Among the changes and new features, Lindsey notes a lengthening of Hole No. 1 at the tee box and improvements to the green at Hole No. 2. “We’ve added a lot of mounding around the green and put in 15 feet of dirt behind the area to give it a backdrop,” he said. “It gives the golfer some depth perception to a pretty blind approach shot.”

Hole No. 3 will now include out-of-bounds down the left and right sides of the fairway, where trees once gave golfers all of the challenge they needed.

Lindsey says the major alterations come at Holes No. 5, 6, 7 and 8. They’ve been eliminated to make room for construction. However, the newly designed holes will play in same par-3, par-4, par-4, par-3 format. “[That part of the course] allowed us to grab the largest amount of land without hurting too many holes,” he said.

Toward redesigning the new holes in a confined space, Lindsey said he relied on some of the nuances of historic courses he’d visited. “At St. Andrews (Scotland), Holes 7 and 11 crisscross,” he said. “Here, the par-3 fifth hole will crisscross with Holes 9 and 18 along the new lake.”

Lindsey notes the new 6th Hole will include land from the former practice area. Hole 7 will be a short par-4 measuring roughly 295 yards, and Hole 8 will remain a par-3.

“The back nine will stay largely the same, with only a few alterations,” he said. “You hate to change too much of this historic place. All we’ve done is add a few features, bunkers and mounding here and there.”

Lindsey says the clubhouse renovation will capture some its original features, and the greens will be replaced with Champion Bermuda, a common strain among courses today.

“There will be some different breaks in the nuances of the greens, but when the golfers get out there, they’re going to see those greens will be as good as they’ve ever been,” he said.

Longhills is slated for play in October, and Lindsey says it will be open to the public.