Greenview Golf Club in Centralia, Illinois, Is Being Sold to Local Owners Who Plan a Pro Shop and Junior Golf Push
A group led by Roger and Kristy Campbell has agreed to buy Greenview Golf Club, an 18-hole public course in Centralia, Illinois, from Steve Whritenour. The sale was expected to close Friday, and the new owners plan a pro shop, a general manager and a junior golf push.
A local group led by Roger and Kristy Campbell has agreed to buy Greenview Golf Club in Centralia, Illinois, about 60 miles east of St. Louis, from Steve Whritenour, according to Southern Illinois Now (Oct. 29). The sale was expected to close Friday, Oct. 30. Whritenour says he turned away talk of converting the 18-hole public course into a solar farm, and the new owners plan to put a pro shop in the current event building.
Whritenour listed the club for sale three and a half years ago. He and Roger Campbell reached an agreement on Sept. 18, the station reported. Southern Illinois Now calls the property Greenview Country Club, while the club's own website uses Greenview Golf Club. "I know the rumors went around about solar farms and transitioning this to something outside of a golf course," Whritenour said. "I could never swallow enough pride to do something like that, because I wanted Greenview to remain a golf course. That was my goal all along." That path differs from Fox Hollow Golf Club in Florida, which Heritage Golf Group recently bought as its 51st club, and from Bury Golf Club in England, where members voted this week to hand day-to-day running to Link Golf UK while keeping the land.
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Work on the grounds has already begun. Over the past three weeks the Campbells have had a crew of eight clearing downed trees and improving the cart paths. Kristy Campbell, a lifelong golfer and Greenview player, says more improvements are coming, and the owners are inviting members and players to suggest them. "We're interviewing superintendents… right now we're just clearing anything dead we can clear," Campbell said.
A pro shop and a snack shop are planned in the current event building. Campbell hopes to find someone to lease and operate the main restaurant, which Southern Illinois Now reported in January had closed for the season. "We do have a general manager coming in," Campbell said, though the hire may not be in place by Jan. 1. Leagues will stay the same.
Juniors are a stated priority. Campbell wants sixth, seventh and eighth graders playing, and juniors whose parents do not play can play all year for $100. "We want to push big for juniors," Campbell said. "We're going to have a junior tournament." The owners will allow memberships to be paid monthly with no interest charge. Winter play carries a $25 fee through March 31, and current memberships will be honored through the end of the year.
Whritenour bought the course in December 2014 from Tom Wargo. According to the Senior PGA Championship site, Wargo started at Greenview in 1981. He bought the facility in 1991 and the investors' shares in 1994. In 1993 he won the Senior PGA Championship, the first PGA club professional to win it since the senior tour was founded. The club's website says Wargo honed his game on the course, which plays only 6,300 yards at its longest. Course directories such as GolfNow list Greenview as opening in 1922 to a design by Tom Bendelow.
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A course once owned by a Senior PGA champion is set to remain a golf course under local owners whose first plans run to its buildings, its juniors and the cleanup already underway.
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