James Leeth affectionately calls the course a goat track.
His goal is to remove that tag from the Lupton City Golf Course over the next year or two by improving course management and using superintendent experiences he gained while working for Tim Gilbert and owning his own course at one time.
The first order of business has been reversing the destruction caused last year by a black mold that ate large areas of the greens.
“To me, they look like Augusta National’s greens compared to where they were last year,” said Leeth, who admits he doesn’t have an official title but has taken over day-to-day operations. “They were on the verge of death.
“I want to take this place back to better than it was. I can remember at one time people said these were the best greens in town.”
Leeth’s research indicates the course began as six holes in 1939 and expanded to nine in the 1940s. Dixie Yarn employees had it as a private club until about 12 years ago, when the property was sold to BlueCross. The insurance company kept it open as a course and now has a lease with Leeth until the property is sold.
The club has a small membership of about 80 folks who pay monthly dues. Some have been doing so for decades. The dress code is lax; actually, there isn’t one.
The greens are slow and a little spotty. The fairways are a combination of Bermuda, crabgrass, clover, fescue and dirt.
And it’s improved tremendously under Leeth, who charges $10 for 18 holes.
“He’s just getting started, but he’s made a lot of improvements as far as keeping the greens,” Jim Cook said. “He’s fertilizing and getting the grass to grow. He’s taken over and gone whiz-bang. I think it will be great.
“It may take a year or two, but he’s going in the right direction.”
The 58-year-old clubhouse has a snack bar where a change jar sits in the open and works on the honesty policy. If nobody is there to take the $10 greens fee, that’s not a problem. One group settled with Leeth as they putted out on the eighth hole Tuesday.
“There have been a tremendous amount of improvements,” said Jimmy Knight, who has been a member for eight years. “Fairways are growing and getting cut. Greens aren’t quite there but they’re close. He’s done work on the clubhouse, and he has a few carts.
“It’s just a good place to play. This is where I play, about six days a week.”
The members are characters. Take “Peaches,” for example.
“I used to work in Atlanta. We’d come up here and hustle pool, make a living, and I always had peaches clothes on, and so they just called me Peaches,” he said. “My other name is ‘Little James Wet Willie Wentworth Junior III.’ My birth certificate says Steven Eugene Arnold.
“I’ve been playing here since I was 11 years old and now I’m 59. I’d buy me a Coke for a dime and a bag of peanuts and sit up on the porch. It’s where I growed up.”
Another member was hand-washing his cart — which he stores on the course because there are only 10 carts available for rent — after his round Tuesday.
“You can come out here, never be harassed or pushed. You can bring your wife or kid out,” said Leeth, whose course is open to the public after noon during the week and after 2 p.m. on weekends. “When I can take away the goat0track title, then I can say I’ve accomplished my goals.”