ON THE RIGHT COURSE

Arlene Fisher is a numbers person, which is how she became the director of finance and administration for the city of Liberty Lake.

In 2002, as a numbers person with an eye on the bottom line for a brand-new city, Fisher was asked by Mayor Steve Peterson to take a look at Valley View Golf Course, 1102 N. Liberty Lake Road, the nine-hole executive course that had just been put up for sale.

The mayor wanted the city to buy the course.

“I remember the first time I went over there,” Fisher said. “I was one of the last ones to see it, and I think that was probably by design. I walked in there and I looked at the mayor and I said ‘No way! You have got to be kidding me!’

“He knew he had to convince me because I was the one who had to put the financing together. I kept saying, ‘I don’t see this – I just don’t see this.’ He said ‘Arlene, you have to think about this as a diamond in the rough. That’s what it is, a diamond in the rough.’

“I said ‘We’re deeper in the rough than you know.’

“Lo and behold, I put the financing package together for it – we didn’t have any trouble at all financing it – and the rest is just a great story.”

Under new management, the course was renamed Trailhead at Liberty Lake, and, with some upgraded maintenance and improved facilities, has been turned into one of the area’s golf gems.

“We’re amazed at how well it’s done since the city purchased that course,” Fisher said. “I think we have to credit the staff. Ron Knudsen Jr., the superintendent of the course, has done a fabulous job of taking an old, worn-out course with not a lot of regular maintenance and turning it into a beautiful playing facility for everyone in this community.”

Located about nine holes away from Liberty Lake’s two 18-hole courses, Liberty Lake and MeadowWood, Trailhead has become a haven for families and beginning golfers.

“The question I get quite often is why we don’t try to compete with MeadowWood and Liberty Lake,” said Fisher, who regularly plays Trailhead. “Well, No. 1, we only have nine holes. And No. 2, we don’t really want to compete with them. They have their own specialty, more for the advanced, astute golfer. We like to cater to families, children and seniors and anyone who wants to go out and golf and not be embarrassed by the next guy behind them.

“It’s kind of evolved into that, and I think credit for that has to go to Ron and Mollie (Thola, the course professional). They’re the ones who figured out that there’s a market out there for the golfer who maybe doesn’t want to play MeadowWood or Liberty Lake.”

Improving the playability of the course was the first step.

To start, the city of Liberty Lake upgraded the course’s irrigation.

“One of the important things about buying that property is the fact that it has two very substantial water wells that came with it,” Fisher said. “With obtaining water rights being what it is, that was an important aspect of that purchase.”

When the course was privately owned, people manually started and stopped the irrigation system. The city installed clocks and timers, creating a lush green playing surface.

“That was a major improvement,” Thola said. “Before there would be hard places, where it was literally drying out, right next to a bog, where the water would well up over the tops of your shoes. We changed all that.”

Bunkers and a pond were installed (“They even built their own fountain with a bunch of old pipes – they’re very resourceful,” Fisher said). And the city invested about $125,000 in equipment to maintain the grass.

“The thing you have to remember about that is that most of that equipment is multiuse equipment,” Fisher said. “We use a lot of that equipment to maintain our green spaces. You have to remember that, in the beginning, we had nothing for the green space – we didn’t even have a weed whacker.”

Revenues from the course have increased every year and, with some new improvements on the adjacent driving range, it may stay open year-around.

“We put in some new mats on the driving range and added some huts so that, if we have another winter like last year, players should be able to come out and practice all winter,” Thola said.

Thola’s junior golf programs are typically full.

“She has one of the top youth programs around,” Fisher said. “It’s always full. You always know when Mollie has a group of kids. You may not be able to see Mollie, but you know she’s right in the middle.”

Families continue to be a mainstay in the course marketing.

“We have Family Play Sundays where all players can play nine holes for just $5,” Thola said. “That’s been really popular.

“I think people are realizing that they can’t come out here and get around in 90 minutes any more, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can always get on, but you might have to wait 20 minutes.”