JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Ocean Pines Board members discuss plans for the golf and county club during a town hall meeting last Saturday.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(April 4, 2019) Ocean Pines Board members are still considering what to do about the golf and country club, but indications are the board favors a new building that would support both golf and community events.

During a town hall meeting on Saturday, Harry Rutter of Nottingham Lane said amenities are supposed to add value to the association. He pointed to the swimming pools as a good example and praised Aquatics Director Colby Phillips.

Rutter said he was not happy the board had several requests for proposals out regarding the country club, with bids totaling more than $2 million.

“The golf course 50 years ago … was an advertising gimmick to sell lots,” he said. “Recently, in just the last couple of months, a golf course nearby has closed down [and] another golf course nearby has dramatically dropped its costs, because golf is dying.

“I’m not saying do away with the golf course, but I am saying $2 million on a dying thing doesn’t make sense,” he continued. “I think what the board owes the membership is a true cost-benefit analysis on golf.”

Rutter said it would be unwise to run another restaurant there, the Tern Grille, to compete with the yacht club.

“I’m talking about common sense business,” he said. “I’m all for … putting a new building up, but not a restaurant and a bar.”

He said many community groups are “dying for space” and a new building could help accommodate those groups.

“That whole place should be set up to be a community thing,” he said. “The golf course does not need another bar.”

Association Vice President Steve Tuttle said no formal, final decision has been made regarding renovating or replacing the building.

He confirmed bids had been received for a new building, and said last Friday he and others walked through to determine if anything in the existing club could be salvaged.

“We estimate that’s probably upwards of $120,000, just reusing the equipment that’s in the kitchen [and] bar,” Tuttle said. “We actually will be meeting there on Monday with a design team that we’re talking to before we sign a contract, to try to get some hard numbers for what it would cost to do the country club and the cart barn, because they both are in desperate need of replacement.”

Tuttle said engineers hope to use the existing 8,120-square-foot foundation in a new building to save additional money.

“We actually will have a backhoe onsite Monday, digging some test bits around so the engineers can look at the foundation to see if it’s usable, which will then effect their price for … designing and building the building, which would be really helpful,” he said.

He said about half of the space of the new building would be for community use, with the other half designated for golf operations.

Tuttle added the design for a new kitchen would be “a warming kitchen” as opposed to “a full-blown restaurant.”

“It provides beverages and maybe a hamburger [and] French fries, that kind of thing. But nothing like what you have at the yacht club,” he said.

He said the clubhouse would have banquet seating for up to 140 people for golf tournaments, which would help support the operation.

“We’re looking at this as economically as we can [and] as community-centric as we can, to make sure that we’re providing … for the whole community,” Tuttle said. “In my perspective, having that facility there … is a benefit to our values of our properties in the community.”