Tanasi Golf Course has found a new normal in recent months since losing the clubhouse to fire Aug. 27.
With the building a total loss, operations had to adapt to keep the golf course operational and customers satisfied. Four months in, progress has been made toward some stability as plans progress for a rebuild.
“We’ve been trucking along,” Chris Sykes, Tellico Village golf director, said. “We’re just getting through each and every day providing our members and guests with the best service possible. We adapted to our temporary normal and we’re about to transition to a more bridged kind of environment.
“We adapted to kind of the short-term emergency environment and we’re about to adjust into more of a temporary bridge environment that will help us get through the next couple of golf seasons while we work on the plans for the future Tanasi clubhouse,” he added. “So it’s trying but exciting at the same time.”
Despite losing the clubhouse, golf operations resumed just two days after the fire in the starter-turn shack. While food services from Tanasi’s restaurant were moved to the Yacht Club, drinks and snacks were still available.
The biggest challenge the staff faced in the initial months concerned the golf carts, since they no longer had a place to charge. All golf carts had to be stored overnight at Public Works a half-mile from the course and ferried in every morning.
Village volunteers helped with the process during peak golf season, but the problem has now been resolved. Installation of a carport was finalized last week next to the site of the former clubhouse, ensuring carts could once again be stored and charged in closer proximity to the course.
The expectation is to have a temporary modular pro shop in place by the time demand kicks up again in the spring.
Sykes said he anticipates the course will operate at full capacity once the modular is in place, but the past few months have not seen a significant decrease in business despite operating at lower capacity.
“(It’s) not horrible,” he said. “We’ve modified the operations just a little bit to accommodate some of those challenges, but once we’re able to get the carts up top that will make life a whole lot easier. … Once we have a modular in place, we’ll be able to fully resume our golf operations and provide a comparable golf experience to what we used to have with the old Tanasi clubhouse.”
The modular is expected to be 30 feet by 70 feet and feature an office for the golf staff, bathrooms, a golf shop, counter check-in, merchandise area and a lounge for golfers to have a drink after play. The building will remain until the new clubhouse arrives.
After forming a Tanasi Clubhouse Restoration Committee in September, composed of golf staff and Tellico Village Property Owners Association board members, several ideas were considered to move forward. Four were put to a vote by Villagers, including do nothing and bank the insurance money, build back exactly as before, build back bigger or build two facilities to separate golf and food services. After receiving 861 responses, the options were narrowed to the latter two in mid-October.
Site plans for both options were drawn up as the committee considered pros and cons, and the decision was made to build back bigger.
“We’re looking at building back in the same location, only bigger,” Sykes said. “We’ve focused all our efforts on that now. It just seemed to make the most sense so that you’re not building separate facilities, you’re building one facility to meet all the needs.
“(The committee is) working with a number of folks on different concepts and ideas,” he added. “We’ve got quite a few really good ones to look at, so we’re about ready to take the next step where we’ll engage more of the property owners and secure an architect and start soliciting some bids for proposal. We’ve got concepts on paper that we’ve been looking at and trying to tweak and adjust and fine-tune. We’ve got really exciting things on the horizon.”
Regular updates on the restoration process are provided in the Tell-E-Gram as well as on a dedicated page of the POA’s website at tellicovillagepoa.org/tanasiupdate. The website also contains an online form to provide the committee with feedback, and Sykes said they are always open to hearing from the community.
Chet Pillsbury, CEO, will give a Tanasi update at the next HomeOwners Association Meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Community Church at Tellico Village.
“We’re always open for input, and we’re receiving that on a daily basis,” Sykes said. “We’re beyond grateful for everybody’s support and understanding and patience, and we’re super excited about what the future holds. Three years from now, we’ll look back and it’ll be a memory and we’ll have something really special to show for it.”
