Eagle Crest hires golf pro; new clubhouse close to reality

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

It’s shaping up to be an eventful year at the Eagle Crest Golf Course in Centreville.

Not only is the course’s new clubhouse facility nearing the construction stage, course co-owner/operator Osbourne Ward has hired Eagle Crest’s first full-time golf professional.

Alex Jewers, for the past four years assistant pro at the Mountain course near Truro, has assumed his new position and will begin in earnest when the course opens for the season.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Jewers, a Truro native, said in a March 17 interview. “This is a great course, with lots of potential, and it can only get better once the new clubhouse is finished and open.”

Jewers has a background in culinary arts as well as a degree in golf course management, has his professional accreditation and is weeks away from completing the requirements for his Class A head golf professional license.

He’s also familiar with Eagle Crest, its layout and potential. “I worked for Osbourne back in 2001-2002 before I went to Mountain,” he said. “I had a great summer here and I would’ve liked to stay, but there was no pro for me to study under. I appreciate the chance to come back now and be head pro.”

More tournaments, more corporate events

Jewers predicted Eagle Crest “should be able to operate on a much larger scale starting next year. We’ll be looking at more tournaments and corporate events and maybe even hosting a tour event. I’d love to see the APGA come here, especially earlier in the year as we’re usually one of the first courses to open for the season.”

As for the new clubhouse, which will be located on the south (upper) end of the course with road access off Lakewood Road, Ward said he “expects to start construction sometime this spring and hopefully be finished by late fall.”

He’s waiting currently for his final permit from the Department of Environment for the septic system. “We may be able to open before the end of the year, or we may wait until next spring. It depends on how the construction goes.”

Meanwhile, the driving range, adjacent to the site of the new clubhouse, is up-and-running – and, in fact, is open now when the weather permits. “It’ll be nice to get the clubhouse done and open so everything will be in the same place.”

When completed, the new clubhouse will mean some changes to the course. “We have a new #1 and #18 hole completed and ready to open,” Ward said. “It’s just a matter of changing the configuration of the course.”

One of the existing par three holes in the vicinity of the new clubhouse was redesigned “to make it a little easier, because it’s going to be our new #1 hole. We did that last fall, and we should be able to open the green by May 1.”

Other than the new #1 and the new #18, which will eventually play back toward the new clubhouse, “everything else will stay the same, other than the numbers changing.”

‘Can see a lot of growth’: Ward

Ward is also excited about the arrival of Jewers, and what his diverse background and experience will mean to Eagle Crest over the long-term.

“We’ve had part-time pros off-and-on, but officially, we’ve never employed a full-time golf professional until now,” he said. “I can see a lot of growth, especially with the new clubhouse. I’d like to see us host a pro-am event and also do more to develop a strong junior program to help get our younger golfers to the next level.”

For his part, Jewers said, “there’s such an upside to this course. I’d like to think I have a good understanding of how to generate revenue from a clubhouse and I’m ready to take things to the next level here.”

Ward expected Eagle Crest to open for the season “hopefully the first weekend of April. It could be later, it could be a bit earlier, depending on the weather. We’ve never been open for the season before March 24, but with a few warm days, you never know.”