KINGSVILLE — When golfers return to the Kingsville Golf and Country Club for its reopening Saturday they will notice a significant addition to the clubhouse — a massive new concrete patio.
The final touches to the patio west of the clubhouse are still being made, but when completed it will featured a canopied outdoor bar where golfers can have a drink and also watch sporting events on a big-screen TV.
Club general manager Doug Quick said plans for the patio started out small, first 3,000 square feet, then 4,500 and finally 5,500.
“We thought when we looked at it, we said especially if we have to do social distancing on it and we’re looking at this for the future … let’s go big, let’s do it once, let’s do it right and that’s why it expanded,” he said.
Quick hopes the patio, which works around three large shade trees, will be popular with non-golfers who are looking for a scenic place to dine.
“What we were told last year it was a nice spot to come out to eat. You’ve got some shade here, a nice southwest breeze and you’re overlooking a great golf course,” he said. “It’s a beautiful view; we were told that multiple times last year.”
Quick praised two members — Isaac Neufeld and Dean Coghill — who played an integral role in the construction of the exposed aggregate patio and the eventual construction of the outdoor bar.
Neufeld, owner of Neufeld Construction, poured the concrete and Coghill, a general contractor, will build the bar whose tap lines will connect with the bar in the clubhouse dining room.
The final price tag for the patio and bar is not yet known, but Quick said the price would be far higher if Neufeld and Coghill weren’t involved. “We’re very much appreciative of what they have done.”
The patio will likely open in mid-June when restrictions on outdoor dining are lifted. Saturday marks the lifting of the ban on outdoor activities, like golf, tennis and pickleball.
Adam Charles, director of golf operations, said since the mid-April announcement of the stay-at-home restrictions and the ban on golf the course had been operating on a standby basis, ready to open at a moment’s notice.
“We knew there was a lot of lobbying going on to try and get golf open … so we were counting of the government letting us go eventually. We’ve proved we can operate safely” he said. “So every day we operated as if we could open tomorrow.”
Member John Burke said he was “more than happy” the course is reopening. “I’m really glad we’re getting back to playing golf again. It’s been a long time,” he said. “And again, if we all do what we’re supposed to do, hopefully we’ll be able to play golf for the rest of the year.”
