Former prison guard saves American golf course

Parton used to work at a federal prison. After retiring, he lived in rural Alabama and Alpine Bay. But this yard is located in a remote area, connected to the urban area by a zigzag back road.

Initially, the project owner intended to make Alpine Bay a complex of 36 holes, divided into two courtyards, combined with a resort. But due to lack of money, only one yard came into operation in 1972 and there was no resort. It is about 70 km from the city of Birmingham but the local golfers pay little attention, mainly because it is not convenient to travel.

Alpine Bay has many competitive advantages, when according to international standards, beautiful scenery, designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr. He holds the position of chief architect of the project with the support of his son Rees. Later, Rees was as famous as his father, receiving many professional awards.

Even so, Alpine Bay is still empty, partly because of the location, the rest due to financial weakness. After the recession of 2008, hundreds of courses in the US closed, and Alpine Bay stayed for another 6 years and then closed, in 2014. This is common in Alabama, even in the golf world.

Parton loved it, played it at Alpine Bay and couldn't bear to watch it die.

One summer afternoon in 2016, he and his wife - Jan went there for a walk. Both were moved by the desolation. "We went to the green on the eighth hole and we were shocked. Weeds were all over, waist high, and the greens were completely dead," Parton recently recalled in Golfweek.

He and his wife tried to remove the weeds and then left, then returned several days in a row to assess the ruins they loved. On one such trip, Parton received a call from Mark Calhoun, another old patron in Alpine Bay. "Mark asked me where I was. I said it was in Alpine," he said.

So Calhoun immediately got into the car to meet Parton, just as his friend was mowing the lawn. After a little cleaning, they found that there was still hope for the yard to be saved.

At that time, Alpine Bay had spent many months selling the package - the yard, the practice area, the clubhouse - at 144,000 USD. Parton contacted the realtor of this place and offered to buy it. Negotiations took several months. By early 2017, Parton closed the contract after collecting enough money of his own.

Buying Alpine was one thing, Parton had to get it reopened. Only he and his wife are not strong enough and have run out of capital. But with Calhoun's help, Parton attracted a few more investors and opened a owned and operated company with the ability to borrow up to $520,000.

Restoring the Alpine Bay pitch took five months, hard work. In the summer of 2017, it officially revived and reopened with the new name Alpine Bay Golf Club. Within a year, the place attracted 60 members, and now has doubled that number. And in the last two years, the annual mining capacity has always reached 15,000 rounds, the rental price for the yard on weekends or holidays is up to 46 USD per round.