‘Blue collar’ golfers aim to save McIntire course

It’s high noon and nigh unto two dozen duffers hump clubs on the endangered McIntire Park Golf Course with non-manicured, stump-studded fairways and sand-trap greens.

“This is the way golf was when it was created. This is what golf was for 400 of its 500 years — a blue collar, peasant sport,” said Jim Moore, who is helping to spearhead an effort to save the golf course. “It wasn’t until its last 100 years that golf became a tidy, manicured sport for the well-off.”

Three-club tourney

Mr. Moore is trying to help save the McIntire golf course with a three-club tournament on Sunday. Tee times are 9 a.m. and noon with teams and individuals welcome. The $25 greens fee include lunch and refreshments, and beginners are welcome.

Beware: This ain’t no glamour golf course. There are no powered carts, no caddies, no dress code, and drinks at the clubhouse consist of a Pepsi machine on a brick patio with two picnic tables.

It’s an all-natural course complete with weeds, dirt greens, no irrigation, no fertilization, seriously low maintenance — we’re talking mowing twice weekly.

“We came down here to play because they wouldn’t let us play up at Wintergreen,” said Johnnie Bunch after stuffing the honor-system greens fee box with a couple of $5 bills for himself and son Bruce. “They said we couldn’t golf dressed the way we’re dressed.”

Working man’s attire of blue jeans, sport shoes, tank top and Harley-Davidson T-shirt is apparently too gauche for glamour golf courses.

“We’ve played other places, but we figured we’d come here,” Bruce said. “It’s cheaper, it’s not crowded and no there’s no hassles.”

The golf course draws plenty of players. Some say they play a round after work, before work and even instead of work. Others come to play when they have an excuse.

‘Play when you want’

“When I come into town on other business, I usually play here. There are no tee times and you can come out and play when you want,” said Robert Buck, of Barboursville, after finishing a putt on the ninth dirt green. “This is my first time out this year and, judging by the way I played, I better get out more often.”

Those who assume that the tournament is to save the course from the Meadowcreek Parkway would be wrong. While the alternative road connecting downtown Charlottesville to Rio Road will take out two holes, the real threat comes from within. The city’s current McIntire Park master plan would eliminate the entire course, designed and built under a Depression-era stimulus package.

Instead, the plan proposes 40 acres of trails, arboreta and botanical gardens to draw visitors from across the state, estimated to cost $12 million to $15 million.

For Mr. Moore and the course’s supporters, the idea is to get the word out that the course is there and of value.

“We trust that the city will make the best decision for use of the park. To do that, we believe our voice needs to be heard, and that wasn’t happening,” Mr. Moore said. “We just want people to know what a great place this is.”