Stonelinks sold at auction

[GolfNut57]

on Dec 11th, 2014. Apparently it was bought by a cattle farmer who looks to be planning on closing the course down. No idea if it was closed immediately after the auction or not but I was told Wednesday that it would remain open for awhile after the sale. That is a real shame as Stonelinks has always been one of my favorite local courses to play in the Little Rock area and the greens were usually always found to be in good shape. It will be interesting to see which of the other local courses benefits the most from the displaced traffic that normally played Stonelinks. Guessing I will be spending more time at Rebsamen or North Hills.

Incidentally.........when Stonelinks was first created it was named Quapaw Links and ironically.......it was created out of pasture land that was being used for cattle grazing. So as it began covered in cows.....it appears it will fall back into that use.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I think it opened in 1993, so obviously before the Tiger Boom in golf course construction.
Too bad if true. I didn't play there much, but got out there at least once per year. Last time I was there was probably in June and the course and greens was in pretty good shape. Sad news.

Golf courses and restaurants...tough businesses to be in.

The course I miss the most is the Plantation in Mayflower. Fun course.

[pigture perfect]

Are we talking about that European style links course at Scott? I used to play that one when I was in the area. I realy liked it.

[cosmodrum]

That sucks. I like Stoney Links.

[GolfNut57]

I think it opened in 1993, so obviously before the Tiger Boom in golf course construction.
Too bad if true. I didn't play there much, but got out there at least once per year. Last time I was there was probably in June and the course and greens was in pretty good shape. Sad news.

Golf courses and restaurants...tough businesses to be in.

The course I miss the most is the Plantation in Mayflower. Fun course.

I got to play the Plantation course once and then it was shut down shortly after that. But from what I remember it was a decent course.

[GolfNut57]

Are we talking about that European style links course at Scott? I used to play that one when I was in the area. I realy liked it.

It is on Faulkner Lake road about a mile east off of 440 and is inside the NLR city limits. The little burg of Scott on highway 165 isn't too far away though.

[root_hawg]

I played it this year; pretty wide open

[GolfNut57]

well that didn't take long. With the decent weather I decided to get one more round out there today before the closing  but when I called out there this morning no one is answering the phone. Sheesh....

[root_hawg]

Drove by; didn't see anyone there.  Wouldn't you love to have one of those homes that is now going t back up to a pasture

[cosmodrum]

I played it this year; pretty wide open

Fairways are wide and not too many trees, but there's more water than you think and the rough sucks.

Well...I guess WERE wide and rough SUCKED. Oh well. RIP, Stoney.

[GolfNut57]

Drove by; didn't see anyone there.  Wouldn't you love to have one of those homes that is now going t back up to a pasture

Now they get to deal with the smell of cow poop instead of golf balls in their yards, through a window, etc. Just sucks because I was a member of the men's group there. Now the group is looking for a new course to call home.

[Wildhog]

Booooooooo

[rcopela]

I'm not a big fan of Links golf, but always enjoyed Stone, I remember the first time I played there they had more cans of Off for sale than golf balls, I found out why and bought a can at the turn..
 

[GolfNut57]

I'm not a big fan of Links golf, but always enjoyed Stone, I remember the first time I played there they had more cans of Off for sale than golf balls, I found out why and bought a can at the turn..

hahahaha.......yeah the rough was known by the regulars for being a hotbed of blood suckers. Many a golfer who hit a ball into it usually gave up looking for the ball within one minute simply because of those pests. I am gonna miss that course simply due to its convenient location, the modest greens fees and the good condition the bentgrass greens were usually in.

[root_hawg]

I got out today and played Greystone (front); hadn't played in about a month, hunting and back issues but pretty wet but greens were slick

[OLDHOG]

That's too bad. Played every week with old friends. Very good greens.

[Arky]

Group of Dr's from Searcy built it. Steve Holden designed it.

[HognitiveDissonance]

Originally it was more like a British course with open terrain, no trees, and TALL GRASS off the fairways. Not gorse, but bad stuff. As how many of these things go, after a few years evidently people tired of looking for golf balls so they cut a lot of that grass down.

There also used to be a cavernous bunker, big enough to hold a bus, off the #11 fairway, a par-5. It was on the left. But they took that out also, eventually.

The wind was always blowing out there. It was close to the river, and no trees to block the breeze.

I'll miss it. It was a well-designed, interesting course with holes running all directions. Nice layout and challenge. Greens were good all 20 years it was open.

[root_hawg]

Might have been more fun with the grass like that

[GolfNut57]

Originally it was more like a British course with open terrain, no trees, and TALL GRASS off the fairways. Not gorse, but bad stuff. As how many of these things go, after a few years evidently people tired of looking for golf balls so they cut a lot of that grass down.

There also used to be a cavernous bunker, big enough to hold a bus, off the #11 fairway, a par-5. It was on the left. But they took that out also, eventually.

The wind was always blowing out there. It was close to the river, and no trees to block the breeze.

I'll miss it. It was a well-designed, interesting course with holes running all directions. Nice layout and challenge. Greens were good all 20 years it was open.

Ah yes...the #11 bunker. I hated the filling in of it. Never understood the why of it. To me that was a great feature of the course. Still irritates me to think of those greens going back to being covered in cow pies. Had the new housing development to the east been spread around to the north side it might still be a golf course today.

[GolfNut57]

Might have been more fun with the grass like that

Sure......if you owned stock in a mosquito spray company. lol

[Randy Johnson]

Stonelinks will in a few years look like Rosswood.

http://www.inarkansas.com/30755/ghosts-of-rosswood

If golf won't change it will cease to exist to all but the fairly wealthy. Golf as I have stated here before is too expensive and too difficult. I'm alone pretty much in this thinking and I'll be pretty much alone on the course that's left. Golf has to change. Golf is not the only sport in big trouble, so is bowling. Like golf, bowling has equipment that is too expensive and the lane fees are too high. In addition to the problems of bowling, golf is to hard to learn. I don't have the solution but I see the problem clearly. I would "guess" it will take someone to make it very inexpensive and simple. The only way I see that happening is to have a more simple layout, maybe only 3 holes. It will require the course to supply the clubs and balls. I also think to make it in the future you will need lights so people can play at night. In the heat of the summer in Arkansas I would think this would go over well. For golf to survive it is going to have to change.

[cosmodrum]

Stonelinks will in a few years look like Rosswood.

http://www.inarkansas.com/30755/ghosts-of-rosswood

If golf won't change it will cease to exist to all but the fairly wealthy. Golf as I have stated here before is too expensive and too difficult. I'm alone pretty much in this thinking and I'll be pretty much alone on the course that's left. Golf has to change. Golf is not the only sport in big trouble, so is bowling. Like golf, bowling has equipment that is too expensive and the lane fees are too high. In addition to the problems of bowling, golf is to hard to learn. I don't have the solution but I see the problem clearly. I would "guess" it will take someone to make it very inexpensive and simple. The only way I see that happening is to have a more simple layout, maybe only 3 holes. It will require the course to supply the clubs and balls. I also think to make it in the future you will need lights so people can play at night. In the heat of the summer in Arkansas I would think this would go over well. For golf to survive it is going to have to change.

Yet, people like me would quit playing.

"The hard is what makes it great." - quote from that movie where broads play baseball

[root_hawg]

I think you will see  it survive but there is a definite need for course consolidation, there are so many options.  Look at Cabot, a town of say 25,000 and there are 3 courses in th town and another 2 less than 20 minutes away.  I think course consolidation would put the "recreational" golfers on the public courses.

In regards to it being to hard, it depends upon expectations.  My expectations this year are to be consistently in the 70s but I don't hit driver on every hole, I practice at home and don't get (*&^-faced on the course.  I mean if your warm-up at the course is to fill your cooler, and grab a few range balls to take the course then yes it is going to be hard.

[GolfNut57]

I think you will see  it survive but there is a definite need for course consolidation, there are so many options.  Look at Cabot, a town of say 25,000 and there are 3 courses in th town and another 2 less than 20 minutes away.  I think course consolidation would put the "recreational" golfers on the public courses.

Three courses in Cabot being the two at Greystone and Rolling Hills I presume. What are the two other courses within 20 mins you speak of?

[HognitiveDissonance]

Stonelinks will in a few years look like Rosswood.

http://www.inarkansas.com/30755/ghosts-of-rosswood

If golf won't change it will cease to exist to all but the fairly wealthy. Golf as I have stated here before is too expensive and too difficult. I'm alone pretty much in this thinking and I'll be pretty much alone on the course that's left. Golf has to change. Golf is not the only sport in big trouble, so is bowling. Like golf, bowling has equipment that is too expensive and the lane fees are too high. In addition to the problems of bowling, golf is to hard to learn. I don't have the solution but I see the problem clearly. I would "guess" it will take someone to make it very inexpensive and simple. The only way I see that happening is to have a more simple layout, maybe only 3 holes. It will require the course to supply the clubs and balls. I also think to make it in the future you will need lights so people can play at night. In the heat of the summer in Arkansas I would think this would go over well. For golf to survive it is going to have to change.

Golf will always be around, and there will always be a place for the high-dollar, high-profile courses like Alotian, P Valley, etc.
But the two biggest obstacles are time and money. The average guy has short supply of both. I play literally everywhere but I spend more time at War Memorial over the course of a year than anywhere else, for the above reasons, mostly time. Yes, it's cheap to play($11), but I can walk 18 holes in two hours and not really rush myself.
That's what golf needs, more executive style courses that are well done and fun to play but doesn't require a huge time or money investment.

[root_hawg]

The one at Jacksonville not sure the name and I believe there is one called Pine Valley, but not sure on that one

[root_hawg]

and you could add the base in there as well

[Jackrabbit Hog]

The one at Jacksonville not sure the name and I believe there is one called Pine Valley, but not sure on that one

Pine Valley is in Macon, in extreme north Pulaski County, so you're right about that one.

Foxwood CC is or was in Jacksonville.  I played it a lot back in the late '80s and early '90s but have no idea of its status now.

[root_hawg]

Foxwood still there but think they had a name change

[GolfNut57]

Pine Valley is in Macon, in extreme north Pulaski County, so you're right about that one.

Foxwood CC is or was in Jacksonville.  I played it a lot back in the late '80s and early '90s but have no idea of its status now.

Foxwood still there but think they had a name change

The former Foxwood closed down for over a year and then reopened under the new name of Southern Oaks. Root I thought you would know that since you said last week that you played the course back in the summer.
Pine Valley in Macon is a real goat track. Amazing that it hasn't been shut down years ago. But it is a cheap course to play for sure. Thinking last time I looked you could walk 18 holes for around $12. or so. There is another golf course near Macon called Hickory Creek that is even more rinky dink than Pine Valley. Shame that Pine Valley is nothing like the more famous course by that name.

[GolfNut57]

and you could add the base in there as well

I've always liked the on base course (Deer Run). Too bad it is impossible to get on without being escorted by someone with a military ID. They do have tourneys there once in a awhile though that are open to the public.

[cc]

I played Plantation and it had a nice layout.  I think it could have been really nice.  Shame to hear about Stonelinks because I always enjoyed the greens.  I layer Rosswood from lay pet 90's till about 2 years before it closed.  It was my favorite course.

[root_hawg]

I knew it was there just could not remember the name.  I heard hickory creek closed but not sure on that one.

[GolfNut57]

I knew it was there just could not remember the name.  I heard hickory creek closed but not sure on that one.

I've heard nothing about Hickory Creek closing. Never played it and never had any interest in doing so. When it first opened I went around it on a golf cart just to check it out and found it a laughable excuse of a golf course. Rocky Mantooth was the owner/operator I believe. At one time I think he was the pro at Foxwood back in the 80's.

[root_hawg]

Guess u r right, there is still a website

[Jackrabbit Hog]

I've heard nothing about Hickory Creek closing. Never played it and never had any interest in doing so. When it first opened I went around it on a golf cart just to check it out and found it a laughable excuse of a golf course. Rocky Mantooth was the owner/operator I believe. At one time I think he was the pro at Foxwood back in the 80's.

I've known Rocky since I was about 12 years old.  His dad, Homer, was a pro somewhere before Rocky got old enough to be in the business.  Good folks, but I probably haven't seen Rocky in over 20 years.

[clutch]

I've known Rocky since I was about 12 years old.  His dad, Homer, was a pro somewhere before Rocky got old enough to be in the business.  Good folks, but I probably haven't seen Rocky in over 20 years.

Is his mother Dorothy? Because I hear Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint!

[Jackrabbit Hog]

Is his mother Dorothy? Because I hear Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint!

I honestly don't remember if I ever met Rocky's mother.  I knew Rocky and his dad from Rolling Hills CC in Cabot, where I learned to play back in the day.  Amazing how many really good golfers played out of Rolling Hills back then. Randy and Stan Beaver, the Mantooths, Clark King (his dad Tommy was the pro there), Johnny White. 

[root_hawg]

If it s the same Johnny White, he is now working at Greystone

[cosmodrum]

I've heard nothing about Hickory Creek closing. Never played it and never had any interest in doing so. When it first opened I went around it on a golf cart just to check it out and found it a laughable excuse of a golf course. Rocky Mantooth was the owner/operator I believe. At one time I think he was the pro at Foxwood back in the 80's.

It's okay for what it is. $20 for 3500 yds of championship golf!

[clutch]

I honestly don't remember if I ever met Rocky's mother.  I knew Rocky and his dad from Rolling Hills CC in Cabot, where I learned to play back in the day.  Amazing how many really good golfers played out of Rolling Hills back then. Randy and Stan Beaver, the Mantooths, Clark King (his dad Tommy was the pro there), Johnny White. 

Haha I was just making a movie reference with the Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint thing. Comes from anchorman.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

Haha I was just making a movie reference with the Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint thing. Comes from anchorman.

The generation gap on full display there.  My bad.  Hey , don't forget I coached T-ball against your 6 year old team.

[onebadrubi]

The generation gap on full display there.  My bad.  Hey , don't forget I coached T-ball against your 6 year old team.

Now you just make yourself look old by saying things like that!

[clutch]

Now you just make yourself look old by saying things like that!

He probably still feels the beatings we dished out. We had a bad to the bone t-ball and pitching machine team.

[Hawg414]

what is the update on this?  got my daily ArDemGaz email... but it says my subscription just ran out and wont let me view the article titled "family gives NLR former golf course"

[TomasPistola]

I've heard nothing about Hickory Creek closing. Never played it and never had any interest in doing so. When it first opened I went around it on a golf cart just to check it out and found it a laughable excuse of a golf course. Rocky Mantooth was the owner/operator I believe. At one time I think he was the pro at Foxwood back in the 80's.

I'd be sad to hear Hickory Creek closed if true. That's where I learned to play while I was in college. We'd go up there all the time. Never met Rocky, but his folks were always the nicest people. They were proud of that place, you could tell.

[ricepig]

what is the update on this?  got my daily ArDemGaz email... but it says my subscription just ran out and wont let me view the article titled "family gives NLR former golf course"

Correct, the guys that bought the course are giving it to the city of NLR. Now, the city said they can't afford the $250,000 that it loses every year, so they may make a park out of it.

[onebadrubi]

He probably still feels the beatings we dished out. We had a bad to the bone t-ball and pitching machine team.

You had a damn batting cage in your back yard.  Ha.

[GolfNut57]

Correct, the guys that bought the course are giving it to the city of NLR. Now, the city said they can't afford the $250,000 that it loses every year, so they may make a park out of it.

So that's the latest on it? Wonder what kind of park they talking? Although as parks go that seems to be way out of the way for visitors. I smell a resale to someone who would keep it for golf.