How To Make Nine Holes

Institutions are important, those local places which have stood the test of time and seem to reflect the flavor of the area and its people. These buildings or parcels of land may be businesses, landmarks or places within communities that admirably define those towns and cities. Within the small towns that are spread across this great nation of ours, there are places that people refer to when describing those hamlets. Noel’s Elk River Golf Course is such a place.

The 69 or so acres of land nestled between the beautiful Missouri Ozark bluffs and slowly moving waters of the Elk River have been home to a ranch, a scouting camp, a dairy farm and two, that’s right, I said two golf courses. My query into the history of the golf courses and surrounding property, much like all journeys, needed a starting point. With that inescapable and crucial element in mind, I decided to start with the year 1900.

The land that the golf course now occupies, as well as several hundred additional acres was owned by Nap Perry. Perry built a ranch house on the property which was located just outside of Noel and hired a competent ranch hand who went by the name of Charles Buxton. Buxton and Perry had a fondness for animals and the two cared for several racehorses, as well as a black bear. The property remained in Perry’s possession until 1917.

The land that had been a farm and a ranch was sold at auction to the highest bidder, a gentleman named Pickens. Pickens was a farmer and had no use for any of the ranch qualities of the previous owner. Buxton stayed with the property and, as Pickens’ employee and right-hand man, the two farmed the six hundred acres of land. The land didn’t remain in the hands of Pickens long and was purchased by Dan and Caroline Sayre. The couple named the ranch, Pla-Daz and it soon became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southwest Missouri.

Dan had been a Kansas City Auctioneer and continued to ply that trade in the Noel area. His wife Caroline was a school teacher and sometimes writer. The ranch offered guests all the amenities one might imagine a ranch could have. There were quaint cottages, campgrounds, a tennis court and, as one might expect, fishing in both a small lake and the nearby river.

Tourists could explore the ranch grounds on horseback or swim or boat in the small lake located at the foot of “Scout Mountain.” Hot home-cooked meals were served and the evenings found the guests dancing to music that floated across the valley and to the top of “Deer Park,” a fenced-in animal refuge created by the Sayre’s.

Dan and Caroline used what the land had to offer. The ranch was home to a dairy and orchards, and pipes carried spring water from Reagan Hollow to the ranch. The ranch had electric lights and the naturally cool temperatures found in a cold cave, “The Polar Bear Cave,” just across the road from the ranch, were taken advantage of as watermelons, drinks and other items in need of cooler temperatures were kept cold.

The Ozark Spring Tavern was a place where ranch guests could wet their whistle and, in an effort to attract as many tourists as possible, a landing strip for small planes was constructed on the property. The ranch offered almost every amenity except one. There was no golf course. However, a collaboration between the Sayre’s and a group of men representing Noel’s Chamber of Commerce soon remedied that shortcoming.

The Sayre’s knew that a golf course would add one more feature to the list of amenities which might entice more tourists, and that would result in more money. The men of the chamber of commerce, on the other hand, wanted to play golf and, for that, they first needed a golf course. So, a symbiotic relationship was formed and, on July 21, 1926, a contract was signed leasing approximately 69 acres of ranch land to a group of men for the express purpose of building and operating the Noel Golf Course. Will Bryson, W.A. Walters, R.L. Keever and others penned their signatures to the lease document.

And so it came to be that a rudimentary golf course was built. The course, for the most part, conformed to the land’s existing topography, while the greens were covered with sand, not grass. Sand greens were relatively common back then and far less expensive than grass greens.

Keeping the length of the blades of grass short was a monumental task in the late ’20s. During the daylight hours, Jack Viles guided a horse-drawn mower over the fairways while, at night, sheep were allowed to graze and eat their fill. When the early morning sun appeared and before the first ball was struck, the flock was shepherded off the course.

Mrs. Amos Viles worked inside the clubhouse and

greeted local golfing enthusiasts such as Forest Harmon, Dr. Minton and Dick Stout. The task of carrying the golfers’ clubs fell to caddies, some of whom included Paul Viles and Claudie Howerton.

The property remained in the hands of the Sayres for some time and continued to offer a plethora of amenities, including golf, to summer vacationers. Dan Sayre died in 1934, and wife Caroline passed away in 1949. Eventually, the 600 or so acres of land was again sold.

Over the next few decades, the land passed from owner to owner. George Hollman, Elmer Smith and the Holcak family came into possession of the land and the Pla-Daz Ranch became farmland. Cows were raised, and the old golf clubhouse was no more. Dairy cows were milked and, occasionally, some of the land was leased to people like Owen Reagan who picked corn by hand. But history was destined to repeat itself.

In 1967, a group of men got together and, acting on behalf of the Noel Country Club Inc., bought 69 acres of land from the Clift family of Texas; the same parcel of land that the golf course of the ’20s once occupied. The club needed to borrow $140,000 from the Farmer’s Home Administration and a condition for getting the loan required the signing of 140 members. Following a robust membership drive, the goal was met and the loan was given.

The new board of governors overseeing the golf course consisted of Chairman Paul Howarth, Norman Smith, J.B. Cantrell, Aubrey Johnson, Dan Voorhies and Rex Chamberlain.

Brahnam Construction Company built the clubhouse on the same patch of ground that was once home to the Pla-Daz hotel. The golf course opened for play in 1969 and, in addition to a nine-hole course with grass greens, visitors could also cool off in the swimming pool. Later improvements to the course included a lounge and tennis court, all operating under the auspices of Bob and June Sampson.

The course went through several name changes over the years and is now operating under the name of Elk River Golf Course. Bobby Thomas and Theresa Davis run the day-to-day operations and report to a board of directors. Some years ago, there was a movement to increase the number of holes to 18, but the plan never came to fruition and the course now consists of its original nine holes.

I have a rather personal connection to the old golf course as my mother and father once, and now some years ago, managed the golf course. Thirsty and hungry golfers often stopped in the clubhouse where my mother handed them a mustard-covered frankfurter in a bun and an ice-cold Coke.

I commend those who for more than 50 years, for better or worse and in good times and bad, have faithfully stood by and supported the golf course. I regrettably find that institutions are fragile things and, once lost, they are sadly gone forever.

One may find that those favored landmarks embedded within communities, those institutions, those places of interest and notoriety, are generally places which are cherished by those who live in the hamlets they represent; and so it is with the Elk River Golf Course. The low-lying, grass-covered land which lies between the bluffs and the Elk River is truly a place prized by all.