Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

This past weekend, we revisited the Berrien Hills Golf Course, known in a former life as the Berrien Hills Country Club.

I wrote about the Club on March 14 as it faced financial demise and decided to cancel its 2006 summer season. Since then the club was sold to an investor who made it into a public golf course. And last week’s local newspaper said the investor was also re-opening the dining facilities, which would be open to the general public too.

Earl and I had always enjoyed dining there when it was the Berrien Hills Country Club, even though we arrived at the door long after its heyday. We liked the view from the dining room, we liked the bartender, and we liked the food. For our weekly Friday night on the town, it was more than adequate.

So, after reading the recent newspaper article, we decided to give the Berrien Hills Golf Course another try. We went on Friday evening, arriving around six. The entrance to the place was planted with flowers, which was a good sign. As we opened the door to the club, we saw the main dining room was in great disrepair. A bad sign. But we walked around to the bar and found it intact. We also found it empty.

“Are you serving dinner,” I asked? The three waitstaff persons all nodded their heads. “Is it a buffet,” I asked, remembering how the club went down at the end. Three heads shook a collective “No.” “Great,” I said. “Can we pick our own table?” The “Yes” nod returned my question.

As the only patrons in the place, we chose the best spot, the corner where two windows converge and there is a spectacular view of the golf course grounds and the St. Joseph River. We ordered our cocktails and hoped others would soon come in. We asked questions about the unusual things on the menu. Finally, after a couple cocktails, we ordered dinner.

By then some other guests had arrived, and the waitstaff was put to the test. It was clear they were new, so new that they had to recruit the salesperson in the pro shop to help take dinner orders. Clearly, this was a work in progress. At the same time, Earl’s pasta and my salmon arrived looking quite edible. We ate and listened to the tables around us, as the bar is small and prone to being noisy. We weren’t sure if the other diners were previous members of the Club or if they were outsiders like us. I only know it was busier last Friday night than I ever saw it when it was the Berrien Hills Country Club.