The news is grim. Berrien Hills Country Club, which has served local communities and residents for over eighty years, is in trouble. Financial trouble. In fact, the club has voted not to open this year and to entertain offers to purchase some of the real estate involved in the eighteen-hole golf course and clubhouse.
I didn’t know the BHCC in its heyday, but I’ve heard from others who did. It was a wonderful place, replete with magnificent grounds for golfers, a swimming pool, and meals that were legendary. Sunday brunch was a reservations-only affair.
By the time Earl and I came on the scene, the club was selling dinner memberships, in addition to its full membership, in the hope of getting more people interested in the full boogie. However, neither Earl nor I golf, so we were not real prospects. And, when Earl did decide to take lessons, he went elsewhere.
At first, we enjoyed dining there. Chuck, the bartender, made the best Manhattan in the county, and Earl told him so on more than one occasion. The food, while not as spectacular as we’d heard, was fine. And after eating, we’d linger and watch the sunset from the wonderful picture windows as it covered the greens with a soft glow. Then we’d go home as content as any Tiger Wood wannabe.
But we also sensed that the facilities needed attention, attention that required money. The entrance to the club house, for instance, had no access for wheelchairs. When questioned about this, one of the staff suggested that there would be enough golfers around to lift a wheelchair up the stairs that graced the front door. In the year we went to the BHCC, the inside foyer acquired a musty smell. Many of the dining rooms, including the largest one, were closed. The menu was pared more than once, until there was nothing left but sandwiches and a Friday night buffet with one entree.
I’m sure there are many reasons why Berrien Hills Country Club is closing. Maybe some have to do with poor management, but I tend to think the real issues lay in the changing culture of the area. Major companies that might have sponsored memberships for their executives have moved elsewhere. Other golf courses have sprung up. The season for golf is relatively short. Some of the people who had gone to BHCC over the years have probably retired and moved to warmer climes.
The truth is that organizations have life cycles. They’re subject to sometimes painful yet joyous beginnings, various growth spurts, stable periods, and decline. In this regard, the Berrien Hills Country Club is the equivalent of a eighty-year plus senior citizen who’s led a wondrous life and given much to the community over the years. Even though she is not what she once was, I hope she is remembered as such.
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