New owners to open golf course

The course will be open to the public for individual and league play and golf outings.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
COITSVILLE -- A rejuvenated Knoll Run Golf Course, formerly the Countryside Golf Course, will open for business March 1, weather permitting, say its new owners.
A grand opening is planned for sometime in April or May.
The 18-hole course, at 1421 Struthers-Coitsville Road (state Route 616), was bought in August 2006 by Marucci and Gaffney Excavating for 1.2 million at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction.
The previous owner, Villa Marie Estates, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005 to avoid a foreclosure sale. It owed Cortland Banks 530,000.
The new owners, confident they can be successful in the business, got the golf course by outbidding A. Thomas Grischow, owner of Bedford Trails Golf Course in Coitsville, and Tom Parteleno, a native of the area who used to be a golf professional in Florida.
"We wouldn't have bought it unless we thought we could make a go of it," said Bill Gaffney Sr., co-founder of Marucci and Gaffney.
Renovations
Since taking over the Knoll Run, which was closed by the court in April 2006, the new owners have spent 600,000 to 650,000 on the golf course alone, said Scott (Tim) Marucci, the other cofounder of the excavating business. Also involved in the business are Bill Gaffney Jr. and the senior Gaffney's daughter, Jenny Reda, who is general manager of Knoll Run.
Among the infrastructure improvements are new irrigation and sprinkler systems, and construction of three miles of drainage pipe and five miles of golf cart paths, Marucci said.
Also, the course itself is being upgraded.
"It was like a cow pasture. We had to get the greens and fairways useable," said Gaffney Jr.
Changes made
Marucci said some minor changes to the course, which is on 150 acres, have also been made. For instance, he said the eighth hole was changed from a par 4 to a par 5, and some of the ditches around the first, second and eighth holes were filled in.
Extensive work has been done on the clubhouse, which houses a bar, restaurant and pro shop. Other plans for the clubhouse, a converted barn, include a banquet facility on second floor, Reda said.
Also, the owners plan to build a new maintenance building, cart barn and pavilion.
Gaffney Sr. said they are appreciative of the local support they have received, including from the Coitsville trustees and police.
Marucci said they also plan to upgrade the course by improving three holes a year. Improvements would include adding sand traps or making changes to the lakes, he said.
The course will be open to the public for individual, league play and golf outings.
"We have several leagues already signed up," Reda said.
"Our goal is an affordable, comfortable place to golf and eat and have fun," the owners said.
alcorn@vindy.com