New house for Kimbeland Country Club

~ The Jackson golf course has itself a spacious new upgrade.

It hasn't been exactly a secret that the 45-year-old wooden frame clubhouse at Kimbeland Country Club has long passed its prime.

But exactly how tired looking the diminutive, dark brown wood-sided structure had become was made unmistakably apparent over the course of the last nine months. The structure now sits in the shadows of its successor, a 7,636-square foot, $1.3 million, stonewall structure with a full wrap-around porch.

The clubhouse, which opened in August and sits on the site of the old practice green, has become the new centerpiece for the 410-member club.

"When you come down the 17th fairway and you can see the old and the new one, you go, 'Wow,'" said Jim Walker, a longtime member who filled the newly created position of general manager in April. "We're pretty excited."

The pro shop is noticeably larger in the new clubhouse at Kimbeland Country Club. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

The course, which opened with a nine-hole layout and 100 members in 1962, has undergone numerous changes over the years. The layout was expanded to 18 holes within the first couple years of its conception and reconfigured through the years. One of the more notable changes was a rerouting of several holes in 1998. In fact, the course presently features 20 holes, which allows two holes to be closed for maintenance and changes without interfering with the flow of play.

The one constant has been the clubhouse, which like a house with a growing family seemed to get smaller with each passing year.

"If it was 3,000 [square feet], I'd be surprised, but it wasn't set up very good," Walker said of the outdated facility.

The clubhouse was at its smallest when tournaments intersected with inclement weather. With rain and no overhang around the facility, as many as 130 to 140 golfers had to crowd into the clubhouse, which could only seat about 80 players.

"There was a feeling among the membership that it was finally time to do something with the clubhouse," Walker said. "The golf course was obviously the draw, but it became more and more apparent we needed to get into a new facility to service the members."

Golfers have more space inside the club room at Kimbeland Country Club.

Walker said a building committee was formed in 2005 and started generating ideas. That work was turned over to local architect Tom Hohlshouser, who designed the clubhouse. In a vote of the membership, Walker said 80 percent approved of the plan, which was then approved unanimously by the club's board of directors.

Columbia Construction began construction last December and completed it in August, and there are no longer any tight fairways to negotiate in the roomy upgrade. Most facets of the building have been expanded in multiples of the old facility.

About a 1,400 square-foot dining room is adjoined to a substantially larger club room, which features a longer bar and three 42-inch LCD flat-panel screens. The rooms are separated by a collapsible wall. Along with Walker's office, the building includes a meeting room, a club storage room and workshop, enlarged restrooms, showers and locker rooms, and both a pro shop and kitchen that are approximately three times the size of those in the previous facility.

"The biggest thing is the space," Walker said. "We can probably seat 175 people now. I'm not sure we could have got 80 people comfortably in the other one.

"We've had at least three tournaments since we've opened, and it's been wonderful."

The club plans to take advantage of its new amenities. Andy Dirnberger was hired Sept. 1 to be the club's head chef and restaurant manager. Dirnberger, who had worked for years at Sikeston Country Club, plans to bring more variety to the menu. Expanded eating times are in the plans for the restaurant, which is open to the public.

"[Andy] has been working on an expanded menu for lunch, and I'm sure he has some ideas for a dinner menu when we get to that point," Walker said.

The dining room can also host banquets and other events, which could bring the club business during the winter months.

Building committee chairman Dave Reiminger, who owns Overhead Door of Southeast Missouri, said he's given thought to holding his company's Christmas party at the club.

Walker and Reiminger said the majority of members has been enthusiastic about the new clubhouse.

"I like it," said Earl James, a 10-year member. "It's more convenient and has more room. I think it was outdated, but that's my opinion. I think it will make for a closer membership. They have more room in here. Every time you had a function you didn't have room to seat the people."

Concerns about the cost

One fear among some members is the project ran over cost and the price tag will mean increased membership dues. The club has a $1,150 initiation fee for families and yearly dues of $1,455.

"It's a very nice building," said Ray Moore, a 30-year member. "But it depends on how much it increases our dues, which I think they will. And I am retired. I don't have an unlimited budget, so I may quit after 30 years. I don't know -- it depends on how much they raise the dues."

Gene Garrison, a member since 2003, echoed sentiments about liking the building. Garrison also expressed concerns about longtime elderly members on fixed incomes.

"We need a new clubhouse and all that, but if it squeezes out members who have been here a long, long time, I'm not sure it's a good thing," Garrison said. "I don't think many people disagreed it was time for the other building to go. If there has been any discussions, it's been what kind of building to replace it."

Dues were raised $300 a year ago, a sum that Reiminger said members were informed about when the plan was put in place.

After the parking lot is repaved and the old clubhouse is torn down, Reiminger said he expects the bill to total around $1.35 million.

"I don't think [the dues] will go up any more than they were told and where the dues are now," Reiminger said. "If it goes up, I think it will be very insignificant. I don't foresee much of a change."

Reiminger said he owes much to Kimbeland, which he raised his children next to and credits as the "world's best baby sitter."

"I want to see my grandkids grow up out here and learn the things my kids learned at this place," Reiminger said. "And that's playing with the older generation at times and learning the true meaning of golf and how etiquette plays into it."

And Reiminger has many echoing his sentiments.

"We really need this for our children and the young ones that are coming on, cause we've had [the old clubhouse] here since it started," said Don Fowler, a member for more than 40 years. "So yeah, we're proud of this thing. I'm real positive about it. I think it's great."