Maiers, Jacobsen take over ML Golf & Country Club

New owners look to enhance membership atmosphere

MOSES LAKE — About two months after they stepped in to offer alternative financing, two local businessmen now own the Moses Lake Golf and Country Club.

Club members Pamp Maiers and Jake Jacobsen stepped in this March to offer what country club board of directors president Scott Rock then termed "alternative financing" to allow the club to continue doing business as usual.

Effective Sunday, Maiers and Jacobsen took over the club's operational management.

"We'll be running just about every aspect of the club, meaning the golf portion, the restaurant, pro shop," Jacobsen confirmed.

Plans for the club include improvements to the golf course itself, and service improvements in the restaurant and pro shop, and better availability to the members.

"We're just enhancing the club for the memberships," Jacobsen said. "Basic operation of the golf course will go on as a country club, and it's the country club atmosphere that we're going to be promoting."

Maiers has been a member of the club for 32 years, while Jacobsen has been a member for 18.

"Basically, the members decided that they would prefer to not have the real estate responsibilities of it, and just try to enhance their own club as far as dealing with golf tournaments and programs," Maiers said.

Jacobsen said assuming operational management was not necessarily something they had planned on, but "here we are.

"The country club has quite a history — it's been around for over 50 years," he continued. "The fact that it has been a country club for over 50 years, and we are long term members, it's good for the community, good for the club and we are kind of looking forward to keeping it going as a country club."

While the country club will remain private, Jacobsen said that the possibility exists that the restaurant portion could become open to the public.

Manager Patrick McPherson resigned from the country club two weeks ago, Maiers and Jacobsen said.

At a membership meeting Tuesday, attended by what Jacobsen called "an overwhelming majority of members," decided that he and Maiers would try their hand at operating the club.

"It made us feel good, feel support," Maiers said. "We were glad to see it be that way. It was better than we had anticipated, actually."

Regarding opposition to the move — a letter sent out by the board of directors said the vote was 124 in favor to turn the reigns over to Jacobsen and Maiers and 12 votes against the move — Jacobsen said, like anything, not everyone is going to want change.

"It was over 90 percent for us to take it over and enhance it," Maiers pointed out. "Jake and I got involved in the first place because we wanted to keep it local."

"The town's growing, Pamp and I are both in the real estate business and … we both realize there is quite an influx of people coming in from outside the area," Jacobsen said. "When they move to the area, they have the opportunity to play public golf, become a member of the country club, or all walks. As those people come in, we want to have something to offer."

The club's membership covers a wide variety of people — young, older, long-term and new — and Jacobsen and Maiers are looking forward to making the experience better for everybody. Their biggest goal is to make the golfing experience more enjoyable for all members.

"Moses Lake has one country club, and we want to restore the confidence in that club like it once was," he said. "We're two businessmen in town that have been here for a long time, we're both members of the club and just like anybody else that would see their need because you're a member, we just think it's going to be better, no doubt about it."

There will be an outside sales program, and Maiers and Jacobsen will be out in the community promoting the country club.

"Any business person in town should have a membership, at least a social membership in Moses Lake Country Club," Jacobsen said. "It's great for your customer relations, it's great for taking clients out there for lunch or whatever — these are all good things about being part of the country club."

The dues structure for the country club has changed because it has been streamlined, Jacobsen said.

Head golf professional Mike Eslick, with the country club for 10 years, said that essentially, any member or anybody wishing to be a member has the month of May to join with zero initiation fees. A regular playing member pays $250 per month and a $3,000 initiation fee. A social member pays $50 per month, has unlimited golf with a charge of $30 per round of golf and pays an initiation fee of $500. As part of the club's non-resident policy, anybody outside a 50-mile radius and not owning a residence in Grant County will pay $480 at the beginning of each year, and pay $30 per membership visit. That policy also usually carries a $500 initiation fee.

"Anybody joining in the month of May will not have to pay the initiation fee," Eslick said. "Anybody who comes in after June 1 is going to be responsible for the applicable initiation fee."

Eslick plans on remaining as golf professional, but declined to comment further on the changes.