On par for swinging season at Resevoir Creek

May 12-- May 12--NAPLES -- A brand new clubhouse will open its doors next week at Reservoir Creek Golf Course at Naples. Housing pro shop, restaurant, bar, outdoor deck and other amenities, the new digs replace the original building -- a former farmhouse turned clubhouse where a kitchen fire last fall shot through the roof. The damage went well beyond the kitchen, said Tony Deusenbery, Reservoir Creek co-owner with his wife, Holly.

The Deusenberys wasted no time after the Oct. 9 early morning blaze that left no one hurt but left a big mess and a lot of decisions to make. This past Monday, as golfers and construction workers crossed paths in the sunshine outside the nearly completed clubhouse, Tony rattled off a timeline of events that got them back on course. Settling with insurance in November and deciding to build new, they began demolition on Jan. 4.

"We started that afternoon, took 200 loads of spoil from the demolition out of the basement," Tony recalled. Preliminary design plans for the new structure, which fits the original building's footprint, had to be altered to meet building code.

From there, the project got into full swing.

"By the end of January, we had the basement and first floor roughed in," Tony said. March and April moved along with heating and plumbing, then drywall and painting. Except for a few finishing touches, the clubhouse with all its offerings should be in fine form for opening.

In the big barn next to the clubhouse on Monday, Holly was busy taking phone calls, catching up on paperwork and chatting with staff and patrons as Reservoir Creek golfers enjoyed a warm spring day. Plans call for the pro shop to move from the barn to the new building. The barn will still be used for equipment storage, care of golf carts and related needs.

The Deusenberys bought the 18-hole golf course in 2014 from the original owners, who opened it in June of 2000. Built on a hillside that once housed cattle, cornfields and vineyards, the scenic course is designed around natural features -- old shade trees, clusters of pine trees and beds of wildflowers. Fairways follow old logging trails. The course, designed for all skill levels, offers heavily contoured greens, dramatic changes in elevation and rolling fairways among other hallmarks.

Golfers see all kinds of wildlife. "There's a baby red fox at number nine right now," Holly said.

In the clubhouse, where workers were busy putting on finishing touches, Tony showed off the spacious first and second floors, each 3,500 square feet. Deusy's restaurant, which seats between 60 and 70 people, offers plenty of seating to take in the view through giant windows and from an outdoor, upper deck.

Tony said he expects that the clubhouse will continue to attract golfers and the non-golfers alike to enjoy the food, drink and atmosphere. People come to Reservoir Creek from all over, he said.

"It has a lot of character," he said.

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