When Tanyard Country Club in Louisa, Va., re-opened in the spring of 1997, it was not the result of some golf management company pouring in millions of dollars to rebuild the golf course into perfect condition.  Tanyard is a reasonably priced golf course that is now fun to play.  But what makes this course different is how it came to be. As a member-owned country club, Tanyard is the perfect example of a group of dedicated golfers pulling together to make a dream a reality. A true “human interest story in the works,” says golf course architect Tom Clark of Ault, Clark, and Associates.

That’s because of the membership, which has volunteered its time and efforts making Tanyard into a very playable golf course for both men and women.  It is the members who have cleaned out the woods so you can find your golf ball if it strays off the fairway.  They’re the ones who put down the sod on the tees that have been rebuilt.  They’re the ones who put the yardage stones in the middle of the fairway.

Tanyard is a story about a group of dedicated people who poured their love for the game, and their course, into an effort to make Tanyard something more than a small-town country club. Knowing these facts, you can accept the flaws in the layout and less-than-pristine conditions.

It started when the original owner, Larry Kavanagh, a retired astrophysicist for NASA (he is the one who painted a sundial clock on the inside of one of the silos – it’s worth a look) decided to create a social club in the early ’80s. After purchasing a dairy farm, he converted it into a private club called the Louisa Country Club. Over the next decade a simple golf course was added. He designed the course himself, with assists from Jim Bell and J.C. Ryan.  The result was what you might expect – an amateur attempt at golf course design at best.  Most of the tees were not level.  Greens were little more than just mowed-down grass areas at the end of the fairways.  Many of the bunkers were just sand-filled depressions.  When it rained, the greens quickly became unplayable because there was no drainage. And then there was that little problem out on No. 7. It seems if you hit your drive too far from the seventh tee, your ball would land on the eighth green.

Into the mix came renowned golf course architect Tom Clark.  For the past 26 years, Ault, Clark & Associates has designed or remodeled more than 750 golf courses. They include some of the most famous golf courses in the Middle Atlantic, like the Tournament Players Club at Avenel and the Woods Course at Kingsmill.  Clark was introduced to the club after buying a weekend retreat on nearby Lake Anna.  After meeting with the energetic members, he was hooked.  In exchange for a membership, Clark created a master plan for rebuilding the golf course.

Based on the master plan, over the next few years minor changes were made to improve the golf course. Then in 1996 Kavanagh decided to sell the club. Although he had some high-priced offers from some corporations, Kavanagh sold the club to a group of members.

Once the papers were signed, the members led by then club president Hank Schiller put their heart and soul into the renamed Tanyard Country Club.  With little money and often using volunteers for the labor, they lengthened the course to a respectable 6,502 yards and upped the par to 71. They installed an irrigation system, so even in the middle of the worst drought in recent memory, the course is still green in most places. They created 28 new tee boxes to accommodate all levels of play. Golf course shaper Charlie LaFollette was so infected by the enthusiasm of the members he came out of retirement to help rebuild about half the greens.

But membership volunteerism can only go so far. To help raise money for the rebuilding project, members sold shares of stock, and they have opened the course up to the public.

Granted as you drive into the parking lot, the twin silos remind you this was originally a dairy farm. The pro shop and snack bar are located in a converted milking barn.  It’s still a work in progress, but you can already see many of the improvements taking shape.

And there are some fine golf holes on this course, especially when you play from the back tees. Both par 3s on the front nine are pretty holes.  The third plays over water to a small green. The eighth is the signature hole of the course.  Hitting from an elevated tee, the highest location on the golf course, the ball must travel over a valley to a plateau green that is guarded by three bunkers.

On the back nine, the 14th hole is a beautiful 450-yard par 4 that doglegs to the left. With woods lining both sides of the hole, from the back tees you will need to hit a big a tee shot to get past the corner. Then it’s 200 yards to a small green protected by two bunkers.

But what really made the difference here is the people.  Everyone from golf pro, Kevin Daughtrey, to the volunteer who runs the snack cart is a pleasure to meet.  They had a down-home easy-going feeling that said friendship.  Nothing seemed forced. These people are happy to have you join them in their little corner of the Middle Atlantic golf market. Where else can you pay $45 on a weekday and not have to pay extra for your cart. And the course is fun to play.  It’s come a long way since Kavanaugh cut it out of an old dairy farm. The rest of the progression will be fun to watch.