Teeing it up: Cable Hollow golf hole, pavilion grand openings set for Saturday

That was until the opportunity to purchase Cable Hollow Golf Course came around in late 2022.

“It was a decision we made in literally five minutes,” Stewart said.

And two major upgrades are set to be unveiled this weekend.

Three redesigned golf holes open this weekend with a Grand Opening Tournament set for Saturday. Later in the day, a new event space will also be opened with a special event starting at 5 p.m.

The tournament is sold out but tickets for the pavilion opening event are available at cablehollow.com.

“We would like this to be a public golf course of distinction,” Stewart said. “There are remarkable golf courses. That’s the vision we have here. World class golf holes available to our members of the public.”

Stewart first played Cable Hollow in 1968. The course had been transformed from farm fields and swamps.

“The Bortz’s have done a spectacular job,” he said. “They put their heart and soul into building something that’s an absolute treasure.”

But there were some shortcomings that he knew they wanted to address.

Arthur Stewart, right, discusses the new pavilion at Cable Hollow. Three new golf holes and the pavilion are set for grand openings this weekend.

“I always thought it would be fun to build a golf course,” Stewart said. “I like the sport and love golf course design (and) going to see great golf courses.”

He thought he would be able to do that work on his own.

“I want to have that pride of ownership with what we do,” he said. “My superintendent, Jerry Martin, twisted my arm time and time again to bring in an architect.”

The architect came on a snowy day for a preliminary meeting.

“In 20 minutes on the golf course I learned what I didn’t know,” Stewart said. “I hired him that day.”

So how does a golf hole redesign work?

“The creative process is he (the architect) brings in an architect, they each do a rendering, very rough of what they want for each of the 18 holes,” he explained. Those renderings are then pitched to a committee.

The architect brought an important, consistent philosophy — hazards (water, sand) have to be visible; golfers need to know the risk when they ponder a shot.

So on the three re-designed holes, water comes into play in places while bunkers are very visible.

The new par-3 fifth was designed to mirror the 16th green at Augusta National.

“Combining the old and the new makes a world class golf hole,” he said.

These changes are part of a five year master plan that will include creation of a double green in homage to the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

“Folks will have the same experience at Akeley that they would at St. Andrews,” he said. “That’s year four.”

Tee box changes and the redesign will bring a continuum from 4,000 to 7,000 yards for “arrangements for people with every skill. It makes the game more accessible.

The tournament on June 1 will include a drawing to see who will be the first foursome to play the new par three fifth.

“All of us are resisting playing it,” Stewart said.

Shifting to the pavilion, he said that he sees it as a space to both hold events as well as conferences.

Highlighting the importance of tourism to the area, Stewart said he’s hoping that these projects can result in the development of a min-destination.

“It seemed like another unique opportunity our family could become involved in,” he said. “It just all worked out.”