Happier days: Golfers are enjoying New Rogell's resurgence. From left, Carl Anderson, Willie Edgar, Robert McGuire, Gordon Fleming, Gus Barksdale and Eugene Hamilton.
Improvements in the slightly more than 6,000 yards of greenery have not been lost on loyal patrons. "It's getting a lot better," says T.J. Allison, who volunteers as a marshal at New Rogell. "And it's a tough course. A lot of guys don't want to play here cause it's so tough. You gotta use your head here, especially on the greens. Yep, a lot of guys don't come this way cause this ain't no hit-and-run course."
It is a bargain ($17-$34 green fees for riders) by today's standards with some very formidable holes. The fourth hole, a 433-yard par 4, gets your attention after three fairly benign warm-up holes. With trees and the fence on the left, more trees on the right and a deep valley about 100 yards short of an elevated green, No. 4 places a premium on accuracy and power. There's no let up on the sixth hole, a 431-yard par 4 with a severe dogleg left, a pond on the right and an elevated green that slopes from back to front.
Better conditioning and maintenance have brought out the best in the back nine, as well, especially Nos. 12, 13, tough par 4s, and No. 16, a par 5 with the Rouge in play.
"Since Greater Grace purchased Rogell we have seen a major improvement in the quality and atmosphere of the course," says Mark Funston, president of the Malvern Hill Neighborhood Association and a regular at Rogell. "As the adjacent neighborhood, we couldn't be happier with the new owners."
The course rewards loyalty with a free round of golf as the season winds down in early October. That's not the only benefit from church ownership, though. "That's good public relations don't you think?" says Allison. "As a matter of fact, you keep messing around this golf course, you'll get saved around here."
Or, at the very least, a better appreciation of Ross, the reverend and the virtues of restoration.
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