Stonehenge Splits Into Two

For the past decade, the lone separation between Stonehenge's two golf courses - Championship and Executive - was Pierceton Road.

In 1998, that changed. Both courses will be under new ownership, ending the 10-year tenure of Ray and Rose Harroff.

The Championship course and the entire country club were purchased out of bankruptcy by HG Properties (formerly Heritage Golf Management) out of Indianapolis.

HG Properties also got the Executive Course in the deal, but turned around and sold the nine-hole course across the road to golf pro Denny Hepler and Biomet president and CEO Dane Miller.

Although the two courses are going to retain a close working relationship, they will be under different ownership for the first time in 10 years with Harroff buying the 25-year old Executive Course when he built the Championship course and country club in the late 1980s.

Stonehenge Country Club

After a few other deals fell through, HG Properties came into the picture and made the purchase of the country club, including the golf course. HG Properties owns and operates five other courses in the state - Ironhorse (Logansport), Bear Slide (Cicero), Salt Creek (Nashville), Twin Bridges (Danville) and Crimson Ridge (Bloomington).

HG Properties took over management of the facility Jan. 1 and officially signed the deal Feb. 18.

"We have taken over some trouble projects," Tom Rodems, of HG Properties, said. "Because of that it doesn't change overnight just because you think you know what you are doing. It is an incredible time-consuming deal.

"Our main concern is managing it," he said. "That is what we are all about. It is a business. People think it is just cutting grass and taking money. There is a lot more to it."

Rodems anticipates changes, but only for the better. After a questionnaire was sent to members of the club and the results came back, Rodems noticed some glaring trends.

"We are taking a pretty aggressive approach," he said. "We sent out a questionnaire to all our members. And we got a huge response. There was an overwhelming desire for more of a social atmosphere. Tied to that is the desire for a new swimming pool. We are also going for a more casual atmosphere. A lot of people brought to our attention that the golf course was 'too hard.' It wasn't fun for the higher handicap players. We have to address that."

The changes include a new or improved swimming pool, 1500 tons of Best¨ sand in the bunkers, bigger landing areas in the fairways and the elimination of the heather in front of the tee stations.

What won't change is the private status of the club and having Dave and Jeff Schumaker as the golf pros.

"We inherited Dave Schumaker here, and he was named the pro of the year," Rodems said. "You don't do that with smoke and mirrors. That is a pretty big deal. We are thrilled to have him, and he is an investor here."

In an effort to spur new membership or get former members to return, fees and dues have been lowered and until "the last putt drops at the Masters," the initiation fees have been dropped for new members.

"We are a fine facility, but we can't, unfortunately, be attainable to everybody," Rodems said. "But we can do things for the community and work with the community.

"We are painting a rosy picture," he said. "We are figuring to lose some money in year one. We expect it to turn the corner in year two and be healthy by year four."

Raccoon Run

Owning and operating the newly-named Raccoon Run has been a dream for Hepler, who worked as a teaching pro at the Championship course for nine years and the pro at the Executive course last year.

"It is a dream come true as far as being in the golf world as long as I have and played every tour in the world to now owning and running my own golf course," Hepler said. "It is something that has always been in the back of my mind. It only recently became possible because of the Heritage group buying the big course."

Hepler said the sale of the smaller course will help HG Properties in getting the big course back on its feet.

"Now they don't have the distraction of what they are going to do to better the Championship course," Hepler said. "It will be a great partnership between us."

The sale will directly go to the upgrade in the country club pool.

"That (selling the Executive course) allowed us to do some things that we weren't planning to do quite this early," Rodems said. "We were able to put the money back into things."

Hepler not only takes on the title of golf pro and owner, but he will also be a golf designer with the addition of nine holes (expected to be finished in 2000.)

"It will be different with what is around here," Hepler said. "It will become a legitimate mid-size golf course. It won't be that long or that difficult, but it will be playable for all types of golfers."

The new holes will encompass a seven-acre area south of the existing holes. The front and back nine will have some new and old holes in the mix and will add two par-fives, two ponds and will eventually be 4800 yards in length.

"You can't all of the sudden make it into a short, championship-style course," Hepler said. "There will be a lot of variety in the new nine."

Hepler is also responsible for the new name of the golf course.

"I thought it was unique to northern Indiana," Hepler said. "There wasn't anything up here that sounded like that. I used to have a pet raccoon. I have always liked the looks of a raccoon, and they have a lot of character. I also thought it would make a cool-looking logo."

Although the Harroffs are no longer in the golf course business, Hepler said they were important to getting things started.

"We are all grateful that Ray and Rose Harroff built that course and bought this one," Hepler said. "It is still one of the top five courses in the state. If it wasn't for them, this opportunity would not have come around for me. We just want to continue from where they left off. They had a dream, and their dream came true."