Bill Leonard Jr. sat back in his golf cart with a wistful look and lit up a cigarette.
It’s tough for him to talk about Summit Golf Course, a course that has been in his family since 1962, without thinking about his mother, Lorraine.
“We’re just kind of picking up the pieces now,” said Leonard. “She was such a fixture in the clubhouse for as long as anyone can remember. She was the clubhouse here.”
Lorraine was 75 when she passed away in July after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
Leonard and I took a spin across what will become the club’s back nine over the next few years. Currently, they have 14 holes at Summit.
“My dad, he’s always done it one hole at a time,” said Leonard. “This way, we keep the cost down to the people that play here.”
There is a marked reverence in Leonard’s voice when he speaks of his father, Bill Sr.
“This was all his work,” said the younger Leonard. “He took over when it was seven holes, then we went to nine, then to 10, to 12 and to 14.”
There was to be expansion work done this summer, to work on a 15th and 16th hole in the woods down below, alongside the current 10th fairway, but, as Leonard said, they had a few “family issues.” Bill Sr. had some medical problems of his own this summer.
“It kind of all hit us at once,” said Leonard. “It was a rough stretch.”
“It’s been a tough summer for the whole family, and I mean the whole family here at Summit,” said Leonard.
“We’re looking to get back on track here soon.”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, it may take a bit longer than expected.
But there was no doubt in my mind as I took a spin on Bill Jr.’s. golf cart last week, that the vision that he has for the course, a vision passed along from his father and from his grandfather, will eventually be realized.
Justin Pelletier is a staff writer. He can be reached at jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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