Pleasant Valley to remain private golf club

Pleasant Valley Country Club, the Sutton, Mass., site of numerous LPGA and PGA Tour events in its heyday, will remain a private course when it officially reopens on April 1.

Pristine condition. “The Magill family is committed to making Pleasant Valley into the pristine golf course it once was,” new membership coordinator Bob Recore told Boston Golf Examiner in a recent phone interview. “This is a prime product with a championship golf course in place. It just needs a little buffing.”

Pleasant Valley gained fame when it hosted 33 PGA Tour and 14 LPGA Tour events way back when. The LPGA made Sutton a stop on the tour from 1962 through the 1974 LPGA Championship. Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead are just a few of the PGA legends who played the course between 1965 and 1998.

As the new owners promised when they purchased the club for $5 million at foreclosure auction in November, the “buffing” began with a “facelift” to the clubhouse. The touch-up work includes replacing wallpaper and painting, with major renovations to come later, Recore said.

Paul Parajeckas will continue as head pro and Don D’Errico will stay on as superintendent, but the owners must still hire other staffers.

The Magills eliminated the initiation fee for this year and cut membership dues for a single member to $5,150 and $5,950 for a family. Each individual golf member paid a $6,000 initiation fee as well as dues of $6,000 (per individual) and $8,000 (per family) in 2010, said Recore. It was unclear how many former members would re-up with the club.

Reciprocity? In another change, the owners will likely offer reciprocity with its other course, the semi-private Highfields Golf and Country Club in Grafton, Mass. The Magills have yet to work out the details, but premium Highfield members might gain access to Pleasant Valley twice a month and pay cart fees only, said Recore.

Recore, a Pleasant Valley member for more than 25 years and a Worcester Telegram and Gazette retiree, signed on with the new owners on January 31.