Bolado Park Clubhouse is open again
The Bolado Park Golf Clubhouse is back.
The original structure, built in 1950 in the first years of the
Bolado Park Golf and Country Club’s existence, was a rambling
wooden structure, perched on the brink of a hill with a priceless
view of the hills to the south.
Bolado Park Clubhouse is open again
The Bolado Park Golf Clubhouse is back.
The original structure, built in 1950 in the first years of the Bolado Park Golf and Country Club’s existence, was a rambling wooden structure, perched on the brink of a hill with a priceless view of the hills to the south.
The venerable clubhouse burned to the ground in January 2006, a loss estimated at $1 million.
The new clubhouse that occupies the same site opened July 15, according to General Manager Mike Winn.
“It’s been really, really good,” Winn said this week. “Everybody’s been really enthusiastic.”
The new clubhouse features a larger main upper area, with an expansive balcony. The kitchen is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Golf is not mandatory for anyone who wants to drop in, enjoy the view and select from a menu mostly composed of breakfast and lunch standards.
The clubhouse sports some memorabilia, and Winn hopes to acquire more relics from the club’s long history. The restaurant area seats 67, and an area below offers space for up to 80 indoors and a large outdoor area with barbecue facilities and a full kitchen.
The area is open for catering daytime events, Winn said. The first group to meet at the new clubhouse was the county Board of Realtors for a steak dinner.
Cook George Avila prepares a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, salads and appetizers for lunch. Breakfast includes the standards as well as dishes gleaned from Winn’s own years as a restaurant owner and caterer.
“We do what we call a special mix,” Winn said, “some funky stuff of mine that might catch on – oatmeal pancakes, polenta pancakes, sweet potato pancakes, cinnamon French toast. We’ve also been doing breakfast burritos along with the typical eggs, bacon and sausage.”
During a recent visit, two golfers leaving the restaurant raved about the food, and about portions large enough that one lunch was enough for both of them.
The Bolado Park Golf and Country Club is actually the second organization to call Bolado its home course. In 1946, 200 members each paid $100, enough to build the original clubhouse and to extend the course to its present configuration. Prior to that, the course stretched across Airline Hwy.
While the 33rd Agricultural District owns the property, it leased the golf course back to the club for $1 a year for 50 years as a way of repaying the club’s original investment, Winn explained.
After the clubhouse burned, membership dwindled for a period.
What was once a three-year waiting list for a cart stall evaporated.
As a result, Winn is offering a special promotion that gives a free spot to park the cart with an annual membership fee of $750.
For information about catering or special events, contact Winn at 628-9995.
