By Staff
EARTH-MOVING Wallace Eddins, left, and Gary Cranford stand on Tee No. 5, over the future site a nine-hole expansion. Photo by Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
By Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
April 19, 2001
QUITMAN When you look around at the bare, scraped ground and piles of sand and dirt, it's hard to imagine that by the end of the summer people will be playing golf in an area east of the Quitman Country Club.
That's the plan. The club membership is in the middle of enlarging the golf course from a nine-hole course to an 18-hole, par 72 course. Work is progressing well with Gary Cranford and Wallace Eddins leading the way.
Established in 1966, the Quitman County Club is located east of Quitman off Highway 511. Several years ago, an architect was hired to design an additional nine holes for the nine-hole golf course. But it was decided at the time that the cost was too high.
Late last year when the timber business started to slow down, Cranford and Eddins started doing some preliminary work
One thing led to another, and they finally went to the country club board last August. With the timber business in a slump, they agreed to do the work at cost. Cranford has supervised the project, staying on site everyday while supervising his company by phone. Eddins, meanwhile, sent men and equipment under the supervision of C.A. Cook.
The new course will be challenging for players. Two lakes have been built on the site, and the new holes have been mixed in with the original nine.
Building a golf course has been a new experience for Cranford.
Others have pitched in to help. Don and Charles Griffin of Griffico Plastics have donated the pipes for the irrigation. Also, Buddy Williams and Frank Ivy have served on a committee for the project and helped with the paper work.
Steve Swogetinsky is regional editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at sswogetinsky@themeridianstar.com