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iil * •'•T^Virify** ¥-vv << 24 •.*. y» ^Ij^ju^ \V^-rim* W l iifa the Altamont Enterprise ^Thursday, August $7, $006 I' * THE ALTAMONT & illbany County Post Schaefer's dream becomes a reality By Tim Matteson DUANESBURG — Three years ago, Dave Schaefer had visions of a do-it-yourself golf course dancing in his head. Now those delusions of gran- deur aren't so delusional as Schaefer's small-time golfers' wooded paradise is up and run- ning, and faring well. On an August morning in 2003, Schaefer told The Enter- prise his dreams for running a place where golfers could learn the game and improve their irons. Hence the Iron Works. \What I said in the article,\ Schaefer said this week, \really came true. That's really cool.\ Schaefer had to overcome a horrible wet spring to let the course blossom — the nine-hole fair is now 1 Verdant fairway and the greens are very plush. \It was a worse spring than three years ago,\ he said. \I had to put money into weed control. I had to put down fertilizer. I hired a guy to do it.\. But Schaefer has proven to have a green thumb. \Three years ago, I moved 200 spruce trees,\ he said. \You ex- pect 50 percent of them to die. I only lost 10 out of 200. Every year, what I was planning has been perfect; it's worked out.\ Schaefer battles constantly to keep the course in great shape. He is forever mowing and pull- ing brush and branches and do- ing his self-proclaimed least fa- vorite activity — trimming. He leaves the out of bounds areas alone. They are reminders of the wooded land where the golf course rests. He left natural ponds and stonewalls that he discovered three years ago while clearing the land. The ponds are key to the ma- jor change that has not only im- proved the course tremendously, but kept it beautiful while sav- ing Schaefer time. He set up a water pump system that uses the ponds as the major water source. The watering system cuts what would be a three-day job to a n hour-and-a-h'alf task. \It gives me time to do some- thing else besides watering t;:bees ; t and greens down,\ Schaefer said* '• \A golfer's golfer\ Schaefer also got help from one of his customers. \One golfer that comes here V works fpr the Star Tree Service,\- 1 Schaefer said, \He's a golfer's golfer. But he comes out with his mother and daughter.\ The golfer has hooked Schae* fer up with a lot of equipment to use on the golf course. \He came up to me after one day and said *You have a lot of stumps out there,'\ Schaefer said. \The next day, I come out and there is a stump remover in the driveway. He said that I could use it if I fixed it for him. Another time, he saw me digging holes and he asked me if I had a Ditch Witch. Thenext day, I had a Ditch Witch. It cost me a cou- ple of bucks to fix it, but I had it for three years. He just came back and took it the other day.\ Bjut that wasn't the guys' big- gest contribution. \The next thing I was trying to do was the irrigation system,\ Schaefer continues. \Two weeks later, he shows up with an entire . fire engine — an old pumper. It was bright green. We stuck it., behind the barn. He was like, 'There's the pump you need.' I took the truck apart and opened this huge pump.\ Schaefer has three pumps that are at the two ponds on the course and run water through underground pipes to feed the greens, keeping them the bright hue that they still are showing late into summer. \A one-man band\ The next task for Schaefer is one that he has started but had to give up for a little while. He is building a snack bar, which he now hopes to have finished by the fall. \I started it in March,\ Schae- fer said. \But I had to stop in April once the season got going and' I was into mowing mode. Once, that happens, it's hard to do anything else. It's still tough being a one-man'band.\ Even still, Schaefer has made ON THE PIPE CYCLES 5 \Your Hometown Motorcycle Dealer\ i 5 M%MAm 2006 Models On Sale S % SPORMOWnCYGLES rf 1 m m % * % % Come Visit Our Showroom Helmets • Boots • Gloves • Goggles Riding Gear • Hats • T-Shirts Hoodys • Tires • Oils • Grips Batteries • Race Tire-Take Offs We Buy and Sell Quality Used Dirtbikes & Sportbikes % % m m % % % H % * * m * Service Center Diitbike andATV m Tune-Ups Tire Changes • Suspension Service Engine Rebuilds Enter Our \Moto-Oream Drawing\ and Win a 2006 KTM 25(iSX-F! ON THE PIPE CYCLES 861-0036 Park Guilderland Plazg — Rt. 146 The Enterprise — Tim Matteson Golfers stroll djgvun the fairway on one of the holes at. the Iron Works Golf Course in Duanesburg. The golfcoursie}0as'3uilt by Dave Schaeffer and has become successful in its third year.^ The Enterprise — Tim Matteson An ace: The first hole of the Iron Works Golf Course in Duanesburg. Dave Schaefer created the course with the first hole including a pond. Schaefer's dream of running a golf course has been fulfilled. a lot of changes to the course. He widened the fairways and added a second tee to most of the holes. Some of the second tees change the look of the hole and make it more challenging to play. There are also carts at the course. Schaefer also wants to build a clubhouse, but that is \plan X.\ The course has personal asso- ciations for Schaefer, who built it all himself. Hole five, for example, has a wooden swing which belonged to Schaefer's father. He named the hole \Poppy's Hole.\ It's tough for Schaefer to keep up as his course has become popular. Last Sunday, he had 40 golfers show up to play. s P' # # * # r— Celebrating 10 years as the area's #1 Pizzeria! JAYCEES PIZZA DEPOT 8 South Main Street, Voorheesville 765-2000 Q&g OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK • 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Lunch • 11 a.m. -1:30 p.m. (Tuesday through Friday) NOW OFFERING A WIDE VARIETY OF NEW MENU ITEMS!! • Fried Seafood • Baked Dishes • Appetizers • Desserts $gpo Qpp FAMILY SPECIAL ANY £ARGgPRX-LARGE PIZZA, 1D0Zi¥VWGS2LrTER80DA ( M an mm- m COlipOn • am mm m F -., 24-CUT PIZZAS I NOW AVAILABLE I \ *2°^OFF \ I ANY LARGE OR >•*{ X-LARGE PIZZA :|*H mm mm coupon — coupon KDJSHES, WROE^MlAJMSf MX&RGE PIZZA UfTiR$Qfcto| :> ^WDEROFUGLYSnX _;_ '«• '-•• '. . .. Schaefer can't complain about the turnout. He won't. He loves it. He loves seeing players who are just beginning to learn the sport or working on their games. He loves that people are having fun playing the game for the low price of $7 per golfer for nine holes and $10 for an additional trip through the nine hole's. \It's a place for people to learn the game;\ Schaefer said. \They can go play the big course and they can practice here. It's grown bigger than my vision.\ Bigger than dreams His hope three years ago was to have a place for k«ls from Duanesburg to practice. But Jj£ didn't envision getting members of the Berne-Knox-WesterMf ojf team using his course, and be- coming a big part'of the program with a lot of credit from Coach Don Dennis for helping his play- ers. \He came out the other day and one of their team members was here golfing,\ Schaefer said. \They all don't come at once, but they come put and they drag their fathers along. That is the way i$shoiild be.\ Schaefer doesn't charge the Bj£W players, and- his kindness is rewarded at the end of the'fall , golf season. \They give me a ball washer (Continued on Page 23) fr'i *x4*&3w*#*«i**
