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Editorial: Sextons showed us potential
Op-Ed · November 17, 2016


Regardless of what happens next to West Branch’s golf course, Jerry and Tammy Sexton deserve great thanks for their efforts these last several months to keep the landmark attraction open.


We’re not sure what to call the golf course anymore. It was Fox Run Golf and Country Club before the Sextons worked out a deal to reopen and operate the course under the name Cedars Edge Golf Course. Now that it has reverted back to mother-son team Pamella and Rick Miller, perhaps the name returns to Fox Run.

Whether it does or not, the Sextons, emboldened and accompanied by at least 50, if not scores more, golfers and volunteers brought that golf course back to life.

The Millers have been trying to sell the property for a few years, but on March 21 decided to close the business. Golfers had before then heard rumors that Fox Run may not reopen and started talking about what to do if that happened.

The Sextons hosted a meeting March 1 at the Hoover House, in which an estimated 70 golfers turned out. The sum of the meeting: If the Sextons could work out an agreement with the Millers, many golfers who took memberships elsewhere would return. Both would happen.

But working out a deal took time. The high school boys and girls golf teams had to find another place to practice, temporarily, and another place to host “home” meets. The girls golf team ended up in Iowa City; the boys golf team never found a new home. Both teams saw their seasons end without hosting a meet in 2016 at what had been their home course for decades.

Still, local golfers and community leaders held out hope, and when the Sextons announced a deal with the Millers, scores of people volunteered to help get the 80-acre site reopened. And on May 27, two months and six days after Fox Run closed, Cedars Edge opened.

The Sextons obtained a city liquor license, started getting phone calls from groups wanting to host golfing fundraisers, signed up dozens of golfers to memberships and started negotiating with the City of West Branch an agreement to develop the west edge of the property for housing.

However, in September, the Sextons announced that the agreement with the Millers would not be extended, which put a halt to negotiations with the city and cast a pall over city and school leaders who consider the golf course an asset to the town. Golf courses draw new families, even non-golfing families, and boost property values of adjacent homes. Out-of-town golfers also tend to spend money in a host town.

And so, five months and three days after reopening the course, on Oct. 30, Cedars Edge closed. Just a couple of weeks later, despite the cooler fall weather, the grass on the course is already too tall in which to play.

Still, rumors are again circulating that golfers are trying to pool money to buy the course. We hope, but we will see.

It is not quite right to say we are back to where we started on March 21.

We now know the Millers are willing to work with potential owners, whether that means business owners or business and property owners.

We also know that there is great interest and support in restarting the golf course. That support may differ depending on who steps in and strikes the next deal, because golfers also made it clear that much of their enthusiasm behind Cedars Edge was carried by the solid reputations of Jerry and Tammy Sexton.

So when we say we want to thank the Sextons for what they did for the golf course, we also want to thank them for showing us the potential for working with the Millers and how they rallied the residents behind their efforts.

The Sextons showed us what can be done.