Page 16 - The Hunt - Summer 2023

MEMORANDUM
No reason to spoil a nice long
walk with a little white ball— especially now that New Garden Township’s purchase of Loch Nairn Golf Club has formally gone through. After two years of waiting, planning phases are now officially underway to convert the course
into a park and open space. Cochranville’s Vince LaMantia, for one, is thrilled. A regular at Loch Nairn since moving to the area in 1978, LaMantia has joined his wife for a walk along the cart paths on this gorgeous Sunday afternoon. “With so many exclusive courses in the region, a course like this will get more appreciation as a park,” he says.
Completed in 1970, Loch Nairn’s first nine holes were supplemented by another nine by 1979. The late H.C. Smedley designed and built the course, and he personally planted more than 700 trees on its 106 acres. Fifty years later, the trees and sand traps have fallen
into disrepair. “With any rain, the front nine fairways were often unplayable,” LaMantia says. “As a park, just sticking to the cart paths gives you a five-mile walk.”
Parkesburg’s Emily Dyer has her own connection to Loch Nairn, waitressing at its Greathouse at the Farm restaurant for two years as she preps for law school in South Carolina. “We expect a footpath will bring more business,” she predicts.
With an east-facing patio and a barn converted to a main dining room, the Greathouse will continue to offer casual dining. A unique event space captures
the period charm of the original barn. Formerly part of Loch Nairn’s clubhouse, the Greathouse once operated in tandem with the Farmhouse, a circa-1817 structure that housed a fine-dining establishment until closing in 2020. Both structures have been retained by the Smedley family.
A distance runner, Dyer looks forward
to running on Loch Nairn’s trails. “It’s nice
for more people in the area to be able to get exercise outside in a such a beautiful and safe location,” she says. “So many longer trails in the county feel congested and overpopulated.”
Already known for its bevy of trails,
New Garden Township was an ideal candidate to assume ownership of Loch Nairn’s grounds and enhance their accessibility. Since 2005, New Garden has funded a unique taxed-based program to assist landowners in preserving open space. Their Greenways Plan envisions
a diverse and interconnecting system of trails. A team of 150 volunteers has worked with
the township on the four existing trails, each roughly a mile long.
Natural Lands helped the township acquire Loch Nairn from the Smedley family. “We’re pleased to be able to provide planning and
land protection services to municipalities as
14 THE HUNT MAGAZINE summer 2023
By Kim Douglas | Photo By Jim Graham
Laying Down
the Clubs at Loch Nairn
A beloved Avondale golf course enjoys a second life as a park.
continued on page 17