( atc )
New Life at
Elizabeth Manor
Member Clubs
E
arlier this year, the website for
Elizabeth Manor Golf and Coun-
try Club carried a simple mes-
sage: “Great Things are Coming.”
Opened in 1948, the venerable institution
on Portsmouth’s Ace Parker Drive—home
to the prestigious Eastern Amateur Golf
Tournament since 1957—is undergoing a
facelift inside and out after being sold to
a management group headed by Dwight
Shaubach in December.
The sale took effect Dec. 31 and was
approved 136-0, board members said. To
their delight, when it reopens in late May or
early June, changes will be manifold.
All-new Zoysia tee boxes, new bunkers
with fresh sand, drainage systems, as well
10
as a more lengthy driving range with larger
tees, and a “state-of-the-art short game
area,” unique to Hampton Roads, are in the
offing, according to Dan Capozzi, general
manager of Williamsburg Golf Club and,
now, Elizabeth Manor.
Though grass couldn't be planted in the
winter, greenskeepers worked on shaping
and cleaning up the course. Course work was
to start Feb. 3 and, weather permitting, the
schedule will continue apace.
But the outlook wasn’t always so rosy,
Capozzi said. When his firm took over man-
agement last June 18, they found the course
had fallen into disrepair.
“We were there in mid- to late-May, they
hadn’t fertilized the golf course for 3½
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 0
years,” he said. “We only had eight weeks
or so to get the golf course ready for the
Eastern Amateur in July. The maintenance
staff came down from Williamsburg with
a new mower and equipment to get it into
good shape.”
The course’s logo was revamped to a
simple, initialized design from June to the
first week of July; the outside and inside of
the golf shop was repainted and new mer-
chandise was ordered, featuring the logo.
“It was a lot of effort,” Capozzi said.
Despite the late hour, the tournament
went off without a hitch. Hunter Ostrom, a
senior from Notre Dame, overcame a five-
shot deficit on the last nine holes, draining a
birdie putt at the 72nd hole to gain a spot in
vsga.org
by JAMES J. LIDINGTON