CityView Magazine

b Arabia Golf Course makes a comeback By Jason Brady usiness On the upswing C otton farmer Johnny Boyles spent most of his adult life locked in a war against grass, spokes of green that choked his crops. You wouldn’t believe it to see him now, working equally hard to coax lush Bermuda from the ground at his golf course. Boyles is one of three partners who bought the Arabia Golf Course in rural Hoke County, a once-popular draw for golfers from all parts of the Cape Fear region. He and developers Joe Gillis and Harold Kidd initially considered transforming the aging course into a residential development after its former owners decided to get out of the family business. But with the housing market in a slump and his Scottish heritage tugging at his soul, Boyles and his partners decided to transform the course and name it after a type of cotton grown in the Southeast. Upland Trace Golf Course will celebrate its first anniversary in October. Arabia opened in 1963 as a par 72, 6,063-yard golf course. Raeford native Hendrix Brown designed both the nine-hole and 18-hole regulation course though only the 18-hole course remains. Membership gradually declined and so did the course itself. Boyles and his partners had a lot of work to do to get the course back in shape and lure new customers and long-time members back into the fold. But thanks to a nearly half-million dollar investment, the course is returning to its glory days. A remodeled clubhouse includes men’s and women’s locker rooms and a large awning that shades the patio. An expanded and newly- paved parking lot and fresh landscaping greet visitors. Boyles and course superintendent Johnny Nichols widened overgrown cart paths, CityViewNC.com | 39

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