Stephen Buzard and other Foxburg Country Club board members are looking to rejuvenate interest on the historic course. Foxburg Country Club has run continuously since 1887 and is the oldest such golf course in the United States. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle

Maintaining a golf course takes a lot of work. Maintaining the oldest golf course in the United States takes even more work.

Foxburg Golf Preservation formed as a nonprofit to help raise money for projects at the Foxburg Country Club, and the group received a $500,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development on Tuesday to fund maintenance of the course.

Andy Rapp, president and founder of Foxburg Golf Preservation, said the nonprofit is organizing a committee to help plan for the future of the 135-year-old greens, to keep the historic course operational.

“We're trying to maintain the oldest active golf course, and that comes with a huge responsibility,” Rapp said. “We started the Foxburg Golf Course Preservation so that people interested in golf history, American golf heritage, we offer a solution to give back and to help us.”

Rapp said the preservation group applied for the grant in September, specifically for funding of “construction and equipment.” The grant money will likely be used for the course’s water irrigation system, which Rapp said is old and needs work to modernize. But the ensuing plans for the course will be finalized by a committee.

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