Stoughton Acres Golf Course celebrating 60th birthday and remains lifeblood of Smith family
CENTER TWP — By her own admittance, Debbie Loughry said: “My dad was a simple guy, never got into flowery speeches.”
That didn’t matter. A card Van Smith once wrote to his wife, Jeanne, saying “we left our mark on this earth,” said it all about their golf course and family business, Stoughton Acres Golf Course.
“That was so accurate,” Loughry said, wiping a tear from her eye. “How many people in this world actually do that?”
Stoughton Acres used to be a dairy farm, the land owned by the family since 1901. This year, the course is in its 60th year of operation, always owned and run by family.
The land was going to be sold and turned into a housing development, but the land owners’ will stated that family, if interested, would have first crack at buying the property.
“I believe a deal was in the works (for the possible housing development) before my dad told my mom this could make a nice golf course. Just like that, they bought the land and went to work,” Loughry said.
“Dad used to play golf with his dad at a course in Pittsburgh. He was an excellent athlete at Slippery Rock University, playing baseball and football, but had no experience whatsoever in designing or running a golf course.”
Van Smith did it, anyway. He designed the course and was its superintendent. Jeanne worked inside the clubhouse, dealing with customers, keeping track of the golf traffic in a notebook. No online tee times were ever available at Stoughton until this year.
Van suffered a stroke while cutting some greens and died five days later. Jeanne fell and broke a hip, and was bed-ridden for the final 18 months of her life.
“She stayed involved anyway, answering the phone. ... She wrote checks two days before she died. This golf course is their legacy. It was willed to my sister (Sally Hangliter) and I. They told us they’d haunt us if we sold it. We weren’t about to do that,” Loughry said.
Stoughton Acres is more than the Smith’s “mark on this earth.” It is the life-blood of their family.
The sisters grew up on the course, in a small home directly connected to the clubhouse.
“I was working behind the desk here when I was 12. My sister and I both were,” Loughry said. “This is more than a golf course. This is our home.”
And their mother made sure certain rules of the home branched out to the entire property.
No alcohol is permitted anywhere on the golf course. Cursing and abusive language are not allowed, either — and those rules are strictly enforced.
“That’s because we were always around the golfers and the clubhouse when we were kids,” Loughry said. “Our mother didn’t want us being around that stuff. She was very careful of that.”
Family members continue to work at Stoughton Acres. A few close friends do as well. The customers are loyal ones. Two long-time customers, Judy Gimble and Sue Weigle, are responsible for the flower beds found around the course.
Sally’s sister-in-law, Penny Wiffenbeck, is among those who work at the golf course.
“We are all fortunate that two daughters care enough about their family’s legacy to keep it going,” Wiffenbeck said. “They are made like their parents. They are workhorses.
“If not for them, Stoughton Acres may not be here anymore.”
“It’s not going away anytime soon,” Loughry said. “We bring our kids here. We spend our summers here. It’s who we are.”
Dan Blair, former assistant superintendent at Suncrest and Conley golf courses, is the new superintendent at Stoughton Acres.
He helped work on the course a few years earlier.
“I needed something full-time, so I had to take that opportunity,” Blair said of leaving for Suncrest and Conley. “I’ve always loved this place. It’s not about business. It’s about relationships.
“When I was offered the superintendent’s job at Stoughton, of course I was gonna take it. People work together here. If the course needs it, it gets done.”
Loughry refers to Blair’s return to Stoughton as “a true blessing.”
He hasn’t been alone. She pointed out that Larry Fleeger has worked at the facility for 56 years, Sue Trimbur for 22, and there have been others.
“Sally and I work long hours here, sometimes from 5:45 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.,” Loughry sad. “But we’re surrounded by family, friends, loyal, wonderful customers, people we know we can count on every day. There’s nothing better than that.
“Our parents built it (Stoughton Acres). Now we’re the caretakers ... There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”
