'A pretty tough little course'

LITTLE ROCK — (Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series on the history of country clubs.) The late Lou Daly had a dream for her son, PGA champion John Daly, and the place where he learned how to play the game: Bay Ridge Golf Club in Dardanelle.

"[She] had a great love for the club and had always hoped he would own it," said General Manager Mark Fairbanks.

In 2005, Daly fulfilled his mother's greatest wish and bought the club. Now called Lion's Den Golf Club, the semiprivate club includes a 60-acre, 18-hole championship golf course, swimming pool, clubhouse, restaurant, a pro-shop (Mama Lou's, in honor of Daly's mother) and more to keep its 230 members and their guests actively involved.

When Daly was a teenager living in Jefferson City, Mo., he was the place kicker for his high school's football team. One time, when they were playing a much larger school, Fairbanks said Daly surprised everyone in the crowd and kicked the winning field goal. His coach said that Daly had "the heart of a lion," and the name stuck.

Fairbanks, 42, of Dardanelle, said the club's original board was composed of five Dardanelle residents: Delma Merritt, Olan Scott, Charles Smith, W. L. Sturtevant and Les Thone. These five men were passionate about making sure the residents of Dardanelle had a common place to gather, said Van Taylor, 72, who has been a member for almost 40 years.

Taylor said that Merritt, Scott, Smith, Sturtevant, Thone and the residents who supported them wanted to build something that would keep Dardanelle residents closer to home.

"Russellville Country Club was in existence at the time, but that was the only one around," he said.

Dr. Gene Ring, 76, of Dardanelle, is an original member of the club and was one of 11 men that composed the Bay Ridge Corporation, which used a Farmers Home Administration loan to purchase and subsequently sell the land to those responsible for building the nine-hole golf course, in 1968.

Ring said he and the other men felt it was important to build a place that would build a stronger sense of community.

"We were looking for something to benefit Dardanelle at that time," Ring said. "It kind of pulled the town together a little bit."

Whether they met for parties, receptions, a dip in the pool, a game of cards or a round of golf, the 110 original members built a tight-knit community at Bay Ridge.

"The main thing is that it [gave] people some place to meet," Ring said.

Since the course was built 41 years ago, Ring has seen a lot of changes. In 1994, Daly began hosting the annual John Daly Boys and Girls Club Tournament at the club. In the late '90s, the club purchased additional land and built nine more holes. Ring has also seen other clubs spring up, like Chamberlyne Country Club in Danville and Galla Creek in Pottsville. The clubhouse was added onto in the late '90s, and Daly's association with the course has drawn a new crowd of curious visitors since he purchased the club.

"They want to see his house, and want to see his golf course, and by chance meet him," Ring said.

Daly's presence has bolstered membership, which Ring said has gone down in the past several years. But despite the unrelenting tides of change that have washed over Lion's Den, Ring said that at its core, it's still the same as it's always been.

"It's a welcoming little community," he said.

Ron Shaw, 43, of Dardanelle, has been a member of Lion's Den Golf Club since 1991, when it was still called Bay Ridge.

"The course is probably one of the most beautiful, scenic places I've ever seen," Shaw said. "Some of the holes, especially on nine, are real tight, and the greens are real fast."

Fairbanks said he wholeheartedly agrees.

"The views of the surrounding area are spectacular," Fairbanks said. "There are tight fairways and differing elevations. It's a pretty tough little course."

But it wasn't the pretty view or the good golfing that ultimately convinced Shaw to join.

"I looked at all the golf courses around, and they had the friendliest atmosphere and people I wanted to hang around with," Shaw said. "They don't have anybody that puts you in a category. Everybody out there is like one big family."

That family-oriented atmosphere was especially important to Shaw: His son Cody, 19, started taking golf lessons at Lion's Den when he was 3 years old. In the summertime, when Shaw had to go to work, he said he could drop off Cody to hang out at the club during the day and never worry whether he was having fun or being well taken care of.

"It was a great place for kids," Shaw said. "Kids are always welcome out there."

He also remembers when Lion's Den was a member-owned club, which meant that membersvolunteered to care and keep up the course and clubhouse.

"We used to have work days where everybody would go out and clean out brush," he said.

Shaw said that even though the club is not member-owned anymore, members are still seen coming out on both week days and weekends to "pitch in" and keep the club at its best.

In March, Shaw and his wife, Donna, moved from Russellville and purchased a house in Dardanelle to be closer to the friends they've made over the years at Lion's Den. And the course itself is only 50 yards from Shaw's backyard.

"I'm just going to retire right there," Shaw said. "I got my own personal golf course right down there. You couldn't ask for a better view."