Club's makeover revealed

EAST COUNTY — After seven months of waiting and dealing with construction, Tara Golf & Country Club has new improvements to boast about.

The East County country club is showing off its makeover this month, after being closed since May 15.
Renovations include a new building for the pro shop and offices, a bar with double the size of the original space, a larger dance floor in the grill room, expanded tee-off and outdoor events areas, a new concessions area and a new aerobics room, among various revamps of the community’s amenities.

Mid-January, the community will re-open its tennis courts as well, which now have softer clay courts rather than hard surfaces.

To club General Manager Tony Greising, putting up with the low hum of drills and patter of hammers were worth it.

“Construction is just about done now,” Greising said. “Management has been looking for that ‘wow factor,’ and we’re going to get it.”

Since the spring, the clubhouse has looked more like a cave than a perk members enjoy because of the covered windows and construction crews traveling in and out of rooms that normally hold post golf game lunch dates, Greising said.

Tara Golf & Country Club officials refinanced a loan and used the funds to finance the project. Tara officials declined to reveal the costs involved with both projects.

Prior to these renovations, the country club was last renovated in 2009.

Of the community’s renovated areas, Tara resident Faye Catania is most pleased with the changes to the grill room — the community’s social gathering hub that features a bar, dining areas and a dance floor.

“There’s no comparison,” Catania said. “There’s much more space now than there was previously. Before it was just a room, now it looks like a country club.”

BY THE NUMBERS
7 - months of renovations

8 - more tables in the clubhouse dining room

36 - more seats in the dining room

55 - seats in one of the two new patio areas

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].