Colonial Ridge Golf Course History

In 1971 Clair Jacobsen, along with his wife Lois opened Cee Jay Golf Course.
Originally a 9-hole layout, the course was comprised of the current hole #6 as
the original first hole, #7 was the second, #8 the third, #9 the fourth, #10 the
fifth, a hole from the current #11 ladies tee to #15 green was the par five sixth
hole, #16 was the seventh, #17 the eight, and #18 was the ninth. The entire
course played 2191 yards. They used the old farm house located on the site of
the pavilion as the first club house. The 1st Tee (currently #6 Blue Tee) was
built on an old silo foundation, and at times remnants of old silo belts work
there way to the surface. The Putting green was a spring fed pond. Some of
the holes were a little different then they play today. Hole #8 played only 150
yards when it was the third hole, with the green locate adjacent to the grove of
trees. Hole #17 was straight away par four to the hedgerow, playing
approximately 250 yards. The green was located at the base of the hill just past
todays one hundred yard stake. Hole #9(the current #18) was also Playing
around 250 yards Starting on top of the hill below #17 green and played down
the left hand side of the hedgerow adjacent to hole #17.

The Course History

Letter written by Lois Jacobsen, after the
inaugural year of 1971. Copy provided by
Ken Walling of Morris

Cee Jay Golf Course was purchased by the Waffle family in the spring of 2005.
The purchase was spearheaded by Jeffrey Waffle, President of Colonial Ridge Golf
Inc. Along with partners and fellow officers Glenn Waffle, Vice President, Julene
Waffle, Secretary, and Mona Waffle, Treasurer. Jeffrey brought a 19 year history
in the golf industry and a Business Administration/Professional Golf Course
Management degree from Methodist University to the golf course. Along with his
brother Michael Waffle Club House Manager, mother Mona Waffle Grill Manager,
father Glenn Waffle Golf Course Superintendent, and Julene Waffle Landscaping
and Marketing, the Waffle family brings an overall team effort to the Managing of
the golf course as they meet the daily challenges, and long term goals of the facility.

As this ad shows in 1977 Cee Jay golf course opened five more holes.
Built on the same side of the road as the original #1-#4, they would serve
as holes 5-9 for 26 years. In the early years the first few hundred yards of
todays #1 acted as the driving range. By 1977 this area would house the
150 yard fifth hole starting on the current #1 blue tee and finishing on the
nursery green adjacent to the 1st fairway. The sixth hole was the current
1st hole, only that it started on the yellow tee box and played 443 yards.
The seventh and eighth holes were todays #4 and #5 relatively unchanged.
This brings us to the ninth hole. One of the most memorable holes to be
played by most golfers. It started across the pond from the 8th green
(current #5) and carried almost the entire length of the pond to the nursery
green located by the parking lot. It played 100 yards and it was one of the
most brutally beautiful golf holes one could play. If you came up one yard
short of the green you were in the pond. If you were one yard right you
landed in the road and started a death hop bounding 30+ yards away, and
if you were long you were in the parking lot and trading insurance numbers
to cover a wind shield or a sun roof.(one of the factors leading to the
future demise of this priceless gem) All in all Cee Jay Golf Course existed
as fourteen holes for almost five years. During this time the current club
house was built, and the original farm house was torn down.

The longest period in Cee Jay Golf Course history opened in 1983
as Cee Jay matured into an eighteen hole golf course. Holes #11,
#12, #13, #14, and #15 opened for business. This completed the
golf course, and outside of a few projects was the course layout for
the next 20 years. Cee Jay existed most of its life as a 5400 yard
par 69 golf course. It was by far the time of greatest growth for
the course. Membership grew, open golf rounds grew, the
tournament program increased, and league play maxed out. The
course also received numerous face lifts and expansions. Some of
the more notable projects included expanding the green on hole
#1(current #6), a new green on hole #3(current #8) that extended
the par 3 70 yards, and the redesign of seventeen and eighteen
holes highlighted by the new #17th green. Also during this time
Cee Jay gained men's blue and gold tees on all eighteen holes, a
new white tee on hole #11, new red and white tees on hole #13,
and a new white tee on hole #16. The Land on the opposite side
of #4 hedgerow(current #9) was used to build a par 3 executive
course in 1988, later to be turned into the current driving range in
1996. In the late 1990's the pavilion, the maintenance barn, and
the bathroom on hole 14 were built. The large pond on hole #15
was dug in 1988, the pond on #2(current #7) was dug in 1990, and
#10 and #6(current #1) ponds were extended.

A Project was started in 2000 to help reduce the congestion on the
fifth and sixth(current #1), eliminate the danger on the ninth hole,
and increase the difficulty of the course. Two new holes six(current
#2) and Seven(current #3) were built and opened in 2004. Six a
355 yard dog leg left par four and seven(current #3) a 146 yard
forced carry over water par 3 raised the course par to 70, lengthen
it to 6028 yards, and raised the rating and slope from 63.5/100 to
68.7/123. With the new holes, the old fifth and ninth holes were
eliminated, a bitter sweet moment as many players will always miss
the fun of the brutal ninth hole even as a part of them will never
miss the beauty held in making a sept tuple bogey on a hundred
yard par three.

Colonial Ridge Golf has engaged in a long term effort to revitalize the golf
course and enhance the already enjoyable facility in the process. The first
major change was to renumber the front nine. Holes 6-9 became 1-5 and
holes 1-4 rounded out the front nine as 6-7-8-9. The major reason for the
renumber was to eliminate the congestion on the old first hole, a par three,
by starting on a par five the new first hole. Starting on a par five decreased
tee times from every 12 minutes to every 8 minutes, allowing more players
on the course in a more organized fashion. A project that expanded the
thirteenth green and pond was completed in 2007, and a new gold tee was
added to the hole in 2008. Landscaping ponds were added to the putting
green in 2007, along with a service area in the pavilion. A new tee on hole
#4 was started in 2007 and is slated for opening in 2010.