By Kevin Anthony

Long before Brad Rew ever imagined running his own construction company,

he dreamed of owning a golf course.

He grew up playing the courses of the Tri-Cities and his first job after

graduating from Richland High School was mowing the greens at Buckskin Golf

Club.

He studied golf course management in college, figuring he’d soon be on

the road to running his own course. 

After 13 years — and a major detour into construction after the golf

course bubble burst — that dream has been realized.

Rew closed a deal March 14 to buy Horn Rapids Golf Course for $1.5 million from Bob Soushek, the owner of Fore Inc. Golf Course Construction in Maple Valley who built the course.

“It’s always been a dream,” said Rew, noting that it isn’t just about

guaranteeing good tee times.

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur. Even more than the game of golf, I

love the business of golf.”

Rew, the owner and president of Gale-Rew Construction, said he plans to

make upwards of $5 million in improvements at the course just off Highway 240

in northwest Richland. 

Among the big-ticket items are fixing the course’s outdated irrigation

system, adding a practice facility and building a ritzy new clubhouse.

Improvements to the course’s fairways and green already are evident.

Rew said he expects the project to take 3 1/2

to 5 years.

Those improvements hinge on developing some of the nearby land that came

with the course into townhouses — a $25 million project of up to 70 homes built

in three phases.

“That makes this course viable to purchase,” said Rew, noting that

getting loans for buying or renovating golf courses is next to impossible.

He came up with the $1.5 million purchase price out of his own pocket —

easily the biggest check he’s ever written.

He said the development will be aimed at the 55-plus crowd, with homes selling

for between $329,000 and $375,000. The land first must be rezoned, but Rew said

he already has more than 30 people interested in buying.

He hopes to break ground on the first phase of 25 homes this summer.

Rich Quadrel, president of the men’s club at Horn Rapids, said he was

thrilled to see someone from the Tri-Cities buy the course after it had been on

the market for nearly five years.

“To have a local owner who spends time at the course, who is actively

engaging in dialogue with golfers — I don’t think there’s a better situation,”

Quadrel said.

He added that members he’s talked to are “real excited” about Rew’s

plans, which were unveiled at two town hall meetings at the club earlier this

month.

“At best,” Quadrel said, “what we hoped for was an owner who would make

repairs to things that had started to fall apart over time.”

It’s going to make for a lot of busy days for Rew — adding golf course

renovations and a townhouse project to the home renovations that are Gale-Rew’s

bread and butter.

“It’s the biggest project for me,” he said. “Gale-Rew Construction has

taken on a lot of big projects, but nothing this scale. But this is the

dream for me.”