Florida Golf Monthly - Naples Beach

Errol Estates- Developers of this Apopka community provide an atmosphere where people can live and relax beyond the reach of commercial hustle and bustle.

There are little pockets of Florida where you feel as though you're not really in Florida at all. In such places, you feel you can leave behind your everyday life and experience something completely different. Apopka happens to lie in one of those little pockets, and its very own Errol Estates provide the pristine atmosphere of the hills of North Carolina with the lifestyle of a vibrant Florida golf community. Unlike many sections of Florida where the railroad track that runs through town marks the highest elevation, Errol Estates offers splendid hills, rolling almost endlessly throughout both the community and its 27-hole golf course.

The community's success mirrors the trend occurring throughout central Florida. As you may know, Floridians traditionally haven't ranked the Apopka area on their top 10 list of desirable addresses. Today, however, things have changed. While 20-30 years ago you may have been able to purchase a sizeable plot of land in Apopka for a mere pittance, the same land today may just cost you a mint. Once upon a time, Apopka was barely populated and virtually untouched. So much distance stood between homes, farms and the "town" amenities, you couldn't help but get away from it all.

Then, things started to happen in a hurry. Apopka didn't move, but the world seemed to move to Apopka. Suddenly, this community, once buried in the middle of nowhere, stood less than an hour from a major international airport; offered just a 30- to 40-minute drive to Orlando, one of the fastest growing cities in the country; and found itself less than an hour away from the Disney, the most popular resort in the world. Apopka quickly became one of the prime residential locations in Florida.

With new attractions popping up all over the area, the developers of Apopka's Errol Estates believed it was imperative that their community provide an atmosphere in which people could live and relax beyond the reach of the rapidly approaching commercial hustle and bustle. Not only did they successfully create that safe haven, they also found a way to provide residents with all the creature comforts one looks for in a top-notch golf community.

Moreover, Errol's developers have shown that in addition to their community vision, they possess stamina as well. They've proven themselves to have what it takes to weather the storms that eventually hit every residential community, and today, they stand in a position to provide Floridians with a unique and diversified living experience, offering everything from condominiums to luxurious homes and just about everything in between.

What a difference from the estate's humble beginnings. When first settled, the estate held one main home: the residence of John Thomas Pirie, a New Yorker who moved to Apopka in 1886. In search of a climate that would provide his wife relief from severe asthma, Pirie found what he was looking for in Apopka. He bought an immense plot of land and named his estate Errol after the Scottish village where he was born in 1827.

Upon arriving in Apopka, Pirie had already established himself, and his self-made success story was well known. Years before, Pirie worked as a clerk at James Beck & Company with another young man named Samuel Carson. Having seen the fruits of retail investment, Pirie and Carson wanted to taste some for themselves. The two determined to launch a business venture of their own and asked native Irishmen George and Robert Scott to join them as partners. The four men started their business pursuit in Amboy, Illinois, and shortly thereafter, they opened stores in both Polo and Mendota, Illinois. The stores met with great success, and the men moved to Chicago where they established the firm of Carson Pirie Scott & Company, which soon became the largest department store in Chicago. When the Chicago weather proved detrimental to his wife's health, Pirie left the Midwest in search of a warmer climate. Hence, he discovered Apopka.

And by 1973, flocks of snowbirds, tired of freezing winters, discovered the area, too. Errol Estates become a popular residential area and vacation spot for northerners seeking a warm refuge in the south. Both the community's climate and its remoteness served as a draw for visitors and residents alike.

Yet while Errol Estates offered appeal and charm, it was missing one major ingredient: golf. Richard Mark, head of the Lake Alden Corporation, which had purchased the entire estate from the Piries for $994,000, saw the need and paved the way for the construction of a golf course. The Lake Alden Corporation hired Florida-based architect Joe Lee, who constructed an 18-hole, 6,505-yard course at Errol Estates. Today these nines are known as the Lake and the Highland courses. The third nine, the Grove, was added in 1975.

When Errol Estates opened its doors on February 20, 1973, it did so in a big way. The grand opening featured a friendly gender competition match between a PGA team comprised of Tour stars Frank Beard and Charles Coody against Judy Trulock and LPGA legend Kathy Whitworth. The men won the match, posting one-under par 71s.

While kicking off the opening of a golf facility with a professional match may not seem terribly novel, in this case, the pros involved had a stake in the course that added interest and grandeur to the event. Coody, the 1971 Masters champion, also served Errol's director of golf, and Whitworth and Trulock owned the Errol pro shop. To make the pro connection even stronger, LPGA player Mary Dwyer called Errol Estates her primary residence.

This marked the golden age of Errol Estates. If moments in time could be frozen forever, most Errol residents surely would have chosen to preserve this era. Unfortunately, no one can stop time; it marches on and things change. Some might call the changes to Errol Estates that have occurred over the years "advances." Whether or not they truly fall into this category, the events that have transpired at Errol have most certainly made a difference.

Amidst all the changes, one factor has remained a positive constant: Errol real estate has always been considered prime property. And, as the saying goes, when you're looking for a place to settle down the three things to look for are location, location and location.

The management of the golf facility is another story. Each and every regime at a golf and real estate development has its own philosophy about organizational structure and the services offered to golfers. Errol Estates is no exception.

At one time, there were grand plans for the members to buy the golf course and the attending facilities, but economic conditions precluded that move. The desire and the dollars necessary to successfully complete such a transaction at Errol Estates never seemed to come together at the same time. The complex then faced the same situation as thousands of other golf facilities across the country. This financial epidemic in the golf world fueled a completely new adjunct to the industry: golf course management companies. But as in any situation, there is no universal cure for the ailments of individual courses. While an international golf facility management conglomerate might save one property, it could just as easily ruin another. As the members discovered, Errol Estates belongs firmly in the latter category.

The Errol Estates members entered into an agreement with a management company. When the time came to either terminate or renew the arrangement, the members hated the management company, and high level execs at the management company dangled Errol Estates like a guillotine over the heads of problematic employees (e.g., "You'd better shape up, or we'll send you to Errol Estates"). Obviously, something had to be done. The management company wasn't putting any money into the course and it showed. The time to devise a final solution had arrived.

So in February of 1997, Errol Estates Country Club became a "born again" golf club. The members took control of the club and are currently in the process of dispensing $1.2-million on the course and the clubhouse. Initial reports suggest rave reviews are in store for the course. The membership has brought Errol Estates back to life. The difficulty of confronting the course no longer pales in comparison to the difficulty of facing its poor conditions. The greens and bunkers are being redefined to their original designs, enhancing both the beauty and the challenge of Errol's course.

Errol Estates members realized that the strength of their country club rests in its storied history. Although they may not be able to recreate history, they can certainly restructure the golf facility, thereby enabling today's golfers the opportunity to enjoy the same golf experience that made Errol Estates Country Club a premier golf community upon its inception.

And there's another benefit to the revitalization of the Errol Estates golf facility: a newfound excitement in the air. While some definite growing pains, quite uncharacteristic for a 25-year-old club, accompany this excitement, overall it has breathed new life into the community, making Errol Estates an even better and more exhilarating place to live.