Scott Azinger readily recognized the Country Club course as a classic when he left a job on the grounds crew at Medinah Country Club in 1984 to become head superintendent at DCC.

 

A cousin of recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Paul Azinger, Scott had some game himself and well understood what constitutes a strong test of golf.

 

“I was a scratch golfer coming out of Medinah,” he said. “I had played a lot of premier courses, so I knew right away. DCC is a golf course where the green complexes and the second shots are really fun to play. You use every club in the bag. It was widely known back in the day, but I don’t think our membership really knew how good it was when I got there.

 

“That happens at a lot of places. They play every day and they lose the sense of the real specialness of the place.”

 

Azinger also saw considerable opportunity for growth at the Country Club.

 

“When the clubhouse burned they built a new clubhouse and they didn’t anticipate it being much more than a place to come get ready to play golf and have some sandwiches,” he said. “Let’s put it this way: they didn’t overbuild at all. It was probably OK at the time but it became dated real quickly.”

 

“Dated” is among the kinder reviews offered years later.

 

From Joan McGee: “Ugly.”

 

And Dick Schmidt: “A shack.”

 

Joyce Bawden: “It was el cheapo.”

 

Chuck Von Maur: “It couldn’t have been more bland. I won’t say it was cheap. It was bland.”

 

B.J. Weigle: “I’d say it was functional.”

 

Functional would have to suffice, and, for nearly 30 years, it did. DCC carried on through the end of the 20th Century, weathering a challenging economy, changes to tax codes, and the ebbs and flows of membership numbers.

 

All the while, significant changes were under consideration as Dana Waterman III, Cal Werner, Al Arkin and countless others took their turns as directors and as club presidents through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

 

The Character of a Club

 

Service to one’s club can be infinitely rewarding, but satisfying hundreds of members with widely disparate wants and needs has challenges, too.

 

Dana Waterman II certainly would have heard his share of unflattering reviews of the “functional” clubhouse he and his board ushered into being in 1969.

 

Years beyond, B.J. Weigle took his turn as club president and learned that for every action there is an adverse reaction. When he asked Azinger to remove the signature water pump handles that once provided water for the back side of the course prior to the installation of an irrigation system, he ran into at least one very serious opponent.

 

“I’m not a fan of the pumps in the middle of a fairway,” he said. “Never have been. We can have a pump in front of the pro shop. We can have pumps in lot of places but through all these renovations, I’ve never understood why we still have a pump in the middle of the fairway on 13. It’s a battle I lost.”

 

Again, one member was particularly vexed by the plan to remove what she viewed as a reflection of course history.

 

“I went to Scott Azinger and said ‘You take the pump out and we’ll make sure we sue you,’” Joan Weigle McGee said. “That is a legacy.”

 

Brother and sister laugh today about that minor contretemps, but the pump at 13 still stands. And, of course, images of the old pumps now serve as a signature logo on scorecards and DCC apparel.

 

In the 1980s and early 1990s, incremental board-directed changes paved the way for significant changes in coming years.

 

As president in 1983, Werner led a decision to let the previous grounds superintendent go, paving the way for Azinger’s hiring.

 

“It was tough,” Werner said of the move. “There was a lot of dissension. The vote on letting the superintendent go wasn’t 6-1. It was 4-3 or something.”

 

Five years later, a board led by Waterman III began the process of expanding and then replacing the clubhouse his father had built.

 

Every decision met opposition.

 

“After about 15 years, the membership had grown back a little but even then we were dealing with a challenging farm economy,” Dana III said. “It was a tough, challenging environment at that time. But there was still pressure to expand the club footprint. To have more amenities, and more opportunity for casual dining. And so in the early 90s we did a push out of the footprint, expanded the clubhouse and 10 years later razed the clubhouse down to the foundation and built this facility we have today.”

 

Change started with modest renovations to the existing structure, including HVAC repairs that ultimately proved insufficient. When Azinger was promoted to club general manager in 1998, the time for major change was at hand.

 

Beginning a New Century

 

Even before Azinger moved into the GM’s office, a plan was in place to build a clubhouse almost triple the size of the functional facility that had replaced the old barn.

 

Coupled with that was a significant revision of Captain Alison’s course. The beloved drivable par-4 starting hole made way for a driving range the course had lacked since its inception. Too, an early rendition of the 18th hole that exists today was constructed in place of the quirky uphill dogleg finishing hole Alison never fully finished.

 

For years, makeshift practice facilities involved hitting balls over that uphill approach to the old 18th green, a far from ideal solution that years before had earned Joe Kehoe the ire of Elsie Von Maur.

 

“We wanted a driving range,” Azinger said. “It used to be all the range balls ended up in 18th fairway and it was kind of a mess. It wasn’t a good practice facility at all. Most of the clubs built pre-1950 didn’t even consider driving ranges.

 

“We did a pretty extensive study of buying property to the east and building the clubhouse there. We ended up settling on building a range on the old No. 1 hole, built the new first hole to the north of it, and then changed 18 around. The rest of the course stayed pretty much the same.”

 

Those alterations to the old-boned track were enough to earn the wrath of many old-guard members. Some 30 equity members left when those changes were approved.

 

More controversial were plans to erect a $4.3 million, 32,000-square-foot clubhouse that necessitated a $5000-per-member assessment.

 

“They changed a course I was absolutely in love with,” groused John Schmid, who ended a 48-year association with the Country Club in favor of joining Arsenal CC. “At my age, I also couldn’t see spending all that money to build a Taj Mahal.”

 

If it wasn’t quite the Taj Mahal, the grand new clubhouse that opened in October of 2000 was, and remains, the largest and finest in the area.

 

It was designed by what is known today as Kuo Deidrich Chi — an internationally recognized Atlanta firm whose subsequent work would include the 77,000-square-foot, PGA TOUR-owned facility at TPC Sawgrass that is the real Taj Mahal of clubhouses.

 

Davenport’s new clubhouse more than served its purpose, and more affordably than expected.

 

“We got it built for $120 per square foot, which was a hell of deal,” Azinger said. “Everything I build now in Chicago is $1000 per square foot. Even back then, I think the average cost was $200 to $300 per square foot. So when we built it out, we got a good deal. It took a year to build it.”

 

Barry Shoulders led the effort to win member approval, and Jim Estes of Estes Construction headed the building committee.

 

After the “functional” former clubhouse was razed in 1999, the Country Club spent another year without a clubhouse, but, again, members made do. A large tent in the parking lot served as a golf-staging area and post-round gathering spot, with some food and beverage available.

 

For fine dining, the club rented and staffed the former Francescon’s Restaurant down the hill in LeClaire. “We named it the DCC Yacht Club and it was a huge success,” Azinger recalled. “Everybody loved it.”

 

It was a temporary solution that allowed Azinger to keep his food and beverage staff employed and an accommodation that made the extensive and expensive new clubhouse just a little more palatable to membership.

 

“They kept a lot of members because your minimum went over there,” said future club president Divot Ekizian. “You got dinner. It was pretty creative at the time.”

 

When put before members in late 1997, the initial clubhouse proposal lost by a single vote. But a year later, a modestly revised plan needed 60 percent approval and earned 67 percent.

 

The subsequent departures of 30 equity members changed the median age of membership, which ultimately was a promising portent as the club moved into the future.

 

“We had a graying membership when we built the clubhouse,” Azinger remembered. “I’m not sure what the average age of the membership was before and after, but it dropped considerably. I’m thinking from high 50s to low 50s. It was noticeable. A lot of new families came into the club.”

 

By the time the clubhouse opened, the club had reclaimed a full complement of 305 golfing members

 

The massive new facility featured luxurious locker rooms and three dining rooms, including Mulligan’s downstairs, which remains the most popular and less formal choice for drinks and dining. Upstairs, a quieter member dining room reflected the club’s foundational history as it was named for Harry S. Colt and Charles Hugh Alison.

 

A much larger space encompassing much of the northeast portion provided space for hosting events and weddings, the latter of which was a particular priority for Azinger as he pushed for completion in the summer of 2000.

 

“I got married in August of 2000, and I had my reception there,” he said. “My reception was kind of a test run. We got it done and it was spectacular.”

 

The result was a new and critical revenue source as DCC moved into the 21st Century.

 

“It was huge. All of our food and beverage revenues bumped between 30 and 50 percent,” Azinger said. “We were many days booked in the upstairs with weddings and then food and dining downstairs. It changed the club. And during that whole timeframe, DCC went from a golf-centered club to really expanding on the family aspect of our club.”

 

Revisions to the swimming pool and tennis courts were less extensive than Azinger might have recommended, but still helped attract — and serve — new and younger members with children.

 

“We made as good of a pool cafe as we could,” Azinger said. “We did a remodel of a real old building that was the pool snack bar. We put a couple of decks in grassy areas to expand some of the outdoor dining and a small pavilion was remodeled. With the family orientation we had going, it grew into a real popular spot for our membership.”

 

Too, he said, “We did a lot more kid’s events because the new clubhouse afforded us the opportunity to do that. It grew our social memberships and families and younger members. New members came and it worked.”

 

The influx of new members altered the character of the Country Club, but not radically so. From its inception, remember, DCC was a welcoming place, and that remained a priority as the new century dawned.

 

Blue-blood, Infused with Blue Collar

 

When Kevin Kwak arrived as the new head professional just months beyond the opening of the new clubhouse, he was struck by the essential difference in personality between DCC and clubs where he had worked in his native Chicagoland.

 

“I just think it’s a unique place,” he said. “Very different from any country club in Chicago, or here, or wherever. Very down-home membership, very down-home culture. Non-pretentious. And a fabulous golf course. The roots of the club, the foundation the club was built on, is the people.”

 

An early admonition from one hiring committee member still frames for Kwak the fundamental character of the Country Club. In fact, his passion for the place still is palpable years after he left for a job in Chicago, only to return to the Quad Cities a few years later because he and his late wife missed the “Iowa Nice” that thrives here.

 

“Dave Smith told me the day I started, ‘Hey, we know you come from some pretty high-end places. Do me one favor and don’t turn the noses up here. Because we’re just genuine people.’

 

“It’s the Quad City culture,” Kwak subsequently discovered. “This club represents, I think, a good blue-blood presence for what the Quad Cities is and was. Very genuine membership. Family-oriented. The values that make up this club are just attractive, which is why they succeed. It’s a welcoming place. You don’t have to worry about new members coming in and feeling un-included or disconnected. That’s been the nature of the membership but it’s also been instilled by the board of directors and the staff.”

 

Blue blood? That’s fair. The Country Club was founded, after all, by the community’s most successful businessmen and most well-established families. But the blue blood comes infused with the same blue-collar sensibility that built the Quad Cities.

 

Still, the grand new clubhouse and surrounding facilities re-invigorated the Country Club’s stature in the community, and left it poised to further elevate years later as the population of Pleasant Valley Township exploded and DCC ceased to be the distant club in the country.