Warren Stephens is having fun playing the dual role of chauffeur and tour guide at his ultra-private development: The Alotian Club. The chairman, president and chief executive officer of Little Rock's Stephens Inc. is wheeling a golf cart around his 1,200-acre spread in west Pulaski County.

And he likes most of what he sees.

Incredible, awesome, gorgeous, fantastic, super, marvelous, wonderful, beautiful - the list of superlatives used to describe the view of tree-enshrouded ridges and Lake Maumelle grows with each successive stop around Alotian.

"The golf course turned out better than I hoped for," Stephens said.

Unlike most golfers, who can only dream of building their own course, this 47-year-old executive has the financial means to make it happen and feed the ongoing operations to sustain it.

Each of the greens features an underground system capable of cooling or warming the Bentgrass roots to a 10-degree differential with the air temperature. During the hot months, removable electric fans keep the air circulating over greens otherwise shielded by the surrounding woods.

It's a setup never before seen in Arkansas and very scarce in the golfing world. If Stephens cut any corners on Alotian, the results are well hidden.

The 18-hole course covers 300 acres of hilly and often steep terrain that meanders through pine-dominated woods.

A network of lakes, the largest of which covers 28 acres, supplies the irrigation needs of the Zoysia and Bentgrass playing areas and landscaping greenery. Pumping stations also provide a steady flow to keep creeks wet year round and alive with running water, a sound Stephens loves.

Alotian is his version of golfing heaven, a place without crowded fairways whose denizens savor a good game and good company amid outdoor splendor.

Sourpuss observers might roll their eyes at Alotian and dismiss it as the extravagant, middle-aged indulgence of a very wealthy businessman. They might even frown at Alotian as an elitist enclave, an opulent statement of excess.

But the core motivation for Stephens is much more basic: He simply wanted to do something fun, and his price tolerance for fun happens to run into the millions of dollars.

Stephens is well aware that his pet project has generated plenty of curiosity. It's not every day that someone in Arkansas digs into his billfold to spend an estimated $18 million to build a golf course that few people will ever see, let alone play.

With Alotian nearing completion, Stephens consented to give the media - beginning with Arkansas Business - a peek at what he's been up to during the past two years in the woods on the western outskirts of Little Rock.

The move is designed to help satisfy public interest in his private venture. But the temporary parting of the veil is more than a grudging acquiescence to inquiring minds who want to know more about Alotian.

Though unspoken, Stephens is proud of the big-picture results at Alotian - though he confesses the club will be like a house undergoing constant tinkering.

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