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Welcome to Alotian Continued
Real estate records indicate Stephens invested more than $6.2 million to buy the land south of Highway 10 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado, and he said last week that he is talking to Deltic about adding some more acreage. He spent nearly $1.2 million more to buy a 300-acre farm between Roland and Natural Steps to excavate top soil for the course. Stephens has invited a few select golfers from in and out of state to become non-equity members for a reported six-figure entry fee. Guests, no doubt restricted in number, will expand the Alotian census from time to time. Stephens doesn't delve very deep into explaining the organizational structure of Alotian other than liken it to a "benevolent dictatorship." There will be no committees haggling over clubhouse décor under his watch as the gracious generalissimo of golf. Stephens is a member of Augusta National, whose men-only membership policy is a continuing source of criticism. But Alotian apparently will not be strictly a boys club; a locker room for women is under construction at the unfinished clubhouse. But Alotian will be a golf-only club, whether practiced by men or women: no tennis courts or swimming pools to detract from the prime directive. "We thought about the name Golf Club of Arkansas, but that sounded way too serious," he said. "This is a fun place, and I hope, a place that is not stuffy, a place where you can enjoy the company of fellow golfers." Even a non-golfer can appreciate what Stephens has done with the property. The place is downright picturesque, even as unfinished construction chores clutter isolated spots. There's the stair-stepped placement of tees on the slope that descends into the verdant valley of a fairway on the first hole, his wife Harriet's favorite. There's the twin, wooded ridges shaped like Hershey kisses in the distance that frame the backdrop to the par-four third hole. Don't forget the weird rock formation that emerges out of the rough along the right side of the fourth hole. It's nicknamed "the sphinx" because, as Stephens explains, if you look at it at just the right angle it resembles a miniature version of the famous Egyptian landmark. "Do you see it?" Stephens asks. "Uh, sure," his squinting passenger replies in less-than-convincing fashion. Perhaps the visitor is too distracted to see the whimsical likeness. But Stephens, and apparently others, can see a sphinx in the geological oddity: So let it be written, so let it be done. Stephens steps on the accelerator, and the golf cart moves on. Most of the fairways are generous, and bordered by merciful roughs. This is not a course designed to mete out punishment to all but the unerring golfer. "Golf is a game where you better enjoy it no matter how well you play," said Stephens, who claims a 10 handicap that's been as low as six. "I wanted a course that is fun to play, not frustrating. If you want to play from the back tees, you can be frustrated." Building the course entailed moving 1.5 million cubic yards of soil, which included trucking in top soil and moving dirt on site. Alotian grass was tallied at 175 acres.
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Stephens is willing to talk about some numbers and names associated with Alotian. The exceptions are numbers with dollar signs and the names of members.