T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Elmwood Country Club Events, Marketing and Membership Coordinator Alyvia Chadderdon, a 2019 MHS graduate, shows off the new bar area in the ballroom. Several major clubhouse renovations have recently been completed along with the addition of pickleball courts and a future plan to introduce a fine dining option.

Elmwood Country Club will always be, above all else, a place to play golf, but Events, Membership and Marketing Coordinator Alyvia Chadderdon wants the public to know that it has so much more to offer for both members and non-members.

Chadderdon, a 2019 MHS graduate who “grew up” at the club as her parents are members, worked as a server and bartender for three years before moving into her current position a little over a year ago, and she said David Eichhorn, the general manager at Elmwood, spearheaded a major renovation project in the clubhouse area that was recently completed. They were primarily able to come up with the money through private capital fundraising from members.

“Right now, we’re really focused on events. This is just such a beautiful (place). I don’t think anything compares in the area to just how gorgeous (it is) when you get the whole course and everything and the clubhouse and its historical (look),” Chadderdon said. “It’s been here forever, and just to restore it to more of the beauty — not that it wasn’t beautiful for the time with the green carpet and brown ceiling. At some time, I’m sure that was great, but it was in desperate need of some help.”

The grand ballroom, as she mentioned, has been refurbished with a brand new bar. They’ve also added pickleball courts outside because, again, a member wanted them and contributed the money to make it happen.

“That’s really how we’re getting things done now. It just takes those people who want to see it happen and have the funds to help us out with that,” Chadderdon said.

Another new feature members have been clamoring for is a fine dining option, so Chadderdon and her team went to work on making it happen. Couples who go on a date night and individuals who leave town — often toward Des Moines — for that experience, she said, might now reconsider Marshalltown.

“It’s really kind of important to us, not only for Elmwood but for Marshalltown, to bring that fine dining so that people don’t have to leave town,” she said.

Chadderdon is hopeful that some of these attractions will inspire members to bring guests who are interested in seeing everything Elmwood has to offer and maybe eventually becoming members themselves. While the final details aren’t ironed out, she said there have been discussions about having dining reservations for members only on certain nights and the general public on others.

As her title might suggest, Chadderdon is keen on making Elmwood a place for big events like weddings and parties in addition to the day to day country club routine, and another project on the horizon is working on a few areas that were affected by the 2018 and 2020 natural disasters. There’s also a smaller room on the lower level of the clubhouse that they’d like to turn into a fitness center.

“I just think it’s another amenity to add some value,” she said.

Elmwood Country Club is located at 1734 Country Club Ln. and can be reached at (641) 753-6228.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com