MINERAL WELLS, W.Va. (WTAP, by Avery Savage)
(June 15, 2013)
I had the pleasure of sitting down with a dreamer, businessman, and Mineral Wells, West Virginia golf course owner – Bill Neal.
His dreams became his reality, and now over 150 acres of land is his.
Neal stated, “I fell in love with this piece of property and I said to myself, why can’t this be mine?”
When Woodridge Golf Club first opened, Bill Neal was one of three families that owned shares of the business. But after the golf course switched ownership a few times, Neal decided it was time to take a chance.
He said he always wanted to own a golf course, but making it happen was unreal. Neal said there’s no place he’d rather be.
“I have no regrets,” he said. “I pulled up for the very first time and I looked over at 150 acres here and I said wow, I am the owner of this property.”
In 2015, there was severe flooding in mineral wells that put Neal’s dream in Jeopardy.
He
recalled, “To look out and see that your course has flooded and you think then, you know, what’s going to happen? Are we going to get this backup?
He remembered, “I left the bank and I came here and I drove up and I said to myself I own this now.”
The community, and Neal, recovered, but it’s cost him tens of thousands of dollars.
Despite the financial strain it caused, he keeps a positive outlook.
Neal is one of 5 black golf course owners in the nation and a proud resident of West Virginia.
