PANA - When Don Beyers bought 400 acres of ground with a deep ravine running through it in the late 1950s, his business plan eventually consisted of constructing a lake and some residential lots.

The thought of Oak Terrace Resort and Spa had not yet occurred to him, nor had the notion of building a premier golf course. Forty years would pass before they were realized.

"When we first started moving dirt around out here, I was thinking of laying out some building lots and some camping sites," Beyers said. "We had just finished building the lake and the idea seemed pretty sound at the time - though we later discovered that fine homes and camping facilities just don't mix."

Once the dam was built and the lake began to fill, he started at U.S. 51, three miles south of Pana, and built roads through the property and installed city water and a central sewage system. By this time, his son, Mike, had just graduated from Pana High School and joined his father in the venture.

"Dad didn't have any particular plan in mind when he bought the property, he was basically looking for something he could work at when he retired," Mike Beyers said, laughing as the pair considered their elaborate creation.

"We had no idea then how things would eventually turn out. We had the roads, the lake and several vacant lots, and when they didn't sell as fast as we thought they might, we began looking at other options."

He said they had kicked around the idea of building a golf course over the years and finally, after some research and a lot of help from Greg Holthaus, an engineer who works for Beyers Construction Co., they carved the first nine holes out of the hills, hollows and trees of what is now the back nine, where the 12th through the 16th holes are rightly called the "Shot Maker's Mile."

Most of these greens are guarded by significant bodies of water and some strategically placed bunkers that test even the best golfers. The water hazard on the 15th hole is 90 feet deep and has become the repository for a great many errant golf balls.

The front nine was completed in the early 1990s and features what has been called by some the toughest hole on the course: a 537 yard dog-leg right with an elevated green that's guarded by trees and a yawning bunker, though most golfers agree the holes that make up the "Shot Maker's Mile" are equally challenging, if not more so.

Ken Kelly who has played the course many times since moving to the area from Peoria last year agrees with the latter group.

"I haven't lost any balls on number 3, but I've offered up many to the water god on 15," he said with a smile. "I've played golf all over the world in the last 30 years and more recently on two courses in Chicago, and none of the courses was any better than Oak Terrace. In fact, most of them were not as well-kept or as challenging."

Once the 18-hole championship golf course was up and running, they added a banquet hall, a 37-room hotel, Mulligan's Restaurant and Sports Bar, a pro shop, several condominiums and lake villas and a full-service spa.

Stacy King of Mount Zion manages the spa.

"We offer Swedish and hot stone massages, skin and facial care, hair styling, manicures, pedicures, body scrubs and polishes, body masks and wraps, nail service and hydro therapy treatments. It's a beautiful Kohler appointed facility that sits on a knoll overlooking the lake," King said. "Many of our customers are somewhat awed, not only by the level of professional care here, but more especially by the peaceful ambiance of the forest and the lake. It's a wonderful compliment to everything else we offer at Oak Terrace Resort and Spa."

The Resort Center, which opened last year, features a full-line of exercise equipment, a poker room, video room for kids, a golf simulator, tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool.

"We built it for the residents and our hotel guests," said Norman Taylor, director of marketing and business development at Oak Terrace.

"It's not open to the public," he added, "We haven't yet figured out how to staff it. Presently, home owners and our guests have a card which allows them to enter the facility whenever they wish."

The latest project to enhance this testament to the courage and perseverance of the Beyers family is a nearly completed 4-story complex of one- and two-bedroom lake villas with two more yet to be built. They also plan to add more condominiums in the near future.

"Our business plan that has evolved over the last several years is to view ourselves as a destination get-a-way," Mike said. "Were within easy driving distance of every major metropolitan area in the state and many in mid America," he added. "We offer several golf and spa packages to bring people here and we want to make their stay as enjoyable as possible so they will come back and see us again."

Phil Jacobs can be reached at pjacobs837@yahoo.com

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