SUMMIT TWP — The Zediker family has owned Hiland Golf Course for 59 years.

The course’s front nine holes date back more than 100 years, making them among the oldest in the region.

Yet Hiland, slowly, partly unexpectedly, is undergoing change.

Charlotte Zediker died last month at age 90. Her husband, Walter “Ralph” Zediker, Sr., bought the course with his brother in 1954. Ralph eventually bought his brother out.

His wife handled all of the business’s books for decades, doing it all on paper.

“She was never one for a computer,” said Alan Zediker, who runs the facility with his sister, Sarah, and brother-in-law Terry Rottman. “We never fully appreciated the depths of her work.

“Payroll, all of the accounting ... we’re putting that all on computer now and it’s a chore.”

Chuck Young was superintendent of the golf course for nearly 56 years. He still helps out, but Greg Hesidence is in his second year as course superintendent.

“Greg assisted under Chuck for a while and he had a great tutor,” Zediker said. “That transition is coming along just fine.”

Hesidence, 42, was a lab technician who left that job without another one lined up “just to pursue better endeavors.”

A longtime golfer, he saw an opening at Hiland for superintendent work and applied.

“Working on a golf course was very appealing to me,” Hesidence said. “Timing is everything and Chuck taught me quick.

“You have to be on the ball. Expect it before it comes. That’s probably the most important thing I learned from Chuck. And if I run into a problem, Chuck’s still around here for me to ask. That’s a big plus.”

Hesidence and Chuck Young are joined by a small crew in maintaining the course.

“It’s a big challenge taking care of things out there, but it’s a good group of guys, we all get along and work hard, and that’s important,” Hesidence said. “I’m getting self-sufficient right now in knowing this course.

“The gratitude you get from the golfers for keeping a nice course ... That kind of recognition means a lot.”

Hesidence still finds time to play golf three times a week, usually at Hiland. Playing the course has helped him learn about the course.

“I get a good idea of how the greens are, whether they’re too fast or slow, and the playability of the course in general,” he said.

“I plan to retire here, if they’ll have me. I love this job.”

Decades ago, Ralph Zediker Sr. — who was doing construction work outside of the country — loved the idea of coming home and starting a business enough that he spurned job offers from a man he met in a restaurant while doing that construction job.

That man was J.D. Rockefeller.

“Dad never knew who he was, but they ate together in the same restaurant for a long time,” Alan Zediker said. “The man wanted Dad to come work for him ... Who knows how that might have turned out?

“Then he comes home and buys this golf course, one hour before the Saul family was gonna buy it. Rich Saul told me that himself.”

More change is planned down the road — putting in new No’s 15 and 16 holes.

Plenty of additional acreage exists on the property — primarily in the form of woods — and will be cleared out in the next couple of years.

“It will be a long process to get those holes in, probably the better part of 10 years,” Zediker said. “Just clearing the ground will be a chore. Then it has to be seeded, grown in, all of that. But that plan is in the works.”

In the meantime, Hiland Golf Course is business as usual.

A plaque in the clubhouse shows the names of 86 golfers who have scored holes-in-one there over the past 35 years.

The course is home to 12 leagues, a number of them sporting as many as 60 golfers.

Tee times are required and generally available up until 1:30 p.m., with most leagues beginning play at 3:30 p.m. or after.

Senior rates and discount coupons are available.

“We see a lot of familiar faces here, but we get new ones, too,” Zediker said. “And some people do still like to walk this course. That will probably never change.”