Chuck Goodzinski, who along with his sister Missy is a third-generation owner of Hartmann's Deep Valley Golf Course, recognizes the long family history at the facility.

HARMONY — When the land where Hartmann's Deep Valley Golf Course now sits was purchased in the late 1950's, its new owners couldn't hit the ground running.

They didn't have enough shoes.

“When my dad and uncle bought this place, they couldn't go to church at the same time,” said Trudy Hartmann, a current tri-owner of the facility. “They had one pair of dress shoes between them.

“One of them went to early church. He came back, gave the shoes to the other one, who would attend the later service. That's a true story ... a real shoe-string budget.”

When the Hartmann family first bought the land, it was a chicken farm. A fishing lake was built from a swampy part of the property and that lake is part of the golf course today.

Trudy said her father “drove into Butler one day, saw some golf holes along the side of the road and got an idea.

“They got a tractor and went to work.”

The resolve of the Hartmann family in sustaining the golf course over the years overcame that early shoe-string budget.

Trudy Hartmann, Chuck Goodzinski and his sister Missy, and Linda Hartmann (Trudy's sister-in-law) each own a third of the facility, which has been in operation since 1959.

Goodzinski and his sister are third-generation family owners. Goodzinski became actively vested in the business when his mother, Maria, died early last year.

“Before she died, she told me to get ready to go to work ... 'because when I'm gone, you're coming back here,'” Goodzinski said.

Trudy's brother built a restaurant on the golf course grounds in 1982. It burned to the ground 20 years later, but was completely rebuilt.

A flood put the golf course under water in 2004. That shut it down for three months, but the course has been open for business ever since.

“Our family blood is in this place. It's who we are,” Trudy said. “We just kept plodding forward. We'll always do everything we can to keep things going.”

Goodzinski graduated from Seneca Valley High School in 1984 and majored in golf course management/landscaping at Rutgers.

But when he graduated from college, there was no job available for him at Hartmann's.

So he hit the road.

“I always knew I'd come back here eventually,” he said. “I wouldn't trade what I've learned or where I've been for anything. I don't have any regrets.

“My experiences ... I'm putting them to use here at home now.”

Those experiences include serving as head of irrigation for four years at Augusta National, working for a 64-hole golf resort in Florida, working at Pine Grove Golf Club in Grove City for four years, and a few other stops along the way.

Hartmann's restaurant, known as The Waterhole, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Goodzinski said it “carries a full-scale menu, from salads to sandwiches to main courses.”The restaurant also features a banquet facility. Hartmann's has another building next to the restaurant that is used as an outdoor bar a couple of nights a week.A pro shop and snack shop are also on the grounds.The golf course itself is relatively flat and is popular for walkers. An early bird special, before 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday, enables golfers to walk nine holes for $6.50 or 18 holes for $13. They can ride nine holes for $13.50 or 18 holes for $27.Regular rates Monday through Friday are $10,25 to walk nine holes, $17.75 to walk 18. Riding is $18 for nine, $33 for 18. Weekend rates run slightly higher.There is a senior citzen — 55 and over — discount Monday through Friday.Goodzinski said the signature hole is the 201-yard par-3 No. 15, the green sitting behind a stream of water, with trees behind the green. The course has four par-3 and four par-5 holes.“The biggest thing I've learned during my travels is how important it is to fine-tune the course, keep it looking nice,” Goodzinski said. “The greens, fairways, we work hard at it.”One of those workers is Joel Goodzinski, Chuck's 14-year-old son. He washes carts, does some trimming and general clean-up work.“I want to run this place some day,” Joel said. “That's my goal.”Fourth-generation?“I don't think this place is going to be out of the family any time soon,” Goodzinski said.

Here is a look at the No. 15 green, sitting behind a stream of water at Hartmann's.