SLIPPERY ROCK — Oakview Golf Club is all about family.

“The key is our membership,” said Jesse Horner, the PGA professional and general manager of Oakview. “No one wants to play a round of golf by themselves. Our golf club is very welcoming. People here are very receptive to new people coming in. It's a family here.”

Oakview has changed a great deal since Darrin Coulson and Joel Adams bought the course nine years ago.

Back then, it was a private course called Armco Country Club. During the nine years since Coulson and Adams purchased it, they have slowly molded it into a semi-private golf club.

Horner, a graduate of A-C Valley High School and Slippery Rock University, was brought in to clean up the course and find a niche for it.

“I know golf,” Horner said. “My job was to come in here and get the course back in shape.

“It's a very playable golf course, yet for good golfers, it's challenging,” Horner said. “Eighty-five percent of our membership is 50 or older, so they can play here. There are some bunkers. There are some hazards, but you're not going to come out here and lose five or six golf balls.”

The par-70 course plays 6,098 yards from the black tees and 5,899 yards from the white tees.

While it is still a work in progress, Horner believes they have hit on a successful business model.

“We've worked very hard to try to distinguish ourselves,” Horner said. “When you really take a step back and take a look at our place, it's really quite a nice golf course. The best part is there are a lot of nice people here, too.”

Horner said he wants to attract the people who want to be a member of a golf club, but don't want it to break the bank.

Oakview's membership rates are $1,350 for a 12-month regular membership, $600 for a spouse and $300 for a junior (ages 12 to 22).

Kids under the age of 12 can golf for free, further adding to the family dynamic of the golf club.

“Your membership means something here,” Horner said. “I have members here who really shouldn't be members based on the amount they play. But they like it. They like belonging to something and that's what we want people to feel.”

The course is also open to the public.

Everyone, though, must call ahead for tee times. Members get first crack at booking tee times.

Another draw of the course is the fast play.

“You can play a round here in four hours,” Horner said. “In some of the other courses, you get stacked up.”

Members can show up and get in a few holes at dusk.

“People are very busy these days,” Horner said. “That's a big draw to be able to come, play three or four holes after work.”

Oakview isn't just all about golf.

The restaurant is booming with a new caterer on board and the club can host wedding receptions and other banquet occasions.

“What we are trying to do is go from a 5-and-a-half-month operation to a 10- to 10-and-a-half-month operation. If someone wanted to get married on Valentine's Day, we couldn't do it. Now we can.”

The course superintendent is Adam Schultz, who Horner said does yeoman's work with his crew of four.

“I can't do it without them,” Horner said. “It's all about teamwork and that goes back to family. That's why we are succeeding here. It starts from the top and we're all on the same page. We're just all trying to do the very best job we can.”