FRANKLIN TWP — Talk about keeping it in the family.

The Mount Chestnut golf course will remain in familiar hands.

Jake Orloski, 72, who has owned the course since construction began on the site in 1983, is selling it to son Wade Orloski of Knoxville, Tenn.

Jake Orloski’s grandson, Doug, will run the facility.

“I took my father on a vacation last year, a cruise to Alaska, and he was talking about how he wanted to sit back and relax,” Wade Orloski said. “It was important to me that the golf course remain in the family and my father had always talked about that.

“It didn’t take us long to work everything out.”

The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of March.

Doug Orloski and his two brothers, Clinton and Derrick, all ran track at Slippery Rock High School. Clinton went on to run cross country at Bucknell while Doug and Derrick played football and ran track at Westminster.

Derrick Orloski is still at Westminster. Doug graduated with a degree in business administration in 2011.

“I’ve always loved golf,” Doug said. “I never played for our high school team because I was involved in cross country.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at Mount Chestnut over the past 10 years, playing golf, hanging out with my grandfather. Being able to operate the golf course full-time is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Doug Orloski added that younger brother Derrick will help him this summer “as time permits.”

“His plans for the immediate future are up in the air right now,” Doug said.

Wade and Doug Orloski have plans for the golf course, short term and long range.

Heating pads will be installed at the Mount Chestnut driving range in the near future.

“That will make it more comfortable for golfers to hit balls in chilly weather, when they otherwise might not come out,” Wade said.

He added that the course will undergo a slight facelift and may be expanded in the coming years.

“There is land out there, but I don’t know if its owners would have interest in selling, how costly it would be ... It’s something that could be looked at down the road,” he said.

The immediate plan is to attract more kids to the golf course.

“I remember playing there with my dad,” Wade said. “Golf can be a real bonding experience. We may set up a program where an adult brings a kid and the kid plays free.

“We want to expose more young kids to the game.”

The Orloski family name will be tied to Mount Chestnut for quite a while, if Wade gets his way.

“I’m hoping that one day, Doug buys me out,” he said. “I’d love to see our family own and operate this golf course for a very long time.”