Photo courtesy of Jennifer Cardwell.
Jennifer Cardwell poses for a photo with her son, Payne, and husband, Anthony.
A recently released country song hits home for Jennifer Cardwell.
Larry Fleet’s “Where I Find God,” a somewhat blue-collar gospel about God and finding peace, is currently Cardwell’s favorite tune. When she hears it, it immediately brings to mind The Meadows in Harpersville, the golf course that she and husband Anthony bought in 2017.
“I can walk out there, and I know there is a God,” said Cardwell, a retired Trussville City Schools English teacher and secondary curriculum coordinator. “And I know that sounds cheesy, but He is everywhere.”
Before Cardwell could have her devotions and coffee on the clubhouse’s wraparound porch, however, The Meadows needed some work. The Meadows had previously been a golf course before the Cardwells bought it, but not in over a decade. The Cardwells, plus Anthony’s brother, had their work cut out for them.
They cleared the property, which took on the look of a forest, for more than two years. They used a bulldozer and tractors with blades. It took another year to shape it and plant Bermuda greens.
“Clearing was just the start,” Cardwell said.
Irrigation pumps and pipes needed repair and replacing. They planted their greens, and then it didn’t rain for three months. So, they planted them again a year later. A building on the course was missing plumbing. The Meadows’ restaurant opened first, and then the driving range.
“Survival,” said Cardwell, who coached the Hewitt-Trussville High School girls golf team to a state championship in 2005.
Then, on Labor Day weekend 2020, The Meadows opened for good. The fall was great for golf, Cardwell said.
“We were very blessed,” she said, noting that the delays and the COVID-19 pandemic have been challenges. “We have survived. We are thankful that we’ve got just great employees who have helped along the way and have hung in there with us whenever we just didn’t know what was going to happen next. Now we are looking so forward to a spring of golfers, and we just have some wonderful people to come play and enjoy our course, and that has been good. It’s always good when golfers are there. We never take that for granted.”
The Meadows plays at more than 6,000 yards and is a five-mile walk to play 18 holes. It’s a links style golf course with many natural areas to make it more challenging. It’s tough but fair.
“You can kind of just lose yourself and get out in the country, so to speak, out of the city, and just be at peace,” Cardwell said.
Cardwell does believe her 26 years in public education have helped with golf course management. She loves to see people learn, especially inexperienced golfers. She’s held ladies’ events for women who have never played the game. Anthony handles the superintendent work while Cardwell manages the clubhouse. So far, it’s worked well. The couple hopes to stay at The Meadows until retirement.
“Anybody can play golf, and love it for life,” Cardwell said. “Put your phones down. Get off of YouTube and get outside, because that really is what will help keep you healthy physically, but also mentally. There’s nothing like getting out there and taking three or four hours, even if it’s by yourself or with friends, there’s just nothing like it. I can’t think of another sport that offers the opportunity for just the tranquility of it or the camaraderie of it, whatever the goal is for the match, for the game.”
Cardwell has seen deer running, 10 at a time, across the 200 acres the course encompasses. There are turkeys and perfect sunsets. Golfers flock to the clubhouse porch in the early evenings when their rounds are complete.
“It’s just a special place to be,” Cardwell said. “It really is. I can say that it’s fulfilling work. It’s different work, but it’s fulfilling work. It makes us so happy to have brought something back to life that we literally see lots of people enjoying. That’s what it’s all about. It really is.”
