It was dark days back in 1992 for the Sky Meadow Country Club development on Spit Brook Road in Nashua. The real estate bust of the late 1980s and early 1990s had done in the third owner and the bank owned property was on the auction block, again.

Bill Callahan, a commercial developer from the Bedford, Mass., area attended that auction and brought home the keys to the unfinished golf course and housing project. In the intervening 20 years the results of the Callahan family’s ownership of Sky Meadow cannot be described as anything but a rousing success.

When the Callahan’s took over the golf course, it was completed but didn’t have the proposed clubhouse and there were about 150 housing units not built – including several exposed foundations.

The first order of business was building the clubhouse. Filling out 32,000 square feet of space, the clubhouse included a large function room, a member’s dining room, the pro shop and men’s and women’s locker rooms.

Methodically over the years the housing units in the different neighborhoods were built, sold and occupied including mid-rise, townhouse and detached condominiums. Today, the totally built-out community is a thriving and vibrant home to over 300 families and individuals.

Now 76 years old, Bill Callahan has handed the club’s reins over to his son Ed, 44. Bill still keeps an eye on things but Ed is in charge of the day-to-day operation.

True to his tradesman background, Ed Callahan has been measuring twice and cutting once and slowly implementing improvements to “make the club better for our members,” he said. “After 20 years it was time to upgrade in a number of areas.”

His first directive was to improve conditions on the golf course – at one time rated the No. 1 golf course in New Hampshire by Golf Digest – back up to private club standards. So he enlisted Tim Moraghan of Aspire Golf Consulting, who had worked for over 20 years with the United States Golf Association readying courses for national championships such as the United States Open.

Focusing primarily on the greens Moraghan produced a plan of action that has produced, in Ed Callahan’s words, “a very positive outcome.”

Included in the plan was future maintenance that required the purchase of a new tractor, large bore aerator and verti-drain aeravator.

In the last off season there was extensive drainage work done in fairways and around some greens, over 100 trees were taken down and the back tee box on 13 was also expanded.

In the operations area the big news is the recent hiring of Melissa Simpson as Food and Beverage Manager. Melissa brings a wealth of experience from stints at Martha’s Exchange and Stella Blue and Ed Callahan calls her “a breath of fresh air and a tremendous addition.”

Her initiatives include ramping up the social events at the club including live music, specialty food offerings and wine tastings. Her plan was a simple one.

“Creating more atmosphere,” she said, “and making it a better overall member experience.”

Ed Callahan’s boldest move to date is the recent announcement of plans for a new 50-seat pub to be built on the lower level adjacent to the men’s and ladies locker rooms that will relocate the bar from the upstairs dining area. Work will commence at the end of this season and is hoped to be open by Super Bowl Sunday and will be open year round thereafter.

Since Sky Meadow is privately owned there will be no financial assessments to members for the capital improvements.

Though there have been changes at Sky Meadow in other areas, stability has been the hallmark of the pro shop. Rich Ingraham, Class A PGA professional, is back for his 19th season as Director of Golf and James Turner, head PGA Pro, is back for his seventh season. Ryne Varney returns for his second season as first assistant.

Ingraham’s approach is “a consistently awesome performance of customer service.” A recent example of that was a cell phone call to the pro shop from a distraught member who had misplaced his golf swing on the driving range and needed immediate assistance. Ingraham jumped in the cart, hit the flashing red lights, and raced down to the range to talk the poor man off the ledge. In just a few minutes, Ingraham had the member striping them and all was well again at Sky Meadow.

Sky Meadow Country Club has a diverse membership where everyone is welcome and there are no tee time restrictions for any members. The common threads are a love of golf and the desire to have a really good time. There are currently a limited number of membership openings in several categories.

After 20 years of successful ownership, the Callahan family has Sky Meadow poised for an even brighter future.

Wayne Mills can be reached at sports@nashuatelegraph.com.