Deb Abraham Spalding

Thurmont’s Jeff Barber enjoys playing. After all, he owns Playground Specialists, Inc., a playground design and installation company in Thurmont. But did you know that he also enjoys playing golf? He enjoys golf so much that, in January, he bought the local Maple Run Golf Club.

Barber was a frequent customer at Maple Run when he learned from the former owners that they wanted to sell. He felt, “It would be a great project to fix it up.”

Maple Run provides 18 holes of golf (par 72) on a very challenging course where golfers of all skill levels will appreciate the beautiful mountain views as they travel the cart path through the course that meanders around two streams. Two-hundred-year-old stone fences remind the golfers of the agricultural roots of the two original farms upon which the course was built. 

“People wondered if I was going to develop the property after I bought it,” Barber said. In fact, his intentions were “quite the opposite.” Barber has reinvested and completed a “tremendous amount of work.” He feels that “people who haven’t played golf [at Maple Run] yet this year won’t even recognize the place.” 

Golfers will notice major changes, including a new picnic area, new siding on the club house, new signage, new picnic tables, new fencing, new parking areas, ten new golf carts, renovated greens, renovated tee boxes, two new bridges, every cart path repaved, a renovated snack bar (with a concessions drive-up window), a club house with new furnishings inside, and major cleanup completed all around.

Staff at the golf course include new superintendent Troy Brawner, Mark Hahn as the general manager, Erin Bauer in the snack bar, and Bob O’Donnell at registration, along with many high school students and other retired community members working part-time.

The club house now offers expanded beverage options, including beer, wine, liquor, shots, Black Rifle Coffee, cold coffees, energy drinks, soda, and the notorious Hot Dog Special on Tuesdays (free hot dog and a drink from the club house when playing a round of golf).

Food trucks will be onsite every weekend, and the beverage cart will be rolling around the course on busy days. 

The stone Moser Manor house will soon be visible from the outside, with picnic areas and an arbor around the house. The 1700’s bank barn that hole No. 3 plays around is being repaired. It is Barber’s intention to keep Maple Run’s history—from previous owner Jeff Ellis and the Moser families who originally built the course—alive. 

Barber said he feels the golf course is very important to the Town of Thurmont, “If we lose it, we’ll never have one again because they are so costly to build and require so much land.” He added, “It’s one of those things that I don’t want to see the Town of Thurmont lose.”

He assures us, “…as long as I’m alive and running it, I want it to remain as a golf course, and I want it to be a place where the town of Thurmont community can come out and enjoy the game of golf and some drinks and food trucks on the weekend!”

Maple Run Golf Club in Thurmont is located at 99 Golf Course Lane. For more information, visit www.maplerungolf.com and call 301-271-7870 for your tee time. 

Barber claims, “We’ve only scratched the surface on what we want to do with this golf course. Follow us on social media, or better yet, come out and play regularly. Everybody will actually see improvements every single time they come.”

Jeff Barber and Erin Bauer are shown in the snack bar.

MSM Club Baseball at Maple Run.

Pictured are Mark Hahn and Troy Brawner.

Many upgrades and renovations have been completed at Maple Run, including signage and cart paths.

Photos by Deb Abraham Spalding