From Closed Course to Community Asset: Investment Brings New Life to Abilene Golf & Fitness
Three years after reopening a shuttered golf course, private investment has transformed the property into a growing recreation and gathering place serving residents, families and community organizations.
When Brian Slaughter first considered investing in the property now known as Abilene Golf & Fitness, buying a golf course wasn't actually the plan.
A real estate investor since 2006, Slaughter was initially interested in the property's storage facility. He had experienced success with another storage operation and saw potential in the Abilene property.
But after looking beyond the storage units, he saw a much bigger opportunity.
“I realized that the property really had a lot of potential and just needed someone who cared enough to bring it back,” Slaughter said.
Slaughter purchased the property in November 2022, taking on a golf course that had closed and a recreational asset in need of significant investment.
What followed was more than reopening the course.
Over the next three years, Slaughter invested in the greens, overhauled an irrigation system that includes approximately 130 sprinklers and a new pump, renovated the swimming pool and continued improving the clubhouse and fitness facilities. He added Normandy's Bar & Grill and, in November 2023, expanded the property's recreational offerings with Abilene Skeet & Trap.
Today, Slaughter says membership has grown more than 330 percent in three years.
Investing in a Place People Can Use
For Slaughter, the most meaningful measure of the property's turnaround isn't the number of sprinklers replaced or even the growth in membership.
It's seeing people return.
“I am most proud of seeing happy customers and members who comment on how glad they are that we have the golf course back,” he said.
The nine-hole, par-34 course remains at the center of Abilene Golf & Fitness, but Slaughter has worked to make the property useful to a much broader audience.
What has emerged is a property with far more ways to use it than its name might suggest. Abilene Golf & Fitness combines golf with a 24-hour fitness center for members, a seasonal swimming pool, food and drinks at Normandy's Bar & Grill, skeet and trap shooting, and spaces for social gatherings and private events.
“We are one of the funnest places in Abilene,” Slaughter said. “Where else can you go that offers swimming, golf, fitness, clubhouse for food and social get-togethers, shooting range, etc.?”
That variety is intentional.
In communities working to retain residents and attract families and workers, quality of life extends beyond employment and housing. It also includes what happens outside the workday — opportunities to recreate, exercise, socialize and connect with others without having to leave the community.
Abilene Golf & Fitness is working to provide several of those opportunities on one property.
More Than a Round of Golf
Someone doesn't have to be a golfer to use the facility.
The fitness center offers 24-hour access for members with strength-training and cardio equipment covering a range of workout needs. Slaughter said there are not currently organized fitness classes, but the business is interested in connecting with instructors who may be interested in leading them.
From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, the swimming pool provides another seasonal recreation option for families.
The clubhouse, meanwhile, has increasingly become a social space.
Groups use it for dart and card leagues, reunions, birthdays, watch parties and other gatherings. Both members and non-members can reserve the clubhouse, and pool parties are available during the swimming season.
Daily-use options are also available for several amenities, including golf, fitness and swimming, making the property accessible to people who don't want or need a monthly membership. Membership options are available for individuals and families who use the facilities more regularly.
In November 2023, the recreation mix expanded again with the addition of Abilene Skeet & Trap, an eight-position competitive skeet range with a high house, low house and voice-activated Atlas launchers.
The range operates by appointment, with at least 72 hours' notice required so a Range Safety Officer can be scheduled.
A Gathering Place With Community Impact
The course is also finding a role as a venue for organizations looking to turn recreation into fundraising.
That will be particularly visible this October, when three different fundraising tournaments are scheduled within the same month.
On Oct. 3, Neighbor to Neighbor will host its first “Fore the Neighbors” 18-Hole Charity Golf Tournament. On Oct. 10, the course will host the Third Annual Dwight D. Eisenhower VFW Veterans Day Benefit 18-Hole Golf Tournament. On Oct. 31, Abilene High School will hold its “Cowboys and Cowgirls” 18-Hole Fundraiser Golf Tournament.
The concentration of community events illustrates another piece of Slaughter's vision for the property: creating a place people and organizations can use, not simply a course where golfers play nine holes and head home.
It's a role that can be particularly important in a rural community, where recreational facilities often double as gathering spaces, event venues and places for organizations to connect with supporters.
A Salute to Abilene's Military History
One of Slaughter's additions also connects his own military background with a defining piece of Abilene history.
Slaughter is a 20-year Army veteran and former Apache helicopter pilot who retired from nearby Fort Riley. He was already familiar with Abilene and what he describes as the community's strong support for military veterans when he purchased the property.
When he created a bar and grill inside the clubhouse, he chose a name with a specific purpose: Normandy's Bar & Grill.
The name honors Abilene native Dwight D. Eisenhower and his leadership as Supreme Allied Commander during Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy that began on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It also pays tribute to those who served and sacrificed during the invasion.
For Slaughter, there was another fitting connection between the tribute and its location: Eisenhower was an avid golfer.
“My vision was to create a bar to honor him and our fallen at a golf course,” Slaughter said.
The result adds a distinctly Abilene identity to one of the property's newer gathering spaces while connecting Slaughter's own background in military service with the community where he chose to invest.
Bringing New Life to an Existing Asset
Economic development isn't always a new building or a new business constructed from the ground up. Sometimes it means recognizing value in something that already exists — and investing the time, capital and ideas necessary to make it productive again.
That investment has created a property that extends well beyond golf — with workouts, summer afternoons at the pool, meals with friends, shooting sports, birthday parties, reunions and community fundraisers.
It's the kind of investment that helps make Dickinson County Roadmarkable — taking an existing asset, recognizing its potential and creating something that adds to the experience of living, working and spending time here.
And for a property that Slaughter once believed simply needed someone who cared enough to bring it back, perhaps the biggest transformation is that people have a growing list of reasons to come back.
Driving Dickinson County Partnership Has Its Perks
Driving Dickinson County partners and investors receive special 2026 membership pricing at Abilene Golf & Fitness. Special rates are available across golf, fitness and combined membership options.
Want to learn more? Visit Abilene Golf & Fitness online, follow the business on Facebook or call 785-263-3811 for current membership and daily-use pricing, seasonal hours, reservations and upcoming events.
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