HOLDEN – Kodi Legassie lined up his putt, about a 12-footer uphill. He waggled his putter, drew it back, and swung smoothly forward, rolling the ball toward the cup.

It came up a couple of feet short. It disappointed but didn’t discourage the 7-year-old from Orrington, who was practicing with his uncle, John Ambrose of Brewer, at Island Green Golf Center on Tuesday afternoon.

“I bring him out a couple of times a year,” said the 17-year-old Ambrose.

“My dad always brought me out here,” he added. “It’s tradition.”

It’s a tradition that can continue for a few more years as Tim Roggero and Brian Reeves have signed a four-year lease with an option to buy the property on Route 1A, just beyond the Brewer city line.

It includes a nine-hole golf course, a driving range, the building which houses the pro shop, and a mini-golf facility.

Roggero has been the club pro the past two years, and he hired Reeves as superintendent midway through last year. They decided to enter into the arrangement last fall.

“We had the impression that it might not open [in 2007],” said Roggero.

The club has gone through a lot since it first opened in 1998 as Felt Brook Golf Course.

Original owners Bob and Linda Sparks of Brewer put it up for auction in late 2002, when Clayton and Gail Wallace of Ellsworth submitted the high bid of $950,000.

The Wallaces tried running it for a year, but Clayton said in 2003 that he was putting in too many hours for someone who was trying to cut back his workload.

Since then, there have been a handful of pros running the operation, including a previous lease-to-buy plan which was not completed.

Roggero and Reeves think they can make a go of it.

“When we look at the competition around the area, I think we have the best layout,” said Reeves.

“We see potential in it,” said Roggero.

They cite their experience in the golf business for that optimism.

Roggero, 41, is in his second go-round in the area. He was an assistant pro at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono for several years in the early to mid-’90s before going to Florida for a while. He became the Island Green pro in 2005.

“In the seventh grade, I told my dad I was going to be a golf pro. He just laughed,” said Roggero. “When I [enrolled] in the San Diego Golf Academy, he realized I was serious.”

Reeves, 36, started playing golf when he was in high school in Presque Isle. He earned a degree in engineering and worked for 10 years as a civil engineer but decided to make a change.

“I decided to do what I love to do rather than sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day,” said Reeves, who spent about five years in the Carolinas before returning to Maine.

“Our philosophy is to start slow and show continuous progress,” said Reeves.

They see their efforts paying off already.

“Sunday [opening day] was the best day I’ve seen here in a couple of years,” said Roggero. “It was nonstop picking the range, and people were here at 5 after 7.”

Roggero added, “I’m even more optimistic than I had been.”

Island Green Golf Center

Holes: Nine

Yards: 2,565 (blue), par 35; 2,234 (white), par 33; 1,674 (red), par 34

Slope: 101; rating: 63.6

Green fees, 9 holes: $12 ($9 spring special); 18 holes: $20

Memberships: adults $450, senior (55-plus) $400, family $730, college students $350; other plans also available

Directions: Take I-395 east to Route 1A (Exit 6) in Brewer; Island Green Golf Center is on the right just beyond the town line.

Phone: 989-9909

Dave Barber can be reached at 990-8170, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.