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Neighborhood Finds Niche

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE PHOTO

(Right to left) Brothers Brent and Blake Rankin, of Lutz, try their skills at trap shooting at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club, which is a part of the Silver Dollar community in Odessa.

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By JESSICA BALANZA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 12, 2007

Updated: 09/10/2007 07:11 pm

ODESSA - Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, out where acres of land separate most houses, lies a community of two pastimes - the Silver Dollar Golf & Trap Club.

The neighborhood has been around since 1976 - way before many of the newer communities and neighborhoods such as The Eagles and Westchase sprang up from unoccupied rustic land.

Originally known as Silver Dollar Ranch, the community had a racetrack with horses and a private trap shoot club. Bill Jacobson, the owner who started the community, later added manufactured homes.

'He brought friends, and they liked it,' said Ken Ross, general manager of Silver Dollar, 17000 Patterson Road. 'He added homes, and they stayed.'

Through the years with the help of the current owner, Equity Lifestyle Properties, the 466-acre neighborhood has evolved into two different worlds to residents - golf and trap. The racetrack was removed, and golf was added.

'There is a lot of history here at Silver Dollar,' Ross said.

On the west side of Patterson Road is the golf club, and to the east is the trap club.

'They residents live here so they can enjoy their hobby or sport,' Ross said.

The golf club offers a 27-hole championship course with a three-hole practice area and stretches around 303 manufactured two- to three-bedroom houses with about 780 residents.

Residents and golfers can rent carts and clubs at a golf store within the community.

Ross said Silver Dollar is mainly known for its trap club. He added there are only about seven trap clubs in Florida, and Silver Dollar is one of the largest in the Southeast.

Around the trap club, about 88 RV sites can be rented or purchased.

Ross said they usually have more occupancy once the trap shooting season begins, which is October through April.

The trap club is based on a sport where shooters can fire at clay targets tossed in the air from different distances. They offer trap, skeet and five-stand shooting (shooting at five different targets).

During the season, Silver Dollar offers four competitive events: the Dixie Grand, Southern Grand, Florida State Shooting and the Gulf Coast Trap Shoot, which is sponsored by the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

'I live here for the shooting,' said resident Morris Stinebring. 'The shooting is what this place started off as, and it gives me something to do.'

Stinebring was a world record holder for double shooting before he retired, and now he volunteers at the trap club.

Although trap shooting and golf are the main recreational activities at Silver Dollar, the community also has a lounge, barbecue grills, restaurant/snack bar and pool. It also has a golf store and a shooting store where guns and other items necessary for trap shooting are sold.

Among the activities, Ross said bingo and live concerts are held, once the trap shooting season starts.

AT A GLANCE

COMMUNITY: Silver Dollar Golf & Trap Club

ESTABLISHED: 1976

OWNER: Equity Lifestyle Properties

NUMBER OF HOMES: 391 with 24 new homes sites being constructed

INFORMATION: Call (813) 920-4815 or visit www.silverdollargolf.com or silverdollarshootersclub.com

Jessica Balanza can be reached at jbalanza@tampatrib.com or (813) 865-1518.

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