Pine Lake Country Club in Mint Hill is throwing itself a big 65th birthday celebration.

And the member-owned private club is spending about $1 million to celebrate.

The par 72, 6,643-yard golf course has maintained it championship-caliber layout over the years and the tennis facility, with features six clay courts among its eight playing options, is one of the best and most active in the area. The modern pool area with a large pool is also another feature at the club on Lebanon Road.

But the club’s social facilities hadn’t kept up over the years so the club membership voted to undergo an entire facelift in an attempt to keep up with the member’s demands.

The first phase of the renovation was officially unveiled Memorial Day weekend when a totally new elevated lounge and grill area that overlooks No. 18 and a new snack bar facility was opened to the membership. It was the first renovation of the clubhouse in two decades.

Phase two of the renovation will be completed later this summer and will include renovations to the ballroom and main dining room among other things.

The course, however, wasn’t totally left behind as the club installed a new chipping and bunker play practice area, new bridges over the numerous lakes that dot the 18-hole course and new cart paths on all of the holes.

“Over the past five years, the members of Pine Lake Country Club have supported several capital investments that have significantly upgraded the club, said Pine Lake board president Mark Kovel. “Future updates are already in the planning stage.  Membership at Pine Lake is now the best value in the East Charlotte golf marketplace.“

The new lounge area features a bar with up to 20 seats in an open space that reveals the club’s vaulted ceilings. The new bar also features eight beer taps and a quartz top bar with a soffit ring above the main attraction.

The recently completed phase also included upgrades to the bathrooms, rear corridor and the kitchen in addition to exterior repairs.

“The project goals were to create a more social bar,” said Jeremy Rho of Ramona Architecture and Design.

The second phase of the anniversary renovations will begin in early July. Currently the club hosts weddings, rehearsal dinners, bridal showers, reunions, business meetings, and proms at a steady rate but the extensive facelift of these areas are expected to cultivate a new level of activity for event planners looking to rent venues that host between 10 and 250 people.

Non-members can rent Pine Lake for such events and marketing director Sandy Barnett said the club’s new look will be good for the club.

“They are planning for late summer for the next phase to be complete,” Barnett said. “We have an event planner in-house so if someone is interested we will connect them with the event planner. The event planner will take them through the whole process. With the renovations, we are expecting to do a higher number of weddings and banquets.”

Head golf professional Brian McLaughlin has been at the club for 11 years and said the clubhouse renovations will enhance the total golf experience at the club. Pine Lake Country Club also has a strong junior golf program and hosts many in-club tournaments for golfers off all abilities and ages.

“It was very dated,” McLaughlin said of the lounge. “It was small, there were about 10 bar stools at the bar. They redid the pool deck several years ago and they put in a slide several years ago. We have a wide range of different people in our membership. This is a club where everybody knows everybody. It’s a small family atmosphere.”

Pine Lake, which is located just 12 miles from Center City Charlotte, offers golf, tennis and social memberships for individuals and families.

“We have different membership levels depending on what one’s interests are,” Barnett said. “Since we are celebrating 65 years as a club there are some special promotions that are going on. Those probably won’t last past the renovations.”

Head tennis professional Robert Stephens said the club has a very active tennis program with numerous men’s, ladies, mixed and junior tennis teams. Stephens has been at the club for 12 years.

“Some of the players play on two or three teams,” Stephens said. “We have a very active tennis program for this area. We have six clay courts and two hard courts. The clay is a little easier on the body. We have around 100 active players.”

For more information, contact Barnett for a tour or with questions at 704-545-4513.