Municipal Golf – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Florida county’s commissioners vote down proposed redevelopment of former executive golf course

Locals packed the meeting room ahead of a development proposal in place of the now-defunct course.

GAINESVILLE, Florida — Locals packed an Alachua County meeting room Tuesday night as county commissioners rejected a residential development proposed in place of the now-defunct West End Golf Club.

The Alachua County Commission voted 4-1, with Commissioner Raemi Eagle-Glenn dissenting, to deny a developer’s proposal to change the land-use designation for the site to low-density residential from recreational. A 70-home residential development called Tara Club was proposed for the property, located at 12830 W. Newberry Road across the street from the Tioga Town Center in the Jonesville-Newberry area.

West End Golf Course was the brainchild of Sid and Howard Hodor, a father-son team who opened up nine holes in 1969, patterning the layout after Colonial Palms in Miami.

The course, which had been a fixture in the golf community, closed its doors in December of 2019. The par-60, lighted course has been for sale for more than a year, but finally closed as it became unplayable.

The course included lights — attached to palm trees when it first opened — for play at night. Once the first nine was open, they began working in a second nine.

Residents “are not saying to us they object to development, they’re saying that our comp plan has laid out where that development should be,” said Commissioner Ken Cornell. “And more importantly, we need to have recreational green space to absorb not only the new development, but existing development.”

The proposal’s applicant, JBrown Professional Group, requested to change 38 of 75 unkept acres of the West End property from recreational to low-density residential. The plan also included 37 acres of recreational land that would be dedicated to Alachua County as a park and 10 acres of green space around existing homes.

Commissioners on Tuesday decided whether to transmit major land use amendments to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity — the agency responsible for signing off on comprehensive plan changes.

Thirty-one residents spoke during the hearing, including 10 represented by planner and former city commissioner Thomas Hawkins.

All were opposed to the plan except for one, who said that denying the bid will continue to make homes in Gainesville less affordable.

“If my children and grandchildren want to live in the same town I live in, I think they won’t be able to afford it because there is just too limited of a (housing) supply in this town,” said Jacob Yin, a homeowner in the Arbor Greens neighborhood.

More green space needed

Others argued, however, that there are already enough residential developments around the area but not nearly enough recreational spaces.

If the West End property is “rezoned to residential, where else in the Jonesville area could the county find an equivalent land already zoned recreational for a highly accessible, highly utilized green space and nature park that would surely bolster the people’s health and wellbeing?” said University of Florida professor emeritus Charles Guy.

For nearly three years, developer JBrown and Sayed Moukhtara have hosted neighborhood workshops and gone over various revisions of the project to meet the public’s concerns to no avail.

“The truth is, we couldn’t reach an agreement with these folks, and I can assure you that we tried,” said Jay Brown, project manager and president of JBrown, during a planning commission meeting earlier this year. “We have worked through dozens and dozens of designs.”

In April, the Alachua County Planning Commission unanimously shot down the proposed development after nearly five hours of deliberations, mostly because the plan wasn’t “dense” enough and should have included more workforce and affordable housing.

At one point, a sprawling mixed-use development was proposed with homes, a hotel and stores. That later shifted to a 129-home development — with an option to put in up to 140 homes — along with donating around 36 acres of the property to create the third-largest green space park in Alachua County.

Tuesday’s plan called for just 70 homes to be built across only 38 of the 75 acres of West End Golf Club’s property, which has been unmaintained since closing in 2019.

Another concern expressed by citizens and the commission included increased traffic, though Brown claimed that the project would produce less traffic than what had been happening when the golf course was open.

“That’s another thing I don’t you’re going to find very often, that when someone brings a development in front of you and suggest that this new development is going to have less traffic, because traffic is always one of the biggest things folks complain about,” Brown said.

Commissioner Anna Prizzia, however, was skeptical of Brown’s claim.

“You’re proposing a park that would be the third-largest in the county (beyond the development). I’m assuming there would be a massive amount of trips to a large park,” she said. “Wouldn’t the trips to that park also have to be included in this conceptual plan in terms of a transportation study?”

Chris Dawson, county transportation planning manager, admitted that staff had not analyzed the application for the amount of traffic the proposal would bring, but later said that regardless of what became of the property, it would increase the number of cars on Newberry Road.

Commissioner Eagle-Glenn, who supported the project, said that residents opposed to the plan were gambling with the possibility of the property later becoming a highly dense traditional neighborhood.

“I don’t see this property on a major corridor remaining recreational,” she said. “Mr. Moukhtara has brought to us the opportunity for recreation without having to raise the taxes of the citizens … and I think what we have on the table today is something that we may never have again.”

Though residents insisted on the importance of keeping the West End property recreational, Moukhtara said they could easily be prohibited from enjoying the property at all.

“This is a private property with its own rights,” he said. “(The owner) can fence this property where only the birds can get in there. So, what I’m doing is carving a part of it … to be open for everyone to benefit and make good use of it.”

To help allay residents, the developer proposed to develop only the inner part of the property while keeping the outer portion recreational, allowing for existing neighborhoods to keep green spaces adjacent to their homes.

This was not enough, however, to prevent the commission from voting down the project, sending Brown and Moukhtara back to the drawing board.

“I have to say I know how much you’ve spent, and I know how much you’ve worked on this, and it’s unfortunate that even after all that time, there was inability to really hear what the community was saying to you,” Prizzia said.

Editor’s note: Reporting from former Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley was also used in this post. Javon L. Harris is a local government and social justice reporter for The Gainesville Sun. He can be reached by phone at (352) 338-3103, by email at jlharris@gannett.com or on Twitter @JavonLHarris_JD.

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This treasured Oklahoma municipal golf complex just turned 100 years old, and is busier than ever

For 100 years, people have been making memories at this two-course golf complex on the city’s northeast side.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — For 100 years, people have been making memories at Lincoln Park, a now two-course golf complex on the city’s northeast side.

“I think (Lincoln Park) means a great deal to a lot of people around here,” said Aaron Kristopeit, just the course’s fourth head pro and golf director in a century. “It was the first public golf course to open in the state, and so I think it has generated a lot of interest in the game. It’s where so many people started playing.”

Before joining Lincoln Park’s pro staff, Kristopeit worked at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club and the Quail Creek Golf & Country Club. He sees some of those familiar faces from the private clubs at Lincoln Park at times. Many of them played golf for the first time at Lincoln Park, he said.

“It’s amazing to me how many members of those places I know that will come through Lincoln once a year for a tournament, and they will recognize me and stop and say ‘Hi’ and say ‘I remember playing here when I was 16,’ or something like that.

“I think (Lincoln Park) also means a great deal to the African American community who plays golf, especially because of the area of the city it is located in, the northeast quadrant.”

Lincoln Park turned 100 this year. Generations of families have gathered there over the years to play a few rounds and swap stories. It’s been a second home for many.

The beginning

In 1922, a small band of outdoor sportsmen launched a golf course that Oklahoma historian Bob Blackburn said “quickly entered the pantheon of public places in Oklahoma City.”

In 1909, Oklahoma City voters had approved a bond issue to establish four regional parks and a circular raceway connecting them. The raceway was called Grand Boulevard, and the four parks became Lincoln, Will Rogers, Woodson and Trosper.

Lincoln Park was the largest, but for the first decade was simply open space for picnics and exercise. In 1921, a local citizens’ club proposed building a public golf course in the park.

Art Jackson, the Scottish-born head golf pro in Tulsa who built a course in McAlester and the Marland course in Ponca City, was hired as the architect and construction supervisor for Lincoln Park. He became secretary/treasurer for the Lincoln Park Golf Club, a private group which would manage the course for 40 years.

Jackson let the terrain of the land dictate the design of his first holes. With a budget of $600, Jackson mowed the prairie grass for the fairways, drilled two wells for watering, installed sand tee boxes and built sand greens that averaged 50 feet in diameter.

The first official day of play on the new nine-hole course was July 4, 1922. The Oklahoman reported that every golf player in town, along with hundreds of curious people, flocked to the park for the opening.

Lincoln Park’s first golf tournament was held the following month. Three years later the course was expanded to 18 holes.

Keep improving

Over the next few years, the Lincoln Park Golf Club invested in more improvements. A stone clubhouse was built with locker rooms for men and women and a small pro shop and caddy shack.

The greens were planted with Bermuda grass, which turned green in early summer and went dormant during droughts and after the first freeze.

At Lincoln Park, Jackson had built one of the finest municipal golf courses in the country from the wilderness of blackjacks and the rocky sand hills in northeast Oklahoma City.

In January 1931, the Oklahoma City Parks Commission voted to add three new 18-hole courses at city parks in partnership with private management clubs, including a second 18 holes at Lincoln, creating a north and south course. Jackson would design all three new courses.

The second pro

Jackson retired a head pro in 1952 after 30 years and U.C. Ferguson replaced him. Ferguson already had worked at Lincoln Park since 1928, starting as a 15-year-old caddy and taking other jobs before eventually becoming an assistant pro.

In 1959, the Lincoln Park Golf Club announced a plan to sell $500,000 in municipal bonds for improvements under the management of a new Lincoln Golf Course Trust.

Six months later, the old club that had operated the courses since 1922 no longer existed and Ferguson and the rest of the golf staff became city employees.

A new clubhouse was built, and the two 18-hole courses were reconfigured. The new layout created a west and east course instead of north and south.

In 1965, Lincoln Park got a makeover again as the Oklahoma City Golf Trust allocated $875,000 in bonds and cash for improvements. The west course was closed during the renovations as a new parking lot, driving range and automated watering system was added. Tee boxes were enlarged, and the greens were replanted with Pencross Bentgrass.

At the end of his career, Ferguson considered the new clubhouse, rerouting the courses to east and west, and the improvements on Lincoln West as some of his greatest achievements.

Ferguson would retire as head pro in 1984 after 47 years on the job.

Susie Maxwell Berning (Oklahoma City University Archives)

The star from OKC

Over the years, Lincoln Park has hosted a wide range of tournaments, including high school state championships, collegiate championships, state amateur qualifiers, city championships and others.

A three-time state high school champion from Northeast was a familiar face at Lincoln Park. Susie Maxwell-Berning learned to play golf at Lincoln Park under the tutelage of Ferguson.

Maxwell-Berning would be the first woman to receive a golf scholarship from Oklahoma City University, where she played on the men’s team. She joined the pro tour in 1964 and would go on to win the U.S. Women’s Open in 1968, 1972 and 1973.

In 1978, during an anniversary celebration for Ferguson as Lincoln Park’s golf pro, Maxwell-Berning lauded her teacher for the help he had given her and other junior golfers in Oklahoma City during his career.

In this Sept. 9, 1960 photo, President Dwight Eisenhower, right, enjoys a laugh with Arnold Palmer before they played a round a golf together at the Gettysburg County Club in Gettysburg, Penn. Palmer would play Gary Player in a head to head match at the Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City in 1961. (Associated Press)

Palmer vs. Player

Lincoln Park was on the international stage in 1961 when it hosted a match between two of the biggest stars in golf at the time: Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

Player had won the the Masters that year while Palmer had just won the British Open. The previous year, Palmer won the Masters, and Player won the Open.

Player and Palmer were playing 25 head-to-head matches in six different countries to support youth golf. Tickets were sold to raise money for college scholarships for junior golfers.

Palmer won the match at Lincoln Park by seven strokes over Player.

The third and fourth pros

Steve Carson would become Lincoln Park’s third head pro and director of golf in 1990. Carson had grown up in Midwest City and previously was the head pro at Trosper.

During the 1990s, fewer golfers played at Lincoln Park as new courses were opened in the area. At the time, Lincoln Park also was dealing with a failing infrastructure as the greens and bunkers were old and declining.

Carson hired a golf course architect to develop a master plan to improve the golf courses and in 1998, the Oklahoma City Council authorized a $6.2 million bond package for renovations.

The west course was closed and every green was replaced, every bunker renovated, a new irrigation system was added and new paved golf cart paths were built. The course, remaining true to the historic layout of holes, reopened in the fall of 1999 to rave reviews.

Eight years later, with increased revenue from the west course, the Oklahoma City Council approved spending another $1.6 million to renovate the east course.

In 2012, the council approved an $8 million bond issue for a new and larger clubhouse. The 32,000-square-foot facility opened in 2015 and Lincoln Park became a popular place again.

Carson retired in 2021 after 31 years as the head pro. Kristopeit, who was the the assistant pro at Lincoln Park at the time, was hired to succeed him.

The future of Lincoln Park

Last year, 98,000 rounds of golf were played at Lincoln Park, the most since the 1980s.

“We’ve been the busiest course in the state over the last two years,” Kristopeit said. “It’s a product of COVID making golf very popular again, kind of driving people outside, and some of the other golf courses being closed around the vicinity.”

Some of those closed golf courses are about to reopen, and keeping Lincoln Park competitive among the best public courses will be a challenge in the future, Kristopeit said.

Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond will unveil a new clubhouse next year. Earlywine and Lake Hefner courses also have plans for new clubhouses.

All of a sudden we are not going to be the new show in town anymore, so we need to make sure we do what we can to stay relevant,” Kristopeit said.

Will Lincoln Park be around for another 100 years?

“I would like to think so,” Kristopeit said. “Obviously time will tell. You never know what is going to happen. You don’t know what kind of new sports are going to be around that might take people’s interest, but I think if there is one course in Oklahoma City that would survive, I think Lincoln would be at the top of that list.”

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A busy Ohio municipal course will soon see about $1M in facility upgrades

The course underwent a substantial renovation in 1992 under the watchful eye of Arthur Hills.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Visitors to Brookledge Golf Club in this Cleveland suburb could see an upgraded and expanded clubhouse within the next year.

Cuyahoga Falls officials recently took their first steps toward roughly $1 million in improvements to the 32-year-old clubhouse at the golf course, which was designed by Don Walker and originally opened in 1941. It underwent a substantial renovation in 1992 under the watchful eye of Arthur Hills, who also designed Inverness Club in Toledo and LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida.

With the city of Cuyahoga Falls greenlighting the sale of $550,000 notes to help pay for the upgrades, the next step will be to solicit bids for the project, said Kelli Crawford-Smith, the director of neighborhood excellence, communications and community outreach department.

The project cost is being spread out over two years, said Crawford-Smith, with $550,000 coming from the parks and recreation levy this year, and the balance of the cost paid for with the notes next year. The final cost has yet to be determined.

Planned improvements, which could start in late fall with a tentative finish time of 10 months, include an 1,800-square-foot expansion. Other upgrades include installing new electrical and HVAC systems, plus a new roof, doors and windows. The sidewalk cart path that goes around the facility will be replaced.

“Currently there is a small pro shop, snack bar and seating area,” Crawford-Smith said. “The renovated clubhouse will offer larger versions of these things, along with an expanded menu and bar offerings.”

Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com

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This Tennessee city continues to pump money into its municipal courses — and just approved another $4M investment

On Tuesday, the City Council approved $4 million for the first phase of the golf course redesign.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Get your swings in, Memphis. Audubon Golf Course is about to be shut down for a little bit.

Memphis Parks and Neighborhoods Director Nick Walker said the city would start construction on a redesign of Audubon on Nov. 1. He said the course would be playable again in the spring of 2024 depending on how quickly new grass grows.

On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council approved $4 million for the first phase of the golf course redesign.

The construction funds come after the city in January hired well-known golf course architect Bergin Golf Designs, a Georgia company that redesigned Foxland Harbor, a course on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville.

When the city hired Bergin earlier this year, Walker noted the heavy investment already underway at Audubon and the surrounding area. Construction continues on the $40 million Leftwich Tennis Center redesign and it is on pace to open next spring.

“We are building a world-class tennis facility near the corner of Southern and Goodlett,” Walker said earlier in 2022. “We are also spending a good amount of money putting in a new playground pavilion and some enhancements to the walking area in the park … It would be foolish not to view Audubon, including the Botanic Gardens, as one big property.”

The City Council included funds for the first half of the redesign in this year’s budget and the council’s vote Tuesday was just appropriating the funds.

Memphis has been spending money — public and private — to revamp its golf courses. Fox Meadows reopened this summer after the city reworked it as part of the Accelerate Memphis bond package.

Private philanthropic dollars paid for a redesign of Overton Park’s nine-hole course, which also reopened this summer.

The city’s public courses saw more than 136,000 rounds of golf this summer, according to the parks department.

Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.

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This Indiana city championship qualifier had it all — a 10-way tie, geographic controversy and a guy who ran to buy a hat

Just a little slice of city championship qualifying. it’s rarely boring.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Something interesting always happens during the Evansville Men’s City Golf Tournament. This year’s event was no exception.

A total of 173 golfers competed for 63 spots during Saturday’s qualifying round. It marks the most entrants for the tournament since 2008 and the first time two courses were required since 2016.

There were low scores at the two sites — Fendrich and Helfrich Hills. Plenty of suspense with an 8-man playoff (which could have been 10). Even drama for the final spot in the main event. It’s all a day in the life of city golf qualifying.

Mitchell Johnson and Matthew Godsey paced the field at 6-under 64. Johnson, an Evansville North High School grad, tallied an impressive 10 birdies including four straight to end the day.

Godsey, a junior at Brescia University in Owensboro, overcame a bogey on his first hole – the par-4 10th – to play flawless golf the rest of the day. Godsey finished with seven birdies.

“My main goal was to make the cut,” said Godsey. “As soon as I started getting it rolling, I wanted to see how low I could go. It just all came together on one day. I’ve been practicing a lot to get on the skill level I want to be at.”

Kolten Hedges tees off on the 2nd hole during the Evansville Men’s City Golf Tournament qualifying round at Fendrich Golf Course in Evansville, Ind., Saturday morning, July 2, 2022. (Photo by MaCabe Brown/Evansville Courier and Press)

One player, James Schroeder, has been intertwined with this tournament and one of the qualifier’s two sites — Helfrich Hills Golf Club, a course that opened in 1923 and was designed by architect Tom Bendelow — for years.

Schroeder won the Dan Scism Scholarship in 1995. When he was 14, his family moved across from the Michael D. Helfrich House which is located behind the 10th green.

Nothing in his mind topped this year. His round only played a small part in it. Schroeder claimed the final qualifying spot from the Helfrich group with a par in a one-hole playoff against Stephen Smith.

His caddie? His 10-year-old son Will. His oldest, Zach, had the second-lowest round at Helfrich to also qualify.

“I love this tournament and never qualified,” said James Schroeder. “This year, my boys played for the first time. (To qualify) is such a blessing, but it probably means more because of them.”

Zach Schroeder, a rising junior at nearby Mater Dei, was one of the few to find success at Helfrich. He posted a 4-over 75 with three birdies to finish one shot behind Tyler Raben for the low round. His younger brother Matthew, an incoming freshman, shot an 87 to miss the cut by only four shots.

“Zach shot a great score,” said his father. “He was a four-putt away from winning the qualifier. It’s really cool to have us all together today. To get that last spot was a cherry on top.”

And the final spots into the tournament – the first round will be played July 16 – required extra holes at Fendrich. This is where the 8-man playoff occurred, plus some controversy.

Ten players finished at 4-over 74 with five spots on the line. However, two weren’t present at the 10th tee when their names were called. Those five advancing spots were then determined in one hole.

Tom Gayhart, Steve Wassmer, Dustin Ross, Lucas Zielinski and Don Neel each made par on the first playoff hole. Four of them scrambled with Gayhart the only player to hit the green. The best shot belonged to Zielinski.

After hitting his second shot long, he hit a perfect pitch over a hill that nearly rolled into the cup. Zielinski, who said he raced back for the playoff and needed to buy a hat in the pro shop, couldn’t see the pin.

“I don’t want (that shot) over again,” said Zielinski. “That’s one of the best shots in my life probably. We thought 74 would be 100% in. We ate lunch and were not planning on coming back to play golf.”

Players often scramble to get back in time for the playoff (two obviously didn’t make it), and Zielinski said he didn’t have a belt and needed to purchase the hat.

“I wasn’t going to play without a hat,” he said.

Mason Royalty birdied the third playoff hole to earn what was originally an alternate position. However, he received a spot in the tournament when it was determined a player who shot better than 74 did not meet the primary residence eligibility requirement.

The tournament rules state entries are open to male amateur players who are residents of Vanderburgh, Posey, Warrick or Gibson counties.

This is all part of the fun at a local qualifier. And the city tournament has yet to begin. Action will be held on July 16-17 at Fendrich Golf Course, July 23 at Rolling Hills Country Club, and the final round will take place on July 24 at Evansville Country Club.

Follow Evansville Courier & Press sports reporter Kyle Sokeland on Twitter @kylesokeland.

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Letter: Why the future of golf is younger, more inclusive and can succeed at a Kentucky course pegged to close

The future of golf is younger, more inclusive and dedicated to ensuring that golf courses benefit the ecosystems.

Golf has a long and often deserved reputation as a stuffy sport obsessed with notions of the past and tradition. But unlike the Olmstead Parks Conservancy’s years-long passion project to dismantle Cherokee Golf Course, a long list of municipal golf courses around the United States are forward-looking, meeting challenges with creativity and evolving to meet the needs of their patrons. The future of golf points to a sport that doesn’t take so long, one that forgoes its worst puritanical tendencies, and one that wants to help, rather than harm the environment.

In an age where we’ve suspended our collective capacity for sustained concentration, talk around the golf world is that the sport needs to meet the time constraints of the modern human. A short, 9-hole course, like Cherokee Park, meets those needs. It’s also without the trappings and formality that dissuades folks from picking up the game. In the right hands and with creative changes, a course like Cherokee is precisely what golfers want and need.

Similarly, short courses require less maintenance and cost less, expanding access for individuals who may find the sport prohibitively expensive. The Olmstead group uses words like equity and inclusion, but aren’t they advocating for shutting down access to a 100-year-old public service and one of Louisville’s most affordable golf options?

In their “New Vision,” the Olmstead group suggests that “semi-private courses, including Valhalla, Nevel Meade and Persimmon Ridge,” offer golfers a “comparable price point.” First, Valhalla and Persimmon Ridge are private clubs. So, there’s that. But Nevel Meade offers public golf that costs more than twice as much as Cherokee.

Additionally, asking residents to drive 30 minutes — into another county, mind you — seems unreasonable when a course already exists right around the corner. The Olmstead group’s statistics regarding golf are similarly skewed toward making their case.

According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of municipal golf courses has grown by 5% since 2006. And while the Olmstead group wants to convince folks otherwise through now irrelevant statistics, since 2020, golf has seen its most dramatic growth since the Tiger Woods golf boom of the late 90s and early aughts. The National Golf Foundation also found that 2020 saw the most significant jump in new golfers ever: more than six million. This growth can be found everywhere, including daily at Cherokee Park Golf Course.

The Olmstead Park Conservancy may get their wish, but there’s no doubt that they’ve used outdated and misleading data to perpetuate antiquated notions of golf. The future of golf is younger, more inclusive and dedicated to ensuring that golf courses benefit the ecosystems in which they exist. But I suppose a reactionary approach is easier, and skewed numbers mitigate dissent among those who won’t do the research. Actual problem-solving to save a century-old public institution may be outside our capacity for imagination.

James Mielke is a freelance writer and lives in Schnitzelburg, a neighborhood inside the city of Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife and three terrible cats. He originally submitted this letter to the editor to the Louisville Courier-Journal, part of the USA Today Network.

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The nation’s fifth-oldest municipal golf course might be eliminated for ‘diverse and active parkland’

Founded in 1895, four years after Frederick Law Olmsted established Cherokee Park, it’s the oldest of the city’s 10 public courses.

According to a report in the Louisville Courier-Journal, Cherokee Golf Course, located in one of the city’s most iconic parks, could be eliminated and turned into “diverse and active parkland” under a local conservancy’s proposal.

Some are saying the two can co-exist, but the 9-hole course, according to a release earlier this month from the city’s park department, “is the only course without a lease agreement with a PGA professional or nonprofit organization.”

“Attempts to bid out the management of the course did not yield any viable options,” the Metro Parks release added. “During that process, Parks and Recreation received a proposal from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy to enhance Cherokee Park by making improvements and investments to revitalize the golf course property into active and diverse parkland.”

The interest from Olmsted Parks Conservancy stretches to at least 2019, when the nonprofit that supports Louisville’s 17 Olmsted-designed parks pitched a plan amid citywide budget cuts to turn Cherokee Golf Course from a “financial liability to a treasured park space.”

Founded in 1895, four years after famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the city established Cherokee Park, the golf course is the fifth-oldest municipal golf course in the country and the oldest of the city’s 10 public courses.

It is one of three public courses in Louisville featuring nine holes instead of 18 holes.

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A Massachusetts city bought a golf club and is converting it to a muni — complete with a major renovation

Once up and running, there is “no doubt” the course will pay for itself, one official said.

QUINCY, Mass. – Furnace Brook Golf Club will open for the first time under city ownership on April 1, part of a plan to provide “affordable, local golf” to the city’s residents. The club will turn 100 years old next year and Quincy officials have plans to build a new clubhouse and make other improvements to the course.

Fees for Quincy residents at the 44-acre course will be $45 for 18 holes on weekdays and $55 on weekends, the same fees charged at county-owned Presidents Golf Course. Nonresidents will be charged an extra $10, which is still less than the fees were before the city takeover. By comparison, it costs $150 to play 18 holes in the summer at private Quincy golf club Granite Links.

Carts are $20 for 18 holes and $15 for 9 holes.

The city will also allow golfers to book a tee time online, up to 48 hours in advance, at furnacebrookgolfcourse.com. The website is expected to go live in the coming days. Limited and junior memberships are still available. Family and unlimited memberships are full but a waiting list is being compiled for the 2023 season, officials said.

“We’re really trying to open this up to the public. For 50 years it’s been a semi-private course, but if you talk to people, very few have really had the opportunity to take advantage of it,” Commissioner of Natural Resources Dave Murphy said Friday. “We’re going to run camps and clinics, have the middle and high school teams play out of there, and we’re really focused on not just existing golfers but people who have always wanted to play but haven’t had the chance.”

Fours Restaurant Group, which runs the sports bar in downtown Quincy, has been awarded the contract for food and beverage service at the clubhouse. That operation is expected to open at Furnace Brook in early April.

“They know this business inside and out and they offer a quality product,” Murphy said. “It’s going to be something that complements the golf course and The Fours is a great partner to us.”

PGA golf professional Tom Ellis, who worked at Granite Links, will be running day-to-day operations.

In December, Quincy officials presented a draft plan to residents for an estimated $7.4 million clubhouse renovation that would replace the existing building. The plan outlines space for a bar and grill, a large deck, a pro shop, locker rooms and a golf simulator.

“The current clubhouse is basically a converted house that was built in 1926. It doesn’t meet a lot of the standards required for a public building,” Murphy said at a meeting last year.

The existing maintenance building also needs work. Murphy described it as “basically a lean-to.” A new irrigation system was installed this winter.

Work on the irrigation system at the Furnace Brook Golf Club on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Greg Derr/The Patriot-Ledger)

The city’s relationship with the golf club started in 1971, when then-Mayor James McIntyre proposed a 50-year lease on the course. At the time, the club was unable to pay its 1970 property taxes – a $17,500 bill – and “saw no prospect of improvement in its financial future,” a 1979 Patriot Ledger article states.

Under the lease, the club was to pay the city $1 per year for 50 years in lieu of taxes. At the end of that time – June 2021 – the land would be given to the city. As the end of the lease approached, Koch said he and his staff spent time meeting with the club’s management to discuss the best course of action. It was decided the land will remain a golf course, but the city took over its maintenance and management in January.

The course has been known as the Furnace Brook Golf Club since 1938, when the name changed from the Stoney Brae Golf Club. Stoney Brae was built in 1923.

“We are excited to add this recreational opportunity to our inventory of parks and open spaces,” said Mayor Thomas Koch said in a statement. “Our plan is to provide affordable, local golf for our residents and in the process introduce many more residents to the game of golf. This is a beautiful parcel of open space and we are glad to keep it as such for generations to come.”

The fiscal 2022 city budget included $400,00 for golf course operations, with the idea that membership, fees and cart rentals will cover the annual operating costs going forward. This appropriation included $41,500 to hire a course superintendent, $32,500 for a golf pro, $26,000 for a part-time administrative assistant and $42,500 for seasonal help.

Once up and running, Murphy said there is “no doubt” that the course will pay for itself through membership fees, fees and cart rentals.

Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.

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A star-studded, honky-tonk romp nets nearly $1M for a Texas muni. Will it be enough to save the historic course?

Negotiations between the university and the city are ongoing, and organizers admitted there’s plenty of work left.

AUSTIN, Texas — As soon as Verne Lundquist got the call, he knew he had to be part of the fun. Not just to enjoy the company of his buddies, many of whom he remembers from his time at Austin High School, but to help save a vital greenspace in the center of one of the nation’s hottest housing markets.

That’s why Lundquist – the 81-year-old sports broadcasting legend – was one of the many stars Sunday night at Imagine Muny, a Texas-sized gala at the Moody Theater made famous by the TV show Austin City Limits. The event, which organizers say netted around $800,000 to help restore Lions Municipal Golf Course, was a bona fide success in terms of fundraising, but perhaps even greater was the awareness the evening brought to a cause that’s been dragging out for decades.

For those who’ve missed the backstory, the 141 acres on which Muny sits are extremely valuable. The City of Austin has conducted stakeholder meetings, asking for public input on zoning for the area, and boyhood friends Ben Crenshaw and Scott Sayers put together the Muny Conservancy, hoping to purchase the area for a reasonable price and preserve it for years to come.

The parcel is part of the 500 acres of University of Texas-owned land known as the Brackenridge Tract, and is considered the first fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon line. The city has leased 140 acres for Muny since 1936 and pays UT about $500,000 a year. If the parties don’t come to an understanding, the university could be free to lease the property to another entity, develop it or sell it.

Lukas Nelson waves after performing during the Imagine Muny gala at ACL Live’s Moody Theater on Sunday night. Nelson joined Eric Church, Asleep at the Wheel and Jimmie Vaughan. (Photo by Tyler Schmitt for the Muny Conservancy.)

But the outpouring of support at the event – which included appearances by musicians Eric Church, Lukas Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel, as well as a surprise visit by Jimmie Vaughan – certainly might help to lean opinions. Among those who were part of a special video presentation were celebrities Luke Wilson and Kyle Chandler. Sports personalities on hand included former PGA Tour pro Mark Brooks and former TCU head football coach and Texas special assistant Gary Patterson.

“Just look at this event. You get some sense of what this golf course, this beautiful place, means to so many people in this city,” Lundquist said while musical acts rotated through the famous theater’s stage.

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Lundquist – whose famous calls at the Masters include Jack Nicklaus’ birdie putt on 17 in 1986 that gave him the lead and Tiger Woods’ dramatic chip-in birdie on the 16th hole in 2005 – admittedly doesn’t get around like he used to. The national broadcaster lives in picturesque Steamboat Springs, Colorado, but he and his wife, Nancy, purchased a small condo in Austin three years ago and he comes back to his hometown for at least a few months each year.

More: Local golf icon unveils memorial for Morris Williams Jr. at Austin course

“I’ve known Scott Sayers and Ben Crenshaw for more years than they want me to admit,” Lundquist said, noting that his sister was a year behind Crenshaw in high school. “Whenever we’re back here, we want to be here to support this place. It’s an amazing undertaking. Really it is.”

Sayers, who helped coordinate the event, said it was a smashing success on multiple levels.

Scotty Sayers, left, and Ben Crenshaw enjoy a laugh during the Imagine Muny gala at ACL Live’s Moody Theater on Sunday night. The event netted around $800,000 for renovations to Lions Municipal Golf Course. (Photo by Tyler Schmitt for the Muny Conservancy.)

“The musical guests and the finish to the thing were as good as I’ve ever seen,” Sayers said. “And we did what we hoped to do financially, to be able to make improvements to Muny, which was important. But the awareness is the key – we need folks from the city and the university to both realize this isn’t something for a small subset of people, or just a few folks who are interested. This is a place for the entire community. I think this proved that.”

The conservancy hopes to partner with the city to keep Muny in the best shape possible before any decisions are made by the university on potential permanent uses for the property. Recently, a fleet of 62 new golf carts was introduced at the course and a new roof was constructed on the clubhouse, all with help from the city. The money raised at Imagine Muny will help with more renovations and improvements.

But the final decision is yet to come. Negotiations between the university and the city are ongoing, and Sayers admitted there’s plenty of work left.

“This is a critical stretch, for sure,” he said. “We just hope that whatever develops that we keep all 141 acres as greenspace. If the conservancy gets the course, and we hope that happens, renovations will take time, but will be worth it. It’s a place that just means too much to so many people.”

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Bill aimed at converting California municipal courses to housing is back — for a third time

Groups feel that the bill targets golf, because there is no mention of soccer, baseball stadiums or tennis facilities.

Perhaps the greatest example of how differently the two sides see the California Assembly bill now known as AB1910 is what the opposing sides call it.

Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) calls the bill she authored “Incentivize Conversion: Accessible Open Space & Affordable Housing.” Officials at various golf organizations in the state who oppose the bill refer to it as “The Public Golf Endangerment Act.”

The bill, which would allow municipally owned golf courses in the state to be transformed into affordable housing, is now in its third life. Garcia introduced the bill, known then as AB672, last year, but it never advanced out of its first committee. The bill was re-introduced in January and made it through two committees before stalling and dying in the assembly’s appropriations committee.

Garcia has now introduced the bill again with a new number but with the same basic intentions of the bills introduced last year and again in January. The legislation would allow the state to redevelop municipal golf courses into affordable housing. The earlier version of the bill focused on municipal courses in densely populated urban areas, but the current bill could allow development of any municipal course in the state. The fact that Garcia has now introduced the bill three times shows how dedicated she is to the idea.

More: California bill AB 672 to redevelop municipal golf courses stalls, but golf officials expect more challenges

“Studies show low-income communities and communities of color lack access to open space and lack housing security,” Garcia said in a tweet on her account as assemblymember for the 58th district. Garcia is also leaving the assembly to run for a newly drawn U.S. congressional district. “#AB1910 will chip away at these two injustices to help ensure that everyone is safely housed AND has open space to recreate.”

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Arguing for the future of the game

The powers in golf have pushed solid arguments about stopping the bill, including how a municipal golf course can be a center of recreational activity for a community, not just a place to hit a small bucket of balls or a place to play nine holes every once in a while. But the sport’s leading figures do point out two major issues with what Garcia has proposed, other than the feeling the bill circumvents the state’s Park Protection Act and that it could decrease the number of courses in the state.

First, groups like the Southern California Golf Association and the PGA of Southern California obviously feel that the bill targets golf, because there is no mention in the proposed legislation about converting soccer complexes or recreational baseball stadiums or tennis facilities. Only golf courses are specifically mentioned.

“The ONLY ‘accessible open space’ targeted is golf,” said Craig Kessler, director of public affairs for the Southern California Golf Association in an emailed letter to SCGA members about the re-introduction of the bill last week. “The Assembly Member’s Tweet on the subject makes that clear. A very large golf ball appears prominently; not open space or housing – a golf ball and little else, a popular name brand no less.”

Second is the idea that by going after municipal golf courses first, the door could be opened to propose development of other golf courses in the state in the future.

“Public parkland golf courses (municipal) are 22.3% of California’s golf stock; however, for reasons we have outlined in detail many times over the last year, the line from this bill is a straight one to the state’s daily fee and private club facilities,” Kessler said in his letter. “In both cases, it’s all about the land all the three species of course sit atop, and golf’s continuing legitimacy to employ that land as it has for more than a century.”

Even as the powers in golf in the state celebrate the bill’s two previous failures, they have to understand that this third attempt at passing the bill might not be the last. The SCGA, the SCPGA, the California Alliance for Golf and golfers themselves have to keep pressing the message that any golf course, but particularly municipal golf courses, are important to communities in general, not just to golfers.

The attacks will be coming, and so the defense must keep coming as well.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer at the Palm Springs Desert Sun part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4633. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan.

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