The planned $7 million overhaul at Landa Park Golf Course in New Braunfels, Texas is the latest in a line of area golf courses investing in improvements to appeal to tourists. Updates to Scott Schreiner Municipal Golf Course in Kerrville, Texas are estimated to generate $1.2 million in economic activity locally as a result of increased tournament bookings.
Though patrons agree that the Landa Park Golf Course in New Braunfels, Texas needs improvements, a planned $7 million overhaul of the city facility that would force its closure for one year starting October 1 is being hotly debated in the clubhouse, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Opponents fear the fee hikes necessary to fund the redesign and other upgrades will price them off the modest links, which opened in the 1930s with nine holes, the Express-News reported.
Proponents, citing problems with irrigation, drainage and greens, are eager for a new look. The course’s layout hasn’t changed since it expanded to 18 holes in 1972, the Express-News reported.
“A lot of folks who come here on vacation now go to more modern courses,” said Stacey Dicke, New Braunfels parks director. “We’re hoping the renovations will encourage them to stay in New Braunfels and play golf locally.”
Out-of-towners account for 60 percent of the patrons who logged about 40,000 rounds there last year, a city survey found. Unlike many other municipal courses, Landa Park is turning a profit, netting $995,000 in revenue this fiscal year to cover expenses of $890,000, Dicke told the Express-News.
While Landa Park is closed, golfers can test out new greens and tee boxes unveiled Thursday in Max Starcke Park in Seguin after a three-month closure, the Express-News reported.
“Part of the reason we did this is to help attract new golfers,” said Biff Alexander, resident pro at Max Starcke Park, which saw roughly 30,000 rounds played last year, the Express-News reported.
About $80,000 was spent on the improvements, roughly equaling the course’s operating shortfall in fiscal year 2012, when it took in $546,137 against expenses of $629,570, officials said.
“We’ve never made money in the past 15 years,” Alexander said. “We’re hoping that this will put us over the top.”
“Everybody knows what a value that golf course is to our community, said Seguin Mayor Don Keil. “It brings people to town.”
Similar remarks were heard about the Scott Schreiner Golf Course, on which the city of Kerrville spent $550,000 this spring for a large pavilion and parking lot to help attract tournaments, the Express-News reported.
“Golf is definitely an economic driver in our community,” said Mayor Jack Pratt, noting 10 tournaments booked since the upgrades are forecast to generate $1.2 million in economic activity locally, the Express-News reported.
Schreiner logged about 37,000 rounds in the past year, allowing it to cover its $900,000 budget without additional city support, officials said.
An October 1 fee boost also is coming at Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course in Fredericksburg to help pay off a $2 million redesign that shut the course for nine months before it reopened a year ago. Patronage has jumped about 20 percent since then, to 30,000 rounds annually, but the city still had to allocate $180,000 this year to cover a shortfall, the Express-News reported.
“We hope to break even in 2015,“ said City Manager Kent Myers said. A marketing campaign is planned using bed-tax money.
Since taking over management of San Antonio’s seven municipal courses in 2007, Municipal Golf Association San Antonio has spent more than $12.5 million on improvements. Its biggest project was a $4 million redesign of Brackenridge Golf Course in 2008. Most recently, Mission Del Lago reopened September 6 as it neared completion of $1.3 million in upgrades, mostly to irrigation systems, the Express-News reported.
But attracting tourists is a secondary consideration, said Jim Roschek, the non-profit’s president. “Our role is to update our facilities for the citizens of San Antonio,” he said. Patronage has climbed to top 300,000 rounds this fiscal year, he said, compared to 217,000 in the year prior to the kickoff of the Alamo City Golf Trail, as Roschek’s firm is branded.
New Braunfels Mayor Gale Pospisil expects the City Council to award a contract to an as-yet-unidentified preferred bidder on the Landa Park course upgrades. Five proposed bids ranged from $5.58 million to $6.36 million. The city also will seek bids on improvements to the clubhouse, including the addition of a sports bar, that are slated to cost about $650,000, the Express-News reported.
Golfing revenues will cover the project’s cost, except for $750,000 in sale taxes allocated by the local economic development corporation, said Pospisil, noting, “There will be no property taxes used for these upgrades.”
Fees for locals are forecast to jump $10 per round when golfing resumes next year, and a new out-of-towner rate will be $15 or $20 above current fees, the Express-News reported.
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