The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians purchased the popular Mountain Springs Golf Course in Sonora, Calif. for $900,000 and have renamed it Teleli Golf Club. Renovations are taking place and will continue on a month-to-month basis. Sierra Golf Management has been contracted by the tribe to operate the course.
Teleli Golf Club in Sonora, Calif., formerly known as Mountain Springs Golf Course, is scheduled to reopen on May 17 after being purchased in April by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, The Union Democrat of Sonora reported.
The date for the reopening was revealed to The Union Democrat on April 29 during an exclusive tour of the grounds, to see the work that’s underway at the property and to hear about the tribe’s plans.
“We’re really grateful for the opportunity this community has given us, and that we’re able to give back to the community as well by keeping this open,” said Michael Cox, treasurer of the tribe’s Tuolumne Economic Development Authority Inc. (TEDA).
Work has been underway to repair and upgrade the facilities since the tribe finalized the purchase of the property for $900,000, The Union Democrat reported. The tribe previously planned to develop a golf course on part of a 191-acre property near Tuolumne that it purchased in 2002, but Cox said that’s no longer happening.
“It would have cost us three times as much to build a golf course out there, plus we have the Black Oak Concert Series now,” he said, in reference to the Westside Pavilion that hosted its inaugural season in 2018.
Purchasing the Mountain Springs property was viewed by the tribe as a good investment, given the community’s demographics and tourism-based economy, Cox told The Union Democrat. It’s one of two 18-hole golf courses in Tuolumne County, including Pine Mountain Lake Golf Club in Groveland, Calif.
An estimated 35 percent of all golfers at the course come from outside of the county, according to The Union Democrat’s report.
“The county is a retirement and vacation community, so keeping this open brings value,” Cox said. “It’s an economic boost for the whole county.”
The course opened in 1990 and was designed by landscape architect Robert Muir Graves, The Union Democrat reported. It was originally intended as the centerpiece of a residential development of 2,000 homes, which was later reduced to 600 when it was approved by the county Board of Supervisors.
Opposition in the community ultimately prevented the homes from getting built, though a community plan for it remains part of the recently updated Tuolumne County General Plan, The Union Democrat reported. The tribe has not had any discussions with the owners of the roughly 1,000 acres surrounding the golf course where the homes would be built, Cox said, but he expressed hope that they would be built someday, because it would add value to the club.
While the tribe plans to market the golf course as an amenity to its Black Oak Casino Resort in Tuolumne, Calif. Cox said the goal is for it to also be able to stand on its own as a business and attraction, The Union Democrat reported. The name, Teleli, means “Black Oak” in the Me-Wuk language, and the logo is reminiscent of the one used for the tribe’s other properties.
Sierra Golf Management Inc., based in Chowchilla, Calif., has been contracted by the tribe to operate the club, The Union Democrat reported. The company also operates and maintains 13 other properties in California, including Forest Meadows GC in Murphys.
About nine employees of Sierra Golf Management were operating excavators and mowers on April 29 to restore the course’s greens and 51 sand traps, The Union Democrat reported, while employees for TEDA were renovating the buildings that will house a pro shop, bar and restaurant.
Some fans of the Mountain Springs golf course have wondered if it would ever reopen, after being closed since the beginning of 2019 for what former manager Kim Daters said at the time was repairs and maintenance ahead of a possible sale to the tribe, The Union Democrat reported. Daters had estimated that the course would reopen in February, but it has remained closed during the process of selling it to the tribe.
“Everyone thought it would be a casualty,” said Jeff Christensen, President and founder of Sierra Golf Management.
Christensen has been a PGA professional since 1984 and has lived in the county since 1994, The Union Democrat reported. His company previously managed the nine-hole Phoenix Lake Golf Course in Sonora.
The work now underway at Teleli GC addresses what Christensen described as “a lot of deferred maintenance over the last 30 years,” The Union Democrat reported. Sierra Golf Management and the tribe now plan to continuously make improvements to the golf course and other club facilities on a month-by-month basis, he said.
“Every time someone comes on this golf course, it will be different,” he noted. “It’s like a living organism, but it just takes time.”
The new Telili GC hopes to get more young people interested by offering memberships for people under 18 at $100 per year, The Union Democrat reported.
“We’re not replacing golfers who are aging out anymore,” Christensen said. “That 50-year-old who was playing here when [Mountain Springs] first opened [in 1990] probably isn’t playing anymore.”
The plan on the golf side is to start out with some small local tournaments and eventually add some pro-am events, but likely no PGA Tour events. There will also be a renewed effort to market the rebranded club as place for hosting events such as weddings, birthdays and celebrations of life, Sierra Vice President Dan Bacci told The Union Democrat.
The club’s restaurant, formerly known as the Terrace Room, is being rebranded as the Teleli Bar and Grill, which will include a bar called the West Wind, The Union Democrat reported. It will serve a menu featuring a “modern twist on American comfort food” crafted by Chef Justin White, who also helped to open the Service Station restaurant in Jamestown, Calif.
Melodie Feguson, who previously worked as a concessionaire operating the restaurant for the former owners of Mountain Springs, will be the Food and Beverage Manager at the property, The Union Democrat reported.
Bacci, who grew up in Sonora, told The Union Democrat he remembers the bar and restaurant being “the place to go” when Mountain Springs first opened, and hopes it can be that way again.
“They’re committed to doing this the right way and not cutting any corners,” Bacci said of working with the tribe. “They know if you’re at this to be successful, you have to invest in it to make it a nice place where people want to play.”
An open house will be held at Teleli GC on May 8, The Union Democrat reported, that the public is invited to attend, and where more information will be provided about the new club’s hours of operation, rates and membership programs.
Bacci declined to disclose those rates to The Union Democrat, saying some of the details were still being worked out. But he did say he believes the new club’s membership program will be slightly cheaper than it was previously as Mountain Springs.
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