[Steve_Lemmon]

If I have done this correctly, below is a link to a fascinating article about the "Old Muny" course in Austin, and the issue whether to turn it into a mixed use development with a new fancy course, or to leave it as is.  The course handles a tremendous number of rounds per year, at a very low price point.  The University of Texas actually owns the land and leases it to the City of Austin.  The University can make a lot more money with the proposed new development.
 
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/07/06/0706muny.html

[Andy Hodson]

PLayed there several times in college....but I have no emotional ties to it.

Would love to see the new plan implemented.

[Michael Blake]

Yesterday's thread about it:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35433.0.html

[Tom_Doak]

Kelly:  I actually know the principals of Cooper, Robertson and have been working with them on a new project.  They are VERY smart guys (and apparently VERY good negotiators too), but they aren't dismissive toward golf at all.

[Jeff Spittel]

Kelly, I attended the Save Muny tournament a few weeks back and Gentle Ben himself attended and played. He certainly seems like a man who has not forgotten his roots.

[Steve_Lemmon]

Sorry.   I did not see Kelly's thread when I started this one.  Kelly summarizes the issues  very well.  There are some powerful economic forces at work here which will make it very challenging (and probably impossible)to have a new course fill Muny's role. 

[Sam Morrow]

Incidently there is a website devoted to saving the course:

http://www.savemuny.com/

Interesting donor's list:

Major Applewhite, former Longhorn quarterback and I believe offensive coordinator at Alabama;

A company with the Crenshaw name, one of the owner's is Julie Crenshaw, the same name as Ben's wife???

Horseshoe Bay Resort, RTJones design

Barton Creek Resort, sports a CC course,

Onion Creek, which I believe hosted the first senior's tournament, I attended while at school,

County Line, I stumbled out of a few times after all you can eat ribs and a 1 hour wait to be seated which helped beer sales,

River Place, whcih I believe was designed by Kite,

and the great Jerry Jeff Walker, "I'm going to Luckenbach, Texas..Jerry Jeff's train songs...", I hope I got that right, music is such a big part of the Austin scene, it is only appropriate JJW would be invovled and that their first fundrasier was a music event.

Major is now QB coach for the Horns, apparently he didn't like working for the always cheery Nick Saban.  Jerry Jeff is a big golfer too and a musical genius.

[PThomas]

if i understand things correctly, its interesting that Kite wants to redo the course, which i assume would mean higher green fees....

,,,when currently Tom is on GW's "Hate to be Rude" segment, saying how golf is too expensive which is why the game isn't growing despite all the First Tee efforts, etc...

[Cliff Hamm]

From Golfconstructionnews.com email received today:

Austin - Lions Municipal Golf Course 
 
Location:  Lions Municipal Golf Course
2901 Enfield Road
Austin, TX 78703
512)477-6963 
Type:  Remodel to Existing Course 
Status:  Active Planning 
Duration:  3/2006 - 9/2010 
Acreage:  345 
Dev. Type:  Residential and Recreational 
EIS Status:  Final 
Housing Units:  Single Family Units: 18     
Owner/Developer:  Austin (TX) Parks & Recreation Dept. 
Designer/Architect:  Bechtol Golf Design 
Clubhouse Size:  5000 sf 
Facility Type:  Municipal 
Holes:  18 
Permits Needed:  No 
Amenities:  Driving Range (Planned)
Resort (Planned)
Commercial (Planned)
Health Club (Planned)
 
Data Last Updated:  Monday, July 07, 2008 
Details/Comments:

In July '08, plans were unveiled for the conversion of this old muni to an upscale GC. The GC work will be handled by Roy Bechtol and Tom Kite, both natives of Austin. Their plans involve building five new holes near the adjoining Lady Bird Lake, with the other 13 holes built on the GC's existing site. The all-new 7,133-yard layout would include new water features and a stream leading to Lady Bird Lake. Long "creek" bunkers, similar to the sandy waste areas found at courses in North and South Carolina, would define many holes. The plans also involve restoring the clubhouse, with it eventually becoming an Austin golf museum. The new GC would preserve the par-4 16th (known as Hogan’s Hole after Ben Hogan played the GC and singled out the hole for its difficulty) and return it on the scorecard to No. 7, its original place in the Lions sequence. Additional peripheral plans on the so-called 345-acre Brackenridge tract incl! ude: a hotel, spa, new golf clubhouse, conference center, 16-acre practice facility, and the above SF HU lots in around the GC. The UT regents retained an unidentified New York planning firm in May '08 to create at least two distinct sets of recommendations. Those are due in 2009. The peripheral development is backed by a group of local business leaders, including Austin entrepreneur Pike Powers (512 536 4501). The GC is still owned by the University of Texas (contact is Anthony de Bruyn - 512-499-4363); the city has been operating it for years. The current lease between the city of Austin and the university, scheduled to expire in 2019, allows the city to operate Lions for $345,600 a year through 2009, when the amount increases incrementally. About 67,000 rounds a year are played at Lions Municipal. Earlier attempts in '07 by the city to purchase the 140-acre GC have apparently fallen through. The GC's head pro is Lloyd Morrison. The costs and the timeline for the proposed redevel! opment are uncertain. 

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