Golf course transition to private management complete |
| Golf course transition to private management complete Posted: 10 Sep 2010 11:30 AM PDT By Jon Johnson The Mt. Graham Golf Course is under new management, but not much has changed. Burt Watkins is still the golf pro; prices have remained the same; and the holes are where they were. What has changed has been cosmetic improvements, such as pulling weeds, rerouting floodwaters and planned tree replacement as the crews get ready to seed, according to Springbok Advisory Board member Art Sanders. Sanders owns the land adjacent to the golf course that is proposed to be developed. City Manager David Kincaid said he believed the transition to be going well. "The transition certainly isn't perfect, but it's going very smoothly," Kincaid said. "I think, in the end, everybody is going to have a better product." The Safford City Council was previously sold on a development plan from Springbok CEO Jeffrey Holt that illustrated the creation of a $500- to $700-million master-planned golf course community consisting of up to 36 holes of golf, a resort, community recreation center, condominiums and single-family residences. The new plan for the area, however, is slower, more controlled development, according to Sanders. Springbok leased the golf course from the city for $120 per year. The city, however, will pay Springbok $16,666 per month for the first five years to maintain, manage and operate the golf course. Springbok has assumed all costs incurred, including manager Burt Watkins' contract with the city and all other employees. Watkins' contract expires June 30, 2011. Sanders said Springbok has hired a consultant from Borders Golf to help clean up the course. He said players have given their approval as to the quality of the course. A previous plan to move golf course holes has also been scrapped, and Sanders said he likes the holes where they are. The only move planned at this time is to move a tee box this winter to make it more challenging. "I don't anticipate making any major changes to the golf course that we have now," Sanders said. "Once we get it all filled up and we need more space, then we'll put in another nine holes, but that's probably years down the road. We're just trying to get it to play as good as it can." Development of homes is still planned but at a slower pace than previously outlined. Springbok will be submitting plats for homes to the Thatcher Town Council. Sanders said the company has a developer from Phoenix who has shown interest in building the homes and believes five have already been sold. He said the process will be slower, with a few models built at first. He hopes to break ground before the year is over. "We're going to start slow," Sanders said. "We're not just going to build a whole bunch of empty houses. We'll probably build 10 to begin with . . . It will be one of those things that just kind of picks up steam as it goes along." Sanders said one of the main reasons for taking the development at a slower pace is to ensure the course remains open throughout any additional construction. "We want to make sure that people can still play golf," Sanders said. "That's the most important thing to us." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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