(Seguin) — The Starcke Park Golf Course is in need of some major upgrades. The municipal golf course has been a big part of recreation in Seguin for decades, and it recently got a new clubhouse. But the course itself needs a new irrigation system and some significant changes to improve the play on the course.
Ed Getherall, director of consulting for the National Golf Foundation (NGF), was hired by the city to look at the operation of the course. Gatherall made a number of recommendations recently to the Seguin City Council for it to consider when it comes to improving the condition of the Starcke Park Golf Course. The study conducted by NGF looked at the operational changes that need to be made at the course, and also looked at the overall infrastructure needs of the course itself.
Getherall says they looked at some short-term improvements that could be made now, but also prepared a more comprehensive plan that would help make the golf course more viable for the next 25 to 30 years. Gatherall says the city has reached a place where some hard decisions need to be made.
“We feel like the golf course has reached an inflection point sort of speaking when you have to fish or cut bait in terms of improvements. That’s not to say that we’ve done a lot of this – it’s not to say that you can’t continue on as is for another couple of years or maybe five years or maybe it’s six months but it’s getting very close to that time and you have to do something and I think the fact that you have those ARPA funds for the irrigation system, it seems like the perfect time to do those things,” said Getherall.
The golf course consulting firm recommended two approaches to upgrading the course. One plan may have been financially out of reach for the city, but it clearly spelled out some transformational changes that could be made at the course.
“This was kind of the go big option and the mid-range budget between low and high was $7.6 million. It’s really not in the cards but it added some more design features – some design enhancement and the rerouting of four holes and the mitigation of the safety issues surrounding the driving range, improvement of the driving range landing area, pecan tree mitigation things like that – adding a short game area. I won’t spend a lot of time on that since that’s probably not going to happen,” said Getherall.
The other plan, which appears to be the preferred option — at least right now, still calls for some significant upgrades to the golf course but has a slightly more manageable price tag.
“So, the option that looks like it will happen would be the critical fixes which is basically rebuilding the infrastructure in the place, rebuilding the infrastructure starting with the irrigation system, dredging the lake – there will be less tree mitigation. There’s not a lot of redesign work. It’s basically replacing these components and making the driving range a little safer and the mid-range of that estimate came out to close to $6 million. It does not include any operating losses during the time of construction,” said Getherall.
There would indeed be operational losses, because the course would need to be shut down for at least a year, while the changes were being made. City officials say they would try to repurpose some of the golf course’s employees during that downtime.
City Manager Steve Parker says the course has been an asset for the community for a long time, but he says the time has come to make these changes so that new generations of players can come and enjoy playing in Starcke Park.
“Everybody agrees this course is outdated. The grass is mutated. The infrastructure is not there. We need to do something so let’s all do it at once and get everything knocked out. Could that number of $6 million be larger? Yes, but that’s kind of the benchmark that I think we are shooting for. What we recommend now is actually a design engineer to architect everything out and figure out exactly what we want to do and kind of narrow it down to those areas,” said Parker.
The city had already set aside $1.5 million to address some of the needs on the golf course, particularly the irrigation system. That money is part of the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. Those are funds that the city received from the federal government for COVID-19 relief. Parker says those funds could be used to help get this process started, but he also says he thinks making this overall investment in the course would be good for the city.
He also says it’s something that will likely pay for itself over time.
“If we had a $6 million renovation – we used a $1.5 million of the ARPA funds, that would leave about $4.5 million that we would have to finance just for the project alone. That means about a $225,000 annual debt payment and if you just add 30,000 rounds on that, that’s about $7.50 related to that and so to me that’s very doable compared to where we are with other courses. I think this would be a lot closer to putting us to where New Braunfels are and having something that we can be really proud of, but still we would be less,” said Parker.
Gatherall says they conducted a survey of those who use the course, and people feel that there is value in playing at Starcke Park. He says it’s relatively inexpensive when compared to other courses in the area. He says most golfers also indicated they would be willing to pay more to utilize the course if the upgrades were made. The upgrades planned at the course are expected to greatly improve the quality of play for people who currently use the course, but Parker adds that the city will also have the opportunity to create more programs that would get more kids and young adults involved in the game too golf That move would help grow the game and increase participation at the course for years to come.
It will ultimately be up to the city council to decide if it wants to move forward with the design phase of the proposed project. If approved and once the plans are drawn, then the city would have a better idea of the scope of the work and what it would actually cost. The course would have to be closed for a year during the construction portion of the project. The council did not take action on the item during its most recent meeting, but the issue is expected to appear on a future council agenda for official consideration.