Lake Jackson city officials say they have been surprised at the overnight popularity of its newly opened municipal golf course that has drawn hundreds of players since it opened May 28.
"We are very encouraged by the response. It's exceeding everyone's expectation," City Manager Bill Yenne said of The Wilderness Golf Club, 501 W. Texas 332.
W. Kit Thomson, general manager of the golf course, said 321 players came for the grand opening and that about 300 golfers have been on the course daily since then.
More than 20 percent are from outside Lake Jackson, Thomson said.
"They are running all over. It's been real busy here. I'm real pleased with the response," he said. "Three hundred people - that's a lot of people on a golf course a day. That number has been pretty steady."
Thomson said the golf course allows booking up to a year in advance, he said.
"I've got a lot of calls from groups including corporations, civic clubs, churches and charities wanting to book for tournaments and fund-raisers," he said.
Pam Eaves, the city's finance director, said she didn't know how much revenue the golf course had generated the first week of business, but expects it will bring in $ 1.3 million a year, enough to cover budgeted costs to operate the facility. If the course makes more money than projected, the surplus probably would go toward improvements there, she said.
"But it would be City Council's call if that happens," Eaves said.
Yenne said the golf course is not intended as a source of revenue for the city.
"We are looking at the golf course as another recreational opportunity for our citizens," he said. "It's been very well used the first week. We're really upbeat and hope it will sustain itself."
Eaves, who was an avid golfer before she gave birth to her child 12 years ago, said she will pick up her hobby more often now that a golf course is close to home.
Eaves said she played there on the Memorial Day weekend.
"It's gorgeous. Everybody I talked to spoke very favorably about the golf course," she said.
The course opened after a 13-year delay partly caused by a legal tie-up in which a group of environmentalists challenged the project, which they said would harm the natural habitat for migrating birds.
Source: The Houston Chronicle