A proposed golf course in Elgin's far-west area should be administered by the parks and recreation department to ensure it doesn't draw too much business from the city's existing golf courses, according to the department's director.
Interim Parks and Recreation Director Mike Lehman said the proposed golf course in the new Bowes Creek Country Club development will require careful management to make it competitive but different, especially from The Highlands of Elgin course.
"It's critical to understand that there will be competition and cannibalism between those two courses," Lehman told the Elgin Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday.
The $14 million project was approved last month by the city council, which gave developer Toll Brothers Inc. a $7 million incentive to build the 18-hole course about four miles west of Randall Road.
Despite higher green fees, the public course within the Bowes residential development is expected to lure golfers from The Highlands, a study commissioned by the city shows.
Part of the Bowes golf course deal, which is expected to be completed within five years, hinged on a decision to expand The Highlands from 18 to 27 holes.
Lehman, who oversaw The Highlands and Wing's Park Golf Course, said the parks department has a staff with experience managing golf courses.
Instead of another city department, the parks department also is better able to ensure that each course would attract golfers without hurting the other, Lehman said.
"You've got two operations and they fit different niches in the marketplace," Lehman said.
Elgin is waiting for additional feedback on the course design from Toll Brothers before it hires an architect to build the Bowes course, Lehman said.
Source: Chicago Daily Herald