Introducing the goal for an additional nine holes at Ol’ Colony golf course, Brion Hardin approached the green first at Tuesday’s Tuscaloosa City Council finance meeting.
“I’m just breaking the ice,” said Hardin, a member of both the Ol’ Colony and the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority (PARA) boards of directors. He spoke and answered questions for the council, to which he handed out copies of a several-page package explaining how the additional nine holes could alleviate ongoing needs, and generate revenue at the course.
Ol’ Colony was designed by Jerry Pate, a University of Alabama graduate who won the U.S. Open at 22, in 1976, his rookie season as a pro. It serves anyone from seniors to members to those who can pay $65-weekday greens fees and is a home course for numerous school teams, including Shelton State Community College, and several local middle and high schools. It hosts numerous fundraisers and has been home to an NCAA regional, the Southern States Invitational, the Alabama Open, the Alabama State Amateur and match-play championships.
UA’s golf team made Ol’ Colony its home course, and constructed a training facility, the Jerry Pate Center, on its grounds in 2005. However, the Capstone is in the process of developing its own golf training facility for men’s and women’s programs. Athletic director Greg Byrne in February introduced a proposed $26,840,000 complex, one the UA System board of trustees approved in early February.
Once constructed, the UA facility will include a new nine-hole course, driving range, short-game practice area and 18,000-square foot golf house. It’s to be developed on 176 acres south of Jack Warner Parkway, west of 25th Avenue Northeast, and along each side of Kicker Road.
Ol’ Colony also serves 13,000 kids with its junior golf programs, including a junior tour, teaching facility and annual benefit fundraiser. Opened in 2000, Ol’ Colony requires, as do all courses, near-constant maintenance. But rising demand for tee times makes it tough to squeeze in the necessary upkeep while also serving the community, Hardin said, within its current capacity.
“It just can’t do it anymore,” he said.
An additional nine holes, bringing the course to 27, would allow staff to rotate down time on stretches for upkeep and repairs, and also host 18-hole tournaments while keeping space open for local golfers to get in their swings.
“It’s going to make money,”…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…