The university’s golf course is getting a $12 million facelift for its 50th birthday.
The course, located across from the intersection of University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, will close July 14 for its first-ever restoration and is slated to reopen May 15, exactly 50 years after its dedication, Golf Course Director and Head Golf Professional Jeff Maynor said.
“I’ve been here 12 years and too many times I’ve heard, ‘What a great golf course. Too bad it’s not in better condition,'” Maynor said. “It’s time to show it a little TLC.”
The improvements will consist of new grass, subsurfacing and drainage.
“It’s more of a restoration than a renovation; it’s not a redesign at all,” Maynor said.
The course’s turf grows into dirt. The project will replace the dirt with drain pipes covered by a foot of sand to help improve the terf’s quality.
Maynor said officials are “still in the process” of figuring out how to pay for the improvements. Only the golf course’s revenue and fundraising – no state money – will be used.
The 3-year-old Friends of the Golf Course program has raised about $500,000 for the restoration, and the course is taking out a $4 million bond.
The course’s Golf Shop and Mulligan’s Bar and Grill will remain open.
In the meantime, the course’s 150 members can receive a discount at about 15 other courses in the area.
James Osteen, assistant vice president for student affairs, which oversees the course, called the work long needed.
“We’re very excited about it,” he said. “I think the regular golfers are excited about it, too.”
Maynor said the Friends of the Golf Course are holding an event today that will auction off an opportunity to hit the first tee shot at the rededication next year, Maynor said, “hopefully, to someone that’s willing to pay a lot of money.”
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