How so

JFrench said:

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How so

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Because the other two public courses they manage (Houston National and Panorama) aren't all that great, either. Panorama is just trash.

But I guess you can only do so much to maintain a course if the budget is limited.

I'm not a golf snob where I only play courses with well-manicured fairways and greens. I play Sharpstown Park in Houston twice a month.

They've managed the campus course for a long time too.

I think they own Houston national. Never played it or the private Sterling course.

Within the last year or so they picked up Brenham, willow creek, pecan Grove, and maybe one more Houston area course. Panorama in the last couple of years.

Always been curious how these deals work. They get Cypress Bend in LA and immediately put money in it-although it's a resort. Panorama and campus course get enough activity that they should be in better shape. Brenham might fill 20 tee times on a Saturday.

So, is this a thread about the poor shape of the "clubhouse" or the course, or both? Looking at reviews on GolfPass and they are generally favorable for course conditions. Sterling is not The Pebble Beach Company, but they just hosted a Women's World tour event at Golfcrest course they manage, and the course looked to be in great shape.

Looks like we invested $5mil over 12 years ago........that is not a lot for a full renovation.

In my opinion, both. Clubhouse grade is an F. Course grade from the few observations I've made over the last year (three junior tournaments): any where from a B to a C-, with the general feeling that it's trending down. Greens were fine last time we played. Fairways are inconsistent - a lot of hard pack in areas that should be a safe shot per course design. Bunkers have been very inconsistent. I think it's about average for a small town muni…with its proximity to campus and the amount of $$$ around campus, I would think it would be closer to an affordable private club.

There are many nice campus courses out there:

https://www.therawlscourse.com/

(They are actually a little cheaper for students)

Sterling Manages and A&M owns the land. Contracts get renewed if A&M feels Sterling is doing a good job managing things. IMO if sterling or A&M backs out then that place will become buildings which would be sad. I cant see how they are hurting with the lack of golf courses in the area but you never know with the university.

With that being said, there was one point where the rec center would have an added area for golf facilities which would have been pretty cool to do. I think selling alcohol was one of the reasonings why that didn't happen but i'm sure that's not the only reason.

Now with the Rec there, there really isn't any room to build a bigger club house other than what is already there.

I do know that when the course was renovated, they tried getting $1 million dollar donations for a new building which I would have gladly donated here recently. Unfortunately I did not win the lottery so that will not be coming from me.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I'll be the contrarion here. Unless it is a country club where the social club aspect is part of the value, I don't really give a squat about a clubhouse. I'm fine paying my green fee in one trailer and grabbing a hotdog and beer from another if that's how it is set up. Would rather see those extra dimes going into the course.

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This is the current Pine Dunes model.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I'll be the contrarion here. Unless it is a country club where the social club aspect is part of the value, I don't really give a squat about a clubhouse. I'm fine paying my green fee in one trailer and grabbing a hotdog and beer from another if that's how it is set up. Would rather see those extra dimes going into the course.

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I can agree with that model - I've seen that at a few really nice places. The $$$ was actually spent on the course though.

Problem with this model is that the clubhouse is on the doorstep of the university.

It really deserves at a minimum, a refresh of the facade.

AggieP18 said:

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Problem with this model is that the clubhouse is on the doorstep of the university.

It really deserves at a minimum, a refresh of the facade.

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oh, for sure. I do think it's ironic one of the ugliest parts of the campus is the golf course….with some of the finest bermuda grass in the world within site at Kyle Field.

Yep. The Aggie jokes write themselves.

There was a write up here a year or more ago from a Ag that knew turf grass- his story was the very silty clay soil all over the course has slowly weakened the turf root structure and the killer freeze was a near nail in the coffin
As I recall from Civil Engr (50 years ago) Soil Mechanics, the expansive clay in BCS area is Way Bad for foundations and I would guess turf grass too from what I saw in Dubai, if you work Bermuda seed in the sand and pour the water & fertilizer to it, you will have fantastic conditions
Obviously money is no object with those goobers.
So- I'm not sure we will ever get what the layout deserves for conditions

The course was actually sand capped during the reno. The range wasn't, that's why it looks like the lunar surface along with those rough areas that are hard pan.

I believe the replaced greens are much more salt tolerant to the pre-freeze surfaces.

I wish a donor could lead the charge to put a premier facility on the doorstep of the university.

Rawls course cost $15M...woof.

No place like the Hilton! First floor.

Can Blinn Team get this deal? Although seems pricey for a student

Student Semester Golf Pass
Semester Membership: $750 + Tax
Semester Membership w/Cart: $950 + Tax

zephyr88 said:

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We can afford half-a-billion dollar stadiums, multimillion dollar baseball, softball, track, etc. sports facilities. If they wanted the golf facilities to be nice and the course well maintained, they could. Fact is, they just don't care.

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They don't care because there's no demand. They have Traditions and Miramont 5 miles away. All of the big money is at one or both of those places.

Got here in '74 for Masters and except for those 16hr/day study years played this course sans Sterling re-do years, so rejoined 2018 with Traditions-like greens. Clubhouse: I hear ya', a wonderful 50's Architectural style/specimen, complete with dry wells and award winning burgers & fries, free drinks for behaved kids. Now may I speak from rumors: TAMU owns this building and it now has new roof, HVAC, lighting, bathrooms, etc. A Sterlings beer/softdrinks/snacks/dogs bar replaced the TAMU vending machines whose renovations sent our prized burger chef to Duncan Dining Hall when the burger bar was ripped out - I didn't get the memo WHY, even though am buddies with the architect charged with this heinous duty (do or die).

Sterling was trying to make a deal for space in the new Rec.Ctr aka old Hole #10 but then TAMU students would play free = no profits in that. Discounted annual memberships then became Golfer (no Seniors), Faculty/Staff, Students, Juniors. These plus the on-line tees times offered fill up almost all tee times, so there's no need to create more discounts.

Reportedly it was Sterling $$$$ that tried to convert the Driving Range into a green heaven TWICE but decades of being a construction dump zone and local salty water has been wrestling with a devil. As the greens master for all of TAMU reported on KAMU-FM Garden Success one day ... we can't afford that many R.O. systems to green everything up; Kyle Field/others have their own water reservoir or "salt domes" - long story & over my pay grade.

The fear of this being the Hospice years for the Campus Course acreage is real - but not new- many of us point to the Polo Fields that were once overrun with colleges' intermurals Rugby, Soccar, real Polo, etc. etc. now the new & better build location option. Already on University Blvd we see the Vaughn Construction new building momentum moving that direction.

Back to our 50's architecture/clubhouse in a college town. Let's compare it to other Public Golf Clubhouses locally to judge fairly.
Briarcrest/Phillips is not self standing, it is a portion of the main D.D. Matthews FAIA (important big shot Google the term) architecture, so not the comparable.
Pebble Creek (semi-=public?) ... same deal. So far, both Club Rooms don't hog a lot of space.
Granted, the nice dining that comes with these two is nearby but not a Clubhouse.

College Station prefers baseball to swimming, golf these days so no City Golf Course for us that might have swimming, tennis, etc. They prefer these segregated or adjoining baseball = scholarships in the past. Football is catered to by the schools. So no City public golf course, no CC.
Soooo you have to leave town for other public golf options, as the rest locally are high$$$ private clubs.

From that aspect the TAMU Campus Course clubhouse as a solo standalone facility gives a lot for the SF, $$$ without neglecting architecture. Yes, it's renovations have been hard on the workers, some visitors but the fleas may be gone, mostly all new replacements, good times ahead. BTW, of the 3 "public" clubhouses mentioned, this one has the most convenient parking lot to its elect.carts ... even if carts may no longer go INTO the lot.

As usual, please ignore grammar, spelling, typing, etc. I DRAW for a living when not "golfing".
Hope this helps someone out there.