Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw speaks with General Marshall, a former caddy at Lions Municipal Golf Course, during a 2016 ceremony recognizing the course’s addition to the National Register of Historic Places. On Wednesday, Crenshaw proposed a renovation of the course that would alter the layout and restore some of the original routing used from 1951-74. CREDIT: Stephen Spillman/For American-Statesman
(February 15, 2017) He unveils plans for renovations to historic golf course that would restore routing used from 1951-74.
To keep Lions Municipal Golf Course open into the future, Ben Crenshaw looked into the past.
It was with that in mind that the former NCAA golf champion who grew up playing there has proposed renovations to the West Austin golf course, changes that would harken back to its 1950 days, as he and others work to preserve what has been recognized as a civil rights landmark.
Crenshaw and Austin land planner Corey Hoffpauir want to alter the layout of the historic golf course and restore some of the original routing that was used from 1951-74.
“The landmarks that have made Austin special for so long are being continually threatened, and we simply can’t stand back and let this precious asset slip away,” Crenshaw said in a statement. “Just as it is hard to imagine New York without Central Park, New Orleans without City Park, Houston without Memorial Park and San Antonio without Brackenridge Park, it is impossible to consider Austin without Lions Muny.”
MAKING THE PLAN WORK
To make their plan work, Crenshaw and Hoffpauir propose shifting the entrance to the course from Enfield Road to Lake Austin Boulevard and adding an expanded driving range, teaching area and a new short-game area. A new clubhouse would be constructed and include more parking. The existing structure, meanwhile, would be converted into a space for educational and historical exhibits.
Estimates for the cost of the restoration range from $10 million to $12 million, and Crenshaw and Hoffpauir laid out their plans Wednesday morning during a news conference at the course.
Crenshaw and others involved with the Save Muny project say they are confident the money needed for the renovation can be raised privately. Crenshaw, who won three NCAA individual golf championships as a Longhorn from 1971-73, will donate his course-design services.
“Lions Municipal is among the handful of iconic recreational greenspaces in Austin, along with Zilker Park, the hike and bike trail and Pease Park,” said Scotty Sayers, Crenshaw’s long-time friend and business manager. “I only hope that we have the opportunity to realize Ben’s vision for the restoration and renovation of Muny for future generations of Austinites.”
Read more Kirk Bohis at MyStatesman.com
