How One City is Setting a New Standard in Municipal Golf
Cities compete for your attention whether you realize it or not. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving down I-75 from Detroit to Tampa or if you’re planning a major political convention, every town from Indianapolis to Interlochen, Florida wants you to stop and engage in commerce. Convention and visitor bureaus spend seven or eight figures to taut every amenity from music to museums. Cities also compete for industry. Fargo, North Dakota and Fayetteville, Georgia, two out-of-the-way municipalities, recently won bids for massive data centers, beating out towns in upstate New York and Massachusetts. They won those bids because of tax incentives, convenient and competitive labor forces, reasonable regulations, good schools, affordable housing, and - here’s where we come in - recreational amenities including golf.
Triggered by the surge that began during Covid, city leaders have realized that you need a range of golf options to generate growth. You see it everywhere. Tired old municipal courses with shaggy greens are getting facelifts, rebrands, and in some cases, new layouts.
For example, a foundation has been formed in West Philadelphia to raise $100 million for Cobbs Creek Golf Club, a gem originally designed by Merion architect Hugh Wilson with assists by A.W. Tillinghast, George Thomas, William Flynn, George Crump and William Fawnes, some of the most storied names in course design. As has happened often, the 1916 course fell on hard times. The clubhouse burned. The pavement crumbled. Thatch and weeds encroached into once pristine playing areas. Now, with the help of Jim Wagner from Gil Hanse Design, Cobbs Creek is on the way back, expected to reopen in 2026 as a model for private/public partnership in municipal golf.
Atlanta is doing the same. After the successful reimagining of Bobby Jones Golf Course, now one of the most popular 9-hole facilities in the country and home to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, the Georgia PGA, and the Georgia State Golf Association, city officials and private partners are taking the model to another muni with a $25 million investment in the John A. White Golf Course where they will build a senior center and fitness club.
But few cities have made a commitment like Memphis, Tennessee where all seven municipal golf courses have either been reimagined, refreshed, or are slated for a major upgrade in the coming years.
The plan began a quarter century ago when city leaders commissioned a strategic plan for golf. Several options emerged, everything from shutting down golf and selling the land to investing millions to make Memphis a leader in municipal operations. Visionary leaders chose the latter.
“We started with a plan called ‘Accelerate Memphis,’ which was a big, strategic initiative to spend $75 million upgrading and building city parks,” said Mickey Barker, the director of golf for Memphis. “Part of that plan was golf renovation. So, we started with $9 million at Pine Hill Golf Course for a new clubhouse and course renovation. It reopened in July of 2023.”
Pine Hill is in South Memphis, which has a specific market profile. East Memphis is a different animal. According to Barker, “If you’re coming to Memphis for any reason, you will eventually end up in East Memphis. That’s where most of the good restaurants are as well as the golf, and the golfers.”
The city-owned course on that side of town was called the Links at Audubon, which was built in the 1950s when American golf experienced its second historic boom. Alas, not much had been done to Audubon since the ribbon cutting. That changed with Accelerate Memphis.
“We originally had $500,000 planned for Audubon for new cart paths. But one of the city councilmen thought that wasn't the right strategy, so he got us $9 million just for that golf course,” Barker said.
With that budget, a committee brought in architect Bill Bergin to see what kind of changes could be made. Bergin, who burst into the national consciousness with his work at Santa Rosa Beach in Florida and McLemore on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, brought a plan for an entirely new course located on the old Audubon footprint.
“We looked at that plan and said, ‘This is it. We’ve got to do this,’” Barker said.
The old clubhouse was converted to a maintenance building and the new course is one of the longest and most challenging in the region. Before it opened, Barker entered discussions with the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee PGA about hosting a state amateur and state open at Audubon.
“The old course was reflective of the time it was built,” Bergin said. “You could have refurbished it, but it still would have been outdated. What you have now is an entirely new golf course. We moved the clubhouse and added a driving range and six-hole short course on some land the city owned that’s adjacent to the Botanical Garden. So, it’s a course that the average player will still enjoy, but one that can host a championship.”
“It’s 600 yards longer than any of our other courses, so we budgeted a $20 increase in fees,” Barker said. “It’s now $65 with a cart. That is at the top end of the daily-fee range in Memphis.”
Not only did that price not result in blowback – a fear among most politicians who wince during the public comment time of every city council meeting – but in fact achieved Audubon records, playing 6,500 rounds in its first 30 days. And that was the brutal heat of August when temperatures and humidity in Memphis hit the 90s.
“We’ve budgeted 40,000 rounds a year (for Audubon),” Barker said. “We’re likely to exceed that. But we’re doing well across the board. We did 6,500 rounds in August at Audubon, but at another of our courses that’s a mile away that played 5,500.”
The city has already paved cart paths and renovated greens on another course with a schedule in place to make improvements across the board. Most owners would expect a quick return on those investments. But Memphis officials are more interested in providing a service than padding the coffers.
“They don’t require us to break even,” Barker said. “We’re bringing in $6 million in revenue, but expenses are about $8 million. The city is okay with that, because they see that 1.5 to 2.5 million as the cost of an amenity. When it’s all over, we will have spent 25 million on renovating and upgrading golf courses. Audubon is at the top. But our busiest courses break even or make some money. Others do not. But that’s okay, because we’re committed to this amenity.”