Keller Williams Realty recently listed the family-owned Stoney Brook Golf Course for sale for $799,000. Renda Jaskowski, who operates Stoney Brook with her husband, Bob, said the course will close on November 1st, if nobody buys it.

The property, in proximity to Jacksonville High School and the recently opened Kitty Stone Elementary, includes 132 acres, a clubhouse, multiple buildings, ponds and sidewalks.

The closure of Stoney Brook would leave Calhoun County with seven operational golf courses.

Amy Angel of Keller Williams said she’s marketing the property to golf course operators and real estate developers.

“We see a lot of people wanting to move over that way,” Angel said, referring to housing developments near the schools. “Certainly we’d love to see the whole course stay, but it would also be a good place for new construction.”

Angel said Keller Williams has been contacted by several people interested in the property.

Jaskowski’s parents, Frank and Merl Wade, have owned the golf course since 1984. Jaskowski said she and her husband have run the facility for the last 15 years, since her parents live in Texas.

The course first went up for sale in March, though it was just by word of mouth, according to Jaskowski.

“The golf industry has declined in Calhoun County and is not growing,” Jaskowski said. “Young people are not picking it up and lifestyles are a lot busier now.”

Jaskowski said she believes a new course operator with some fresh ideas could turn Stoney Brook around. And if not, a land developer could use it, she said.

“The land is right by the schools and the new public safety complex,” she said. “The land is premium land.”

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The city of Springfield wants to get out of the golf business and received two proposals to take over its 380-acre property at Reid Park Golf Course, both from groups who want to keep it open. The proposals were submitted earlier this month, but commissioners have heard nothing new since then, Springfield City Commissioners Kevin O’Neil said.

“The golf courses are an amenity to this community, no different than the ice arena or the pool or anything else,” O’Neil said. “There are people who would like to know, that utilize this facility, what we’re going to do … We’ve got very capable people that would like to manage our golf courses on our behalf and I think this commission needs to direct staff to bring us a recommendation and get it done before we lose them.”

A request for proposals was posted on the city’s website in late July and the deadline to submit proposals was Sept. 2. City staff members opened the proposals in early September, but set no timetable for when or if they will make a decision on them.

The city has spent more than $1.1 million subsidizing its golf courses between 2012 and 2015. City commissioners decided it can no longer subsidize golf due to its budget constraints, according to the request. The city will ask voters for a 0.4-percent earned income tax increase on Nov. 8.

According to an appraisal completed last month, the Reid Park property is valued at about $2.2 million. It includes two, 18-hole courses, service and maintenance facilities and a recreation park with shelter houses, restrooms and woods.

The city should move faster to not keep interested parties waiting, O’Neil said.

“The time is fleeting,” he said. “we’re going to have snow on the ground before we know it.”

City staff members have followed up with the parties since the meeting, Springfield City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said. A time frame wasn’t provided because he didn’t want to mislead commissioners, he said, and there’s several details to work out.

I don’t know how long it will take to work through it .. it’s not as simple as signing a one-page agreement,” Bodenmiller said.

One of the proposals is from Springfield attorney and former golf professional Alan Collins and former Naional Trail board member Jim Kincaid, a PGA golf professional. The group proposes to lease the facility and equipment for three years at a cost of $1 per year, including keeping a superintendent on the city’s payroll.The group also wants the city to remove water and storm sewer fees, aswell as property and income taxes for the lease period.

Collins, the son of former Reid Golf Pro El Collins, was in discussion this spring with the city about a lease deal for the courses, but the city opted to seek more proposals out of fairness to the rest ofthe community. Collins reached out to Springfield Finance Director two weeks ago and called Bodenmiller on Wednesday to discuss the proposal. The parties are expected to continuing negotiations, he said.

The other proposal came from Tango Kilo Golf LTD, which says it has 50 years of golf experience. It also wants to have water, sewer and property taxes abated, as well as a release from city or union employee obligations, the proposal says.

That group has proposed three, five-year lease periods, including a $50,000 payment from the city for the first three years, and $25,000 for the fourth and fifth years.

The current proposals will be too costly for the city and must be negotiated, Springfield City Commissioner Karen Duncan said. The city cannot afford to continue subsidizing golf, she said.

“The way we stood, it didn’t look to me like it was anything we could endorse,” Duncan said.

O’Neill agreed the proposals must be renegotiated, he said, but city staff members haven’t done it yet. Private enterprise can make it a good place to play, he said.

“I’m aware that this city has more on its plate than its golf courses,” he said. “This has been a thorn in our side for over 15 years. I don’t want to see it close. If we can possibly get this worked out, we need to do that, not procrastinate and not keep people hanging on the rope if we’re not going to do it.”

Springfield City Commissioner Dan Martin also wants to hear more about the proposals soon.

“I do think we need some type of update or report,” Martin said.

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The country club sold the land to CRP/AR Oak Hills Owner LP, an affiliate of Phoenix-based developer Alliance Residential Co., according to property records. The deal closed on Tuesday, September 27. The land, close to Louis Pasteur Drive next to the South Texas Medical Center, is zoned for multifamily development with up to 33 unites an acre.

The purchase price was undisclosed, but the partnership borrows $29.5 million from Frost Bank, according to the deed.

Oak Hills is the second local golf club to pursue a land sale recently. Earlier this year, a developer was under contract to buy the clubhouse at Quarry Golf Club. It planned to put in an upscale apartment complex with 222 units Like Oak Hills, the club planned to use the money to improve its course and build a better clubhouse.

But Quarry Golf Club has decided not to sell the land due to opposition from residents of nearby neighborhoods, said Sid Greehey, who is in a partnership led by his father, former Valero CEO Bill Greehey, that owns the club.

The club won’t sell the land to a developer any time soon, Greehey said. He said his father will “more than likely” fund the improvements himself.

“We don’t really want to fight with people,” he said “We’ll keep the golf course like it is for now.”

Oak Hills shareholders approved the sale of 13 acres of land in January to fund multimillion-dollar renovations including improvements to the golf course, clubhouse and other facilities. The Alliance Residential partnership bought 10 acres, and the golf club mapped another 3 acres earlier this month.

At the time, President J. Scott O’Brien sent a letter to shareholders explaining the club had been operating at a loss for the last nine years and had $3.5 million in debt. He noted that he considered its operating model unsustainable.

“Honestly, I wish these was a feasible alternative but I don’t see one,” O’Brien wrote in the letter.

Alliance Residential is involved with at least seven apartment complexes in San Antonia, according to its website, but it isn’t clear whether the firm owns or manages them.

Many local golf clubs have struggled financially in recent years due to declining numbers of players and the economic situation in the country. In 2013, the Woodlake Golf Club on the Northeast Side came under new ownership after the San Antonio River Authority moved to foreclose on it to collect unpaid water bills.

“Your younger generation, they don’t want to play golf,” Greehey said. “They’d rather do stuff like Topgolf where you drink beer and play a game. Golf is sort of dying out now.”

He added, “Most millennials don’t have three hours that they can concentrate on.”

Oaks Hills was founded in 1922 as the Alamo Country Club and was designed by noted golf architect A.W. Tillinghast. It has hosted 34 PGA abd USGA championships, according to its website; Arnold Palmer won the Texas Open there in 1961 and 1962. Donald Trump held a fundraiser at the course in June.

The land sold by Oak Hills is next to the surging Medical Center area, which employs more than 55,000 people and could generate another 50,000 jobs in the next 30 years, District 8 City Councilman Ron Nirenberg told the San Antonio Express-New last year.

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