Save Muny group raises another $1 million for Lions Municipal; will it be enough?
Ben Crenshaw has worked on golf courses all over the globe, first as a two-time Masters champion and PGA Tour star and now as part of the illustrious Coore & Crenshaw golf course design team.
But one of the courses on which he’s worked the hardest, Lions Municipal Golf Course, still hasn’t seen the outcome he’s been hoping for.
On Sunday, Crenshaw and a cavalcade of stars were on hand at Austin City Limits' Moody Theater, raising money as the Muny Conservancy attempts to buy or lease the land and maintain it as a golf course and green space.
The land on which Muny sits is part of the 500 acres known as the Brackenridge Tract, all owned by the University of Texas. Muny is considered the first fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The city has leased 140 acres for Muny since 1936, paying UT about $500,000 a year. If the parties don’t come to an understanding, the university could be free to lease the property to another entity, develop it or sell it.
On Sunday, the group raised another $1 million for the cause, marking the third straight year the gala could be considered a major success. Musical talent included Asleep at the Wheel lead singer and Save Muny board member Ray Benson, Larry Gatlin, Jimmie Vaughan, and Gary P. Nunn.
But those on hand admitted some frustration as talks continue to lag, and university officials have done little to show which direction they might be leaning with the property.
“We’re hoping for a long-term resolution. We’d love to have a long-term lease,” Crenshaw said while flanked by his wife, Julie. “The city and the university need to get together somehow. And we need to extend it. It’s a hundred years, 100 years of success in our town. It’s not only a golf course, but it’s a great space. We’re growing so fast. In this town, we’re losing space rapidly. So it’s a multipronged asset. To me, it’s the health and vibrancy of the community. Because I think it raises good people.”
Among others on hand was actor Kyle Chandler of “Friday Night Lights” fame. Chandler has long been an advocate of the cause and lives in Austin, where he has been known to play Lions with Crenshaw’s longtime manager and friend Scotty Sayers and others.
Chandler is hoping the fundraising and visibility will be enough to dissuade university officials from making an unfavorable decision, but he’s also surprised this has carried on as long as it has.
“I’m always kind of shocked that it’s even an issue that this piece of property, this land, this piece of history would be an error on a piece of paper erased from the community,” Chandler said. “That is what it is. It’s community. It’s family. It is the history. It means a lot to people.
“And hopefully, the people involved in making these decisions can be a lot smarter than expecting people 20 years from now saying, ‘Man, these strip malls are absolutely gorgeous. I hope they last another 80 years.'”
PGA Tour in Texas this week
After four weeks in the Sunshine State for the Florida Swing, the PGA Tour heads west for the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a former Longhorn who has won his last two starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship, is the heavy betting favorite. He is joined in the field by Wyndham Clark, Sahith Theegala, Will Zalatoris, defending champion Tony Finau and Jason Day. In his last two trips to Memorial Park, Scheffler has finished ninth (2023) and second (2022).
This week is the next-to-last opportunity for players to earn their way into the year’s first major championship — the Masters is slated for April 11-14 — if they’re not already exempt.
The total purse in Houston is $9.1 million, with $1.638 million going to the winner.
Birdies and bogeys
Round Rock’s Forest Creek will be one of the qualifying sites for the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship. Qualifying will take place June 10. The U.S. Golf Association announced significant modifications to its amateur championship qualifying model last year for the first time in more than 20 years. The most significant revisions are to the U.S. Amateur, which will move from a one-stage, 36-hole qualifying format to a two-stage qualifying format with 45 18-hole local qualifying sites and 19 18-hole final qualifying sites.
Registration will open Friday for the Spring Partnership, which will be played at Lions Municipal on April 20-21. Registration for the two-man best-ball event must be done in person.
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor for Golfweek and golf coordinator for the USA Today Network. He lives in Round Rock. Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Save Muny effort by Ben Crenshaw, Ray Benson, others raises $1 million
