New UNT golf course in 5 years?

NT80 · January 31, 2006

Briefly ...

Dave Denison of Stratford, a company that co-owns the 3,400 acre M.T. Cole Ranch outside of Denton with the Cole family, said his firm has a deal, in principal, to donate land to UNT so the university can build a golf course near Tom Cole Road, perhaps in five years. UNT leaders did not confirm the deal.

MeanGreen61 · January 31, 2006

Briefly ...
Dave Denison of Stratford, a company that co-owns the 3,400 acre M.T. Cole Ranch outside of Denton with the Cole family, said his firm has a deal, in principal, to donate land to UNT so the university can build a golf course near Tom Cole Road, perhaps in five years. UNT leaders did not confirm the deal.
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Teeing off?

UNT President Norval Pohl said he was unfamiliar with any specific plans to build a golf course, an amenity the university hasn’t had for several years.

But he acknowledged UNT has discussed the idea with some developers.

“We’ve had discussions with two or three different developers about them donating land and us building a golf course,” Pohl said. “I’m not aware of any land in discussion right now.”

In 2003, officials at UNT and the Radisson Hotel agreed to cancel the hotel’s lease on a public golf course, which UNT owned behind the Radisson. Then UNT built a dormitory, dining hall, athletic center and tennis complex on the property.

The move sparked an outcry among several residents who lived nearby, fearing the loss of the course and addition of a dorm would hurt their property values. But the course was losing money, in bad repair and not worth fixing, UNT officials said at that time.

UNT officials have since expressed interest in building a new course, but the cost would be significant — between $8 million and $12 million, Pohl said.

UNT has not identified a way to pay for that, he said.

Richard Rafes, UNT’s senior vice president for administration, owns property across the road from the proposed Cole Ranch annexation area. He said he personally likes the idea of the city annexing that land because it would raise property values in the surrounding area, which includes his home and the new UNT astronomy observatory.

As far as a UNT golf course, Rafes said he’d heard rumors about that possibility but knew of no specific plans.

Both Rafes and Pohl referred questions to UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal and Vice Chancellor Richard Escalante, who both would deal more directly with such an arrangement. Neither could be reached for comment.