Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 22

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC ffldPILF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2005 C9 Champions Tour scoring leaders: 1. Mark McNulty 69.45; 2. Craig Stadler 69.59;3. Morris Hatalsky 69.68; 4. Dana Quigley 69.73; 5.

D.A. Weibring 69.80; 6. Hale Irwin 69.94; 7. Gil Morgan 69.97, 8. Tom Jenkins 70.04, 9 Tom Watson 70.08; 10.

Wayne Levi 70.16. Efforts are under way to restore Papago to the jewel of a course it used to be. Extensive clubhouse improvements are included in the plans. Papago longs for centennial makeover i 'TV- it Manv ot the trees at PaoaEO Golf Course trimmed or removed. Conditions have deteriorated due to limited funding.

PHOTOS BY store the course. A new clubhouse would require another $8 million. Under a proposal by former Phoenix mayor John Driggs, chairman of the Papago Park-Tovrea Castle restoration project, the clubhouse would be a multi-use facility as part of a $14 million expenditure that also would include a new visitors center at Papago Park. The clubhouse would include a full-service restaurant, conference center, facilities for holding weddings and banquets, meeting rooms and possibly parks offices, a golf hall of fame or offices for golf organizations. "The entire layout is superb and it wouldn't take much to make it perfect," said R.B.

French, president of the Papago Men's Golf Association. "It could be something special if they're willing to spend some money, especially on the clubhouse." The course also could be eligible for support from the U.S. Golf Association, which helps fund course restorations annually through a special foundation. The USGA granted $3 million toward the restoration of New York's Bethpage Black, which hosted the U.S. Open in 2002 and will be the host site again in 2009.

The combined Papago-Tovrea Castle centennial project has gained steam, with Tempe and Scottsdale joining Phoenix in a tri-city alliance. Tempe mayor Hugh Hallman believes the park has the potential to rival San Diego's Balboa Park. About two-thirds of the park lies in Phoenix, with the rest in Tempe, but more Scottsdale residents live along the park's border than the other two cities combined. The park contains 28 major amenities, including hiking and biking trails, museums, ramadas, fishing lagoons, a botanical garden and the Phoenix Zoo. The Urban Land Institute showed enthusiasm for the project during a meeting at the park two weeks ago and is expected to lend its formal support in its next report.

The plan contains many of the same recommendations as a Papago Park Master Plan that has been gathering dust since it was drafted in 1998. What the movement lacks is a concrete proposal to present to the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission. "Until there is an actual proposal on paper that everyone can look at and study, it's just interested people talking about it," Richardson said. "I think it's important that we have something to present as soon as possible. 2012 isn't that far away." Maintaining the investment Papago Park is spread over about 1,200 acres but once covered nearly double that amount, encompassing an area that now includes Sun Devil Stadium.

Its status as Papago Sa-guaro National Monument was abol- TOM TINGLETHE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Whafsnext? Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill on Feb. 14 expanding the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission to help plan the 2012 statehood centennial. Commission duties include coordinating projects that will ensure "lasting legacy." Projects being formulated include the restoration of Tovrea Castle and Papago Park, which has 12 subprojects, including Papago Golf Course. No projects have been formally submitted for consideration.

A timetable for doing so has not been established. Once the commission grants legacy status to approved projects, those projects will be eligible for private and public funding. ished in 1930 when part of the land was approved for development. "The park is much like the golf course," said Dale Larsen, director of the Phoenix Golf Division. "It's an incredible facility that is loved to death.

The idea of it being restored through public and private means and landing a big event in time for the centennial is an exciting prospect." If the course is extensively renovated, Larsen said it could result in changes in how it is managed and its fee structure. Currently, all Phoenix-owned courses have green fees in the same price range, about $14 in the summer and $22-25 during peak season for residents. "That would have to be part of the consideration," Larsen said. "How do you do a makeover and maintain it without it slipping backwards? "We might need some sort of fee adjustment to ensure that we can maintain it sufficiently, especially if we invest money to improve it." French, who has been playing at Papago for more than 20 years, said that creating a high-profile course would come with some concerns. "Is it going to remain a municipal course and is it going to be affordable?" he said.

"If they turn it into an attraction, is the average guy still going to be able to play there? Maybe what they would need to do is make rates higher for nonresidents like they have done at Torrey Pines and other places, so that visitors help pay for it." Hanks also voiced those concerns but sees potential for a grand golf facility. "It you can turn it into a five-star course, there are probably a lot of people who would be willing to pay higher rates," Hanks said. "To rebuild it as it originally was and have that kind of course in downtown Phoenix, instead of going to the suburbs to find quality, that would say a lot for Valley golf." ironwood Golf Club 4808950614 30ntrelWWam nktks (9vcn fee and cart Yfkr 11:00 am inks qnvri fee ami cart )i M.N1 TIMES AVAILABLE Pros Code in Effoa Spikes Ontv Proposal aims to restore luster to Phoenix muni By John Davis The Arizona Republic PGA lour pro Billy Mayfair probably summed it up as well and succinctly as anyone could. The restoration of Papago Golf Course, he said, "is long overdue." The best hope for it happening would be as part of a "legacy" project to give Papago Park and Tovrea Castle a major facelift for Arizona's 2012 centennial celebration, which would qualify it for public and private funding. Papago was the site of the U.S.

Public Links Championship in 1971 and was ranked by golf magazines as one of the top 25 public courses in the country. Among those who honed their skills on the course include current and former tour pros Mayfair, Tom and Paul Purtzer, Howard Twitty, Heather and Missy Farr and Danielle and Dina Ammaccapane. John Jackson, the golf director at The Phoenician and 1969 U.S. Public Links champion, practically grew up on the course where he qualified for the U.S. Public Links five times and later worked as a club pro.

"It was the best course in the Valley," Jackson said. "Everybody who was anybody in golf played there. We probably had 50 guys who were a 2-handicap or less. "The design was so good and the greens were so pure. I went back there to meet some friends 10 years ago and I was amazed at how much it had changed.

I've never gone back because I was so disappointed." Short-term improvements The deterioration, which impacted the facilities as well as the course, has been a cumulative process, coinciding with maintenance reductions and a city-mandated cutback in water usage because of drought conditions in recent years. But some of the tide has begun to turn. In recent months, several improvements have been made, including new bathrooms and remodeling of an aging clubhouse, restoration of some cart paths, new landscaping and sand added to some of its bunkers. This week, Papago began a full overseeding with winter ryegrass for the first time in three years. Club pro Joe Huber said tee sheets are beginning to fill up again, with the course receiving at least 200 rounds per day in recent weeks.

"For a while we faced a double-edge sword," Huber said. "Papago had a reputation of being a course QL-tfOTE LAKts "Best Affordable Public Course" Twilight starts a everyday X9 'ColfClur Golf lunch Special $7 Weekdays Before Ipm Lunch included Weekends Before Ipm Lunch included After Ipm Lunch not included Weekdays Weekends town Mlaiiltlnn MM It, Xnra It. llH. rl IHTWI TTWW where you couldn't get a tee time. Then when course conditions became worse and golfers started to go other places, we still had that reputation." Phoenix courses are self-funding.

All revenues go into an enterprise fund, and the city decides what expenditures are needed at which of its eight courses. If usage declines, there's less money to spread around. The Papago Men's Golf Association has seen its membership dwindle from its high-water mark of 500 to about 300, but Chris Hanks, who has been a member for 18 years, said members are "thrilled" with improvements since Jim Cope returned as course superintendent two months ago. "Over the past five years, things got pretty bad and it was obvious that the amount of play and membership were fading," Hanks said. "Conditions weren't what they needed to be, but it's apparent that they're trying to make things better." Even so, Papago remains a far cry from its glory years.

One lake and most of its natural streams now are dry, the size and shape of bunkers has changed, and the course is badly overgrown with trees. Many holes have no tee signs. Most of the trees are in need of trimming, and many are decaying and need to be removed. Papago's bentgrass greens were replaced with Bermuda long ago, after a course worker applied herbicide to them on a hot summer day and forgot to water them. Bunkers reached the point in recent years that the club invoked a local rule making it legal to remove stones before hitting a sand shot.

It hasn't sunk to the depths of Harding Park in San Francisco, which was used as a parking lot for the 1998 U.S. Open before a $16 million restoration project was completed this year. But Papago isn't the same course that generations of "Over Seed Special" 2 fori iih trin tcmpttn' Exp lO-JWrt Mum ruvc it air mi lo rev rive raw Course tipens Oct fib hi mm 1 are dead or decaying and need to be Phoenix golfers came to know and love for its splendid design features. The course features contoured, rolling fairways and mildly undulating greens that create a challenging test without being contrived. Each hole has a distinct character, and the course is devoid of development, giving it a park-like, pure golf feel.

"The design is championship caliber, and we have the room here to add some length if they really wanted to draw a high-profile event," said Huber, who has been head pro at the course since 1981. "They could turn it into a Bethpage if the money was available. "I have great affection for this course, and it has been painful to hear our longtime golfers say that it was going downhill. It has been frustrating to see that happen, but I also understand that the city has responsibilities it needs to meet." Stuck in the talking stage The course was designed by William "Billy" Bell, who also designed Torrey Pines in San Diego, with the late Arthur "Jack" Snyder serving as the onsite architect. Respected Valley architect Forrest Richardson, who was an associate of Bell and Snyder, has offered to oversee a restoration project without compensation.

He has obtained aerial photos, the original course routing plan, diagrams and Snyder's hand-written notes taken during construction, but is awaiting a topographical survey before drafting a renovation proposal. "To me, this would be a labor of love, the same way that it was for Jack when it was built," Richardson said. "We don't need to reinvent Papago. All we need is to restore it the way Billy and Jack intended it to be. I wouldn't change it one bit from its original design." Richardson estimates that it would take about $4 million to re Includes holes of Ocotillo GOLF RESORT -wur VI Oakwood Golf Club 480-8951159 35lklW10am JuiIesgrwnfi and cart it lis fjwn aid airt I nikks ffven foand cat (SO -a ra mm golf! K.viJ.-t( liMr PRIME WI I Rata at Hus Ta mm 4M.II7.WM www ocohltogotf com Chandlet, AZ Trt- t-ws mdv fr hvinl up If dot fVr aW A7 VvViJ Hf ih ary (M't ptimp.

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