The city council in Boise, Idaho is scheduled to vote on whether to accept Dave Hendrickson’s donation of the 140-acre club, which includes equipment and an 8,000-sq. ft. clubhouse. One caveat in the agreement is that the city must maintain the property as a golf course or open space.
City Council in Boise, Idaho is scheduled to vote on November 19 on whether to accept Dave Hendrickson’s donation of the 140-acre Quail Hollow Golf Club as well as equipment and an 8,000-sq. ft. clubhouse with a full commercial kitchen, the Boise-based Idaho Statesman reported.
A caveat to the donation is that the city must keep the property as a golf course or open space, the Statesman reported.
Assuming the council gives its blessing, the city is scheduled to close the deal December 1. County records list at least 17 properties associated with the golf course’s address. The total assessed value of those properties is almost $2.5 million—a figure that doesn’t include the value of the business entity. Quail Hollow would be Boise’s second municipal golf course, the Statesman reported.
The city plans to expand the golf course’s program for juniors, adding more tee times for players 17 and younger and offering more classes and other activities, Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway said.
Other than that, Holloway said, not much will change at Quail Hollow; rates will stay the same and the city will keep the six-person staff already employed at the golf club and honor existing memberships, the Statesman reported.
At a news conference Monday to announce the acquisition, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said he first heard from Hendrickson’s attorney several months ago. It’s common for people to show interest in donating property to the city, and it doesn’t always work out, the Statesman reported.
Location makes Quail Hollow especially attractive, Holloway said. For much of Boise, the course is more accessible than the city’s other municipal course, Warm Springs in East Boise. The central location should make it easier to attract young people, and not just the well-heeled ones, Holloway said.
“Regardless of your socioeconomic background, we want you to play golf,” Holloway said.
Golfers 17 and younger pay $15 to play 18 holes at Quail Hollow, compared with $32 for adults. Under city management, Holloway said, the golf course will make no-fee rental clubs available to juniors, the Statesman reported.
According to an analysis by city staff, the course’s buildings, equipment and irrigation systems “are in good working order with only minimal repairs needed.” The city likely will put money from the Parks and Recreation budget into an account one time to cover unexpected repairs and other expenses in the first year the city operates the golf course, the Statesman reported
Parks and Recreation expects the course to yield at least $55,000 a year in profit. Hendrickson’s agreement to donate the property requires the city to use that money for improvements and maintenance. In addition to guaranteeing that the land remains open space, the donation to the city also could net Hendrickson tax benefits. Hendrickson did not attend Monday’s news conference, the Statesman reported.
An avid golfer, Hendrickson bought Quail Hollow in 1993. He looked at golf courses around the West for several years before that. “It was more of an adventure than a belief it would be possible to own and operate a golf course, but when I came to Boise I decided to take a chance,” Hendrickson told the Statesman in an email.
His agreement with the city requires Boise to continue operating Quail Hollow as a golf course or as open space available to the public, the Statesman reported.
“At no time and under no circumstances shall the property be utilized for any residential, commercial, industrial or other use that is not consistent with this public use requirement,” the agreement reads.
Hendrickson said the golf course has been his only business in the time he’s owned it. He said it has been “very consuming, in a good way.”
“After 20 years, it’s time for a change,” Hendrickson said. With ideas and involvement of the city’s golf experts, he said, Boise will do “very well, and I look forward to being a customer for a long time. Maybe I’ll get a little discount.”
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