With the generosity of local donors and the urging of Mayor Walt Maddox, Christmas is coming early for Ol’ Colony Golf Complex.
After clearing weeks of scrutiny at the committee level, the Tuscaloosa City Council is set to vote Tuesday on directing a $150,000 infusion to Ol’ Colony to help fund grass and irrigation improvements.
The decision comes after Ol’ Colony representatives outlined the plan for the dollars to the council during a formal request for the funds.
In that pitch, the council learned that Ol’ Colony officials already had secured $135,000 in private donations to move the project along.
“We rarely make an appropriation directly to the Ol’ Colony Golf Course,” Maddox said. “So when the private sector steps up and provide 40% of the cost, I feel like it’s time for us to step up.”
Opened in 2000, Ol’ Colony Golf Complex is overseen by the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority and is the county’s only publicly owned golf course.
In addition to programs aimed at seniors and the First Tee program aimed at younger golfers, the Jerry Pate-designed course has won multiple awards – Golf Digest has named it one of the top 100 places to play the game and one of the top 10 in this state – and became home to the University of Alabama golf teams in 2008.
But decreases in funding allocations to PARA have led to diminished dollars available for Ol’ Colony, which has not allowed for the proper upkeep of the golf course’s landscaping, officials said.
That is what has brought about this current request, funding for which Maddox said he intended to include in his fiscal 2022 budget recommendation that will go before the City Council in August.
Another $100,000 is being provided by PARA itself and, with the generation of private donations – plus another $330,000 of in-kind donations – the mayor urged the council to award the funding now.
“We built this golf course for the working man and woman,” Maddox said. “And people have discovered, again, it seems like, the game of golf.
“I think we should just go ahead and move ahead with this.”
The city’s $150,000 award, which is coming from the Restart Experience revenue allocation set aside last year to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic, is contingent on the County Commission approving an identical amount.
These funds – $300,000 from the city and county governments, $100,000 from PARA and $135,000 from private donors – will go toward the installation and an estimated $304,000 of new sod the areas that need it, removal of trees and overhead canopies blocking the existing grass from receiving the sunlight it needs and a $461,000 irrigation system to keep the new grasses alive.
“We are not asking for money that we are going to waste in any form or fashion,” said Mike Echols, a local accountant and Ol’ Colony representative. “It’s a good investment. It will return money and give not only to this generation, but to their grandchildren and on down the line.
“And if they’re out there playing golf, they’re not getting into trouble.”
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com.